Chapter Two

 

Mira knew she shouldn’t walk. Hell, she knew better, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that the rest of her life came down to her decision to walk or drive. That’s what happened when you were human and in touch with all your senses. She wasn’t an empath; that's what the doctors told her growing up.

They gave her medicine for an assortment of mental diseases. Each drug left her worse off than the one before. When she was finally able to get out of the house. She landed up in her boyfriend’s bed. Not a step up more like a lateral move. Still, it gave her the presence of mind to start weaning herself off the drugs. Eventually, she was once again dealing with an onslaught of how the whole world felt. This time she did what she couldn’t do when she was younger, she faced the problem. She read obscure books that helped to teach her control.

Now unlike before she knew what ignoring a thought or a feeling could do. Knowing intelligently that it was foolish to walk, she put her keys away and started walking.

When she got to the sidewalk, a tall figure peeled himself off the side of the building. He wasn’t hiding, which was good. He was totally blank, which scared her for the first time in ten years.

“Hi.” His voice was pleasant, but what stood out in the dark was impossibly bright blue eyes.

“Hi. Have you been waiting long?” she finally asked.

“Not really.” He fell in step beside her as she walked up the street.

“My name is Ven.”

“Hi Ven, I’m Mira.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Have I seen you around?”

“I was at the club tonight.”

He was one of the men sitting at the table that her guy looked back at. She winced. Living in fantasy wasn’t her thing, but there was something about the man she met earlier that made her want to get closer.

“I remember.” She looked around realizing her path had veered. She was no longer walking towards home, but the cemetery.

“You’re pretty smooth. I almost didn’t detect how you changed our course.”

He looked down and gave her a smile. Her heart stuttered for a minute. He was young, but those eyes and that smile were going to break someone’s heart, and that was before you factored in his killer body.

“Should I take the time to make out a Will?”

“I don’t kill angels.”

She didn’t have to ask. Angels was how she referred to her small network of helpers. The question was, how did he know that?

“You’ve been watching me.”

“Are you surprised?”

She noticed he didn’t answer her question. But yeah, she wasn’t surprised she was being watched. She did find it strange that no one had tried to stop her.

“Then why are we here?” The gate to the cemetery was wide open.

“Someone needs your help.” Ven turned and walked away. Another male with a fine ass walking away from her.

She watched him until he was out of sight. This could be a trap. She couldn’t pick up one emotion from him stray or otherwise. Go home she told herself, but her days of running away were long gone.

Turning she walked into the cemetery, just wandering until she felt a note of incredible sadness and intense longing. Her feet turned and took her towards the well of despair she could feel surrounding her like a wool blanket.

Standing in the doorway of an open crypt was the male from earlier.

“What a strange place to meet up suga. I mean we could have just gone to your place.”

“What are you doing here?” Tristan looked at her as if he knew she was there before he heard her voice.

Her breath caught in her throat. When he was seated at the bar with his head down, she couldn’t really see him. Now that he was standing he was tall with beautiful green eyes. His shoulders were broad, but his waist was trim, and everything in-between looked like solid muscle.

“You a warrior suga?”

“A healer.”

Damn if any of her doctors looked that good, she’d never miss an appointment.

“Bet you’re the richest doctor on the planet.”

He laughed. It was rusty, but it was a laugh.

“So why are you out here?”

He froze her out as he turned to face the crypt again.

“Go home, it's not safe out here.”

“No.”

He turned around his green eyes were wide. Obviously, he wasn’t familiar with the word no.

“What did you say?”

“No, it’s that little word that kids learn to say early in life. The one that says I don’t care what the hell you said, I’m not doing it.”

“I can make you leave.” His eyes were flashing, something dark and dangerous moved behind them.

A smarter woman would back off. But she left smarter a long time ago. When you lived in a world where other people’s emotions were as real as your own. You had to learn to take risks.

“Then make me.” She moved closer to him so that she was in his intimate sphere. He could touch her, hurt her, all she could count on was the very core of him to take the correct action.

“You’re dangerous, to yourself and others,” He growled at her.

She let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Being this close made her realize that there was an edge to his emotions. A foreignness she never dealt with before. He made her think of a wild animal, but nothing on earth could compare to what was coming from him.

Looking up she gave him a silly smile edged with relief. “Yeah, I’ve been looking for someone who could handle me for years. Unfortunately, it looks like I’m meant to be alone.”

“So that’s it? You accept that fates a fickle bitch and keep walking?” His voice held a question in it.

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. What choice do I have?” She looked away for a moment.

He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. The length of it and the leather tie that held it back caught him by surprise. When was the last time he paid attention to his hair?

The sigh that escaped his mouth was filled with centuries of helping others while he watched any joy he first felt disappear.

Taking his eyes off the crypt, he sat on the stone steps leaning back on his arms. He tilted his head to look at her.

“Sit?”

“Sure thing, suga.”

“Why do you call me that? My name is Tristan.”

Now that was an awkward question, the answer was too revealing.

“My name’s Mira.” She sat down next to him. The stone was too cold for her to want to lean back.

“Nice to meet you, Mira.”

“You too.”

“So, what’s next?” Tristan asked.

“I thought we could leave this place since you don’t seem to be visiting. I have a car nearby. We could go get something to eat. I could eat and then I’ll take you home.”

“Mira have you ever thought you’re too old to go on?”

She studied him, taking in the planes of his face, the cut of his hard jaw. His lips fascinated her. One minute they could be cold, hard, and flat. The next, they were warm, soft looking, and inviting.

“You can’t be more than forty.”

“I was a baby in your terms at forty, but I’ll roll with it. Whatever age I am, I’m too old to go on.”

“I’m thirty… five.” She was thirty-five, but she had started shaving years off her age a while ago. Ageism was alive and real. Men aged like fine wine. The older they got, the more desirable they were. Women aged like meat. The older they got, the more the world thought they smelled.

“You’re still a baby. Beautiful and desirable, but still young.”

“I’m going to preen and take the beautiful and desirable part and ignore the baby segue.”

“And obviously intelligent.”

The way he nodded his head afterward like his words were law made her laugh. It was the first reason she had to laugh all day long.

“I think I could like you.”

“You’re easy to talk to. If I’m not careful, I’ll spill all my secrets.”

“No worries, you just friend zoned me.” She grimaced at the thought.

“What is this friend zone?”

“When a man tells a woman nicely that she’s lovely, but all they can be is friends. He’s not attracted to her. It’s not a bad thing.” Unless the male in question looked like a god with his hard muscles, and you were dying to see him without his pants on.

He stood every muscle crying out for her to stroke. He held out a hand, and she took it afraid he may hurt himself when he tried to help her up.

“Either these muscles work, or they’re only for show.” She relaxed, and he pulled her to her feet. He never even breathed hard.

“Suga?” He nodded his head cutting off her words.

His arm snaked around her waist and pulled her close. He bent his head placing his lips against hers. She expected an all-out assault. Instead, he caressed her lips gently. He took his time as he coaxed her to open. When she did, his tongue slipped into her mouth caressing her tongue. Getting to know her. He spread his taste through her slowly. A lick there a caress here until her hands were clutching at his shoulders.

He deepened the kiss when she thought he would step back. Now he knew her mouth enough to know what spots triggered her. When his tongue flicked at the roof of her mouth and then caressed it. Her legs threatened to buckle. Then the sound of her own moan turned her on even more.

She never met a male who took the time to get to know her like this especially in the beginning. She stepped back, fear that she might drop her pants at the thought of a good lay made her protect herself.

“That was some kiss.”

“I wanted to make sure I destroyed the friend zone.”

What the hell did he just say? Right friend zone. As soon as her toes uncurled she’d try to make sense of what just happened.

“Dinner?” It was all her trembling lips would say.

“Lead the way.”

He was a huge presence at her back. She could feel the heat of his body and the strangeness of his emotions. Was he protecting her? She couldn’t be sure. The more time she spent with him, the more aware she became that he processed the things he saw and felt differently.

It would take her years, maybe a lifetime to understand him. A mystery, that was new, unique, the interest she had in him was becoming more intense. Now that she understood that she could misread his intentions, his wants or desires, she was even more fascinated by him. It was never any fun knowing what a guy wanted almost before he knew.

“I’m parked over here by the warehouses.”

“What brought you down here?”

“I was helping a friend.”

There was that laser-like gaze of his zooming in on her back. She wanted to twitch her shoulders or rub her neck. Deliberately this time she let out her feelers to pick up what he was feeling. Nothing but general surface emotions? Did he know what she was? Was he blocking?

She stopped and turned to look at him. His green eyes were sparkling with mirth. Maybe always knowing what a guy was thinking was better than this unknown territory.

“This is my Jeep.” She fished the keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door. “Get in.”

She waited until he shut the door and put on the seatbelt. Her car never moved until everyone was buckled up. Her mind tried to think of why, but she pushed the memory aside. Something's didn’t need to be dwelled on.

“Someplace specific you want to eat?”

The shake of his head she caught out of the corner of her eye said no. “You pick.”

Well then, she’d take him to her favorite spot. She turned the Jeep on and pulled out wondering what she was doing with a stranger in her car so late at night.

“There’s a nice spot not too far from here that I love. The best thing about it is that it doesn’t open until late. Not a lot of people know about it, and that’s how the owner likes it. He started the place because he’s a night owl. It gives him a chance to mingle with others.”

“What about you? Do you prefer being up late?”

“I did when I was younger. Now I like to think I’m more adjusted. Which means I sleep any chance I get.” She gave a soft laugh.

“You work at night.”

“The crush of people is less during the evening and the night. You would think there would be more people out and about, but there isn’t. During the day, the streets are filled with people and emotions. They stream out of every building and fill the air with noise. At night, more people are home. The air is less saturated.”

“You read emotions like they are words.”

“I’m human.”

“I know.”

“You’re not. I know that too,” she said quietly.

That’s where she got silent. He was supposed to laugh and make fun of what she was saying. He didn’t. His voice and his demeanor said he was telling the truth. How could he be anything other than human? This should be where she got off. She waited for her mind to scream run. Those words, that warning never came. It was because she already knew everything that walked this planet wasn’t human. Or maybe they had been human but weren’t anymore.

“You’re taking that well.”

“Well suga, I can feel your emotions, even if I’m not sure I’m reading them correctly, and they aren’t screaming human.”

“Yes, it seems that you have a talent for slipping under my guard.”

That was interesting. He could project what he wanted others to see.

“Can all of your kind do that?”

“It comes with age.”

“And your old.” She said it with a hint of a laugh.

“You’re catching on.”

She turned her head and flashed a smile at him before her eyes locked onto the road in front of her.

“I bet you never met someone like me.” She pulled into a parking space and turned off the Jeep.

“I believe there is only one you.”

She gaped at him as he got out the car. That was a compliment, right? Of course, it was. She hurriedly got out and went to stand on the sidewalk next to him.

“I’m going to like you.” She said softly before leading him into the restaurant.

This time his lips curved into a smile. Going to ground didn’t seem like the best solution any longer.

“Why are you feeding me?” he asked once they were seated at a table.

“You look like you haven’t eaten in a while.” Which didn’t make sense. He was all thick muscle. The kind that made her want to strip out of her too big outfit and show him her panties. Damn, she should have worn the irritating thong.

“Can I take your order?” Their waitress gave them a bright smile. Her eyes skimmed Tristan’s body, and she lit up with interest.

“He’s too old for you sweetie.” The waitress blushed making Mira put away her claws. Of course, she looked. She’d have to be dead not to. “I’ll have the burger supreme combo, make my patty medium well, and ice tea to drink.”

“For you sir?”

“I’ll have the same but make my burger a double and my patties rare.” He gave her a smile, more to mess with Mira.

“You know she’s going in the back right now to tell all the other waitresses about the hottie sitting at her table.”

“I know.”

“Then why?”

“I liked watching you hiss.”

Oh, that man, male, alien, whatever he was sure did know how to sweet talk her.

“How is someone as old as you not hitched?” He stared at her his face blank. “Married? Have a girlfriend?”

“Mated. Where I came from I was not allowed to mate. Even if I had been no female would have given me the time of day.”

Note to self, stay away from the planet of idiots. “Maybe one day you can tell me about it. You’re on earth now, most likely half the female population would die to have you as theirs and at least a fourth of the male population.” There was that panty-melting smile again.

“You’re too kind.”

The waitress came back with their drinks. “Your food will be out soon.”

Mira nodded and kept her smile to herself. There were at least two sets of eyes peeking over at them. She leaned over the table and kissed him.

“What did I do to deserve that?”

“Just making sure the friend zone was totally destroyed.” And staking a claim but he didn’t need to know that, not yet.

“Uh huh, friend zone.”

She couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Do your friends know how funny you are?”

“No,” he turned to look around the restaurant.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, they are like shadows. This is the first time they haven’t been watching me. I thought I shook them earlier, but one of them always seems to find me.

She was willing to bet good money that he was talking about Ven the young male she met earlier. Male because if Tristan wasn’t human, neither was Ven.

“I’ll take good care of you until they find you.”

“That brings me comfort and scares me at the same time.” He never thought of himself as weak, but right now he wanted to run.

The waitress brought out the food. They ate in silence each of them wondering how the night would end.