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5
Mara
Day two of working on the pet grooming shop window, and there was more candy waiting for me when I arrived. I smiled, wondering how he’d figured out I had such a sweet tooth, and opened a mini bar of chocolate.
It was free high-class candy—how could I refuse?
Instead of wandering down to a restaurant for lunch that day, I sat in my truck and ate a little more candy.
I could smell him coming.
He didn’t fit in with the residents of Ember Abyss; he had this strange suave look that made him look like a new car against a bunch of old tractors. There was candy in his gloved hand, and my mouth watered immediately. Maybe that was the point. Was he trying to condition me to expect a treat whenever I saw him?
Some Pavlovian trickery to make me like him?
I shoved those thoughts out of my head the second they entered it. He’d only been doing this for a couple of days. That was nowhere near long enough to try and trick my brain. Besides, it didn’t explain why my phone body was calling him. I could smell the fresh forest rain from inside the car, and it had my mind reeling.
He set down the candy on my worksheet, lips pursed in thought, and my mind supplied the image of him pressing those lips against mine. My heart beat a little faster, and the moment it did he looked up and spotted me.
“Hey,” I greeted him through my truck’s window. “What’s with the sweets?
“I thought you’d like them.” He smiled as he came around to my side of the car. His smile was charming, cute. A dimple formed in his right cheek, and it made my heart warm towards him.
“I do, how’d you know?”
He broke eye contact for a moment, as if heavily considering his answer.
“There’s a lot I want to tell you but can’t.” He looked up at me, squinting in the sunlight. I searched his face for a mote of humor, but he was dead serious. He softened after a moment and passed the candy in through my truck’s window.
Our fingertips brushed, and my body felt like it activated every ounce of adrenaline in me at once.
“Simeth,” I gasped his name.
His eyes darkened at that, in a powerful and sexy way that left me breathless. Stepping away quickly, he turned to leave, but I couldn’t let him go.
Whatever this was, it was new.
Different.
I needed something like that.
“Wait!” I stumbled out of my truck, slamming it shut behind me as I hurried after him. “Where are you going?”
“I don’t want to overwhelm you again,” he said, frowning.
I was starting to get annoyed with him.
“You’re being vague and it’s spooky. Just tell me who you are and what’s going on. Why do I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack whenever I’m around you?” I asked in frustration. He stopped walking and looked over at me for a moment.
“I told you the truth and you didn’t believe me. It might be easier just to show you.”
“What, the kingdom?” I lowered my voice. No need to make any of my neighbors think I was insane.
“It’s real,” he said flatly. “Keep it quiet, though, or you put my whole way of life at risk.”
“You’re insane,” I sighed. He believed the same kind of nonsense my grandmother did. “Simeth, I’m not going anywhere with you, there has to be—”
He stopped me mid-sentence, cornering me in against a wall. His face was inches from mine, the cool demeanor he’d had was now slipping, and I could sense hunger beneath the surface.
