“You mean where people post everything they’re doing, like what they’re eating or watching on TV?”
“Yep, a narcissist's dream come true. You seem to know a lot about it for a Luddite.”
“I never said I was. I just had to follow my parent's rules. But they didn't even let me watch TV, you think they would've let me have my picture and bio online?”
“Do you?” But too late, it occurred to him that a person with a mother in prison for murdering her father would not want a lot of people knowing where she was.
Bethanie good-naturedly rolled her eyes at him, causing Shadow to laugh. The owl girl standing before him was quite a woman, afraid of nothing, not even him anymore.
“No I don’t have my personal information online, and apparently I'm the only one at school who doesn't. My roommate did. But I have no idea how she did it.”
“Let's take a look.” Shadow used the barn’s office computer to type one of the missing girl's names into the welcome page of a popular social media site. Melinda Vera's page popped up first and was a virtual blitzkrieg of her personal information.
“Melinda Vera has over four hundred friends online. I can't account for that,” Bethanie said. “As far as I knew, she was a royal bitch.”
Shadow’s head whipped around at that, wondering if he had actually heard her correctly.
Bethanie looked nonplussed. “I just mean that she wasn't particularly nice. She was one of those people that others pretended to like to get something from her. Her parents are wealthy. It's going to be difficult to slog through all the names to find her real friends.” Then Bethanie remembered something from her roommate's page. There was a way to cross-reference friends of friends by clicking on their name.
Shadow gave it a try. “Here we go.” He clicked on the name he had anticipated seeing there. “Henry Bord Jr. This should tell us if the three of them were friends or not.”
“Henry Bord Jr.? My student-adviser? I can't see him doing a thing like this. He's always been so helpful to me. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met.”
Shadow cut a sideways glance at her. “He's also the school president's son.”
“They were probably just friends that’s all.” Bethanie felt sure he had nothing to do with this. After all, she and Shadow were friends, of a sort, and there was nothing wrong with that.
“Take a look at the last person to comment on her page,” He pointed to the computer screen. “Does this look like just friends to you?”
Bethanie gasped. The words typed there were almost a billboard announcing his involvement with her on a very personal level. I can't get you out of my mind. Call me. Text me, girl. PLEASE! I'm begging you.
“It's him alright.” He indicated the man's picture on the screen that only confirmed what Shadow already knew. “I haven't been able to escape him since high school when he planted marijuana in my locker. Then to really send home the message that he didn't like my kind, he called in an anonymous tip to the police.”
The look of astonishment on Bethanie's face said all that needed to be said. “Shadow,” she said, grasping his hand that rested on the desk. “I'm so sorry.”
He nodded, reading the compassion in her eyes. It was cathartic for him. He saw no pity there. Just sincere compassion. If anyone was in a position to understand what it was like to have someone try to rip your life apart with their own hands, it was Bethanie.
“Well he sounds desperate. Worried even, like he really cares for her.”
Shadow was shaking his head as he read. “Or that’s what he wants it to look like.”
“That's not the only one he wrote. Look,” she said, pointing to the screen, “there are about a hundred more just alike. And they get more and more adamant, like he was getting desperate. And look at the dates. The messages stop the day she disappeared.”
“If that's not proof, then I don't know what is,” Shadow said. “But the police aren't going to see it that way just because of this. We're going to need hard evidence to prove he did it. This just proves that he was obsessed with her. Not that he abducted her or both of them.”
“It should be enough for the police to take an interest in anyway.”
“But none of these are threatening.” Shadow scrolled down the page. “Bizarre. But not illegal.” He swore aloud when he came across a particularly startling reference to her sexual preferences. “Has this woman never heard of privacy settings?”
“This doesn't feel right. I thought I knew him. I'm frightened, Shadow.”
He grasping her gently by the shoulders. “I'll take care of everything. And just to cover all of our bases in case he's watching the activity on her web page, we'll give him something to read. And if he's guilty of taking those girls, and I would bet my life on it right now that he is, he won't be able to resist the opportunity to boast about it.”
“But he's the school president's son. Accusing him isn't going to make you any better friends.”
“I've got nothing to lose.” He touched a finger to her lips when she opened her mouth to protest. “I've already lost my job.”
“You're suspended, not fired.”
“Well who's in a better position to influence daddy than sonny boy?” At least now his suspension made more sense to him now in the light of these new developments. “I've got a feeling that when this all hits the fan, it's not going to make any difference anymore.”
Chapter 9
Shadow hit the OK button on the screen for the last time, sending the pictures of the skinwalker out into the cyber world via Melinda Vera's web page. The trail camera had taken pictures of good enough resolution, others that were so pixilated you could not tell what you were looking at, that the skinwalker surely would recognize himself.
And just to be safe, in case Mr. Henry Bord Jr., their suspect, was computer savvy enough to delete the pictures, he had also sent a few choice pictures, the ones with views of his face albeit slightly hidden by the coyote dress he wore, to Shadow’s buddy, Bobby Blue, down at the police station.
He pushed away from his computer desk, scrubbing a hand down his face. He leaned back in his chair, laced his fingers behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. “Nothing else to do now but wait.”
“I hate waiting.” Bethanie sighed, resting her chin in her hand. The plan was to give the skinwalker the night to see the pictures of himself. It was going to be a long night.
From the corner of his vision, Shadow took in the delicate heart shape of her face and full lips that he wanted to kiss. The longer he looked at her, the harder it was for him not to lean over and do just that. It was also getting harder to remember the reasons he had for not having her.
“Let's get out of here.” Shadow had finally had enough. Taking her hand in his and hoping to distract himself long enough to make it through the night without ravishing her, he walked with her out the back door. Stopping long enough to snag two large towels off the shelf in the laundry room.
Outside, the air was perfect for night swimming. In the black sky above their heads, a ghost-like image streaked through the darkness, appearing as though it would fly right through them as they stepped off the back porch and onto the dewy grass. Then just before reaching them, the owl let out an eerie hiss and they passed below its graceful arch, adding to the mystical feel that enveloped them as they made their way deeper into the woods, flanked on either side by the changing maple trees, down the narrow path that led to Adams Lake.
Emerging at a natural wood gazebo built by Shadow's own two hands, he tugged off his t-shirt and blue jeans, leaving them inside the gazebo resting beside the two large towels he had brought for them.
Moonlight reflected off the still water of his shimmering lake where Bethanie stood, poised at the edge of the dock, nearly tasting the water as it sprayed into the air from Shadow's naked dive into the dark, tranquil surface. His broad shoulders flexed with each movement as he surfaced and came to rest on the bank where she could see the rest of him. A magnificently
muscled body that nearly took her breath away. Propping himself up on his elbows, he wiped the water from both eyes at once with one hand. “There's more privacy inside the gazebo,” he said, understanding in his deep voice her reluctance to undress in front of him. “I'll turn my back.”
Bethanie almost refused, but despite her shyness, the effort that it took not to jump in fully clothed was dampened only by the realization that doing so would only confirm her own cowardice at being naked in front of him. But her urge to swim was so tremendous, having been that way since she could remember, that it overrode her timidness. She nodded, turning towards the round structure whose lattice walls were covered in thick, willowy strands of Hyacinth. Inside, where she was about to strip off her clothes, she refused to even contemplate what it was she was getting ready to do. She, who had never been naked in front of another human being since childhood, already stood in a puddle of jeans around her ankles. Her hands shook as she pulled off her t-shirt, leaving only her undergarments as the last vestiges of safety, and she could not part with them.
As she stepped off of the wooden plank floor of the gazebo onto the cool black dirt beneath her, she was aware of every footstep as they sent chills throughout her body. A cool evening breeze blew, making every muscle in her body tighten at the thrill of tasting this kind of freedom for the first time, Even her nipples rose in stiff peaks, chafing beneath the silk of her bra.
Shadow, as promised, waited near the trees on the right side of the bank, giving her the privacy she needed to enter the water unobserved. And it was one of the hardest things he had ever had to do. Every cell in his body wanted to turn around and drink her in, but the last thing he wanted was to be a peeping tom and scare her away. If he saw her naked, he wanted her to be willing, giving him her full consent. And at the moment, the direction of his thoughts was making it increasingly difficult for him not to get hard.
The water lapped at her waist, shallow enough near the edge that she could touch its slimy bottom. Then bravely, she took a deep breath and waded in the rest of the way, the water rose to touch her shoulders before she stopped. The sensation of water surrounding her body was just as she had imagined, almost as if she were remembering long forgotten memories. Enveloped in an embrace like no other she had ever known, her spine tingled with the overwhelmingly luxuriance of being set adrift without anchor or compass. “This is the closest I'll ever get to flying,” Bethanie said as Shadow appeared near enough to reach out and touch.
Shadow chuckled deep in his throat, so caught up in watching her changing expression.
Shyly, she wrapped her arms around her breasts, turning away from him.
His breath came out in a hiss as he slowly ran his index finger gently along a particularly visible scar on her back. “What happened to you, honey?”
Startled as she was that he had seen the scars, she hid her surprise well. “That's what happened to me whenever I made my momma mad.”
Holding his tongue to prevent the harsh words that nearly escaped. He knew that nothing he could say could undo the years of abuse Bethanie had endured. So instead, he gently kissed her back in three places across her shoulder blades, following the longest scar.
Bethanie had never felt anything quite so electrifying as the gentle caress of Shadow's lips on her back. And when he stopped, she turned to him. Watching in the light of the moon as water lapped at his bare skin, she unconsciously wet her lips. Without thinking she reached out and licked a drip of water from his shoulder as it trailed down the dips and valleys of his powerful muscles.
“You like to tease me?” he asked, then with surprising speed, reached around her waist, pulling her roughly against him.
She shook her head, fearing she had angered him. “I didn't mean to.”
“With anyone else, I would consider it a put-on. But you… you’ve no idea what you do to me, do you?”
Bethanie knew one thing for sure, where their bodies were pressed together beneath the murky water, she felt the evidence of what she did to him. It was not as if she had never seen a naked man before. Once when she was a young girl, she and her sisters had found a black garbage bag hidden away in the woods. It had been full of magazines with pictures of naked men. Their parts had been so frighteningly large to her, she remembered wondering how a woman could take one into her body without a great deal of pain. Would that be the case with Shadow? Because from what she felt pressing against her, she feared it might be.
The water, now acting as a lubricant between them, ignited the flame that he had been trying so hard to extinguish. His attraction to her was undeniable now. At the end of his rope, his self-control had reached its limit, and he was tired of fighting it. He knew that there was a good chance that her teasing was her way of using him to satisfy her own carnal curiosities, but that did not disturb him as much as the thought that she might be using him to escape her own family. But her reaction to him was too genuine to be a charade.
Bethanie's cornflower blue eyes studied Shadow, their faces mere inches apart. He was looking at her as though she were his prey, in a way that made her feel, for the first time in her life, grateful to be female. She smiled to herself, knowing that she would finally know what it was like to be loved by a man. So when his lips came down hard on hers, letting her know with each thrust of his tongue that he wanted to be inside of her, to taste her, she was not surprised, nor were her virginal sensibilities affronted. In fact, she welcomed him. She did not delude herself that he really loved her. She knew he was not offering her anything beyond pleasure. And she did not want to ask him for his love. For her, love had been a confusing mix of emotions. Her parents had said they loved her. Her siblings had said they loved her. But all of that love had turned to hell when she had made the decision to testify against her mother. Bethanie wanted the passion that Shadow offered with every stolen glance of his steel-gray eyes. From Shadow, she did not want love or even the promise of tomorrow in his bed. She ignored the tiny voice inside her head that tried to scare her, tried to tell her that it was sin. They both knew that marriage was not meant to be for them. Coming from two different worlds as they did, they were just not suited.
She closed her eyes, letting her senses take over and at that moment all she felt was pleasure. The way his tongue mingled with her own was unlike any sensation she had known. And she knew that going to Shadow's bed would also bring only happiness. The thought filled her with peace. This felt more right than anything she had ever felt. What more could she ever ask for?
When she opened her eyes, Shadow was watching her. She felt he could see into her soul, read her thoughts. And at that moment, it was as if by some silent agreement, they both said that this was exactly what they wanted.
He wanted her in his bed. Part of him actually needed her there. As if he could soak up some of the innocence and determination that she embodied, it gave his soul hope that there was a purpose to his suffering. With one arm beneath her shoulders and one arm behind her knees, he scooped her up, lifting her from the water.
All at once, she could feel every muscle in his powerful chest and arms spring to life as he carried her to the gazebo where he used his foot to kick the towels onto the smooth, wood floor.
He carefully lay her lithe body down onto the makeshift bed of towels. Resting on his knees beside her, he took in the sight of her body, lying there exposed, save for her breasts and mons, to him for the first time. In the moonlight, her curves were subtle at her hips, and her buttocks round and full. Her breasts sat high upon her chest, and because he could see through the wet lace that covered them, he knew they were topped with rose-colored nipples that had risen into hard peaks in the evening air. He leaned down to her, drinking the water from her chest above each breast.
She gasped at the sensations he had rent from her body and was overwhelmed by the speed at which her body responded. Her core heated to such a state that she squeezed her thighs shut to try and quell some of the discomfort building there.
Consciously, Sha
dow began alternating his breaths with hers. Then tracing a path with his fingertips from her ankle to her knee, he silently asked for her to open to him. Her legs shook with each inch she opened them, and he took the opportunity to gently press her knees apart even further while he patiently skimmed her other leg. “Relax, n’ya,” he said, repeating the same motion with his fingers until the muscles in her legs completely relaxed. After he could see the tension leave her face, with his hands on either one of her ankles, he began gently rocking her bent leg. The light back and forth motion brought a sigh from her, the movement causing her to relax immediately and bringing along with it a slight rubbing sensation against her already heated core that served to inflame her even further. Shadow sensed the change in her body as her muscles relaxed, he moved his hand to the flat plain of her belly where he began rubbing lightly, a clockwise motion around her belly button. “All of nature moves in clockwise motion,” he whispered softly, letting her know that his movements were intentional.
“Shadow,” Bethanie whispered, barely able to form words.
“Speak, n'ya.”
She wanted to ask him for more, but she did not know what. And she was afraid. Afraid of what her body wanted, so afraid that she almost asked him to stop.
He sensed her reluctance. “Nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen.”
She nodded, relieved that he would honor her wishes if panic caused her to need to stop. Then as his finger trailed deeper into the v of her thighs, she sighed deeply.
“You like that don't you?” He chuckled deep in his throat, amused by her untainted desire for pleasure.
So overcome by her emotions she was that all she could do was nod in answer.
Never before had he been with a woman so open, so trusting of him. A tremendous feeling of responsibility came over him, as if he must do everything he could to make this first time of lovemaking for her be as perfect and as pure as she was. Rolling her over onto her side, he lay down on his side in front of her, bringing her body closer to his own. Lying there, he reached between them, lifting her chin so that he could look directly into her cornflower blue eyes, so open and lit by the moonlight, and see exactly what she was thinking. His every movement, he would weigh in her expression. Right now, with his hand on her lower back, she snuggled closer to him, and he lowered his mouth to drink in the sweetness of her lips.
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