Wolf at the Door - By MaryJanice Davidson Page 0,34
wolfing down peanut butter sandwiches.
“You mean to tell me,” he said thickly through peanut butter, “I could have brought this sack for a first date and not dropped a ton of money on fresh seafood?”
“I told you to let me pay.”
“Because that’s just weird, Rachael. That is Outer Limits weird. You are a weird girl. Which is so hot, incidentally.”
“Thank you.” She stared at the Oreo in his hand until he handed it over. “Thank you!”
“I don’t think you’re even chewing.” He was peering at her, grinning. “I think it all just rockets into your gullet.”
“Does not. Shut up.” She licked her fingers. “Still want to have a picnic on the bluffs?”
“Now?” He glanced out a window. “It’s almost dark.”
“Yes, I know.”
“And you just ate all the food I brought for our picnic.”
“Yes, I know.”
“We won’t be able to see much.”
Wrong. I see everything.
“I want to go outside. Can’t we go outside now?”
“Sure, Rache. We’ll go wherever you want. Don’t worry, I packed tons of bug spray.”
Which is how they ended up on the bluffs overlooking the St. Croix River at nine thirty P.M. on a perfect August evening, reeking of N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, also known as OFF! mosquito repellant.
“Oh, my,” she said, gazing around her.
“Yeah. I love it up here.”
They were seated just at the tree line, overlooking the river. They could see the city of Stillwater below, the restaurants lit up, the streetlights glowing. The river was a black trail beneath them, dotted with little blobs of light from the various boats.
A slight breeze brought dizzying scents to her: grass and trees and leaves and life. Mating rabbits about thirty-five feet away. White-tail deer cropping grass, sixty feet away.
“You okay?”
“I am very much okay.”
“Not too cold?” He’d brought blankets and spread them out with some ceremony. He’d brought more to wrap around her shoulders, though she would never feel the cold as quickly as he did.
“No.”
“See okay?”
A bald eagle cruising in the dark. Field mice scurrying for the tree line. A she-possum darting through dense underbrush with young clinging to her back.
“I can see . . .”
A pair of red-shouldered hawks, competing for the same prey, diving toward the cool blue water, only one emerging with a small bass. Their dive startled a heron, and she flapped away. Another bass, much bigger, jumped and arched and fell back into the river with a small splash.
“. . . everything.”
Oh, everything, she could see everything, and had she ever been so drunk when it wasn’t a full moon? It was two days away, but in her blood, the moon was full and rising and coloring everything she saw, everything she felt, and had it ever been like this? Ever?
No.
“Feels like we’re the only people up here. Not just here. Anywhere.”
It did. It did feel like that. Although she felt obliged to warn him . . . “It’s an illusion. There’s another couple, but they’re way down there.”
“Really? Gah, I can’t see that far.” Neither could she. But she could smell them. The breeze was blowing exactly the right way. “You must have kick-ass night vision.”
“Yes, that must be it.” She reached out, not looking, and found his hand. Clutched it. “Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here. For showing me this place.”
“Are you kidding? I’d take you anywhere, Rache. Anywhere you wanted to go. Anytime.”
“Then take me now.” She touched the back of his neck, pulled him forward, kissed him. She bit his mouth, lightly, and then stroked the bite with her tongue. His lust flared between them, sullen coals one second, a raging forest fire the next. “Here.”
“I’ve mentioned how completely awesome you are in every single way, right?”
“Many times.”
“Just making sure. Never let it be said that I take any one thing about you for granted in any way, ever.” He was tugging her shirt over her head, yanking at her shorts. She was doing the same to him, while reminding herself not to shred any items of clothing he would need later. “Um . . . we’re not gonna have company, are we?”
“They don’t know we’re here. They’re not even looking this way.”
“Oh thank God.”
“Wait . . . like this.”
“Oh my God.”
“And like this.
“Oh my God.”
“And . . . are you all right?’
“Well, I’m probably going to have a major cardiac event pretty soon. I’m pretty sure my pulse has never been so high for so sustained a period, but I’m okay with it. There are way worse ways to go than dying in your arms.”
She giggled as