Authors: Ashlyn Chase
The boy drew the strands toward his mouth. The woman yanked his fist away and worked the hair out of his hand. She dropped the strands on the path and said, “No, dirty.” She shook her head vigorously and enunciated, “Dirrr-tey.”
I washed my hair this morning.
Even as much as he understood a toddler needed simple explanations, Konrad couldn’t help being slightly offended.
The woman didn’t say another word. She simply plucked the boy up off the ground before he went after the fallen hair and wrestled him into his stroller while he squirmed and whined. Eventually she pushed the screaming child away.
So much for peace and quiet to think.
***
Finally I have some of this freak’s DNA, and I know right where to put it
, Reginald said to himself later that evening.
The long strands of hair appeared to float on an invisible wind, through the dark gallery and down to the basement.
They didn’t have that type of testing back in
my
day. They didn’t even fully understand fingerprinting back then. Of course, they did in the ’90s, but the
real
thieves wore gloves, so they didn’t leave any prints.
As the hairs disappeared behind some shelving, they attached themselves to a piece of duct tape that had been left behind when one of the bound security guards was cut loose after the robbery.
***
Konrad strolled along the wide sidewalk with his twin brother, Nick. Their broad shoulders seemed to span the whole width, and a passerby walked into the gutter to avoid the two men.
“Now that you’ve ignored my advice and gotten involved with this human lawyer, you want my advice again? Isn’t that a little ironic, bro?”
Nick hadn’t used the concept of irony properly, but Konrad wasn’t about to correct him. He needed his compassion, and Nick was sensitive to criticism, no matter how well intended.
“How should I tell her?”
Nick shrugged. “Don’t ask me. I’ve never had to fess up to a woman before. I just love ’em and leave ’em. It’s what we do.”
“I’ve never liked that part.”
“Yeah? Well, you should try it. Much less messy.”
“How would you know that?”
Nick gave his brother a sidelong glance. “Because it is. Look at you. You’re a wreck. I’ve never seen you this insecure!”
“She’s worth whatever pain I have to go through.”
“You mean, ‘It’s better to have loved and lost,’ and all that?”
“Maybe, but I’m hoping not to lose her at all. How can I manage that? I mean the stakes are ridiculous. I just don’t know if she trusts me enough, yet.”
“You should have stuck to our own kind. They know the ropes. Speaking of ropes, you could test her trust.”
Konrad raised his brows. “How?”
“Ask if she’ll let you tie her up.”
He laughed. “I guess letting me do that might be a sign of trust. Or how kinky she is.”
Nick looked over at him. “By the way, that doctor you sent my way? What a freak!”
“Oh, shit. Sorry, bro. I didn’t realize.”
Nick laughed again. “I mean
freaky
in a good way! She was all over me like an octopus on caffeine.”
Konrad laughed out loud with his booming voice. “Must have been a fun night.”
“The best.”
“Aren’t you tempted to call her again?”
“Nope.”
“So, that’s it? You’re just going to dump her and let her wonder why?”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “What would you suggest? Date her for a month, have lots more great sex, fall head over heels in love, and then tell her I’m a werewolf? Oh, no wait. That’s what
you’d
do.”
Konrad let out a long sigh. “It’s more than that.” Taking a deep breath, he told his twin the rest. “Rosalyn is my soul mate.”
Nick stopped walking. “Your what?”
“My mate. The one. The love of my life.”
“Shit, how do you know that?”
“We’re able to communicate telepathically.”
Nick’s jaw dropped. “Get the fuck out. Did you just say you can hear her thoughts? And worse…she can hear yours?”
“Yeah. It’s been a challenge, believe me.”
“How the hell…” Nick clasped his brother’s shoulder. “I hate to say this, big guy, but you are so fucked.”
“Thanks, Nick. You’ve been a big help.”
***
Sly stretched out on Konrad’s sofa. His long arms spanned the back of it. He crossed one ankle over his knee.
“What’s so urgent?” he asked.
“Nothing’s urgent.” Konrad settled into the adjacent chair. “Can’t I just want to spend some time with my buddy?”
Sly lifted one eyebrow.
“Okay, okay. I have a dilemma. I thought you might be able to give me some advice, since you went through it recently.”
Sly cocked his head. “I did? What are you talking about?”
Konrad smiled. “I know you told Merry about your being a vampire. Now I have to tell her best friend I’m a werewolf.”
“And then, if I weren’t her father and she weren’t married, we could double date?” Sly mocked.
Konrad reeled. “What the? Incestuous visual aside, that’s…oh, you’re kidding again.”
Sly laughed. “Of course I am. I just couldn’t resist yanking your chain. You sound like an adolescent talking to his older, more experienced friend about girls.”
Konrad’s lips thinned.
“I’m sorry. You had a dilemma. I shouldn’t have poked fun, but you have to admit, it broke the ice.”
Konrad leaned against the back of the chair and blew out a long breath as he stared at the ceiling.
Sly said, “Come on. Give me a break. It’s not an easy subject to discuss. I tend to joke around instead of getting overly serious.”
Konrad bent forward with his elbows on his knees. “Tell me about it.”
Sly’s voice softened. “Naturally I was afraid of what she’d say. Or do. But Merry’s not like other girls. She has the heart of a lion, but the compassion of Mother Teresa. And she’s open-minded. I know she had doubts, even so.”
“I think because you and I had saved her from that rapist, she was predisposed to trusting you.”
“That probably didn’t hurt. She
did
feel indebted to both of us. But when I expressed my concern about her relationship with Falco, she showed me what she was made of.” Sly shook his head wistfully. “Just like her mother.”
“How did you tell her?”
“I didn’t. Nathan did. All I had to do was tell her he was right and try to dispel the myths.”
“Shit. I’m not about to let Nathan tell Roz for me. He’d scare her to death and laugh about it.”
“No, I wouldn’t recommend that. I didn’t ask him to tell Merry. He just blurted it out. Apparently she wanted to bake a dessert to thank us for coming to her rescue. When she asked Nathan where I lived, he couldn’t resist telling her my lair was in the basement and I was on an all-liquid diet.”
Konrad chuckled. “Sorry, man. I can just imagine what she must have thought.”
“Yeah, she thought Nathan was psycho, not me. Not that he isn’t…”
Konrad shook his head. “Man, that must have been bizarre for poor Merry.”
“I’m sure it was. I’m glad she didn’t take his word for it and came to me instead.”
“Yeah, but you had to tell her it was true. What did she do then?”
Sly shrugged. “She listened. I think she might have been too stunned to speak, so I took advantage of the silence and poured out my whole story.”
“And she believed you? Just like that?”
Sly shook his head. “Not ‘just like that.’ I had to give her details no one but her biological father would know, and then she added things up. My strength, her birth surname being the same as mine, my watching over her…But her ability to smell blood a mile away was what finally made a believer out of her. She’d never been able to explain that, except to say it predisposed her to becoming a nurse.”
“I see, so you actually had to persuade her of two things. Not just your vampirism, but also your being her only living—let me amend that—her only blood relative.”
Sly smiled. “Yeah.” He adjusted himself in his seat. “I’m afraid I don’t know your Roz at all. I’ve seen her, but we’ve never met. I don’t know what she’s like or what you should do. I’m sorry.”
Konrad sighed. “It seems like a recurring theme. I’m the one who knows her, and I have to decide how to tell her. I get that. The only problem is she’s the type who needs proof. She wants to see or experience everything herself.”
Sly shook his head. “I don’t envy you. Do it wrong, and you’re screwed, man…
so
screwed.”
***
Roz dragged herself home from work the next afternoon, completely fried. Some of the sociopaths she had to defend were extremely intelligent, fooling even the savviest judge, and some, like the idiot she got today, were stupid enough to shoot themselves in the foot, literally.
The guy then had the nerve to say it wasn’t his gun. He was “holding it for a friend” when it went off in the convenience store. She had told him not to open his mouth. So, why didn’t the dumbass just sit dumbly and let her do the talking?
She fiddled with her keys and let out a huge sigh when the door opened in front of her. Nathan was exiting the building and held the door open for her.
“Thanks. I don’t know if I would have had the strength to open the damn thing if you hadn’t come along.”
He stared at her. “Were you hit by a truck?”
She chuckled. “No, I just feel like I was.”
“You look like you were, too.”
Oh, nice.
“Thanks, Nathan.”
“Where are you coming from?
“Work.” Anxious to get rid of him, she said, “Well, you have a good evening.”
“Yeah, I will. My job must be a lot easier than yours, and sometimes I come home dead tired.”
She didn’t care what he meant by that comment. She slogged past him to her apartment door, still looking for her keys. Before she had the key in the lock, she remembered scheduling her girl time with Morgaine for that evening.
“Aw, crap.” All she wanted to do was fall face first on her bed and sleep until morning. But when she thought about it, a nice massage and some aromatherapy might do her a lot of good.
Once in the door, she dropped her purse on the sideboard and hung up her coat, keeping her keys in her hand. She’d ride the elevator to the third floor today, even though ordinarily she’d walk the three flights of stairs and call it exercise.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. She no sooner relocked her door and spun around than Konrad came into view. First his thick, muscled thighs, then his taut black T-shirt that showed off his abs and pecs, and then his—“What the…”
Konrad’s long, blond hair was gone! His chest and shoulders were no longer covered with a curtain of gold. Instead he sported a tousled style, still longer than most men wore, along with his always present facial scruff.
Holy heck…
Roz had never seen him looking so good. Ugh. She must look all the worse because of it.
“Roz!”
Oh no. He spotted me. No chance to duck back in and close the door quietly so he’d never know I was here.
“How’s the ankle?”
“Oh, uh…much better. Thanks.”
“Why do you look so nervous? Is everything all right?”
“You cut your hair. I almost didn’t recognize you.”
He grinned. “Yeah, you like?” He turned his head left and right so she could take in the whole thing. The sides were swept back, but it was hard to say where the rest was going. It certainly wasn’t parted anywhere.
“I love it. When and why did you cut it?”
“A couple hours ago. I was just in the mood for something different.”
“I hope you sent the rest off to Locks of Love. They makes wigs for children with cancer. I’d hate to think of all that gorgeous hair just going into the trash.”
“Actually I have it upstairs. I figured I’d donate it, but I didn’t know where to send it.”
“Morgaine and I were about to go to a day spa and salon. I’ll ask if the people there know. Maybe we can send yours and Morgaine’s at the same time.”
His eyes widened. “Morgaine’s cutting her hair too?”
“Maybe. She’s getting a whole makeover and asked me to go with her. I can’t wait!”
“Oh.” His face fell.
“What’s wrong? We weren’t planning to go out until tomorrow morning’s date, skydiving, right?”
“Yeah, but I thought maybe I’d see if you were free tonight.”
Her heart leapt. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow to see her? Suddenly it occurred to her why, and she gasped. “Were you going to tell me your secret? Is that why you cleaned up?”
He smiled. “It’s no big deal. Go have your fun, and I’ll see you tomorrow. You still want to try jumping out of a perfectly good airplane?”
Roz bit her lower lip, but smiled. “I committed, so I’ll see it through. I mean, it would be too easy to chicken out, right?”
“Right. Well then, give me a kiss, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I could come up tonight after I’m all relaxed and cleaned up. I figured I’d get some pampering while Morgaine is going through her transformation. Then maybe I’ll look as good as you do.”
He laughed. “You look fine, but I’d love to see you.” He framed her face with his big hands. “I’ve missed you.”
“But it’s only been a couple of days.”
“Really? It feels like a couple of weeks.”
“Awww…”
He slanted his mouth over hers and lowered his lips for a warm kiss. When he pulled back, he whispered, “I love you.”
She smiled, but still didn’t know what to say, knowing he was keeping a secret. “We need to resolve this, if for no other reason than to feel comfortable saying it back…or not.”
He pulled her into his arms and held her. “It’s enough to know you want to.”
“Are you two at it again?”
Morgaine came up behind them, and Roz hadn’t even heard her approach.
I guess that’s how distracted I am when this man kisses me.