“Figure it out, Ariel. What have you got on you or that you can reach?”
Well, shit. I don’t have anything on me. They don’t let us have guns, or handcuffs, or even Tasers. There might be a paperclip in my pocket, but that’s about it. Then I start to see what Howler is trying to teach me. A paperclip can be a weapon if you’re willing to make it one. I reach my hands back and start feeling through my pockets. I find a ballpoint pen. Hesitantly, I poke his backside with it. Howler chuckles.
Now my pride is starting to smart. We pass a bush with Christmas lights strung over it. I grab the string and somehow lasso it around Howler’s neck. I pull. Hard. Howler sets me down on my feet. There’s a proud expression on his face when I dare to look up again.
“Good job, baby girl. But you need to move faster. That took you seven times around the yard. You need to take me down before we reach the treeline.”
This girl is too fucking innocent. Even the newborn kittens have a greater sense of self-preservation. I’m not saying she’s an idiot. She’s not, she’s just so fucking reluctant to hurt me that she’d rather die. It’s cute, but not safe.
“You want me tobiteyou?” Her voice rises to an alarmed squeak.
“Ariel, I want you to use whatever you have at your disposal. Since I didn’t gag you, you have full use of your teeth,” I explain as patiently as I can manage.
I pick her up and sling her over the opposite shoulder for a change of pace. This time, I head into the woods. Kennedy and baby Annika are back inside with Marty, so there’s no danger of running into them naked. Kennedy is cool with it, but Marty not so much so the rest of us try to steer clear. They’re not here as much since the family built a separate house, but I think today is dinner out in town or something.
I start walking in a wide circle through the alder saplings and huckleberry, waiting for the tentative nip of Ariel’s bite. Instead, I’m surprised by the sudden pain of her sinking her teeth into my back. In my shock, I drop her. Ariel laughs up at me from the forest floor while I reach one hand down to lift her up and the other to feel around the sore spot on my back.
“Christ, what was that?” I ask, still pleased that she finally managed it.
“My teeth. You said to bite you. Did I do it wrong?” She sounds uncertain, so I shake my head.
“No, baby. That was perfect. I was just expecting more of an experimental nibble. Does it need a band-aid?”
Frowning, she steps behind me and touches the spot gently. “No, I didn’t actually break the skin. Are you sure that’s what you wanted me to do?”
“Positive. Never apologize for hurting a bad guy, Candy Cane. I don’t care what they say at police school. That’s how the real world works.”
She presses her lips to my back in a brief kiss that nearly undoes me.
“But you’re a sweet guy, Howler. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. But you are. Now what can I do to say thank you?”
She steps back in front of me, her lips soft and inviting. I don’t think, I just move on instinct. I lean down, and my lips meet hers. She sighs even as I moan. She tastes sweet. Far too fancy for a guy like me. My lips linger of their own volition for another moment before I pull back.
“Don’t let any guy pull you into the woods, Candy Cane. That includes me. That will be thanks enough. Come back on Friday. You’re not done with your lessons.”
Her smile brightens. “Okay. Will you kiss me again?”
“Now or then?” I stall for time.
Ariel shrugs. “Either, both? Maybe you can teach me how to hold the man I want after I learn to push away the ones I don’t.”
Is this sweet, innocent flirting with me? I scan her face quickly and decide she is. Not the kind I’m used to though. She’s not bored or looking for a quick fuck. Wedding bells are practically dancing in her eyes. “Uh, baby girl. I’m not any kind of expert on holding or being held. Best you find a nice boy who does. Maybe one of those cops.” It physically hurts to say it. And to see her shut down in front of me.
“Sure, I understand.” She starts to turn away but then stops, spinning in a circle clearly looking for the way out.
“This way, baby.” I take her hand, leading her out of the woods and back to civilization, where she belongs.
I watch Ariel drive off and then turn to re-enter the auto shop only to find Kennedy and Marty staring at me. Kennedy is grinning. “Looks like she left her mark on you, Howler. Too bad you’re not a shifter. There’s a lot less paperwork with fated mates.”
My grimace probably isn’t what she was hoping for. “I’m teaching her self-defense. So shedoesn’tend up with a guy like me.”
Kennedy grumbles, but then I learn the real reason for her and the baby showing up after work. It’s time to decorate theshop for Christmas. I stay to help, partly because it seems unbearably rude to just leave and go to the bar. But mostly because little Annika giggles with every light string that’s plugged in. When I put her on my shoulder so she can reach up and touch them, I feel ten feet tall.
4
I still live at my parents’ house. I’ve recently come to the realization that maybe my mother is a tad overprotective and might have planted the seeds that I should just stay at home until I get married. I went along with it, repeated it even, but now that I’m out doing things that test me physically as well as mentally… I need my own place.Just as soon as I graduate from the academy and get a real job, I promise myself as I survey the Christmas decorations that crept into my childhood bedroom while I was away.
Thankfully, it’s not still decorated as it was during my teenage years. Gone are the posters of sad-eyed rock stars. Now the walls are unadorned beige. My mom says it’s crème brûlée, but let’s face it, it’s beige. I came back to the revamp Christmas of my senior year. At the time, I thought it was Mom telling me my days in this house were numbered. But it turns out she was simply trying to instill an adult mindset. An adult who likesbeige, helps with the housework, and still clings to her mother’s advice.
