Blood Moon

by A. D. Ryan

  “We should get you to a hospital. Run a tox screen,” Dad suggested.

  “Keith,” Mom interrupted from behind me.

  “What, Laura?” he countered. “She was probably drugged!”

  Suddenly, my head pounded. It was all too much, and I started to feel faint. “I think I need to lie down,” I whimpered, my hands slipping from David’s face and down his chest where he captured them in his and turned them over.

  When I followed his gaze, I realized that I hadn’t gotten all the dirt and grass stains off of them, and he was freaking out all over again. I yanked them from his grasp and clenched them into fists in front of me as I stepped back.

  “Brooke…” he started. “Maybe your dad’s right…”

  With a sigh, I conceded defeat. “Fine. I’ll go. Can I use the washroom and change, though?”

  David looked to my father, who nodded his assent, and then tilted his head toward the bathroom. “Yeah. Go ahead.”

  The minute I closed the bathroom door, I pressed my back against it and slid to the floor as I listened to them talk about me. “Maybe I should take her alone,” David suggested in a voice just above a whisper. I probably shouldn’t have been able to hear him, but with my newly heightened senses, I could hear the couple three doors down discussing what to have for lunch. This only forced me to question everything Nick told me again, but I continued to convince myself that it wasn’t possible.

  “Do you really think this is necessary,” my mother argued. It was a wasted effort, though, because they were bound to use cop-logic on her.

  And they did. Dad mentioned that the date-rape drug, Rohypnol, often showcased the same symptoms of memory loss that I seemed to be exhibiting, and David was quick to remind her about the shreds of clothing they found. Again, I worried she might say something to try and set their minds at ease, and I knew that if she did, David would be the furthest thing from calm. He’d be irate.

  Without mentioning any of her suspicions, she finally admitted defeat, and my father agreed to let David take me alone. I wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, because David seemed much more apt to prod me for information without them around.

  The front door closed, and I pushed myself to my feet, deciding to wash the stains from my hands and the dirt from beneath my nails. I tried to work the tangles in my hair free with my fingers before giving up and grabbing my brush. I could feel the dirt and grime that coated every strand, and I craved a shower.

  With my parents gone, I figured I had time for one. I started to strip, dropping Nick’s clothes to the ground. I was just about to step beneath the water when the door opened and I heard David gasp.

  “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, his eyes trained on my body. I didn’t need to look to know he was talking about the scratches that covered my flesh.

  “David—” I started to say as he crossed the room to get a closer look. “It’s not what you think. They’re just scratches. I must have fallen on the trails.”

  His fingers passed over a few of the fading marks, and when I looked down at them, I noticed they were almost completely healed already. This baffled me, but it also made me extremely happy, because I could actually just play them off as minor scratches now. They didn’t even hurt anymore.

  “I was so worried,” he whispered, letting his fingers trail down my arm until he captured my hand and lifted it to his lips. His trembling hands explored the length of my arm, like he was trying to memorize the way my skin felt, and I noticed his blue eyes glistening with tears. I’d never known him to cry, and it made me physically ill to think I caused this.

  “Hey,” I replied softly, pushing a smile to my face. “I’m fine. I promise.”

  His breath shuddered as he exhaled, clenching his eyes shut and forcing the tears from them. Then, before I even registered the act, he pulled me into his arms, his hands splayed over my naked back as he pressed me against his chest. Sighing, I returned the embrace, closing my eyes and winding my fingers into the short hairs at the nape of his neck.

  His warm scent filled my nostrils, the notes of fear still quite strong, but there, hidden somewhere far beneath the surface, was relief and something else I glommed onto in the fraction of a second it presented itself: desire. It was probably wrong to want to forget my morning by getting lost in a moment of passion with him, but I refused to find it in myself to stop as I pressed my lips to his neck. He groaned, and when he tried to pull away, I held him firm, refusing to deprive us both of what we so desperately craved.

  After everything that happened last night and this morning, I needed him like never before. I also realized that Nick was a part of my past that I was able to give up once, and I was pretty sure I could do it again. Why? Because David was my present—my future—and he was always there for me. Even when I couldn’t admit to myself how much he truly meant to me. He was everything I needed when I needed it, and I knew he’d never abandon me the way Nick did.

  This was the kind of man I wanted in my life…the kind of man I needed.

  Fog filled the bathroom as the hot water streamed from the showerhead, and I drew David’s lips to mine, kissing him deeply. He hesitated, but only for a moment before his mouth moved against mine, both desperate and eager, his need for solace thick and undeniable. Caught in the haze of our passion, I pulled him toward the shower, both of us stumbling as we stepped inside and closed the glass door.

  The kiss started out as a perfect combination of hard yet tender, delightful and frantic. It was everything I expected from David. It was enough to leave me breathless, and when I pressed my naked body against him, something crept into our embrace: an insistency that I, maybe, hadn’t entirely seen coming.

  David was still fully dressed, and the water soaked his clothes through, making them stick to his body as he tried to break us apart long enough to remove them. So blinded by the lust that consumed us, I pushed him against the tile wall and placed my hands on his chest, curling my fingers slightly and gathering the fabric between them. My finger nails cut through the wet cotton with ease, and before I knew it, I tore his shirt in half, pulling it down his arms and dropping it to the shower floor with a heavy splat!

  He looked at me, eyes wide with surprise without seeming bothered by it. I just smiled up at him wickedly while I undid his belt and jeans, discarding them as well. Now that I had him naked, I placed my hand on the side of his neck and pulled him toward me, turning us both until he sandwiched my body between his and the cool tile wall.

  Despite the heat of the water raining down on us, goosebumps erupted all over my body as his lips moved over my neck, and his hands grasped at me with such urgency that it rendered me incapable of rational thought. Desire surged beneath my skin, my entire body tingling and humming with anticipation.

  Nothing else mattered in this one perfect moment. Not whatever happened last night. Not whatever happened this morning. All that mattered was that we were here together. Yes, our problems were far from solved, but this time together was essential right now.

  The air was thick with shower steam and the mutual need for our bodies to unite. When David’s hands gripped my thighs and lifted me off the ground, I gasped with surprise, reveling in the way he felt as he slid inside me with ease. With my legs around his waist, we moved together. I coaxed his face to mine, kissing him so zealously that our teeth hit before we found our rhythm.

  Because I was so sensitive to other people’s emotions as well as my own, I was easily overwhelmed by pleasure—his and mine. The heady combination of his fear combined with his desire and relief only intensified everything, and I struggled to keep myself from shattering in his arms. My hands flattened on his water-slickened back, my fingers curling and slipping against his skin, and I trailed my lips along his jaw and then his neck, where his natural musk was strongest and most tempting.

  Intoxicated, my lips curled back as the first wave of my climax threatened to overwhelm me, and I grazed my teeth over his skin. It was the barest o
f touches, but it made him groan, his hips moving with a little more ferocity. It seemed odd, but I felt the strong urge to bite down.

  I barely heard it, but somewhere in the deepest parts of my mind, that inner voice from earlier told me that doing this would only have dire consequences, and I managed to resist it. It was too strong to ignore completely, though.

  Instincts drove me, and I prepared to do it, regardless of the warning signs that blared in my head.

  Just before I was able to succeed, David cried out, throwing his head back and his hips forward as he pushed me over the precipice. Distracted by the waves of pleasure that rolled through me, my head fell back, hitting the tile wall with a dull thud, and my legs tightened around him. As the sensation ebbed, my curled fingers dragged up his back until they were in his hair again, and I brought his mouth to mine for a soft kiss. The impulse to bite him disappeared completely as my arms and legs trembled around him, and David chuckled, lowering my feet to the floor and pushing me under the water to wash my hair and body.

  He took his time, lathering the shampoo and working as many of the tangles in my hair as free as he could with his fingers. Everything was so wonderful that I momentarily forgot about the drama that led us here…

  …until we stepped out of the shower and David gathered our clothes.

  As he stared at the two articles of clothing I wore moments earlier, I realized that his relief to see me alive this morning overpowered his attention to minor details. Yes, he mentioned that my clothes had been shredded, but he never once noticed or questioned the clothes I had on. The only one who’d noticed was my mother.

  So, now, as he stared at them, his eyebrows pulled together and he raised his questioning gaze to mine. Nervous, I bit my lower lip and pulled my towel tighter around my body, waiting for the inquiry to begin.

  And begin, it did.

  “These are men’s clothes,” he pointed out, his voice eerily calm and collected. It was unnerving, given the circumstances. Unsure what to say, I remained silent as he continued. “Where did you get these?”

  While I knew the truth would upset him, I knew that lying to him would be even worse when the truth finally did surface. So, after taking a deep breath, I said, “They’re Nick’s.”

  His eyes widened, and I picked up on his growing anger, seeing the subtle tremor in his hands as they clenched the clothes so tightly his knuckles whitened. When he didn’t say anything, instead tossing the clothes back onto the floor and exiting the bathroom, I went after him.

  “Nothing happened!” I tried to explain, grabbing his wrist.

  He wrenched it away from me, wheeling around and staring down at me, hurt and anger fighting for first in his expression. “If nothing happened, then why did you wait until just now to say something?” His voice was no longer calm; it was laced with so much rage, I barely recognized it.

  “Because I knew you’d assume the worst and wouldn’t listen to reason,” I tried to tell him, hoping that my honesty would get him to stop and allow me to explain. When he fell silent, I saw my window and jumped through it. “He…he said he found me after I blacked out and took me back to his place.”

  David let this information sink in, and I sensed his anger fade a little. But only a little.

  “So, let me get this straight,” he started, crossing his arms in front of him. “Nick knew where you were all night, and he never once thought to call someone? Not even your parents?”

  “I—” Honestly, I had no explanation for this, because David was absolutely right; Nick should have, at the very least, called my parents to let them know where I was. “I don’t know why he didn’t,” I replied honestly, taking a step toward him and grabbing his hand again. “But I do know that nothing happened. Please, you have to trust me,” I pleaded.

  “It’s not you I don’t trust,” he muttered through gritted teeth, his tone indicating that he might not be telling the truth.

  Anger thrummed through my veins, making my hands shake violently, and I crossed my arms over my towel-covered body, feeling a bit defensive. “Funny, because that’s not how it looks from here.”

  “I don’t trust him,” he clarified, venom lacing every syllable.

  “Nick didn’t do anything,” I argued, deciding to omit the part where I woke up naked in his bed. That wouldn’t end well—not that this showed much promise, either.

  “Are you really that dense, Brooke?”

  I stared at him, my eyes widening as I struggled to keep a leash on my increasing anger, but I was slowly losing my grip. He had never spoken to me like this before, and the condescension in his tone pissed me off. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re a detective, and you can’t seem to see what’s really going on because you have a past with him.” There was so much disdain in his tone, and guilt consumed me, suddenly snuffing out my burning anger.

  Before I could try to tell him—again—that nothing happened, David laid into me some more. “It seems a little coincidental that Nick would find you passed out in a city that isn’t even where we live.”

  “Do you think I’m lying?”

  “Not at all,” David responded, his tone settling slightly. I sensed he was telling the truth, but his eyes showed just how upset he still was as he continued. “I think Nick is the reason you went missing. If I had to hazard a guess, based on how little you remember, I’d say he’s been following you since he got back into town.”

  “David—” I tried to interject, but he bulldozed me.

  “He followed us from the precinct and to that shithole club in Phoenix last night. When you left, he saw his opportunity and sedated you.”

  “Sedated me?” I tried to stifle a laugh. Nick might be crazy with his cock-and-bull story of werewolves, but I knew him well enough—even after seven years apart—to know he’d never do that. Even if I accused him of the exact same thing at first. Deep down, I knew he wasn’t capable of something like that.

  David looked irritated. “He sedated you and then did god knows what before dragging you off to his house.”

  I shook my head, smiling faintly in hopes of lightening the mood. “You make him sound like some kind of animal, David.”

  “Isn’t he? Tell me I’m wrong.”

  I looked him dead in the eye and reinforced what I’d been saying all along. “You’re wrong. I may not remember what happened, David, but I know Nick well enough to know he’d never do that. Besides, if he really did what you’re suggesting, do you really think he’d just let me go?”

  David’s mouth opened and then closed just as quickly. I had him.

  “I’m a cop,” I reminded him. “So are you, and so is my father. Do you really think he’d drug me, kidnap me, assault me, and then just let me go the next day?”

  With a sigh that signaled David’s defeat, he sat on the end of the bed, pressing his face into his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. “No, I suppose not.”

  I knelt on the floor in front of him, coaxing his face from his hands and forcing his eyes to mine. “I get that you were scared, and I’m truly sorry for having put you and my parents through that, but I’m fine. Really.”

  Reaching out, he cradled my face in his right hand, and I leaned into his touch. “I’m sorry,” he said, and I quickly cut him off.

  “You have nothing to be sorry about. I never should have left the scene last night. It was stupid.”

  David didn’t argue with me, instead pulling me to my feet and onto his lap. His hand rested just above my knee, his thumb moving over the exposed skin there and causing goosebumps to ripple up my legs.

  “You say nothing happened,” he whispered, his lips brushing my bare shoulder lightly, “and I believe you. But, Brooke, if I see him hanging around…” His sentence hung, threat unfinished, and I nodded slowly.

  “I know. I don’t…plan on seeing him again.” I couldn’t promise that Nick wouldn’t pop up unannounced again, and David knew that, but my response satisfied him for the time being. Remnants of our argument
still lingered between us, but he seemed just as willing as me to put it all behind us. Maybe even more so.

  This conversation was far from over, and I knew Nick wasn’t just going to walk away from whatever this was—not any time soon, anyway—but I accepted this one small victory.

  Chapter eighteen | recall

  Going to the lab for a tox screen wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I hated needles. The thought of sharp metal piercing my skin made me unbearably nauseous. Add to that the fact they wanted to draw blood from my body? We were lucky I didn’t pass the hell out. David was great, though. He sat with me and kept me as distracted as possible. Too bad the woman drawing my blood was incompetent and missed the vein several times before she succeeded. It took everything in my power to keep my newly acquired violent streak from showing, and she was lucky I didn’t attempt to toss her across the room.

  Something told me I would have accomplished this with a mere flick of my wrist.

  Afterward, David and I headed to the station. I worried about showing up, knowing that I likely scared my coworkers as well. Relief definitely thickened the air as we stepped onto our floor, but no one mentioned my disappearing act. It seemed as though O’Malley wanted to, but one look from David and he clammed right up, looking through a case file instead. Anything he might have said would probably have been harmless fun, but I sensed David wasn’t ready to make light of any of this just yet.

  Which was completely understandable.

  Back at my desk, David handed me my phone. The screen was shattered, the cracks spider-webbing from the upper right corner and down the length of the phone. Served me right for tossing it to the ground as I ran from the abandoned club. I remembered how strong the conflict was before I dropped it, and how I’d tried to fight it. But something in me won out over rationality. I still didn’t understand it. I had never been as impulsive as these past two weeks. My ability to keep a level head and fully assess a situation were some of my finer attributes, but somewhere along the way, impatience and irrationality had pushed them aside.