Crushed, I sagged against the pillar.
Seven
Lara
To reach the house we had driven nearly half an hour out of the town.
“Well, son of a biscuit,” Elaine exclaimed suddenly and stopped the car. We had just left the smooth paved road and turned down a dirt road filled with pot holes.
“What? What’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.
“The house just came into view.”
“And?”
She turned towards me. “I think this might have been a really bad idea, Lara.”
“Why?”
“It looks like a fricking haunted house.”
Calmly, I wound down the glass and inhaled the air. It was full of the fresh scent of pine trees, snow, and something else. Something that called to me.
“Describe the house to me,” I said.
“Look, Lara. I know I talked you into taking this job, but I honestly don’t think you should go inside that house. It’s giving me the creeps.”
“Please, Elaine. Just describe it to me.”
“Okay. It’s an old turn of the century two story. It’s nestled in a bunch of trees and it backs onto a proper forest.”
“Does it have a wide porch?”
“How the hell do you do that?”
I smiled. “I told you before it’s like a shape in my mind. Scientists say that I’m actually accessing the same area of the brain that you are when you are looking at something with your eyes.”
“I don’t know what you’re looking at in your brain, but I’m looking at a haunted house.”
“It’s not haunted. It’s just very lonely. I want to keep my appointment.”
“I think you’re making a big mistake,” she warned.
“I’m not,” I said firmly, and wound the glass back up.
Elaine started the car. “Just so you know, I’m not coming in. I’ll wait for you outside.”
The car jolted over rough gravel and pot holes in the road. “That’ll be fine.”
“If anything happens you scream as loud as you can and I’ll drive back to town as fast as I can, and tell everybody, all right?”
I laughed. “Thanks, Elaine. That’s real comforting to know.”
“Don’t be taking that tone with me, girl. You’re going in against my better judgement.”
“Is he standing on the porch?”
For a while there was silence as she peered through the windscreen. “Oh, my God! Yes. He is. Did you see that in that brain of yours too?”
“Nah. It was just a guess.”
Eight
Kit
The old car moved closer, jolting crazily over the holes in the road. My body tightened. It wasn’t nerves – it was my survival instinct kicking in. Military training never died, and any new situation put me right back into the defensive zone.
I’m sure my therapists would have something to say about that, but my blind reader was here and my body was preparing to meet her. The car skidded dangerously to a stop.
A woman wearing dark glasses stepped out of the car, half-turned toward the house, and … the peace of the morning air shattered. Blood slammed into my brain, and alarm bells flared as I stared in shock.
I knew she was young, I could tell by her voice, but I never counted on her being drop-dead gorgeous. Fucking hell. She looked like she had stepped out of the pages of a fancy magazine. My breathing was ragged. I didn’t really think about what I was expecting, but not this. Not this. This girl was special. Too special for me … but fuck me, if I didn’t want her the way I wanted nothing else in my life. I wanted to make her mine and never let her go.
I gripped the railing and watched her come up the drive, her cane making even swipes on the ground, her steps purposeful and unfaltering. Her long honey curls bounced with every step. She was wearing a knit cap and blue coat, but it was unbuttoned and boy, did she have curves. Her cat-like face was filled with concentration, and her nose was a cute little button dotted with freckles, but I knew that when she smiled she would be lethal.
I caught a movement out of the corner of my eye. It was one of the younger wolves, Thomas. I found him in the forest eighteen months ago caught in a trap yelping and crying in agony. His poor leg was broken. I tranquilized him, carried him back here, and nursed him back to health. He didn’t need to be persuaded to join my pack. Now he was stalking the girl up the driveway, pausing every time she did, taking his time to get a closer look.
Hell, I understood that.
I wanted a closer look too!
Amazingly, she knew the wolf was following her. She stopped and turned her head ever-so-slightly. Her attitude and motion hardly changed, but she was totally attuned to the sounds the wolf was making. I’ve been out there among the wolves, and believe me, when they want to be silent, they certainly know how to be. But no matter how quiet Thomas was, she could hear him.
Huh. Interesting.
And then she was at the bottom of the steps. I wasn’t sure what to do. Go down and help her? Just stand there? Say something?
“I can hear you breathing,” she said, and smiled at me.
And damned if that smile didn’t light up her face like a lightbulb and transform it into something even more beautiful than what it already was … if such a thing were even possible.
My stomach did a single, lazy somersault. “Hello,” I said stupidly. It was all that came to mind. My voice sounded husky and strange.
“Hello, Mr. Carson. I’m Lara.” She held out her hand, her smile growing larger.
I quickly stepped forwards and clattered down the steps as clumsy as bigfoot himself. She didn’t wear gloves even though the air was frigid. I grasped her hand inside mine. It was small and delicate. I don’t think I had ever held such a fine hand before. Her skin was so lovely and warm it made my insides turn to mush.
I wanted to hold her hand forever. What the fuck! I yanked my hand away.
Her smile faltered, and there was a part of me that was happy I didn’t linger and let her know how much I wanted to hold onto her soft skin, but another part of me felt bad about making her doubt herself. I glanced at the woman still sitting in the car. She had her neck craned forward and was staring at us through the windscreen with bug eyes. “Is your friend going to wait in the car?”
She grinned. “She’ll come in when she gets too cold … or too curious.”
I nodded and realized that she could not see my nod. “Right. There are four steps up to the porch.”
She made no move to go up the steps. Was she waiting for me to move? Or was I supposed to take her hand and lead her up? I rubbed my cheek uncertainly. How the hell did one deal with a blind woman? I sure as hell didn’t want to insult her.
“You go ahead of me, and I’ll follow. I’m very good at tracing sounds and getting to where I need to be,” she said into the awkward silence.
That settled that. I went up the steps and walked to the front door. Glancing behind to make sure she was following, I opened it, stepped in, and held it for her so she could come through. She moved confidently, barely hesitating at the threshold. I watched as she moved through and stood in the hallway, listening … and like the wolves smelling the air.
“Uh, there’s a fire in the living room. Would you prefer to sit in there? Or we can sit at the kitchen table,” I offered.
“By the fire sounds lovely,” she said softly.
“Would you like me to take your coat?” I asked, going closer to her. She smelled of fruit. Some sort of berry. It was coming from her lips. Man, I was so fucked.
“Thank you, but I think I’ll keep it on for a little while,” she replied.
“This way,” I said, and passed her in the narrow space. Almost touching, there was only an inch between her round breasts and my midriff. My cock twitched and hardened. Jesus! I haven’t had sex for too fucking long.
I led the way into the living room. It felt too warm, or maybe it was just me. I fingered my collar. A trickle of sweat ran down my back
. I was dying to take my sweater off. I walked to a chair that stood between her and my most comfortable armchair by the fire and yanked it out of her way. It made a scraping sound on the wood. I stood next to the armchair and called, “Over here.”
I watched her work her way over to me, her cane moving in small half-circles. When it caught on the rug she paused then continued once she had figured out it was the edge of the rug. She reached the chair and felt it with her hands, before lowering herself with an almost regal air.