road that would lead them to the job site.
Denison stood bent at the waist as he rested his elbows on the railing of his porch. The megawatt smile he usually gave her first thing in the morning was missing. He didn’t scoop her up and fondle her ass like he hadn’t seen her for days either.
Warning bells clanged around her head, louder than the trucks that rumbled away and echoed off the mountainside.
“You need to leave Bo here today,” Denison said as she approached.
“But…why?” She looked down at her little furry buddy, who was currently chewing on the cuff of her pants. She’d grown accustomed to having him and Denison around her while she worked. It would be strange collecting and pressing plants without the rascal trying to eat them.
Denison didn’t answer, and a muscle twitched under his eye as he stared at her. He looked angry, and something more. Scared. What had she done wrong?
“Okay, I’ll go put him in his pen.”
After Bo was penned, fed, and his water dish changed for fresh, she closed the gate Tagan had constructed and shuffled toward Denison. She shouldered her backpack and hid her surprise when he crossed the street and headed to a small fence that surrounded the small trailer park. This wasn’t the way they usually went to work, and she had a grid to follow.
Denison didn’t say a word and didn’t look back to see if she was following. And with every step she took on the thin trail that led up into the mountain that overlooked the trailer park, dread weighed heavier across her shoulders. Pressing against her more and more until it was hard to breathe.
The trail wound around ancient evergreens with trunks so large it would take two grown men to wrap their arms around them. The smell of sap and ozone filled the air, and above her, dark clouds churned and warned of an oncoming storm. The wind kicked up as she climbed over a boulder, whipping her hair this way and that until she gave up and pulled her dark tresses back in a high ponytail.
Denny didn’t slow down, nor did he offer to help her up a steep embankment like he usually would. Perhaps he was still angry about her leaving and had decided she couldn’t be trusted after all. She swallowed hard as tears stung her eyes from the thought of losing all she’d found over the last week. The endless days of joking with Denny and the nights in his arms. Feeling like she belonged somewhere for the first time. She thought of her friends and how badly it would hurt to leave them when Denny made her go. By the time she stepped into a clearing on the side of the mountain, she’d worked herself up quite capaciously.
Denny stepped from behind a tree and pulled his shirt off. His chest was heaving, as if emotion was choking him like it was her. He approached slowly, then hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. With a serious look that was completely at odds with the natural smile lines of his face, he murmured, “This is me, Danielle. Remember your promise.”
Her eyes went wide, and she gasped as she absorbed what he was saying. Denison kicked out of his boots and jeans, then tossed them into a pile near the tree. Behind him was rolling mountains covered in pines and the gray morning sky. Above them, a giant bird screeched a call, and Denison stretched his neck up, watching it.
The first drops of rain spattered across his shoulders, and when he looked back at her, his eyes were the color of silver pond minnows. Flashing like the lightning in the distance.
She held her breath, afraid if she kept panting so hard, she’d pass out.
A smattering of pops echoed through the clearing, and his neck snapped backward. His form grew, and in a moment of disorienting confusion, a giant animal exploded from the man she loved.
Sand-colored fur covered every inch of him, and six-inch razor sharp claws the color of tar stretched from paws that were bigger than her face. His big block head shook back and forth as if he needed to rid
Denison stood bent at the waist as he rested his elbows on the railing of his porch. The megawatt smile he usually gave her first thing in the morning was missing. He didn’t scoop her up and fondle her ass like he hadn’t seen her for days either.
Warning bells clanged around her head, louder than the trucks that rumbled away and echoed off the mountainside.
“You need to leave Bo here today,” Denison said as she approached.
“But…why?” She looked down at her little furry buddy, who was currently chewing on the cuff of her pants. She’d grown accustomed to having him and Denison around her while she worked. It would be strange collecting and pressing plants without the rascal trying to eat them.
Denison didn’t answer, and a muscle twitched under his eye as he stared at her. He looked angry, and something more. Scared. What had she done wrong?
“Okay, I’ll go put him in his pen.”
After Bo was penned, fed, and his water dish changed for fresh, she closed the gate Tagan had constructed and shuffled toward Denison. She shouldered her backpack and hid her surprise when he crossed the street and headed to a small fence that surrounded the small trailer park. This wasn’t the way they usually went to work, and she had a grid to follow.
Denison didn’t say a word and didn’t look back to see if she was following. And with every step she took on the thin trail that led up into the mountain that overlooked the trailer park, dread weighed heavier across her shoulders. Pressing against her more and more until it was hard to breathe.
The trail wound around ancient evergreens with trunks so large it would take two grown men to wrap their arms around them. The smell of sap and ozone filled the air, and above her, dark clouds churned and warned of an oncoming storm. The wind kicked up as she climbed over a boulder, whipping her hair this way and that until she gave up and pulled her dark tresses back in a high ponytail.
Denny didn’t slow down, nor did he offer to help her up a steep embankment like he usually would. Perhaps he was still angry about her leaving and had decided she couldn’t be trusted after all. She swallowed hard as tears stung her eyes from the thought of losing all she’d found over the last week. The endless days of joking with Denny and the nights in his arms. Feeling like she belonged somewhere for the first time. She thought of her friends and how badly it would hurt to leave them when Denny made her go. By the time she stepped into a clearing on the side of the mountain, she’d worked herself up quite capaciously.
Denny stepped from behind a tree and pulled his shirt off. His chest was heaving, as if emotion was choking him like it was her. He approached slowly, then hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. With a serious look that was completely at odds with the natural smile lines of his face, he murmured, “This is me, Danielle. Remember your promise.”
Her eyes went wide, and she gasped as she absorbed what he was saying. Denison kicked out of his boots and jeans, then tossed them into a pile near the tree. Behind him was rolling mountains covered in pines and the gray morning sky. Above them, a giant bird screeched a call, and Denison stretched his neck up, watching it.
The first drops of rain spattered across his shoulders, and when he looked back at her, his eyes were the color of silver pond minnows. Flashing like the lightning in the distance.
She held her breath, afraid if she kept panting so hard, she’d pass out.
A smattering of pops echoed through the clearing, and his neck snapped backward. His form grew, and in a moment of disorienting confusion, a giant animal exploded from the man she loved.
Sand-colored fur covered every inch of him, and six-inch razor sharp claws the color of tar stretched from paws that were bigger than her face. His big block head shook back and forth as if he needed to rid
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