Over Hexed

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  No, that wasn’t really true. His brain was working much more creatively than it had yesterday, especially when it came to sex. He’d started planning ahead, which was why he’d brought along a condom, even though he’d had no idea when and where he’d use it. He’d never made love to a woman on a bed of pine boughs before, either, and yet the thought had come to him so easily.

  He wouldn’t mind hanging on to the creative ideas that seemed to be part of his transformation. Maybe Dorcas could isolate that particular ingredient and give him more. That would be awesome.

  ‘‘Your friend Jeremy seems like a nice guy,’’ Maggie said as they drove down the dark, deserted highway.

  Sean went on alert. ‘‘He didn’t ask you out, did he?’’

  ‘‘No, of course not.’’

  ‘‘Why say of course not as if you didn’t expect him to?’’ Sean needed to talk to Jeremy and make absolutely sure he had no designs on Maggie.

  ‘‘Because if he’s like most men, he was warned off by my attitude.’’

  ‘‘I don’t know what you mean.’’ Sean thought she was totally hot and Jeremy would see that, too.

  ‘‘When I’m on the job, which I was this afternoon, I’m all business. That usually scares men away.’’

  ‘‘It had zero effect on me.’’

  ‘‘But that could have been the wine.’’

  ‘‘I don’t think so.’’ At least he didn’t want to think so.

  They reached the dirt road that led off into the forest on the north side. Sean slowed the truck and crossed the road with care. He didn’t want to jostle the skunks unnecessarily. That meant taking the dirt road slow, too.

  ‘‘It sure is dark out here,’’ Maggie said. ‘‘I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a place where there are absolutely no lights.’’

  ‘‘I wanted to release them where they wouldn’t bother anybody. And nobody comes out here.’’

  ‘‘Looks like the perfect teenage make-out spot to me. Much better than the area behind your house, especially when it’s so cold out.’’ She paused. ‘‘Um, I meant to say, the area behind that old house.’’

  ‘‘I heard you the first time. It is my house. You just haven’t admitted that yet.’’

  ‘‘Let’s not talk about it tonight.’’

  ‘‘Okay, let’s not.’’ Sean eased the truck down the dirt road at a pace slower than he could have walked it. But he couldn’t very well carry a cage full of skunks, so driving was the only option.

  ‘‘So how come there aren’t kids out here parking?’’ Maggie asked. ‘‘It’s Friday night. Or don’t kids park in Big Knob?’’

  ‘‘Oh, they park. Just not in this part of the woods.’’

  ‘‘Why not? They’d have all the privacy in the world.’’

  ‘‘Oh, you know. Silly rumors.’’

  ‘‘Sean Madigan, if this is the place where the guy with the hook for a hand is supposed to hang out and prey on teenagers making out in the woods, we’re leaving.’’

  He laughed. ‘‘Where did a city girl like you hear that story?’’

  ‘‘Every teenager in America has heard that story, whether they’ve ever gone parking in the woods or not.’’

  ‘‘There’s no guy with a hook out here.’’ Watching the road in the truck’s headlights, he found the spot he’d located some time ago. Back in the trees a little ways was a hollow log that would make a good hiding place for the skunks, in addition to the cage, which he planned to leave out here for them to use as home base.

  ‘‘You still haven’t explained why nobody comes out here.’’

  Sean pulled the truck to the side of the road and shifted into neutral. ‘‘Well, the pioneers called this section Whispering Forest.’’

  ‘‘That’s kind of cool. Trees do seem to whisper when the wind blows.’’

  ‘‘Yeah, but apparently some people hear actual words. They say the place is haunted.’’

  ‘‘What?’’

  He glanced over at her. ‘‘Don’t worry. It’s not.’’

  ‘‘Of course it isn’t. That’s crazy.’’ In the glow of the dash lights her freckles stood out as if she might really be scared. ‘‘But just for kicks, is there anything besides the whispering going on?’’

  ‘‘Oh, you know. People let their imagination run away with them and think they see and hear things.’’

  ‘‘Such as?’’ Her voice sounded a little higher than usual.

  ‘‘Oh, strange noises. Roaring and grumbling, mostly.’’

  ‘‘Are there bears in these woods?’’

  Sean shook his head. ‘‘Not for years.’’

  ‘‘Then the noise could be a plane going overhead.’’

  ‘‘Yeah, or a semi driving by on the road.’’

  Her voice steadied. ‘‘Right. Out here you could dream up all sorts of things that weren’t real. So, what else?’’

  ‘‘The usual spooky stuff—disembodied eyes.’’

  ‘‘For heaven’s sake. Talk about ridicu—’’ Suddenly she gripped his arm and pointed a shaky hand at something over his left shoulder. ‘‘L-like that?’’

  Chapter 18

  Sean looked out his window. ‘‘I don’t see anything.’’

  ‘‘They’re ... they’re gone.’’ Maggie stared at the spot, her heart racing. ‘‘But I swear to you, I saw eyes.’’

  ‘‘I believe you. Probably an owl.’’

  ‘‘No. I’ve seen owl eyes, and these were no owl eyes. They were red.’’

  ‘‘You’ve seen owl eyes? I thought you were a city girl.’’

  ‘‘I saw them in the movies, okay? And they were yellow, not red.’’

  He turned back to her. ‘‘Was this in a cartoon?’’

  ‘‘Yes, but don’t go all Davy Crockett on me and act like I don’t know what I’m talking about. Owl eyes are big and round, like this.’’ She held circled fingers up to her eyes. ‘‘These were oval, like this.’’ She shrank the circle.

  ‘‘So it was a bobcat or a raccoon.’’

  ‘‘Six feet off the ground?’’

  ‘‘A bobcat or a raccoon in a tree.’’

  She didn’t believe that for a minute. ‘‘Shine your flashlight over there.’’

  He did, sweeping the beam over a bunch of leafless trees with a few evergreens mixed in. No eyes showed up. Nothing showed up except the trees.

  Maggie was starting to feel like a wuss, except that she had seen something. He was right, though. Her knowledge of wildlife was pretty much confined to the zoo and whatever Disney had to say on the subject.

  ‘‘You can stay in the truck with the doors locked while I take care of the skunks,’’ he said.

  ‘‘No, I want to help.’’ A tough cookie like her couldn’t let a pair of red eyes scare her off. Besides, Sean had put a shovel in the back of the truck. A shovel made a decent weapon. She wasn’t sure how well it worked against a ghost, but she didn’t believe in those. Much.

  ‘‘If you’re sure.’’ His gaze was gentle. ‘‘I can handle it if you’d rather not get out.’’

  ‘‘Yeah, but would you respect me in the morning?’’

  He smiled. ‘‘I don’t blame you for being spooked. You’re not used to the woods at night.’’

  She didn’t point out that the entire town, with the exception of Sean, Mr. Ghost Buster, was spooked by Whispering Forest. She didn’t want to align herself with that superstitious lot. She wanted to align herself with Sean. Preferably naked and horizontal.

  But she did have one concern. ‘‘When you talked about having outdoor sex, did you mean here?’’

  His smile widened. ‘‘Would you do it?’’

  No, and hell, no! ‘‘Absolutely.’’ She tried to keep her teeth from chattering. ‘‘If you’re game, so am I.’’

  ‘‘I wasn’t planning to have outdoor sex here,’’ he said. ‘‘We might scare the skunks.’’

  She relaxed. ‘‘Well, there’s that.’’

  ‘‘I meant b
ack at my place, and maybe we shouldn’t even do it then. The bed’s more cozy.’’

  ‘‘Well, just so you know, I could get it on right out here in these dark woods. I could do that.’’

  ‘‘I’m sure you could.’’ He leaned forward and kissed her firmly, then released her and opened his door. ‘‘But we need to stop talking about sex, because I can’t carry a skunk trap when I have an erection.’’

  ‘‘Are you going to leave the motor running?’’

  He glanced over his shoulder. ‘‘Mine or the truck’s?’’

  ‘‘Good one.’’ She laughed, feeling braver by the second. ‘‘I meant the truck’s.’’

  ‘‘I’m leaving the truck running so I can use the headlights to see where we’re going. As for my own personal motor, I can’t seem to find the off switch where you’re concerned.’’

  Maggie savored that for a minute. She couldn’t recall any man ever saying that he was overcome with passion whenever he was with her. Now that one had, she felt a new image coming on, one that involved living lusty and living large. She was definitely getting out of this truck and helping Sean with the skunks.

  The air was cold after the warmth of the cab. She belted her trench coat more tightly and walked to the back of the truck, where Sean had lifted a pine bough to check on the skunks.

  ‘‘Still asleep,’’ he said. ‘‘Let’s leave them there while we dig a pit for the trap.’’

  ‘‘Right.’’ Maggie rubbed her hands together. ‘‘I’m good with a shovel.’’ A snow shovel, that is, and she hadn’t wielded one of those since leaving Chicago.

  ‘‘Then let’s do it.’’ He handed her the shovel. ‘‘You can carry that and I’ll take the tarp.’’ He gathered the folded blue vinyl into his arms. ‘‘This way.’’

  In the glow from the headlights, she followed him into the forest, being careful to step over tree roots while she watched for red eyes. Ahead of them lay the hollow log Sean mentioned. Something could be in that hollow log. She hoped nothing was.

  Little puffs of fog came out with each exhalation. ‘‘I feel like a fire-breathing dragon,’’ she said.

  ‘‘I’m really glad you’re not,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m not into interspecies sex.’’

  ‘‘I thought we weren’t going to talk about sex anymore.’’

  ‘‘I can’t help myself. You’re walking along beside me through the woods, so naturally I keep thinking of your warm, silky body and how much I want to touch you again. Nobody else is around, so we could do anything we wanted to. It’s tempting.’’

  She was tempted, too, at least as much as he was. But Red Eyes was out there somewhere, and she thought that might prevent her from totally enjoying the experience. ‘‘We don’t want to risk scaring the skunks,’’ she reminded him.

  ‘‘They’d probably sleep right through it.’’

  Maggie sucked in a deep breath, hoping the extra oxygen would give her courage. She’d already announced her willingness to have sex in the woods, so she couldn’t back out now without looking like a chicken. The air smelled like the bag of potting soil she’d bought last summer when she’d had the urge to grow some houseplants. It also smelled like something burning.

  ‘‘Sean, do you smell smoke?’’

  He stopped to sniff the air. ‘‘A little. Probably drifted here from someone’s chimney.’’

  ‘‘We seem like a long way from the nearest chimney.’’

  ‘‘I suppose. Maybe somebody’s camping on the other side of the highway.’’ He shrugged. ‘‘At least I know we don’t have to worry about a forest fire. Everything’s so wet it would never burn.’’

  They reached the hollow log and Sean laid down the tarp. ‘‘I’ll take the shovel now.’’

  ‘‘But I want to dig.’’

  ‘‘Really?’’

  ‘‘Really. I’m invested in this project.’’ She hefted the shovel, ready to jab it into the wet dirt. ‘‘Give me the plan.’’

  He sent her a glance that warmed her in places that had nothing to do with sex. She had the fleeting thought that if they started liking each other a lot, that would be inconvenient. She could give up the sex, but she’d hate to lose a friend, too.

  He drew a square in the dirt with the toe of his boot. ‘‘We need a pit about this size, so the trap will fit down in it. Once it’s dug, we’ll lay the tarp in the hole so they won’t be on wet dirt to start with.’’

  ‘‘That’s sweet.’’

  ‘‘It’s probably totally unnecessary. But they have a dry place under the house, so I wanted them to have a reasonably dry place out here, at least to start with.’’

  Yep, she was really starting to like this guy. Jabbing the shovel into the damp dirt, she shoveled until she was breathless.

  When she paused, Sean came over. ‘‘Let me take a turn.’’

  ‘‘If you insist.’’ She hated to let him know that her arm muscles quivered from the effort. And she’d made a hole about the size of shoebox. As Sean went to work on the hole, she saw immediately that her technique had been flawed. After sticking the shovel partway into the ground, he stomped on the flat edge, forcing it another six inches in.

  He’d probably noticed that she wasn’t doing it right, but he hadn’t said a word. She gave him points for that. Not every guy would have been able to resist instructing her in the proper way to wield a shovel.

  When he was about half finished, she asked for the shovel back. This time she did it his way and it went faster, but her muscles ached, anyway. She tried not to show it, but eventually he tapped her on the shoulder.

  ‘‘I think you need another break,’’ he said.

  ‘‘Maybe.’’ She gave up the shovel and dragged in air. She was turning into quite the sissy. She shouldn’t care, but something about this place made her want to show that she had the right stuff, that she could do her share.

  Something about this place also made her want to grab Sean and shove him up against the nearest tree so she could have her way with him. He was breathing heavily from the shoveling, which made her remember how it had felt the last time she’d heard him panting like that.

  He had a wonderful natural rhythm for that activity. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relive the feel of that delicious friction as he’d thrust deep, sending the kitchen table rocking. Maybe outdoor sex right here and now wasn’t such a bad idea, especially if the skunks were still sleepy-bye.

  Maybe they should make use of the tarp before setting it up for the skunks. Oh yeah, the tarp would work fine. It would be smooth under her bare bottom, allowing her to slide a little, rise to meet him as he entered her.

  The scene felt so real that she could hear him whispering in her ear. . . . Hey, hot mama, whatcha doin’ out here in the forest? Wait a minute. That didn’t sound like something Sean would say.

  ‘‘Maggie, are you okay?’’

  She opened her eyes immediately, embarrassed that he’d caught her fantasizing. ‘‘Sure! Fine! Why do you ask?’’

  ‘‘Your eyes were closed and you were moaning and rocking a little bit. You looked sort of—sort of possessed.’’

  ‘‘Uh, I was—’’ She cast around for an explanation that wouldn’t sound ridiculous and couldn’t find one. ‘‘Wow, look at that! The hole’s finished!’’

  ‘‘If you can give me a hand with the tarp . . .’’

  ‘‘Sure thing.’’ Fantasizing about making out on the tarp was one thing. Having the nerve to suggest it to him was a whole new level, and she wasn’t there yet. Then she thought about the words whispered in her ear, the words that hadn’t sounded like ones Sean would use. Had it been the ghost of Whispering Forest?

  No, definitely not. If she didn’t watch out, she’d spook herself and end up looking like a fraidy-cat in front of Sean. She vowed to concentrate on helping him with the tarp and forget about whispers and disembodied eyes.

  They positioned the tarp so it was lining the hole, but they left a section free that they could wrap
over the top of the cage. These skunks would be cozy.

  ‘‘I’ll get the skunks if you’ll bring the branches.’’

  ‘‘Let’s do it.’’ On the way back to the truck she smelled smoke again. ‘‘I have to wonder who’d be camping in the woods on a cold night like this.’’

  ‘‘It’s not so bad if you have a thick sleeping bag and a good tent.’’

  Instantly she imagined them inside a thick sleeping bag, naked and sweating. When they reached the dirt road, she realized that she could glance up through the opening in the trees and see the bulk of Big Knob rising into the night sky like some ancient fertility god.

  Tomorrow she’d have to refocus on her goal of buying the property for SaveALot. But tonight, her job was the last thing on her mind. With that hunk of granite rising from the forest floor, who wouldn’t think of sex?

  Sean lowered the tailgate slowly, with as little noise as possible. Then he peered in at the skunks. ‘‘They might sleep until morning. That would be just as well. If they start roaming around in a strange place at night, they could get separated.’’

  Maggie thought about what Jeremy had told her— that Sean’s dad had left when he was only seven and his mother had died when he was eighteen. Apparently Jeremy was right about Sean’s protective feeling about the skunks. He wanted to keep the little furry, stinky family together. She was touched by that.

  He lifted the pine branches one at a time, checking to make sure the skunks still slept. They hadn’t moved.

  ‘‘They’re alive, right?’’ Maggie asked as she took the last branch.

  ‘‘Oh yeah. I can see them breathing.’’ Sliding the cage slowly toward the edge of the tailgate, he lifted it. ‘‘Let’s go.’’

  Maggie led the way, cautioning him about tree roots or dead branches in his path. He settled the skunks into their new home without incident. Maggie helped him pull the tarp over the cage and lay the branches on top of that. At last Sean leaned down and unlatched the door and secured it with a piece of wire.