by Rose, Amelia
The darkness on the outside edge of the parking lot was absolute and Melinda knew that there was a light near the picnic table on the other side of the tree line but right here there was nothing to guide their footsteps.
Melinda fished around in her purse until she pulled out a pocket flashlight and shined it on the path ahead of them. Cale chuckled in the darkness beside her. “You’re always so prepared aren’t you?”
Biting on the inside of her cheek, Melinda marched out ahead of him. Something had happened to him in the bar earlier when he touched her and in that short span of time when his hand was over hers she had forgotten about this case, about her brothers, about everything except the fact that his hand was pressed against hers. Then he had pulled away and while she had spent the next hour or so trying to sober up, he had spent that same amount of time trying to get drunk.
For at least the last ten to fifteen minutes of that time he had been making rather mocking comments to her. She was doing her best to try and ignore them but they were starting to grate on her nerves.
Melinda barreled ahead and broke through the tree path and into the picnic area, relief flooding through her. She flipped off her flashlight and started to walk even faster, trying to get away from Cale so that he could not see the disappointment in her eyes. A little while ago she had been close to letting herself go, to letting herself believe that having a relationship with someone was not a dream that only her brothers could attain. Now, she couldn’t wait to get away from him.
“I’m going to my room,” she told him over her shoulder.
“Of course you are, typical Melinda behavior, run away from what you cannot understand or conquer,” he yelled back, his harsh voice seeming to shatter through the night and cutting into her like a knife.
She stopped and turned on her heel to face him, marching back to where he stood next to the thick overgrowth, where the darkness was so deep that only shadows filtered through to his face. “You don’t know anything about me. How dare you pretend to have some great insight into how I operate? What gives you the right?” she demanded to know. It was not often that Melinda lost her temper but she could feel the blood pounding in her ears and her heart thumping against her chest.
While she did not want to admit any part of it, she knew deep inside that the reason his words had fired her up so is because they were so very close to the truth.
“I’ll tell you everything you need to know about yourself,” Cale declared. “For starters, you might be the sheriff of Stanhope and you might not be afraid of criminals, but you live most of your life in another type of fear. You have pulled all of your emotions away, catalogued them and then tried to organize them. But I’ve got news for you: real life doesn’t work that way. You can’t put a name on everything, and nothing goes as planned.”
At this point he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, gripping them and drawing her forward until she was forced to look into his eyes. The part of her that wanted to regain control itched to pull away from his grasp but the other part, the part that had enjoyed his touch in the bar, kept her where she was.
“Don’t you think I know that? Melinda insisted. “I live it every single day, unless of course you thought my great plan was to live by myself and have no one who cared about me except my brothers.” She saw the flash of doubt and hurt in his eyes and she dug in deeper. “Now, my brothers are gone, and there’s nothing left. Nothing except the job and that doesn’t allow me a lot of time to do anything else.”
As she spoke, a tear dripped from the corner of her eye. She hadn’t meant for it to slip through but when she had given voice to just how desolate and sad her existence had become, an overwhelming surge of sadness had swept through her.
Cale’s hands slid up from her bare shoulders and braced the back of her head as he leaned in and kissed the tear on her cheek. She gasped at the tenderness of the act and when his still salty lips moved over hers, she leaned into him.
Placing his other hand at the small of her back he drew her into him while at the same time probing deeper with the kiss. Melinda responded by opening her mouth and meeting his tongue with her own. She could feel all of the pent up worry and stress leaving her and she realized for the first time that she had been carrying such a heavy burden.
Running her hands along the front of his shirt, she reached up behind his neck and drew him to her. As her entire body pressed against the length of him, she felt his erection as it strained against the front of his jeans.
Instead of pulling back she did the opposite and pressed her hips further into his, her loins now burning with excitement so raw that even the promise of sex was enough to set her ablaze.
Pulling back, Cale looked deep into her eyes as if searching for the truth. “I’m not sure I will be able to contain myself if you keep that up,” he whispered in a low husky voice. She could sense that his control was rapidly waning. Unless she planned on taking this train all the way to the destination, now was the time to step off and wait on the platform.
But playing it safe was not what she wanted to do. That was what had led to every single decision of her life and right now she no longer wanted to be in control. Melinda didn’t trust her voice to answer, so instead she nodded her head.
She knew that she was playing with fire and when he growled deep in his throat and turned her around so that her back was pressing up against the tree just to the side of where they had been standing that was completely encapsulated in inky black night. A shiver of anticipation ran deep within her when the tree bark bit into the tender skin on her back and her arms. Even though her better judgment was screaming for her to stop, warning her that this crossed an ethical boundary she shouldn’t mess with, she forced the door shut and locked that voice up permanently.
Tonight, for the first time in years, she would not worry about being alone.
Chapter 12
Cale had not meant to kiss her. In fact he had been so mad at her originally that he had started taunting her. However, when she’d let that tear slip he realized he’d gone too far. He might have had a few to drink but he knew better than to push someone so close to their breaking point. All he’d wanted to do was to point out how much of an ice queen she was being, but instead he’d hurt her feelings.
Kissing her had been something that had just felt so natural. And now that they were in total darkness he let his hands roam, leading them down the sides of her arms, across her hips and under the hem of her shirt. She pulled his head in closer, tighter to her own and arched her back toward him.
He was afraid to turn away from her, afraid that if he lifted his hands from her, the ice would return and this version of Melinda would vanish into the ether. Cupping her face he kissed her once on the mouth and then softly traced the line of her jaw as his hands ran down her back and his fingers ran along the bottom hem of her tank top before sliding against the bare skin of her back.
She moaned and leaned her head back and he continued to trace a path down her neck and collar bone. In one swift movement he pulled the shirt up to her neckline and then paused for a moment to appreciate her beautiful curves where her pale skin was illuminated against the darkness, her ripe supple breasts and hips that flared at just the right spot. If a famous sculpture would have looked at her body, they would have erected shrines to it.
Leaning in he kissed her mouth once more, pouring all of his passion and energy into it. Sparks of electricity shot through him, blowing through his senses. Her hands moved down his chest, running under his shirt and tucking under the top of his pants, the tip of her finger brushing across the head of his penis.
Then she dipped her fingers even deeper, running them lightly along the end of his shaft, teasing him as it strained against his jeans. Biting his lower lip, she undid the clasp of his jeans and pushed them down, releasing him to the night air before clasping her hands around him and rubbing the pad of her thumb across his head. She laughed a little when he groaned, it was a light, lilting laugh
that cut through the night. At last, it was apparent that he had lost the last grip he had on his control.
Cale leaned back, pulling off his shirt and smiling as he tugged down her jeans. The night air was warm, but when breeze moved through the trees he felt her skin tighten under his touch, her nipples hardened buds that pressed against his chest. Moving his hand down, he used two fingers to stroke her inner folds, while the other tweaked her nipple even further.
Melinda had never felt the air against such a sensitive area before, but now as he worked against such sensitive skin she felt exposed, the air pushing against her with such heaviness that it was as if it had weight. She shivered and moaned, wrapping her arms around him to draw him close, and when he did she nipped at his earlobe playfully before trailing a path of kisses down his neck and onto his chest.
Flicking her tongue across his smooth skin, she felt him shiver underneath her, and knew that she’d struck a chord. Just then his fingers plunged into her depths. She gasped and cried out softly, biting into his shoulder to muffle the sound.
He leaned in again and kissed her, his tongue working through her mouth in much the same way that his fingers were now exploring her inner most secrets. Her entire body was vibrating and she shifted against him to grant him better access, spreading her hips a little more as she stepped completely out of her jeans and panties.
Instead of going deeper, he withdrew his hand, leaving her suddenly vacant. She arched her hips against him, feverishly thrusting them into the air in hopes that the need could once again be filled. Then she felt both of his hands cupping her cheeks as he pushed her up against the tree, raising her higher.
The tree was rough against her back, but the scratches did not deter her, if anything else it heightened the tension she felt across her body. Just then he lowered her onto his shaft, slowly at first penetrating bit by bit, when she tried to push herself onto him, to do something to release the burning coil that now threatened to overtake her, he pulled back just a little.
She gulped in the air in a futile attempt to try and reduce the heat in her body, but it was no use, the burning still threatened to overtake her. Her hands itched to reach down and try to give her some release, but she found that she had to keep them held out against his chest as leverage to steady herself as he once again stepped forward and then gradually began to lower her over him.
The muscles in her legs were quivering by the time he had finally gone all the way in, and she struggled to keep herself from frantically thrusting against him. Instead she wrapped her legs around him and used them to hold her in place and free both of their hands as he began to pull out and then push back into her, the intensity of it building with each slow and deliberate stroke.
Dipping his mouth down, he took one of her nipples in his mouth and ran his hand across the other one, cupping its fullness in his palm as he tweaked it between his fingers. While his mouth worked on the other one, first biting down to the point of exquisite pain and then pulling back and gently spiraling his tongue across it so that the night air caused it to tighten down even further. Leaning back once again, he took his thumb and placed it over her pleasure point, pressing down on it just enough that currents of pleasure started to unspool through her body and intensify the building orgasm.
Her hands knotted together at his back in frustration as she clenched at the open air. Melinda was never at a loss as to what to do or how to gain control of the situation, but with each stroke the frenzied anticipation in her continued to rise inside her until it blocked out all other coherent thoughts.
Arching her shoulders against the tree for more leverage she leaned into him as he continued thrusting. Just as she opened her mouth to howl into the air, his mouth crashed over hers as the heat uncoiled in her body and she found herself riding wave after wave of pleasure as the intense spasms ripped through her.
It had been many years since she’d been with anyone, but this was unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She had never come like that before and a moment later when he joined her she felt her body go completely limp as the numbness spread through her on wave after wave of ecstasy. Breaking the kiss off, she collapsed against him, breathing heavily, her body uncoiling as the tension seeped out of her.
Just then, someone slammed a car door in the parking lot so loudly that it seemed to vibrate through her and she immediately began to struggle to get down, pushing Cale away in the process as fear and anxiety started to make a return entrance.
“Oh my God!” she whispered as she brushed off her tank top and pulled it back over her head, followed quickly by her panties, jeans and flip flops. Cale pulled up his pants, but made no other move to get dressed, and when she looked up she realized he was watching her.
“We shouldn’t have done this,” she mumbled as she struggled to finish getting dressed. She realized how it sounded and she tried to hastily correct herself. “I mean, we can’t be seen out here…together.” She waited, and when he still didn’t seem to acknowledge the panic and worry that she was feeling she could sense her frustration rising with each passing second. Finally when he didn’t respond at all she threw up her arms in exasperation. “You can stand there if you want, but I’m going back to my room.”
She felt his eyes following her until she rounded the corner of the motel. Even when she was in the room with her back against the door she felt the tears threaten to spill out. She could feel his disappointment rolling through the walls.
Her heart felt as if it were being wrenched through a vise. The memory of his touch, of the way he had been the calm to her constant storm. As soon as reality had come crashing back down she had abandoned ship and retreated back into her self-imposed cocoon.
Now she knew that she would spend the rest of the night worrying about what had happened while at the same time fighting off the ghost imprints of his hands and his lips on her skin.
Chapter 13
Cale watched her retreat back into the darkness and around the corner of the motel. Only when he heard her door shut did he move. At first he had been just as shocked as she was, jumping back and pulling up his jeans. But the worry and fear that had crossed her face when she realized what had just happened had floored him.
A few moments before, he had been flying on one of the highest points of his life and now he felt the weariness of life catching up to him. Never before had he been with someone who was so in tune to his every touch and who seemed to anticipate his needs and movements. What had happened between them had felt almost magical but her rejection of any affection afterward had left him at a loss.
He let himself into his room and took a long shower, trying to escape the haunting memory of what had just happened. When he emerged a half hour later his skin was visibly reddened by the amount of time he had stood under the scalding hot water. Picking up his brother’s laptop, he leaned back on the bed and tried to sort through some of the files.
Charles had been nothing if not meticulous. Even though the files had been heavily encrypted when Cale had gotten into them he’d discovered that they were not just open files of information. Instead there were a lot of partial outlines and sentence fragments that seemed to disconnect and join up on other documents. He knew that there was some kind of logic in these files that could finally help him tie it all together and let him know where they could find Charles.
But that had not been easy to decipher thus far. Instead he’d found a few sections that tied together. However, most of them that he had managed to make sense of, dealt with Clara and his obsession with her. At first Cale had brushed them off as a waste of time or a madman’s manifesto.
Now he wasn’t so sure and as he started pouring over the documents, a picture started to emerge, and for the first time Cale realized exactly what it was that had first drawn Charles to her. It was her perceived innocence. Clara had been a very normal girl without much of an active love life. She didn’t date much and she certainly hadn’t flaunted it around the office. Charles had seen this a
s a sign of a pure woman and a pure heart and had somehow tied this together as a representation of his mother.
But that revelation had been where Cale had stopped and moved onto the next item. He’d chalked it up to typical psychology and immediately decided that Charles had some kind of mother obsession. Reading through the fragments now, he saw a different piece of the thread that ran through it all. Of course, there was the power struggle that was present with all stalkers: the need to control people by forcing them to a path like a rat in a maze.
It seemed that Charles had a deeper reason for this and after reading through his notes, Cale believed that he truly was seeking out Clara as a way to cling to his mother. Perhaps if Charles had been able to control her back then she would not have left him. At least that was the impression that was coming across as he read.
As the posts continued, they grew more erratic, more unorganized until the end when Clara left and went on the run and it had consumed him entirely. This was the point where Charles’ fragile tether to reality had completely snapped, and he believed that regaining control of Clara was the only way to get his life back on the right track. The writings became increasingly dark until the last one Cale read which sent shivers down his spine even on the cold night.
I will fix it. She will not find solace even in the darkest of shadows. And if that doesn’t make her obey me, I can make her live in the shadows permanently. Encase her in timeless beauty where only the stars can see her. Death has been my best creation.
Cale kept reading the last line over and over again trying to decipher its meaning. Why would Charles use the phrase “has been” instead of “will be?” As Cale finally started to put the puzzle pieces together it consumed him and with that he found that he was finally able to block out the memory of Melinda running from their encounter and the sting that went along with it.