Raise your hand if you thought it would be decades before I published another chapter. :)
Thank you for all the amazing reviews. Thanks to SandraDee and Elementary Magpie, who are both outstanding writers in their own right (go read them right now if you haven't already). Just thank you overall - I never expected so many of you to read it, much less take the time to review it. Writing is a lonely profession - it's nice to know someone reads what you've abandoned aspects of your life to put to paper. :D
Much love from this lonely writer.
He takes advantage of her while she's still floating and before she has a moment to process, he's inside her. The moan that leaves his throat is feral and it causes her body to flush once more. She opens her mouth, throws her head back, and he nips at her exposed throat. There's a moment where they're still and she's tight and hot around him.
He licks the hollow of her throat and her hips buck and he thrusts as deep as he can without disappearing into her. He kisses her, swallows her cries, and she pushes him to move faster, harder. He feels the edge approaching, looks up to see her red hair fanned against the ivory sheets like a halo of fire, and he falls…falls and falls and falls, climaxes as she screams his name.
"Nathan!"
Honestly, he's not sure who's more embarrassed – him, for waking up with a raging hard-on that he can't feel while sleeping next to his partner on her couch or Audrey, for waking up with his name on her lips.
It's a tie, really.
Audrey makes the mistake of looking down and then immediately looking back up and away, motioning with her hand to suggest he might want to cover up for a little while. She can't look at him, her face turned in the opposite direction because looking at him right now would reduce her to a hormonal teenager and she'd most likely offer to take care of his…er…problem.
"I believed you before," he says, hastily grabbing a throw pillow, "but now I'm one hundred percent convinced there's something crazy going on." He runs a hand over his face. "That was…"
"Hot? Embarrassing?" she asks, her voice higher than she would have liked.
"Both?"
She laughs, then, and the tension in the room dissipates a little. Unable to take it any longer, she finally looks back at him. His cheeks are an adorable shade of pink and the chagrinned expression he wears make it even harder for her to remain stoic about the whole thing.
"I could make us breakfast," she says. "Or you could slink off like a frat boy the morning after Homecoming."
"Pancakes?" he asks, the pink slowly disappearing from his face.
She grins. "I believe I can do that." She bolts from the couch and takes comfort in the busy work of making breakfast. "Ignoring all of...that...my question is this," she says, pulling ingredients down from cabinets, "how do the two drownings connect to Alice White?"
"Maybe she's Troubled," he suggests.
When he thinks she isn't looking, he lifts the pillow and looks down, seems comforted by what he sees. Audrey smiles to herself and averts her eyes quickly so he won't realize she's seen him. He stands, stretches. She pretends not to see the sliver of bare skin that appears between the bottom of his shirt and the top of his jeans, pretends it doesn't do anything to her. She thinks maybe they've become experts at pretending not to see things.
"She might be causing the drownings without realizing it." He walks towards the kitchen.
"What about the dreams?" Audrey asks.
He shrugs. "I've heard I'm a desirable man."
She looks at him and shakes her head when he grins, continues measuring out flour into a large stone bowl. "How long have you known Alice?"
"Since we were children. She hasn't changed much." He pauses and she looks up from the bowl. "Come to think of it…she hasn't changed at all."
Nathan pulls up to the sidewalk outside The Herald and idles. "I'll get cleaned up and meet you at the station in an hour," he says. Audrey nods, reaches for the door handle. He reaches out, puts his hand on her arm. She can feel him through the layers of wool and goose down, his skin is so warm. "Don't go looking for Alice without me," he says.
She stares at him, is surprised by the expression in his eyes. "You're worried," she says and he lets go of her. "I'll be at the station in an hour." She grabs his bare hand with hers and squeezes. "I promise."
She's out of the Bronco and inside The Herald before he has time to change his mind and she watches the giant blue truck drive off down the street. Behind her, Vince Teague clears his throat.
"Good morning, Vince," Audrey says, turning to smile at the newsman.
" Audrey," he says. "Always nice to see you." He smiles back but it's weary and doesn't meet his eyes.
"I have a minor research request."
The weary expression dissolves, replaced by interest. "Oh?"
"Drownings," she says. "Connected to a specific family surname."
Vince types away on the keyboard on his desk. "What's the surname?"
"White."
His hands falter and he looks up at her. "White? Are you sure?" She nods, confused. His hands are still on the keys and he pulls them away, rests them in his lap. "We always wondered…" He disappears into his thoughts.
When he doesn't immediately emerge, Audrey takes a step closer, hooked. "Wondered what, Vince?"
He snaps back to it, starts typing again. When he motions for Audrey to come around and look at the monitor, she's not entirely ready for what she finds.
"But that's impossible," she says, her head refusing to readily wrap itself around what she's seeing.
"I'd agree with you, Audrey," Vince says, "but…"
"It's Haven." She stares at the words on the screen, repeats them to herself. "Nothing is impossible."