Sinful Instincts (Woodland Creek)

by J. D. Hollyfield

  We just weren’t given the time. Zander took that away from us. And for that he will pay with his life. Emma whimpers but this time it’s due to me gripping too tightly. I take a deep breath filling my lungs with her honeyed scent and I relax around her body. Tomorrow, I will back off. I need her to help me, and then I will be gone.

  Emma

  I snuggle against my pillow, releasing a long sigh. I’ve never fully acknowledged the fact that I love my bed, but when I wake up, I’m going to make it a point to thank my bedding for being awesome because I’m in Heaven. I snuggle further into my pillow while wrapping my legs around my comforter. Goddamn, this is great. I mean, how do people ever leave their beds? Inhaling my sheets, they smell like male and dominance and... What? My legs halt, stopping their rub-down of my sheets as I lift open an eyelid to wonder about the new scent of my bedroom. As my lid is semi-opened, I notice my head is not particularly resting on my great bed pillow. I tilt my now-bulging eyeball downwards and realize my leg is also in its own fairyland, actually making rubby-rubby formations with something that is not my comforter.

  My body freezes as my other eyelid flies open and I recognize my surroundings. And holy fuck me, I am not in comfort heaven. My comfort has nothing to do with thread-count-to-pillow fluff. It’s because my body is sprawled out on a half-naked male body and I have somehow latched myself onto my stranger-danger roommate like a goddamn spider monkey.

  I’m about to pull my whole body away and fly off my bed when his deep voice startles me.

  “Where are you going? You seemed so content.”

  Oh, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

  “Um... I, um... How… you... I... shit, I forgot you were in here,” I manage to eventually spit out a few fragments of a sentence, hoping he gets my confusion. “I was only going to stay until you fell back asleep, but I fell asleep, as well. And sometime during the night, you Velcro’d yourself to me, so I stayed. And we woke up this way.”

  Dude. He did not.

  He did not just tell me I suctioned myself to him. I go to swiftly pull away, but he stops me by holding my body in place. “We both slept peacefully,” he murmurs into my freaked-out ear. “And we both were innocent.” My body relaxes, but not enough to grasp why I am now sober and still playing house with this stranger. This hot, not-so-human stranger who can probably kill me and has the power to change into a creature, or a beast. Or a—

  My delirious snicker garners his attention.

  “What is so funny?” he questions, putting my unstable moment to a halt.

  “Oh, nothing. Um… nothing.”

  I finally move because I feel it’s wrong to play cuddly right now, no matter how attracted I seem to be to him. Thankfully, I’m clothed, so I sit up and inspect my surroundings. As my room looks exactly the same, minus my door hinges, I am forced to look at my guest.

  “So…” I say, starting off the awkward conversation. Luckily, he’s still dressed in the sweatpants I gave him, but unfortunately, I’m kicking myself for not offering him a damn shirt. He sits up and his chiseled abs clench, along with my lower core, and I force myself to turn away.

  “Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. I'm not sure what you thought, but I just had a strange dream. I'm fine,” I begin, trying to pat my hair down, hoping I don’t look like a compete buffoon while fending off this… well, whatever he is. Swinging my legs over the bed, I release the blanket, walking over to my closet to retrieve my robe. I turn back and the way this man is looking at me, like he wants to eat me alive, unnerves me. “You know,” my shaky voice is back in full swing, “I don’t even know your name.” A fact that just popped into my head. I have had this enigmatic stranger in my apartment, and I never cared to ask his name.

  “Sin,” his mysterious, dark voice speaks.

  “Sin? What kind of name is Sin?” I blurt out, failing to be courteous.

  “A name I was given. My full name is Roxsin, but I go by Sin,” he merely replies, not feeling the rudeness of my question.

  “Sin… Well, Sin. Again, I want to thank you for saving me last night, but I think it’s time for you to go,” I insist fidgeting with my robe tie.

  He sits up abruptly, my eyes almost missing his movements, and before I know it, he’s standing in front of me. “I would love it to be that easy, but it’s not.” His smooth voice relays words that don’t register.

  “Okay, so… Do you need directions or something? I really don’t know my way around here, I’m not too familiar with this town either, so you’re gonna have to—”

  He presses his fingers to my lips, silencing me. “We need to talk.” His voice is becoming less gentle and more firm. It’s hard to argue with his finger still lingering over my mouth. And why the hell do I want to stick my tongue out right now and lick that finger?

  I shake my head, forcing him to lose his grip. “Listen, we don’t have to talk. It’s cool. I won’t say anything about what I saw. Just go on your way. Thank you again, but we both can just move on from this,” I state, folding my arms across my chest, trying to show how nonchalant I feel. I just want to forget about this whole paranormal, fucked-up mess that happened and move on. And by moving on, I'm totally debating on blowing my lease, not caring about the damage to my credit.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen,” he voices, pulling me away from my future ditch-and-run plans. I focus on his eyes, and they look anything but soft. His stance now overpowering mine, I notice he has taken up a more powerful barricade around me. Shivers run down my spine as I realize this isn’t going to be a simple adios. I inhale a gulp of air, the dryness of my throat forcing me to struggle as I attempt to swallow.

  “What... what do you mean ‘that’s not going to happen’?” Dare I ask, right? Mr. Nice Guy gone, the dominant warrior back in action.

  He steps closer to me—if that’s even possible—and grabs a lock of my unruly hair that has fallen in my face. “What I mean is that I lost something last night I had spent a very long time trying to catch. And since he seems to have taken a liking to you, you’re now going to help me get that back.”

  Yeah. Okay, what?

  “Yeah, so, no. Thanks, but I’m not sure I can help you with that,” I reply as I attempt to push past him.

  He halts my attempt to pass bringing me back against his body, and I can feel the heat pouring off him. “You will help me.” His voice is stern, forcing my vision to lock with his, a freckled hazel brewing into a soft, amber glow. Yep, they’re glowing. I begin to shake my head in crazy mode. I need to shake this off. I need to get some coffee in me. Get this attractive Greek God of a wacko out of my apartment. Shit, I should leave with him. I need to get the hell out of this town!

  I make another attempt to push past him, which again fails. His hands are on me. He doesn’t hurt me, but there’s a burning feeling through my skin as he grabs my arms, working his thumb up and down the inside of my bicep, and I fight the urge to melt into touch. God, I need to get some, I admit to myself, relishing in the touch of a non-human, who looks human—and, by God, has all human parts—but he isn’t...

  “Shit,” I exclaim as I shake the dirty thoughts from my brain.

  “What’s wrong?” He swings me around, lifting my chin upward to make eye contact. I force myself to look at his beautiful face, failing to keep my cool because the moment our eyes lock, my insides turn and skip. And probably summersault.

  God, I am horrible at this faking shit.

  His hard expression turns soft once again as his touch becomes gentler. “What are you thinking about, Emma?”

  Well, shit, nothing innocent after he just practically purred my name.

  “Nothing,” I reply, closing my eyes. I need to get a grip on reality because this is not normal behavior. Normal behavior is running like hell and calling the alien investigators. But no, here I am playing eye hockey with this stranger, while his thumb is practically dry-humping my inner arm.

  “Breakfast… I need breakfast,” I blurt out. “Do you eat? I mean,
I know you eat... Do you eat?”

  I’m babbling nonsense until thankfully he stops me with his heart-shattering smile. “Yes, Emma, I eat breakfast.”

  I exhale, trying to remain somewhat normal. “Okay, good. So, before you continue to boss me around, let’s eat. I need food.” He releases me, and I take that opportunity to turn quickly, heading toward the kitchen.

  Emma

  I’m digging through my refrigerator like I have a life supply of food and just simply cannot figure out what to make, when honestly I have half a carton of eggs, an onion and most likely spoiled milk. I grab for the onion and eggs and, ditching the milk, I decide I’ll just improvise on breakfast. I put my minimal ingredients on the counter and head toward the pantry. Not like that looks any better, but I think I have Bisquick in there and that can be made with water. Well, not really, but I tried it last week and I lived after eating them. I know Sin is watching me, so I try and play it cool. I pull out the pan, bashing it against the counter then dropping it. I quickly pick it up and place it on the stove. Grabbing the eggs, the first two slip from my hands and plummet to the floor.

  “Shit,” I curse to myself. If I were alone, I would just scrape them up and throw it in the pan. Five second rule, duh. Plus, I'm poor, so an egg is an egg. I choose not to go that route, so I wipe them up and go for another egg. I notice I only have three left. Knowing that wouldn’t fill me up, let alone the beast sitting at my counter, I begin to worry. I can give him the three eggs and make him the pancakes, and I think I have some Triscuits that I can pour some syrup—

  “Do you have a place we can order food from?” he breaks my internal breakfast battle.

  I look at him as he stares me down. “What, why? Um— we do, but we’re fine. Do you not like breakfast?” I ask, trying to grab for another egg. While I bring it to the pan, I crack it and it decides to slide out down the outside of the pan instead. “Are you serious?” I argue with the damn egg. Only in times of need does this bullshit happen.

  “Order food in. I’ll take care of it,” Sin states with no remorse of my poor cooking skills.

  I turn, annoyed. “Why? Do you think I can’t cook a simple meal?” I bite back.

  My harsh comment doesn’t faze him. “No, it seems from the looks of you, you haven’t had a decent meal in some time. You are too thin for your size. And I think you need to eat.” He stops to register my reaction. Once he sees I’m not going to attack, he continues. “So order. Anything you want. Double it for me. And we will eat. Then we will talk.”

  After I swallow a gigantic bite of the best and fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever eaten from Duck and Pond’s restaurant, I stare down Sin. “So, spill. What are you?” I ask bluntly, stuffing more pancakes into my mouth. The food was definitely a smart idea. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until the delivery guy brought us, I kid you not, eight bags filled with food.

  I originally started ordering random stuff, wondering if he would cut me off or tell me to stop and just leave. But he didn’t even flinch. I also wondered how he was going to pay for it all since he technically didn’t have a wallet, let alone any clothes. But he didn’t bat an eye and when the doorbell rang, he insisted on getting the door. Before I had a chance to eavesdrop on the exchange, he was already shutting the door, holding all the bags of food. “Wait… How did you just pay for that?” I asked, but he just kept walking into the kitchen, brushing off my question.

  So now I’m taking advantage of the free meal, no matter how I got it, knowing it will probably be a while until I get a full meal again.

  “I am a leopard shifter. An animal shape-shifter,” he calmly announces while placing his fourth piece of toast up to his mouth.

  “Like a shape-shifter?” I repeat, beginning to chuckle as I stuff my mouth with more fluffy pancakes. “Sure you are. So… what was that drooling crazo in the alley? A Demon?” I joke and continue eating.

  “He is a shifter, as I said before, but in his kind he’s a purebred. He also has been gaining powers since I’ve last seen him.” He pauses to chew more bread before continuing, “He’s in search of a list of items that will result in immortal life for him. I’ve only witnessed his first initial power, but since then, I can feel it’s multiplying. His specialty is luring in helpless women at night to suck their blood and feed off their skin. It makes him stronger. More powerful.” He ends, placing another bite into his mouth.

  I, on the other hand, have half-chewed pancake falling from my opened mouth.

  “Excuse me?” I counter, scared I heard him correctly. “So, wait….” I pause, closing my eyes, hoping he’ll come at me with an ‘I’m joking’. I reopen my eyes and focus on him, his intense orbs glaring back at me. “You’re joking, right?” I ask. Hoping.

  His look tells me he’s not. Shit. “Tell me you are joking.”

  “I cannot,” he replies nonchalantly, placing more bread into his mouth. Jesus Christ, how much bread can one person eat? Before he can take another bite, I swat the piece from his hand. “Seriously, tell me you are joking. This is not funny. You’re talking some straight nonsense. And I get it. You may not be right, and I will help you, but what you’re saying... That is just not possible,” I spit out. Because I live in the real world. Not the storybooks with make-believe bullshit and paranormal nonsense.

  Without time to acknowledge, Sin advances from his sitting position across from me and is suddenly lifting me from my chair, pinning me to the counter. “It’s real, Emma. You saw it with your own eyes last night. The sooner you accept it, the sooner we can move forward with my plan.”

  His body is brushing against mine as he speaks to me. My skin prickles from the touch of his fingers that are resting on each side of my hips. God, why can’t I act like a normal person and flip out? I mean, he just told me that not only did a paranormal creature attack me last night but he’s also one, and here I am standing with my insides knotting and my legs clenching together. Get it together, sister.

  “What—what are you?” I ask, my voice shaky.

  “I am like him,” he states with no remorse. He presses his body closer to mine, if even possible. He dips his head lower and angles his mouth so it’s at the same level as my lips. “I’m a shape-shifter. I have the same leopard beast inside me scratching to come out. Does that scare you, Emma?” he taunts me, knowing my response will be a lie.

  “N-N-No,” I stutter, completely losing my brave stance. There’s a glimmer in his eyes, and they’re back to glowing.

  “Well, it should,” he declares. He brings his hand into my hair, placing the loose strands behind my ear.

  “What do you want from me?” I whisper through my quivering lips, although I’m not sure whether it’s from lust or fear of this bizarre man. In human form, he is walking sex. But to think about what I saw of him last night scares the piss out of me.

  He releases my body, and I slide down his hard chest until my feet touch the ground. “I want you to help me lure in the beast I have been searching for these past five years. He took something from me, and I want it back. Once I retrieve what he stole from me and rid this world of him, I will be gone, and you can continue on with your life.” He explains his plan like I’m simply going to fetch his mail and water his plants then go about my day.

  “Why me, though? I don’t understand. Why can’t you find someone else to help you?” I inquire.

  “Because there is something about you. You remind me of someone. And apparently, my enemy also sees the resemblance.”

  “Who?” I ask inquisitively, watching him tense, almost unwilling to answer.

  “Just someone he took from me. And for that, I’m going to end his life.” He is back to being hard and uncaring.

  “Listen, Sin, that’s not really good enough for me. I think maybe you would have better luck finding someone else—”

  “You will help me,” he cuts me off, his teeth clenching. “I chose to protect you instead of ending my long journey and taking what was rightfully mine – his life. I made a
n error in judgement and chose to shield you and allow his evil to escape my grasp. You will help me. You do not have a say.”

  I'm beginning to shake. His hard stance is unnerving me. I’m not sure whether to go all bat-shit crazy on this guy and attack him, call the cops, or just go crawl back into my bed in hopes I’m still fucking dreaming. Of course, instead of any of those logical options, I poke more into this crazy story. “But why me?”

  He begins to turn his back to me. “I told you. Because you resemble someone.”

  “Who?” I poke again, feeling I have the right to know.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Well, it matters to me, since I'm kind of in the middle of this now.”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Oh, it does fucking matter!” I spit out. For all that’s holy, am I the only sane one here?

  He turns abruptly, the chair next to him flying and slamming against the wall. I shut my mouth quickly, my bold self completely taking a hiatus. With lightning speed, Sin is back on me, lifting me in the air and pressing me against the adjoining wall of the kitchen. “She was mine! That’s who she was,” he hisses, trying to control his anger. “My life. He took her from me. And I will end him as he ended hers.”

  He has my legs now wrapped around his waist and as one palm cradles my backside; his free hand is roaming up my ribcage. “She had creamy pale skin, so soft to the touch. Just like you.” He continues his journey, making his way to my shoulder blade, wrapping his strong fingers around the back of my neck. “Her scent, it was so sweet, it could bring a man to his knees with just one smell,” he goes on, placing his nose in the crevice of my neck, inhaling a gust of air. “And her eyes, they were the colors of the sea. Just like yours.” His hand works its way into my hair, gripping tightly. “And this? This was so silky, I dreamt about the things I would do to her, wrapping her long locks around my fist while I fucked her so sweetly from behind. That’s who she was. She was beautiful—just like you.”