A Mate to Embrace

by Riley Storm

  You’re imagining things Braz. He just came down here to get food. He works in one of the few corporate places in town that require people to wear suits. They do exist you know.

  It was a few moments more before something else clicked in. The man had gotten into the passenger’s side of the sedan. He wasn’t alone. Now Braz stared more intently through the rear window. The food was up on the dash. Untouched.

  A moment later the driver’s door opened and another man emerged, wearing the same style of suit. He adjusted his tie and headed toward Cerino’s. With his back to Braz, he pulled the suit tight around him to readjust, giving Braz a perfect view of the bulge in his jacket.

  He was carrying a gun.

  Braz decided he was done hiding. Grace would be along shortly, late as usual he figured, and so he only had a few minutes to determine just what the men were up to. Maybe they were going to rob Cerino’s. That didn’t sit well with him though. Something about it didn’t feel right.

  He started to slip from his alcove at the same moment the man re-emerged from Cerino’s, looking unhappy. The blond blue-eyed male all but stormed back to the sedan. At this point the other male emerged as well, both of them looking resigned. As if they were going to have to do something they didn’t wish to do.

  Not in my town, Braz thought, sauntering up to the pair.

  “Hello fellas,” he said jovially.

  Two heads turned as one to look at him.

  Braz had expected a lot of reactions. Polite dismissal. Angry dismissal. Ignorance. What he wasn’t prepared for, was the sudden look of fear in their faces.

  As if they recognized him.

  The younger one, the blond, jumped into the car, while the other one took off across the street.

  Cursing, Braz went after the one on foot. He glanced over his shoulder to try and get the license plate as the sedan peeled out of the parking spot and raced past Cerino’s, but the angle was all wrong, he could only see the side panels. What he could see was a familiar head of strawberry blonde hair atop a tall, womanly figure that emerged from inside Cerino’s.

  Grace had been in there all along, he realized. He caught a brief glimpse of familiar disgust on her face as the black sedan raced past.

  She knew the driver.

  Braz was so busy trying to puzzle out what that meant that he nearly missed his quarry turning left out of the alleyway on the other side.

  “Oh no you don’t,” he growled, arms pumping.

  Normally such a chase would have been over very quickly. But it was broad daylight on a beautiful day. There were people all over the place. Windows were open, eyes could see him. Braz couldn’t draw upon his heritage too much, else he might attract some very unwanted attention.

  He was going to have to do this the old fashioned way if he wanted to catch his pursuer.

  Whoever it was, they were in far better shape than they appeared. Braz exited the alleyway realizing he had lost ground. Angrily he charged ahead, trying to close the gap.

  There were a lot of questions in his head just then.

  Mainly, who were these guys, and why were they after Grace. It seemed preposterous of course, there was no reason at all for them to be chasing after her. Yet here he was, chasing after them, after they had both recently gone into the restaurant that she just so happened to be at.

  She had recognized one of the men. Meaning they had talked to her. They wanted something from her. Braz wasn’t sure how he knew, but he knew. He just hoped that it was about something she had done, and not what he feared.

  “Stop!” he shouted.

  It didn’t work.

  Drawing on his dragon powers a bit, Braz’s legs pumped harder and he increased his speed. Not quite enough to garner a lot of attention, but enough that he started gaining on his quarry in earnest.

  A few more blocks and he would catch him. Then he could question the man and find out just what the heck was going on.

  And how come they seemed to recognize me, and ran right away? They were scared! That doesn’t make any sense either. I don’t know them.

  Something was afoot, and Braz needed to get to the bottom of it.

  Up ahead, he smiled. Foot traffic was thickening as they approached the main intersection in ‘downtown’ Five Peaks. His quarry was slowing.

  A lot.

  Now Braz frowned as he gained rapidly. Was the man so out of breath already that he was giving up? Or was he—wrongly—assuming that with so many people about that Braz wouldn’t try something?

  There was a screech of tires and the black sedan arrived in the intersection, slowing just long enough for the man Braz was chasing to throw himself head first into the open window. Tires squealed and rubber burned again as the car took off, feet still dangling out the window.

  “Oh come on,” Braz groaned, throwing up his hands in protest. “That’s just not fair!”

  Several heads turned his way, but he ignored them, slowing his run to a halt. Whoever the man was, he was quite smart, using the presence of people to nullify Braz’s advantage over him.

  Almost like he knew…

  Now that he wasn’t moving, Braz felt the buzz of his phone in his pocket. Shoving a hand into his jeans he pulled it out, but it was too late. Two missed phone calls he saw, both from Grace.

  He tapped the notification and started the redial. Maybe it wasn’t too late, maybe he could still fix things with her, find out why the men were watching her, what they wanted with her. Then maybe he could stop whatever they were planning.

  The call rang several times, then abruptly went dead.

  She’d killed the call.

  Cursing, Braz tried again, but got the same result. The third time it just went to voicemail. He hung up before it started, and sent her a text instead.

  Grace, I’m sorry. I’m right around the corner, almost there. Wait for me?

  He hurriedly started back toward Cerino’s, hoping against hope that she would forgive him and return to the restaurant, allow him a chance to explain, and of course to question her about what was going on.

  This time he kept his phone in his hand. It buzzed not much later.

  Leave me alone. I’m gone.

  Crap. She was going to go back home now, without seeing him.

  Kennewick Falls was the nearest city to Five Peaks. Boasting over a hundred-thousand people, it wasn’t large by any means, but to the ten-thousand or so residents of the valley in which Five Peaks resided, it was still ‘the big city’ to them. It was about two hours north of town.

  Braz had to stop her before she got through the mountains. He had to.

  It had been over five years since he’d last seen Grace. Five years too long.

  He couldn’t go without seeing her any longer.

  Chapter Four

  Grace

  She’d checked out of the hotel quickly, dumping her small bag in the trunk next to the box of stuff Jack’s mom had given her. It was still taped shut, she’d yet to go through it.

  Now she set her sights north, through the mountains. There was only one road that linked Kennewick Falls to Five Peaks, and it was a long, winding, two lane road that meandered between many of the peaks.

  Including Mount Aterna. She glared up at it as it passed, knowing full well Braz was probably up there with his family, having completely forgotten about her and their meeting. It was so typical of him. He always disappeared at the most inopportune times, and had the worst excuses as to why he had to miss something or another.

  That was one of the things that had slowly poisoned her friendship with him. Not the major one of course, but it hadn’t helped.

  Reaching out, she cranked up the radio a bit more, trying to drown out her thoughts and ease some of her anger.

  “Today has been really crappy, hasn’t it?” she said to absolutely no one. Sometimes it helped to vocalize her feelings instead of simply leaving them in her head. It helped her to get past the emotions, so that she could try and move on.

  It would be di
fficult to do so now. First she’d been stood up by Braz, who had no-showed after begging her to stick around, to meet with her for lunch. That stung, a lot. She’d been gullible enough to believe that he actually wanted to see her.

  Couldn’t have been more wrong on that account. Typical Braz, not caring about others.

  It was because of her apparent weakness when it came to Braz that she’d been in the right spot at the right time for Johnny Larson to come across her as well. Back in Five Peaks for less than forty-eight hours, and someone else from her past had come up to her and hit on her.

  I hate small towns.

  She still couldn’t believe how badly Johnny had taken the rejection. It had been what, almost fifteen years since she’d graduated high school. Why would he ever assume that, after so long, she would simply agree to go on a date with him? It made no sense.

  Neither did the way he’d peeled out of there, tires squealing, face set in stone as he blazed past her, not even glancing over. It was so immature, and just another reason she would be glad to get the hell out of Five Peaks for good.

  Grace had closed the last connection to that town. Jack was dead, may he rest in peace, and she was now severing all other ties with it. Done. Gone. Goodbye.

  “It’s time to get back home. To your job, and Kennewick Falls. Where you belong,” she said, trying to force a smile.

  Home wasn’t as great as she made it out to be either, but what did that matter. It was better than here!

  In her rear view a truck came racing up from behind. Grace only noticed it because it was the first vehicle she’d seen since entering the mountains. She frowned at the speed with which it was overtaking her. Whoever it was, they were in a heck of a hurry to get somewhere.

  She eased her car over to the right a little, so that whoever it was would have no problems overtaking her and being on their way.

  Except they didn’t pass her. They came up right on her tail, and started hammering on the horn and flashing their lights at her.

  “What the hell!” she cried, narrowing her eyes.

  It was daytime, but the truck was huge and its headlights shone right into her car, and the high beams were powerful when they reflected off her mirror.

  Lowering her window, she slowed even more and pulled onto the shoulder a little, waving the truck by.

  “Go!” she shouted. “Just go past me will you, dammit!”

  But they didn’t.

  Angrily she got back on the highway and sped up. The truck kept up with her. Still honking, flashing its lights.

  They hit a straightaway and the truck came up next to her.

  “Grace!” a familiar voice bellowed through an open window.

  “Braz?” she shrieked. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Whether he could hear her or not she didn’t know, it was more an instinctual response.

  “Pull over!” he roared.

  Grace was focusing on the road, but her face scrunched up in amazement.

  “Absolutely not!” she shouted. “You’re acting like a madman. Leave me alone or I’ll call the police!”

  “Just pull over!” he growled, and sped in front of her, and then began to slow down, forcing her to as well.

  Grace tried to go around him, but the truck was way bigger than her car.

  “Fine, you asshole,” she cursed, seeing a service road up ahead. “Fine. I’ll get off the damn highway. You’ve earned a mighty tongue-whipping I tell ya!”

  She eased her car off the highway and then followed the service road up a bit. In the distance she saw a radio tower of some sort. That must be where the road lead. She stopped well short of it and turned her car around.

  Braz’ truck pulled off to the side and he hopped out.

  Killing the engine, she exited her car as well.

  “What is wrong with you?” she screamed as he approached. “You could have killed me Braz? What were you thinking with that little maneuver of yours back there?”

  “I had to talk to you,” he said.

  “You had a chance to talk to me,” she said, biting the words off. “Back at Cerino’s. You know, the place where we agreed to meet? Where you stood me up and made me look like an idiot? Yeah, that place. You should have been there, like you said you would. But surprise-surprise, Braz couldn’t keep his word. Again.” She crossed her arms angrily, daring him to try and explain it all away.

  “That’s why I need to talk with you,” he said. “I know, it’s going to sound crazy, but I need you to trust me.”

  Grace shook her head. “Trust you, Braz? How on earth am I supposed to do that? You just about killed me while driving like a maniac. My heart feels like it’s going to explode from the adrenaline. You’re nuts if you think I’m going to believe a word you’re about to say. I have no reason to trust you.”

  Braz seemed to think about that for a moment, which caught her by surprise. Why would he care so much about this?

  “I need you to believe me,” he said slowly. “This is urgent.”

  “You can’t even arrive for lunch on time Braz. I don’t want to hear whatever excuse is going to come out of your mouth this time. You’ve always been like that. Going off to do mysterious things, not showing up when you said you would. I’m tired of your lame-ass excuses. So just don’t, okay? Just don’t. I’m done.”

  Braz’s face tightened as her words hit home, reminding him of all the times he’d done exactly those things back when they had been friends. There was no escaping that truth for him. Not anymore, she was done playing games.

  “You want me to prove I’m serious?” he asked in a tone that set off all sorts of alarm bells in Grace’s mind.

  “Um,” she said, looking around nervously, backing away. “That depends on what you mean, Braz.”

  He frowned as she moved away from him. “I’m not going to hurt you Grace.”

  “Well, you almost killed me,” she said, hearing the slightly hysterical note in her own voice and not liking it.

  Get a hold of yourself. You’re fine, now. You can calm down.

  “I’m sorry,” Braz said. “I needed you to stop, so I could talk to you. You weren’t listening.”

  “Yeah, and for good reason,” she pointed out.

  She watched Braz take a deep breath, then let it out slow. His eyes weren’t on her, but simply staring off into nothing. That went on for several minutes, while she grew increasingly uncomfortable with the silence.

  Grace almost opened her mouth to speak, but she didn’t want Braz to win.

  “I’ll prove it then,” he said at last.

  “Prove what?”

  “That I’m serious about needing to talk to you about something urgent. And show you something. Something that will convince you I trust you, and that you can trust me.”

  Grace eyed him sidelong, wondering what the heck he was hinting at. “Okay,” she said at last, wondering why she was even agreeing to this.

  Because you’ve never seen him this agitated before. Something is bothering him, and that’s new.

  Nothing had ever bothered Braz in the past, to the point that he seemed sometimes as if he simply did not care. That was gone now, and whatever it was, it somehow involved her. Curiosity was a powerful motivator, and Grace was having a hard time fighting that off. She was intrigued, and already out of the car.

  What was the worst that could happen by finding out?

  Braz looked around, then he pointed. “Over there, follow me.”

  Grace followed him down the ditch and up the other side of the road, then through the trees. “Where are you taking me?” she asked, starting to regret agreeing to this.

  “Clearing up here,” he said, pointing.

  They emerged into the clearing. Long grass grew wild and free there. A stump stuck up at the top of a little mound off to one side, the charred remains of a tree that had been struck by lightning laying on the ground next to it.

  “Now what?” she asked, pausing on the edge of the clearing. “I’m here,
in a clearing in a forest. What could possibly be so important?”

  Braz motioned for her to stay there, while he walked over to the mound, putting the tree between the two of them. She could only see him from the waist up now.

  Then he took off his shirt.

  “Braz?” she asked warily. “What is going on?”

  “I’m going to show you something,” he said in an oddly tight voice. “You need to know it, I think. And I need you to trust me, to believe me on some things. This is going to answer a lot of questions.”

  There was a long pause as he seemed to pull his pants down, though she couldn’t actually see him remove them.

  “And it’s going to invite a lot more.”

  Grace wondered what the heck was going on.

  “I am not interested in sleeping with you,” she called. “You’ve got a great body, but Braz it takes more than that. It takes an emotional connection. Adrenaline and a clearing in a forest are not enough for me, sorry.”

  “That’s not what I’m doing,” he said, turning to face her.

  She marveled at his perfectly chiseled body. The symmetry of his muscles, the lines carved from his stomach and chest. They were picture-perfect. It was impossible not to stare.

  “What are you doing?” she managed to get out.

  “Trusting you with my biggest secret,” he said quietly, and fully stepped out from behind the tree.

  Chapter Five

  Braz

  This was by far the craziest thing he had ever done.

  Ever.

  Going out on a huge limb, trusting that tiniest of sliver he called his gut. Thankfully Braz had been able to stew on the idea for the past five years, so it wasn’t quite as abrupt and random as it might appear from the outside. He knew who she was, and he had a fairly good inkling of what that meant for him.

  Of course, just because he wasn’t shocked that he’d come to this decision, didn’t mean that Grace wouldn’t be. She was going to freak out.

  “Sit down,” he said as she averted her eyes from his nudity. “Or kneel. Something like that. I don’t want you to fall over when it happens.”