He was a gentleman in this as in all other things, when all she really wanted was for him to tear off her clothes and have his way with her. But his gentlemanliness was one of the things she liked most about him.
And, I suppose,she thought hazily,I really should find outwhyhe’s a human air conditioner before we progress on to the next stage.
With more than a little reluctance she pulled back, letter her lips linger for one last glorious moment before withdrawing completely, the buzzing in her fingers where they still held Calvin’s somehow deepening her excitement further.
“Wow. Okay.” She laughed, adrenaline making her a little jittery. “Whatwasthat? The cold bit, I mean, not the kiss. I know what that was.”
It was damn good, is what it was.
Calvin still looked a little dazed himself, which was a nice little ego boost. It had been years since Diana had kissed anyone, and even more since it had been done with passion – it was nice to know that she still had the knack.
He took a deep breath, clearly gathering himself.
“Diana, I – I’m not human. Not really.”
Somehow, it wasn’t quite as surprising as it should’ve been. He definitely had something unusual going on.
Still… how was she supposed to react to that?
She laughed nervously.
“Can you elaborate on that a little? Are you an alien? A mutant? An ancient god carved from clay, reanimated in modern times?”
“What?” Calvin shook his head in bewilderment. “No, none of those things. I’m a shifter.”
Diana didn’t know what she’d been expecting him to say, but ‘shifter’ wasn’t it.
“Uh…”
She searched around for the right words. She didn’t want to be rude, but she really, really had no idea what it was he was saying.
In the end, she settled for being straightforward.
“What’s a shifter?”
Diana waited, rapt, as Calvin opened his mouth –
And then he jumped up suddenly, looking upward.
Diana followed his gaze – but before she could work out what was going on, a tortured, impossibly loudcreeaaakfrom directly above made it abundantly clear.
One of the maple tree’s boughs was splitting away from the trunk with a horrendous sound that somehow managed to convey just how monstrously heavy it was.
A monstrously heavy weight that was about to drop directly on her head.
She opened her mouth to cry out, to tell Calvin to jump out of the way – it was too late for her, seated as she was, but he still had a chance – but nothing came out, her lungs paralyzed.
Ash,she thought, as images of her son – her beautiful, serious, beloved son – flashed before her eyes.Ash, I’m so sorry. Calvin, please take care of Ash and Bella for me.
I’m so sorry. I love you.
And then everything went dark.
Chapter 9
Diana blinked in the darkness.
Is this the afterlife? Or am I dying, or unconscious in a hospital somewhere?
