Death Comes To All (Book 1) (46 page)

At
first, Raine still seemed just as ill-tempered as she had been in the
kitchen, but gradually she relaxed somewhat. She no longer seemed
angry like she had before at least, but she still seemed off. She
looked fidgety, as if she had an itch that she couldn't reach to
scratch. Drom refrained from saying anything to her about it. He had
no desire to accidentally anger her, and put her back in the mood she
had been in before.

“
Could
you scratch my back for me?” she asked him suddenly. She had
hardly said a word to him since they had arrived at the dock, and
such a request had been the last thing he had expected from her.

“
Sure,”
he replied, moving closer to her and scratching her back between her
shoulder blades where she indicated. If it would help keep her in a
better mood, he didn't mind such a small request. She had never asked
him to do anything like that before, but at least she didn't seem
angry anymore.

“
Oh,
thank you,” she purred, involuntarily arching in his direction.
“That feels good.”

This
seemed to be a complete flip in her mood,
Drom thought,
wondering what could have caused such a change.

Surely
scratching her back for her wasn't helping her that much.

A
slight breeze stirred the tufts of hair at the top of her ears,
bringing with it a strange scent Drom didn't recall ever smelling
before; a strange, sickly sweet combination of lavender and peaches.

He
had no idea where the scent could have come from. He didn't recall
either of those plants growing anywhere nearby, at least not close
enough to smell them. Still, there were plants this far south that he
wasn't very familiar with. It could just be something that smelled
that way in the winter, when the weather changed.

Whatever
it is, it’s a very intoxicating smell.

Drom
barely noticed when his float went under, pulling back to set the
hook only at the last second. He brought the fish in absently, not
really as interested in the fishing as he thought he would have been.

“
I
didn't tell you to stop,” Raine whispered in his ear, a
peculiar huskiness coating her voice that Drom didn't recall ever
hearing before. He felt her rub against him slightly, the unusual and
unexpected contact sending a jolt through him.

He
brought the fish in quickly, without any of the usual joy he felt
when he caught something. His head felt fuzzy, like he had drank too
much ale. A small part of him knew that something wasn't right about
that.

We
don't have any ale at the Hut, nor any other intoxicating beverage. I
certainly didn't drink anything this morning.

Unfortunately,
that understanding never filtered into his conscious mind. His
subconscious mind continued to scream at him, but he couldn’t
hear it.

“
What
should I do with the fish?” he slurred.

“
Just
toss it back into the water,” she breathed. He knew it was a
strange request, but for some reason it just didn't seem to matter to
him at that moment. He did as he was told, removing the hook and
releasing the fish.

“
Could
you scratch my back some more?” she asked in a meowing voice.

“
Sure,”
he replied.

It
feels as if I’m floating, which doesn't make much sense. I can
see my feet are clearly on the ground.

The
question of what was making him feel that way no longer entered his
mind at all.

“
That
feels so good.” she arched into him as he scratched her,
rubbing hard up against him. “Scratch a little lower please.”

He
did as requested, causing her to push into him further, rubbing up
against him. It felt good to him as well, though he didn't know why.
It didn't matter. He was no longer thinking about anything. In the
water, Raine's float disappeared beneath the surface. Neither of them
noticed.

When
Raine twisted in his arms to kiss him passionately on the mouth, he
never considered it, kissing her back with equal intensity. She threw
herself against him, and he welcomed the embrace, holding her roughly
against him. She pushed him back, off of the bench they sat on to the
ground behind the dock, landing on top of him heavily. His mind was
so entranced, he never felt the bruise he received. They were not
thinking any longer, neither one of them, caught in the feeling of
the moment.

Chapter
Fifteen

Drom
woke sometime the next day in a bed. He didn't remember getting into
one, or even coming back inside for that matter. There was a weight
on top of him. Opening his eyes, he realized two things
simultaneously. The first was that he was not in his own room, or his
own bed at all, and the second was that the weight he felt on top of
him was Raine. The feral woman was draped across him, more of her
body on him than on the bed, and that neither of them had clothing
on.

What’s
going on here?

Bits
and pieces of the day before flashed through his mind.

So
I didn’t dreamed it after all. It really happened.

The
only question left was how and why it had.

He
found Raine attractive enough, that was not an issue. It was that he
considered her a friend, not anything else. He had never considered
doing any of the things with her that they had obviously done, nor
would he have believed that she had any such interest.

The
last clear thought he had was of the two of them fishing. She had
asked him to scratch an itch that she couldn't reach, innocent
enough, he would have thought. He remembered little else after.

He
caught a whiff of a strange scent, a mixture of lavender and peaches.

I
remember smelling that too,
he recalled,
though it had been
much stronger then.

The
smell was pleasant, strange but yet somehow sweet at the same time.
He found he wanted to find that scent, an almost uncontrollable need
to locate that smell, but had no idea what it was or why he felt so
compelled to track it down. After several moments of mental
searching, he realized that the smell was coming from Raine.

She
stirred on top of him, rolling slightly to the side. He had not moved
so much as a muscle, not wanting to wake her, but it seemed that she
had slept long enough. She looked down at him, dawning slowly coming
to her eyes.

“
I'm
sorry,” she said at once, looking away from him.

Sorry?
What!?

“
What
do you have to be sorry about? Sure it was unexpected, and maybe just
a little weird because of it, but that's not anything to be sorry
about. I was involved just as much as you, at least I think. Don't
take this the wrong way, but I don't really remember as much about it
all as I would like to.”

“
You
don't really know what happened, do you?”

“
I've
got a pretty good idea,” he replied. “I can't think of
anything else we might have done that could have left us in this
position when we woke up. It's rather self-explanatory.”

“
Not
that. I mean, that's obvious. You didn't have a choice though. Not
really.”

“
I
only remember bits and pieces, but I think I would remember trying to
push you away. I'm sure that I didn't.”

“
Yes,
but that wasn't your choice either,” she answered in dismay. “I
think I've gone into heat.”

“
What
do you mean?” he asked. He vaguely recalled Raiste saying
something about her being ill-tempered when she went into heat, which
would certainly explain her demeanor that morning.

Or
was it the morning before?

He
had not known at the time what Raiste had meant by that, and had not
thought it important enough to ask.

Guess
I should have asked him about it.

“
Ferals
have a breeding cycle, that makes them extremely, well, interested in
the opposite sex,” she explained. “When we do, our bodies
put out a pheromone that affects males around us. It seems to work on
most males actually. It's like a drug, that makes you malleable and
willing. That must be what was affecting you yesterday. That's why
you don't remember much. So you see, you really didn't have a choice,
and I'm sorry for that.”

She
seemed quite distraught. He wished she wouldn't be. Even if he didn't
have much choice in the matter, it was not as if it was something
that he hadn't enjoyed.

Or
at least I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it anyway.

“
It
sounds as if you didn't have much choice in the matter either,”
he observed. “If this heat affects you like you said, you
didn't have any more control than I did.” A sudden thought
occurred to him. She had said that it affects any males that are
around her when it happens.

Any
males around her?

“
Wait,
you said it affects all males. Have you and Raiste....?”

“
No!”
she interrupted before he could finish his question. “Somehow
he's not affected by it, which I'm thankful for. I wouldn't want to
be with him this way.”

“
Sorry
if you didn't want me either,” Drom fumbled.

Of
course she wouldn't have wanted an ugly beast like me this way, but
she hadn't been given a choice. Her body took that choice away from
her.

He
truly felt sorry for her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like
to have such a choice taken away from you on a regular basis. He
didn't know how old she was exactly; it wasn't polite to ask a woman
such a question, but he knew that she was at least a decade or so
older than he was, perhaps more. Surely there had been other times in
her life that this had happened to her before now, probably with men
far worse for her than he was.

Maybe
not as ugly, but for something like this, looks aren’t
everything.

“
Don't
say that,” she scolded. “There's nothing wrong with you
at all.”

Nothing
wrong with me? What, has she gone blind too?

“
You
don’t have to lie, Raine. I know how I look. You’re a
beautiful woman. If I wasn’t the only man here, I’m sure
you would have preferred someone else. The only reason I’m in
this bed with you now is because there wasn’t any other man
around.”

“
You
need to stop doing that. You’re not nearly as bad looking as
you seem to think, and you’re a kind, sweet guy, which counts
for a lot. I’ve certainly found myself in this situation with
much worse men than you. If I had to wake up in a bed with someone
that I didn’t plan on, I’m kind of glad that it was you,
really.”

“
So
you mean you might have slept with me, even if you hadn’t gone
into heat?”

“
I'm
not saying that, but I’m not saying it wouldn’t have
happened either. I hadn't really given it any thought. I just wish we
had both had a choice in the matter. Look, you should probably get
going. It's nothing against you, I just don't know if you really want
to be here right now.”

“
Why,
what's wrong? I'm not upsetting you am I? I can go if that's what you
want me to do.”

“
You're
still not getting it. I'll be in heat for another day or two. I'm
only in control now because I just woke up, but if you stay here too
much longer we might both lose control again.”

“
I'm
in control right now,” he assured her. He could still smell the
pheromones she gave off, and he knew they were getting stronger, but
now that he knew what it was he thought he could fight against it,
for a little while longer at least.

“
You're
in control right now too. If you had a choice, would you want to do
this with me again? I mean, I saw how it affected you, so I know it's
not comfortable for you. If you wanted to, we could make the choice
right now, while it's still our choice. We don't have to make any
sort of a big deal out of it. I mean, it could just be two friends
enjoying a good time together.”

“
You'd
do that for me?” she asked, her voice sounding almost pleading.

He
hoped that what he suggested wasn't bad for her. Still, he understood
what her body was craving right now, and it wasn't as if he found her
distasteful. When he had asked he had fully expected her to turn him
down flat.

Maybe
she really doesn’t think I’m all that bad after all,
he hoped.

“
We
can if you want,” he answered, giving her the final decision.
His mind was starting to feel fuzzy again, and he knew that soon
neither of them would be able to help themselves any longer if he
stayed.

She
needs to make the choice now, while it’s still our choice to
make.

“
OK.
It's just two friends having a good time, right?” she replied,
fidgeting slightly. He could tell that her heat was affecting her
again, and only hope that it had really been her choice, and not her
body making her decisions for her.

“
Exactly,”
His voice was starting to slur again, and he knew that he was falling
under the spell her pheromones put him under. In no time, his choices
would no longer be his at all. There was still one thing he wanted to
do before his mind was pulled into oblivion. He bent down and kissed
her softly on the lips.