by Naomi Clark
“Shannon!”
A semi-familiar voice stopped me and I spun round to see Ayla emerge from a second-hand book shop. She waved at me, quickening her pace to catch up.
“Oh, hi.” I smiled, suddenly feeling a little brighter. “How’s it going?”
She held up a bag with the book shop’s logo on it. “Retail therapy. I need some entertainment today.”
She had picked books over TV. I liked that. “Buy anything interesting?”
She showed me a couple of trashy-looking paperbacks. We fell into an awkward silence, neither of us moving to leave, but neither of us able to think of anything to say.
“So what are you up to now? “ I asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I was just...wandering really. I was... “ She trailed off, then wet her lips as if working up the courage to say something. I found myself waiting eagerly for her words, hoping they wouldn’t be ‘goodbye.’
“Are you busy?” she asked. My heart skipped. “I was just going to get a coffee and...”
“Not coffee,” I said firmly. I’d left Manda in the coffee shop and I expected she was still there, wailing into her mug. “I need something stronger.”
She grinned, eyes lighting up. “How about a beer? I know a good pub round the corner.”
I wanted to say yes. I liked her—she was cute, loyal, honest. All the things I liked in a woman. She was also a werewolf. I didn’t know if that was an issue for me or not, but it was certainly a point to consider.
It’s one beer, I scolded myself as Ayla waited for my answer, her pixieish face expectant and hopeful. It’s not like you’re committing to anything. “Sounds good,” I told her decisively. “Lead the way.”
She took me to a quiet little Irish pub, tucked away off the main street and treated me to a beer. I sank back in the faded leather seat and wondered how much of a coincidence it really was that Ayla just happened to be shopping so close to the coffee shop. “Have you spoken to Toby this morning? “ I asked her.
She contrived to look innocent and failed. I bit back a grin. She’d never make a poker player. “Oh, no, “ she said, staring into her cider. “Well, you know. We had such a terrible argument last night, so I felt like I had to call him today and try to get things straight. So to speak.” She cracked a weak smile at her own bad joke.
“And? “ I persisted gently.
“And he didn’t really want to talk to me. “ She began peeling the label off her cider bottle, shrugging as if his rejection didn’t hurt her. “He said Manda was meeting you today and he’d probably be divorced this time next week and that was that.”
I guessed Toby had either told her where I was meeting Manda, or she’d used her super-werewolf tracking skills to find the other woman. It seemed like a lot of effort to make for... Well, I wasn’t sure what for. Maybe she just wanted to find out what happened between me and Manda, to see if there was anything she could tell Toby that might heal their sudden rift. “So you just figured you’d come and hang out near a particular coffee shop?” I asked. “Just randomly, with no ulterior motive?”
She flushed. “I didn’t know you’d be there,” she said too quickly. “Toby just said that was where Manda liked to go to relax and I wanted to see her and let her know Toby hadn’t actually cheated on her. I just... I don’t know.” She threw her hands up in defeat. “I thought it might help. But it won’t, will it? It’s stupid to even think it. And then I saw you and...” She trailed off again, returning her attention to her cider label, cheeks flaming.
I smiled privately, heart fluttering a little, although I wasn’t sure why. Except I remembered how hopeful she’d looked when she’d invited me here. I remembered how sweet she’d been to Vicky the night before. I remembered how my day had seemed a little less frustrating when I heard her call my name. “And...” I encouraged.
She squirmed in her seat. It was adorable. “And I really liked your dress last night,” she finished.
This time we smiled at each other.
***
I wore the dress again when we went out for dinner the next weekend. And after that dinner there were picnics, cinema trips, night clubs and finally, a month later, breakfast. It didn’t take more than three dates for me to decide Ayla being a werewolf wasn’t an issue. Some differences, I decided, were only skin deep. Our similarities went down to the bone.
AUthor Bio
Naomi Clark lives in Cambridge and is a mild-mannered office worker by day, but a slightly crazed writer by night. She has a perfectly healthy obsession with giant sea creatures and a preference for vodka-based cocktails. When she’s not writing, Naomi is probably either reading or watching 80s cartoon shows and sometimes she manages to do all three at once.
QUEEREDFICTION PRESS
URBAN WOLF SERIES
0.5 • Wolf Strap*
1 • Silver Kiss
2 • Dark Hunt
*published in the QUEER WOLF anthology
y
Find NAOMI CLARK online!
http://www.naomiclark.net/
http://naomi-jay.livejournal.com/
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SILVER KISS
an urban wolf novel
NAOMI CLARK
Ayla Hammond has come home.
After years as a lone wolf in a self-imposed exile she’s rejoining the pack and trying to mend fences with her parents. She’s convinced them to accept her girlfriend, but can a lone wolf change her ways? As if homecoming wasn’t hard enough, Ayla also can’t help getting involved in a missing person case.
REVIEWS
“Wow. Clark’s wolves are compelling and real.” Sherwood Smith
“What is there not to love? This is a must read!” The Pen & Muse
“It’s been a while since I read a book with just werewolves, and it was definitely refreshing.” Urban Fantasy Reader
“A fast-paced novel about werewolves, drugs and ferals. Real and gritty.” Bitten by Books
“A solid urban fantasy with bite.” Sidhe Vicious Reviews
“Enough action and mystery to keep you intrigued to the end.” SmexyBooks
“Her words flowed off the page and were so easy to read.” Smitten with Books
“My heart was pumping the entire time, ‘muy’ suspenseful.” Smoking Hot Books
“Silver Kiss is a great suspense filled urban fantasy. The action driven plot is well worth the read! You won’t be disappointed!” Wicked Little Pixie
“Naomi Clark writes an exciting mystery laced with conflict and complicated personal relationships.” Fiction Vixen
“Good literature makes you breathe the air of another world, feel all the pleasure and pain of another being, and stirs the heart. Naomi Clark’s Silver Kiss is such a novel.” Lark Neville
978-1-920441-12-8 (Paperback)
978-1-920441-13-5 (Electronic Book)
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