Bear With Me (Woodland Creek)

by Nicole Blanchard

  “Time helps, I imagine. And dinners with your newest friend.”

  This time, my smile is genuine. “Definitely.”

  “Now where are you taking me?”

  I haven’t been on very many dates and none of them had ever impressed me as much as the little Italian restaurant that Declan took me to. After Antonio brought us our food, we spent the next two hours talking about everything. I can’t remember the last time I ever felt so comfortable with another person. It doesn’t hurt that he makes my body hum with the simplest of touches.

  We finished our meal and Antonio cleared away the plates and brought us cheesecake. As we nibbled on the decadent dessert, strains of music floated over the air as Antonio sat at a piano in the corner and began to serenade us in Italian. Needless to say by the time dinner was over, I practically floated out of the restaurant. Declan led me to his truck with the promise that the night was only just beginning.

  “To my place,” he says, flipping on the turn signal.

  “Um, your place?” I ask. “Confident, aren’t you?”

  He flashes me a smile and pauses at a deserted stop sign to cup my cheek with his free hand. “Much as that intrigues me, it’s not what you think.”

  “Really?” I scoot over to his side and fit my body against his. After the past two hours, I need to put my hands on him or I’m going to burst into flames.

  He accepts my kiss at the next stoplight. “I can’t wait to get my hands on you either.”

  By the time we get to his house, I’m fidgeting in my seat, and rubbing my thighs together to stave off the ache. I can’t quite seem to keep my hands to myself. They trace the lines of ink on his forearms and squeeze his knee.

  He helps me out of the truck and my body slides down his before my feet touch the ground. We seem to have used up all of our words during dinner because I can’t focus on anything other than his lips.

  Declan moves closer, pressing me against the side of his truck. I bring my hands up to his shoulders and my head falls back. The hands at my waist bring our bodies together. At the first brush of his lips, I gasp and then his mouth covers mine and my mind goes completely, blissfully blank.

  The kiss isn’t wild or overwhelming. It’s just the light brush of his lips against mine, but nothing—nothing—has ever felt so good. He brings one hand up to push back the hair from my face and I find myself leaning into his touch. When the hand on my hip pulls me more fully against him, I go weak at the knees.

  When we part, I can’t seem to catch my breath. If it weren’t for the solidity of the truck behind my back, I very well could have sank into a puddle at his feet.

  “Wow,” I murmur without thinking.

  Declan nips at my lips again and my eyes flutter closed. He steps back, breaking the kiss, and cool air comes between us. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  I blush. “Or you could forget that I said it completely.”

  “Not a chance, beautiful. C’mon, I’ve got something else to show you.”

  After that soul-shattering kiss, I will pretty much follow him anywhere. He takes my hand and leads me past his cabin and shed to a trail in his backyard which leads into the woods. Visibility is essentially nonexistent so I grasp his hand more tightly.

  “You’re sure this is okay?” I ask.

  “Absolutely. If it makes you feel any better, I know these woods like the back of my hand. I promise I’ll keep you safe.”

  “My life is in your hands, so I’m going to hold you to that.”

  He stops and presses another kiss to my lips. “Feel free to hold me anytime.”

  The trees suddenly stop and a clearing appears before us. There’s an old abandoned building in the center of the clearing and a blanket laid on the grassy floor a few feet away.

  “What’s this?”

  He tugs my hand. “Best view in the world,” he says. He sits on the blanket and pulls me down next to him. Declan arranges my body in the crook of his arm. He gestures above us. “See?”

  I look up and gasp. “It’s beautiful.”

  “I told you.” The tips of his fingers trace the line of my arm. “This is the old tourist center. It’s pretty much abandoned now, but I come out here sometimes when I need to be alone. It’s kind of like my special place.”

  “And you brought me here.”

  He looks down and the corner of his lips quirk up a little. “Maybe I think you’re special, too.”

  I’d heard of romance before. I’d seen it every day with my parents. I just never thought I’d find anything like it in my lifetime. If this were a couple hundred years ago I would have swooned.

  Instead, I slide up so I’m propped on my arms above him. His amber eyes are bright even in the darkness. One arm is thrown up, his head leaning against it in a casual pose. I’d studied him throughout dinner, but my eyes can’t get enough of his square jaw and full lips.

  I shift, moving over him until my mouth is even with his. I’m pleased to find that he’s lost that smile, his eyes now focused on my lips. When I lean down, his hand cups my cheek to guide my face down to his.

  As our lips touch, I shiver again, before a loud snap comes from somewhere in the woods and I jump up, bumping noses with him along the way.

  “Ouch, shit!”

  “Smooth,” he says, holding his nose.

  I shove his shoulder with my free hand. “Jerk.” The trees around us are silent now, but the mood is broken. “Are you sure there isn’t anything just out there lying in wait, getting ready to make us dinner?”

  “What, like a group of hungry frat guys?” he teases. “I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to protect me if that ends up being the case.”

  Even though he jokes, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I scan the trees, but I don’t see anything. Determined to enjoy tonight, I relax beside him, tangling our legs together. “I’ll keep you safe,” I tell him.

  A grunt of agreement leaves his mouth before he takes my lips for a slow, sweet kiss, my head propped on the crook of his arm. By the end, his body is hovering over mine and I’ve never felt so safe and cherished. He starts to slide down, his bulk folding up to accommodate the movement. Heat washes over me and I suck in a deep breath, the anticipation sharp and sweet.

  He lifts the bottom of my T-shirt with his nose and slides it slowly up my stomach. His eyes catch mine and he pauses, waiting for my reaction. When I do nothing other than lift up on my elbows to watch, he smiles and shifts his weight onto one hand and uses the other to draw my shirt up to just underneath my breasts.

  “Do you want me to stop?” he asks tentatively.

  “I want you, please,” I manage.

  What I wouldn’t give to know what he’s thinking right now. To know if he’s feeling as into me as I am into him. He presses his lips against the soft skin of my hip and my breathing shallows as I wonder exactly where he’ll kiss next.

  When his eyes flick up to catch mine, I stop breathing entirely. He nuzzles his way up until he reaches the barrier of my shirt. My fingers tremble, but I grip my shirt and tug it up and over my head. I don’t know if it’s the darkness or the light from the moon, but his eyes seem to glow a soft gold when I look back at him.

  I lay back flat on the blanket as he crawls over me, my hands going up to grip his shoulders. His soft lips trace patterns on my stomach, pausing to nip and entice. His deft fingers pull down the cups of my bra and my nipples tighten and ache in the cool night air. I arch my neck as he takes one breast into his big hand and the other he covers with his mouth.

  I groan into the night and bring my legs up to capture his hips, needing him, all of him. Soft flicks of his tongue and gentle tweaks from his fingers leave me boneless beneath his hot, hard body.

  When I’m writhing beneath him, nearly mindless from it all, the hand on my breast begins the slow, torturous journey to the waistband of my jeans. I suck in a breath as his fingers release the buttons from its catch and draw the zipper down one tooth at a time. His fingers get
caught in the confines of the tight material and I shimmy them partway down my hips. Freed, he traces the lines of my panties, finding me wet and needy for him.

  “You need this don’t you?” he murmurs, his breath skimming over my already sensitive nipple. “You want me to touch you here? Make you come out here where anyone can see us?”

  Oh God, I shouldn’t want that, hadn’t even considered the possibility, but once he mentions it, my hips buck underneath him. Needing a focus in the maelstrom of sensation, I pull his lips back down to mine and kiss him with abandon—wild and hungry.

  His fingers slip into my panties, making me whimper into his mouth. They dip down and cover me, one finger tracing my lips with aching slowness. It dips in, finding me slick and wet with need. I go still at the sensation of having him inside of me. His free arm slides beneath me to cradle my head and enfold me completely in his warm embrace.

  The little grunts he’s making in my ear coupled with the masterful efforts of his fingers cause my body to tighten all over. Fingers now slick from me find my clit and fling me higher with a few quick movements. He finds a rhythm, one that makes my hips jerk in time against him and he keeps it up, murmuring encouraging filthy words in my ear, until I break apart against him.

  He kisses me as I come down, my body shaking from the remnants of pleasure. I open my eyes and find his gold ones looking back at me, a satisfied smile curls around his lips.

  “Think you needed that,” Declan says, his voice gruff.

  “I think I needed you,” I reply without thinking.

  He drops his head to the curve of my neck. “Watching you like that was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. Please tell me you don’t have anything to do tomorrow because I need to do that again as soon as possible.”

  I blush in the darkness, my smile so wide that my cheeks ache with the effort. “Oh God, I knew there was a reason why I shouldn’t have signed up for morning classes.”

  He groans against my throat. “You’re killing me,” he says.

  I tug on his hair until I can see his face. “But I can meet you after. We can go to a movie or something.”

  “My afternoon is packed with tours, but you can tag along.”

  He helps me straighten my clothes and get to my feet. My body still thrums with the aftershocks from the orgasm, so I don’t process what he means until we start to head back to his truck.

  “Wait do you mean like fishing or something?”

  He quirks a brow at me. “Yeah, out on the river. What, you’ve never been fishing before?”

  “Does gaming count?” I ask hopefully.

  He laughs. “No, I don’t think so. C’mon you’ll enjoy it. After we can grab something to eat, maybe come back here for a movie.”

  I forget about the fishing and remember his hands the entire drive back to the warehouse where my truck waits in the parking lot. Somehow along the way I find myself agreeing. As he pulls to a stop, a hollow feeling takes up residence in my stomach at the realization that the night is ending.

  He pins me against my door for another bone-melting kiss and when it’s over, my hands are gripping his biceps and I’m breathing heavily.

  “Can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” he says, his lips brushing against mine.

  I get into my truck and watch him from my rearview as I drive way.

  Maybe things are finally starting to turn around.

  Sullivan

  You know a date has gone well when you find yourself waking up the next morning with the kind of smile that doesn’t go away, even when faced with the likes of Sam before he’s had a cup of coffee. And I thought I was bad without caffeine.

  Flashes of the night before make my lips curl and my face flush warm. The curve of my neck itches from the resulting beard burn. Those moments with Declan when I can forget the tragedy of my own life are worth everything. No psychic white noise, no pressure from my brother or expectations from my grandmother. I couldn’t have dreamt a better night.

  With those thoughts on my mind, I pour myself a bowl of cereal and ignore Sam’s scowl from the other side of the breakfast bar. Last night was too perfect to let him ruin it.

  “You excited to start classes today?” I ask around a bite.

  “Over-freaking-joyed,” he mumbles, glaring at the sunlight streaming in through the kitchen windows.

  With no end to his attitude in sight, I finish my cereal and dump the bowl in the sink. I start to leave, swinging my messenger bag over my shoulder, but stop at the door. I turn to Sam with thoughts of all the first days of school we’ve shared in the past. His scowl is now directed at his coffee instead of me.

  “Have a good day today, Sam.” He looks up in surprise, but I leave before he can say anything else.

  Nonna is letting him borrow her car for the day, so I have the truck to myself. I reach a hand in my bag for my phone but come up empty. I curse and dump out its contents but have no luck.

  “Shit,” I murmur. I had it in my pocket last night while we were in the woods because I remember checking the time when we started to leave. “Shit, shit, shit.” I must have dropped it.

  I check the time on the dash clock and find that I have just enough time to swing around Declan’s cabin to grab it before class. Hopefully the ground didn’t get too wet overnight. The last thing I need is to fork out the cash for a replacement phone.

  It must be the residual dregs from the date, but I find myself smiling as I make the drive through Woodland Creek to Declan’s cabin. The sun’s barely up when I get there, but I can tell by the lack of cars in the drive that he’s already gone to work. God, it’s only been a couple of hours, but I’m already excited just to see him again.

  The woods look completely different in the daylight. They’ve lost a little bit of their magic. I wrap my arms around my waist to stave off the early morning chill. Without the big, reassuring presence of Declan by my side, the trees have a decidedly creepy quality. I laugh at myself as I pick my way through the trail, even though I may be walking a little bit faster.

  I search the grass and plants for the glint of my phone but still don’t see anything. A stray root catches my ankle, bringing me down with a strangled scream. The hard impact with the musty earth knocks the air right out of my lungs. Dew-slick vegetation coats my legs. Fantastic. I am definitely going to be late for class, which is not the impression I want to make.

  I roll over to my stomach, my hands sliding on the wet ground as I get back to my feet. I start to wipe them on my shorts, but realize it isn’t dew, but thick, red blood. The memory slams into me like a Mack truck.

  Heavy breathing fills my ears and a strangled scream fills my chest. I’m lost, running through the woods without an end in sight. I twist my ankle, but I keep running because whatever is behind me is going to kill me if I stop. Branches catch on my clothes and I lose one shoe along the way, but I don’t stop, I can’t.

  A terrifying high-pitched scream comes from all directions, sending ice through my chest. I sob, my head twisting wildly to find a break in the trees, but they’re endless. The scream comes again, but this time it sounds closer, like it’s right behind me. I’m so worried that it’s right there that I don’t see the limb crossing my path and I come down, slamming into the ground.

  I turn over with a groan, the wind knocked out of me, when I hear a twig snap.

  I come back to reality with that sound echoing through my ears.

  My gaze spins wildly and lands on the body of a young woman, her foot jutting out onto the trail, the lip of her sandals dangling from a single toe. I stumble back and slip on the bloody foliage again, but manage to keep my footing by grabbing hold of a branch.

  The leaves shift with the wind, giving me a clear view of the mutilated body. An arm obstructs what is left of her face and her bare body is stained red. It pools around her and splatters across leaves. A river of it flows across the trail. Thick ragged slashes pucker across her stomach, legs, and even across the skin of her pearl-white breasts. There are
entire chunks of her flesh missing, likely from animals that had come for a midnight snack.

  Her other hand stretches out to the side, open, beckoning.

  I choke on my sobbing breaths as I fumble on my unsteady feet. I make my way back to Declan’s house blindly, but the image of the body stays burned into the back of my eyelids.

  I throw up in the bushes before I ever make it out of the woods. A sour taste lingers and my vision flashes white as I yank open the door to my truck. I stumble trying to get into the cab and lean my head against the cool leather to catch my breath.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  The sheriff’s station isn’t quite what I’d expect, though by the looks on the faces of the deputies, they didn’t quite expect me either. I stumble through the glass door, smearing blood over the department logo.

  The fluorescent lights are dull and one of them flickers drunkenly in the corner. Ratty old chairs and a couple of tables like the ones you’d find in an old doctor’s waiting room fill the space. There’s even a glass partition with an older lady sitting behind it. I stagger across the room, knocking my shin on one of the chairs and slapping my hands down on the slice of blue paneled countertop.

  The lady behind the glass partition doesn’t look up until she finishes whatever she’s writing on the clipboard in front of her. Her name tag reads Debbie. When she does, her eyes catch on my blood-stained hands and widen.

  “My god, are you okay?” she asks, standing.

  “Someone’s…hurt. In the woods. Someone needs to go help her,” I babble.

  Debbie disappears behind the wall and then the only other door in the room opens and she beckons me forward. “Are you hurt?”

  I shake my head. “I’m fine.” I look down at my hands numbly. “It’s not my blood.”

  Debbie leads me into an empty conference room of sorts. She guides me to an old, worn black office chair and I sit down before the strength completely leaks from my legs.

  “Did you hurt someone?” she asks carefully.