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Chapter Two
Ash
From where hewas sitting in his patrol car, Ash could see the Welcome to California state sign, maybe a quarter of a mile away. He felt a little bit dirty setting up a speed trap just inside the state of Cascadia, but the county needed money, and the speed limit went down from 75 in California to 70 in Cascadia.
Besides, everyone who drove this road with any regularity knew that he was there, sitting in the perfect spot, behind a rise, hidden by the dense pine trees. He only ever caught people from out of town in his speed trap, and they weren’t going to come dispute him in court.
Pay attention to the speed limit, he thought to himself. How hard is that?
Just then, a small blue car zoomed past him. He didn’t need to look at the readout on his radar gun to know the car was doing at least ninety.
Finally, he thought, as he turned on his lights and pulled out onto the highway, pressing the gas pedal almost to the floor to catch up. The moment the car heard his sirens, the brake lights flashed and it slowed down to about fifty, wiggling a little in its lane as the driver panicked. Finally, the driver pulled over into a turnout surrounded by evergreens.
Following protocol, Ash radioed back to the station that he had pulled someone over. Traffic stops rarely broke bad in these parts, but one never knew.
He walked toward the driver’s side, his right hand on his belt near his gun, just in case, when the door to the car flew open and a short girl with curly brown hair popped out of the car, a wild look in her eyes.
Right away, Ash’s bear roared.
His ears rang. His vision went blurry. He could tell that there was something wrong — this girl was afraid of something.
He reeled.
What the hell is happening?he thought, stopping in his tracks for split second.
He felt a thousand impulses, all firing at once. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, feeling her soft, smooth flesh against his own, bend down and kiss her.
He also wanted to find whatever it was she was afraid of and tear it into a thousand tiny pieces. In that instant, Ash knew he would do anything to keep this girl safe.
He could barely keep him below the surface, the animal inside him fighting to get out and go on a rampage.
Finally, his police training took over, and he found his voice. His human voice.
“Ma’am,” he said, holding his left hand out and moving his right toward his gun. “Please get back in the car.”
Her eyes darted to his hand, close to his gun. Oddly, the sight of it seemed to calm her down — the opposite of what usually happened.
He started to sweat, the beads rolling down the back of his neck and into his collar.
Down,he thought, trying to calm his bear. Calm down.
“Can I see your badge?” she asked. Her eyes were still a little wild, but she seemed to be calming down.
Ash held it out toward her, and she looked it over carefully without touching it.
Whatever was happening, his badge had put her at ease.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“I’m sorry,” she said, pushing one hand through the mass of her hair, totally oblivious to the struggle going on inside Ash. “It’s nothing. My ID is actually in the trunk, and I thought you would need that?”
Ash thought his heart might pound right out of his chest, and his mouth went dry. Even from five feet away, he was almost overpowered by her scent, a combination of musk and vanilla and some other deeper, truer odor that was simply her.
His head swam.
Stop it,he told himself. You’re the authority here.
Not that he could hear himself over the deafening roar of his own animal. The girl had on an old, faded Baltimore Orioles t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops, but even so, Ash could see the perfect outline of her curves, the swell of her hips and bosom.
