Cricket Cove

by Haddix, T. L.

  “What… what are you doing?” she asked even as her hands went to rest on his sides. She should be pushing him away, she told herself, but her body ignored her mind.

  “Giving in to the inevitable,” he murmured as he held her close. “I’m sorry you’re going through this.”

  Amelia shamelessly leaned into him, burrowing her face in his sweater. She let the edges of his coat shield her as she tried to swallow back her tears. She couldn’t have spoken right then if her life depended on it.

  The house was mostly quiet around them, the sound of the running furnace the only thing breaking the silence. Logan’s hands moved over her shoulders and upper back in a soothing, steady pattern.

  After a few minutes she started to relax, and once she felt more in control of herself, she drew back. When she looked up at Logan’s face, the longing she saw there surprised her. Before she could figure out what to say, he kissed her.

  As soon as their lips met, the world disappeared in a swirling maelstrom that left her feeling light-headed. The only solid thing in her universe was Logan, and she clung to him. She met every caress hungrily, her anger and frustration transforming into pure lust. The feel of his hands on her bare back jerked her back to reality, and she turned her head. His lips trailed along her jaw to her ear, teasing lightly.

  “Oh, God.”

  “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” But he kept kissing her, his mouth moving down her neck, and he pulled her closer to him.

  “This really isn’t a good idea.” She wasn’t sure where she found the strength to push against his chest, but she did.

  “I suppose it isn’t. But damn it, sometimes I hate listening to the voice of reason.”

  He sounded so frustrated she couldn’t help but laugh. She buried her face in his chest and let amusement roll through her. “Oh, Logan. What are we going to do?”

  “That’s a damned good question. I’d better go.”

  “Yes.” She pulled back and went to the door. Logan stayed where he was. For a minute she didn’t think he was going to leave, but he finally started moving. He stopped when he drew abreast of her and stared down at her, turmoil plain to read on his face. But he didn’t argue or ask to stay, and Amelia was glad to be able to close and lock the door behind him a few seconds later.

  She stood there, her back to the door, for several minutes until she heard his vehicle start up and leave. Only then did she let out a shuddering breath.

  “Oh, dear God, that man can kiss. And why the hell did he kiss me again? I just barely got the first one out of my mind.” She tried to block the feel of him, the smell of him, from her thoughts. Going into the kitchen, she got down a glass and poured herself some milk. She hadn’t eaten all day, but her stomach was so tense she knew better than to try. She downed the milk and rinsed the glass out in the sink.

  Exhausted mentally and physically, she headed down the hall and went to bed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Logan didn’t go far when he left Amelia’s, just down the road a little distance to an overgrown driveway that led to an abandoned house. He backed in and let his seat recline a bit as he put a dark hat on. Something told him to not go far from her tonight. It could have been his guilt talking, but he wasn’t willing to take any chances.

  As he waited in the dark, he relived the moments he’d held her and the kiss. “You do like to beat your head against a brick wall don’t you, Gibson?” She’d looked so sad, so lost, he hadn’t been able to resist holding her. And that had led to more. If she hadn’t drawn back, he didn’t know if he would have had the strength to stop at a kiss.

  Just over two hours after he’d parked, the dark truck Archer had pointed out as being Roger’s the other night came up the road. As soon as it passed his location, Logan sat up fully and turned to watch as it slowed to a stop in front of Amelia’s driveway. He barely dared to breathe as the truck idled for several minutes. When it slowly started moving on down the road, Logan wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed.

  There was no outlet at the head of the hollow, he knew, and he waited for the truck to come back down the road. It slowed again when it reached the foot of Amelia’s driveway, but this time it didn’t stop.

  Logan waited a few seconds after Roger had gone back past him before pulling out, headlights off. He hadn’t thought when he bought the SUV that he’d be conducting surveillance, but the dark, almost-black grey was well-suited to the task. He drove very slowly, not wanting to run up on Roger around a curve. When he was sure the other man was far enough ahead, he flipped his lights on and sped up to a more normal rate. He got to the main road in time to see Roger turn right, not the direction that would take him back to Hazard.

  “Well, shit. Wonder where the hell he’s going.” Though Logan wasn’t terribly familiar with the area just yet, he knew that the main road led up into the next county. He also knew that the road led past a very popular, very rough bar. Given how often Roger had gone to bars during the last few days when they’d been following him, Logan’s money was on that being his destination.

  “And if he’s going to the bar, this close to Amelia? That can’t be good.”

  Logan pulled across the road to the empty parking lot of the small country store at the mouth of the hollow. He whipped the SUV around and went straight back up the way he’d come. Whether Amelia liked it or not, she was going to have an armed guard sleeping on her couch tonight.

  The persistent, solid knocking on her door woke Amelia. Heart pounding, she sat up and tried to figure out what was going on. According to the clock it wasn’t quite eleven. To her surprise, she’d dropped off to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. As she came awake, her first thought was of Roger.

  She didn’t bother throwing a robe on over her tank top and shorts but grabbed her handgun. With the lights off, she checked to make sure a round was chambered and then padded down the hall on quiet feet. Once in the living room, she crept closer to the front door, listening intently. She wasn’t sure she could hear it thunder over the pounding of her heart, but she had to try.

  The knock came again, this time accompanied by Logan’s voice. “Amelia, it’s me. Are you awake?”

  “What in the world?” She put the safety back on the gun and hurried to the switch for the porch light. She pushed the curtain back off the small window in the door. Sure enough, there he stood.

  “Let me in. Roger’s in the neighborhood.”

  She laid the gun on the counter and unlocked the door. He hurried inside and turned the light off, leaving them in near-total darkness.

  “What do you mean, Roger’s in the neighborhood? What are you still doing here?”

  “I never left. Went down the road a bit and parked. My gut told me to stick close. He showed up, drove past a couple of times then went back out to the main road. Do you know if he likes to drink at that bar a few miles up toward Letcher?”

  Still half asleep and running on adrenaline, Amelia pushed her heavy hair back off her face, trying to make sense of his question. “The Goose?”

  “Yeah.”

  “He’s mentioned it a time or two, yes. You think that’s where he went?”

  Logan nodded and moved into the kitchen to look out the windows that faced the road. “I do. So I’ll be sleeping on your couch tonight. Hopefully my car’s presence in your driveway will make him think twice about whatever it is he’s got planned.” He moved around as well in the dark as most people would in light, and Amelia knew part of that was because of his increased night vision from being a shifter.

  “Or it could make him do something to your car.”

  “He’s welcome to try.” There was a cold steeliness in Logan’s voice that made a shiver chase across her back.

  Resigned to having a guest for the night, she turned on the lamp closest to the hall.
Logan’s indrawn breath reminded her that she was half naked. Trying to act casual, she headed for the hall.

  “I’ll get you a blanket and some pillows.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Logan was glad the next day’s classes had been cancelled due to the flu because he certainly wasn’t going to be getting much sleep on Amelia’s couch. The furniture itself was comfortable. Logan was the one with the problem. The glowing hands on his watch dial told him it was just after midnight. He muffled a groan as he counted the hours until dawn.

  After seeing Roger’s truck, Logan’s adrenaline had kicked in, and the warrior had risen up. Now that the fear had gone and he was lying on the couch in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, the kiss was just about all he could think of.

  “What the hell possessed you to kiss her in the first place?” he asked himself again under his breath. As much as he chastised himself for acting hastily, he couldn’t really find regret for that part of the evening. Seeing her in the tiny tank top and sleep shorts really hadn’t helped the situation.

  His attraction to her just added to his guilt. If he’d thought it would do any good, he would have fallen to his knees and begged forgiveness. Somehow he didn’t see that going very far. Not after what he’d done.

  A soft click at the end of the hall caught his attention and he held his breath as he listened closely to see where she was going. When he heard the back door open, then close quietly, he sat up with a frown.

  “Where in the world do you think you’re going?” he muttered. He grabbed his glasses and his holstered gun, shoving the latter onto his belt, and hurried down the hall. He opened the door just in time to see her hang a robe up on a hook, leaving her as naked as the day she’d been born. They both gasped.

  “What are you doing?” he growled as she pulled the robe down to cover herself.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you were asleep. I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  “Well, I wasn’t.” And she had no idea how much she’d disturbed him. Even though he hadn’t turned a light on and the porch was dark, shielded from the night by the curtains she’d pulled on all sides, his night vision was good enough that he’d gotten a good look at her bare skin.

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I thought a run might help. I’m sorry.”

  Logan forced himself to calm down. She sounded so miserable he felt guilty. “No, I’m sorry. You just startled me.” He ran a hand through his hair, then scrubbed at his face. “If you want to go ahead and change, I’ll get my boots on and come with you. But I can’t let you go by yourself.”

  She clutched the robe at her throat and looked down at her feet. “Do you want to change and go with me as the cat?”

  He was tempted. Very tempted. He hadn’t been able to run recently. But his hip was still unhappy with the cold weather, and he hesitated. “How long are you planning on being out?”

  “Not long. And it would be more a stroll than a run. I just need to get out of the house for a bit.”

  “Then yeah, if you don’t mind, I’d like that.”

  She smiled. “Maybe you’ll even purr for me.”

  Logan blushed. “Maybe.”

  “I’ll go ahead and shift, and then you can come out after I’ve gone off the porch.”

  “What do you do about locking the door while you’re out?”

  She padded across the porch to pull back the curtain that hid a thermostat hanging on a far post. “There’s a key under here in a hidden slot.”

  “Okay.” He went back inside and closed the door to give her privacy. When he heard a soft yip from the other side, he went back out. Standing on the porch was a beautiful silver wolf. When she started wagging her tail, he felt a smile start to spread across his face. He crouched down in front of her.

  “Look at you.”

  Amelia came closer to him, sniffling his hands as he held them out, then giving them a swift lick of approval. She danced in place playfully as though asking him to hurry up.

  “Give me a minute.”

  She slipped through the curtains and he rose, pulling his shirt over his head as he stood. In seconds he was naked and he hung his head, letting his mind still. He focused on the mountain lion inside him, and his muscles heated up as he started to shift. The process wasn’t painless, but it invigorated him like nothing else. Once it was complete and he was the cat, he stretched out any kinks that were left from the transformation and left the porch.

  Amelia was waiting for him in the yard. When she saw him, her body froze for an instant, and then she erupted in a bouncing, happy ball of energy. He stood still as she circled him, sniffing his face, his ears, his feet. She got to his long tail and Logan tensed, not sure what to expect. Sure enough, she gently nipped at the end, causing him to jerk and grumble. He waved his tail back and forth indignantly and gave a little growl. It didn’t deter her one bit, as she panted and leaned against him, then took off like a shot up the path that led to the top of the mountain.

  For all her enthusiasm, she was quiet, and within seconds she’d disappeared into the trees. Logan followed more cautiously, ignoring the desire to run after her and play. As much as he had healed, his endurance was still low and he knew he had to conserve his energy.

  Unlike his human form, the cat had excellent vision. He kept up with her well enough, not letting her get too far ahead but giving her space to run. As they crisscrossed the mountainside, much of the tension he’d been carrying in recent weeks faded.

  They didn’t stay out too long, as she’d promised, but by the time they got back to the trailer Logan’s hip was starting to protest. He had one more thing he wanted to do before shifting back into his human form, however, and he head-butted Amelia’s side to urge her onto the porch ahead of him. She got the message and went up the steps. He sat down to wait while she shifted, and seconds after he heard a soft sigh, she pulled the curtain back.

  “You can come up now.”

  He got to his feet with a groan, which came out mostly the same as when he was human, and walked up the steps. He rubbed against her legs, letting a long, low purring rumble out as he passed.

  Amelia laughed and grabbed at her robe, which he’d knocked loose with the motion. “Oh, my gosh. You’re purring!” Covered again, she sat cross-legged on the floor and held her hand out. Logan obliged her by bumping it with his head. He let out another purr as he lay down at her feet and stretched.

  Even though his hip was starting to throb, he stayed on the floor and let her pet him until she was satisfied. She tugged on his ears, scratched his chin and his chest, and played with his paws. The whole time, he purred.

  “Thank you for this,” she told him softly as she got to her feet. “You didn’t have to. I appreciate it.”

  Logan let out one last purr as a response.

  She got the key and unlocked the door. “Come on in when you’re ready.”

  Regaining his human form took a little more effort than he’d expected it to, and he cursed his disability. After he was human again, he stayed on his hands and knees panting for a full minute. He cursed under his breath. If the way the muscles in his low back, left hip, and leg were seizing was any indication, he’d be lucky if he could get dressed again, much less walk inside.

  Amelia tapped on the door and opened it a crack. “Logan? You okay?”

  “Working on it,” he ground out. He snatched his underwear from the stack of clothes he’d taken off and managed to pull them on. “Do you have any pain meds?”

  She opened the door all the way and he saw that she’d slipped pajamas on. “Yes. Over-the-counter. Did you hurt yourself?”

  “No. I’m just not fully healed. I’ll be fine. I just need a minute.”

  He was cold, though. Now that they weren’t running, the sweat that coated his skin was quickly turning dangerous in the freezing night a
ir. He started shivering.

  “You stubborn man, why didn’t you say something? I didn’t have to go out.” She came onto the porch and helped him to his feet. “What can I do? Don’t say nothing.”

  Logan sighed, feeling like an invalid. “How big is your bathtub?”

  “Big. We updated it not long after I moved in. Do you need to soak?”

  “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

  She steered him into the bathroom and Logan rested against the sink as she stopped the tub up and started the water running. While he watched, she opened a cabinet and pulled out a tub of Epsom salt. She added two heaping scoops to the water.

  “This should help quite a bit. How hot do you want it?”

  “Almost scalding.”

  She tested the water, and even the way her pajamas tightened over her hips and rear didn’t distract him from the ache in his body.

  “This will be ready in just a minute. I have some muscle relaxers from where I had my wisdom teeth taken out. My jaw tightened up and I had to have something to relax it. Would that help?” She told him what the medicine was, as well as what pain medicines she had on hand.

  “That’s the same relaxer I have at home. Let me have two of those and two of the extra-strength pain tablets, please.”

  She got the medicine down as he moved closer to the tub. The water had filled up quickly, and he groaned as he turned it off.

  “Here. I’ll get you a glass of milk so you aren’t taking these on an empty stomach.” She handed him the pills and left. Logan almost couldn’t stand waiting until she returned to get in the water, but he did. As soon as she handed it to him, he downed the medicine.

  “I’ll be right here in the bedroom if you need me. Do you need help getting in?”