Harden
They wandered the streets of Cloud Lake in as short and yet random of a pattern as he could take to get them to their destination. As they walked they recalled their enjoyment from the night before. He saw the way her eyes lit up as she recalled the final dance and the way they’d been whirling frantically around the floor, trying to keep up with the music, and not let themselves be beat by the other pair. He could tell it was a source of pride with her that they hadn’t caved under the pressure, instead rising to the occasion.
“And Kelly was so jealous,” she said with a laugh.
“About what?”
“That I had a date for the evening, and for the rest of the weekend,” she said, her arm linked through his in a very casual and relaxed manner.
“Whoa, today is only Saturday,” he said with mock reluctance. “I never said anything about Sunday.”
Erika pushed at him, though it made her move away from him, as opposed to shoving him away.
“Not fair,” she grumbled. “You have to play along when I push you.”
He suddenly stumbled away. “What was that for!” he complained loudly and obnoxiously. “You pushed me! That wasn’t very nice. What did I ever do to you?”
“Stop it!” she hissed as other people looked over at them. “That is not what I meant.”
But she was laughing and he joined in with her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in tight. They might have only met the night before, but their personalities were meshing so easily he didn’t feel like he was pushing any boundary by holding her close to him like that. The fact that her arm wrapped around his waist in return told him she felt the same.
“Be careful what you wish for,” he whispered in her ear, earning him another giggle from her.
“Do I get to find out where we’re going yet?” she asked.
He carefully did not glance across the street at their destination. “I think so. But we need to turn left up at that street.” He slid away from her but grabbed her hand, trying hard to ignore the buzzsaw that ripped up his arm every time he touched her bare skin. It was worse when it was her hand, as if it were amplified when they held hands.
From the sharp look Erika gave the intertwined fingers, she must be feeling it too. Harden wondered what it meant. Did that mean she was his mate? Was that a sign? Without his wolf he couldn’t tell, couldn’t ask it. His wolf half would just instinctively know if someone was his mate. Harden had obviously never experienced that himself, but he’d talked to others and heard stories of how the call of a mate felt. He was positive this was a sign, but he couldn’t know for sure without his animal.
Fighting back the frustration, he glanced up and down the road for any oncoming cars, not wanting to lead Erika into an accident. It wasn’t something he’d ever had to worry about until the Institute had invaded Kronum, but after that, he’d learned quite quickly what vehicles could do to a person when caught in the open. Harden quickly shut down those memories, not wanting to sour his day by reliving things from his past.
“I thought you said we had to go left,” she asked as he tugged her under a wrought-iron arch that read Tinne Cuppe Mini-Putt.
“This is left,” he said. “Just a little before the street intersection.”
She gave him a look.
“Surprise!”
Erika smiled. “Not bad, good sir, not bad. Fooled me on the first try. That deserves a gold star.”
He looked around curiously. “I don’t see any of those. How about a kiss instead?”
She hesitated, likely caught off guard by his boldness, but an instant later the freckles on her pale skin bobbed and scrunched together as she smiled up at him. “I think we could arrange that.”
Harden tilted his head sideways and lowered himself to her, feeling the tenderness of her skin, the nervous half-second pause before she melted into him with a soft whimper. He kissed her soft and slow, enjoying the freshness of her scent as it wafted up to him, some mixture of feminine bodywash that he would never have been able to name in a thousand years. She arched into him slightly as he wrapped an arm around her back, holding her close for an extra moment before they parted for air.
“You should surprise me more often,” she said huskily, eyes wide, pupils dilated. Her mouth hung open just slightly, her luscious mouth forming a small O-shape as she breathed in deeply.
“I think I’m going to have to try,” he replied, his voice just a notch above the deep-chested growl that signified full arousal within him.
They stood still for a moment, enjoying each other’s presence while they recovered. Then, with as much casual motion as they could, the two turned back to a side-by-side position and continued walking up to the booth, uncaring of the looks both the staff and a family of other mini-golfers were giving them.
“Hi, what can we do for you today?” the high school-age girl behind the counter asked with the false cheeriness that all retail and service employees learn to use within their first day or two of working.
“Mini-putt for two please,” he said.
“Sure. Did you want to do one course, or add the second for just two dollars? That’ll be thirty-six holes instead of eighteen,” she said, sounding bored with the repetitive question.
“Oh, both for sure,” he replied, not even bothering to ask Erika. He noticed her reaching for something. “What’s that?”
“A scorecard,” she said, grinning. “You don’t think I’m going to let you walk away with this, do you?”
His eyebrows rose, forehead wrinkling. “It’s going to be like that, is it?” he asked, taking up the gauntlet of the challenge she had just thrown down.
“Oh. Yeah,” she replied with an exaggerated nod, her competitiveness showing.
The attendant placed two putters on the counter, one bright neon pink, the other a more royal blue. Erika snatched up the blue one before he could blink, laughing evilly as he picked up the pink one with two fingers, regarding the colors regretfully.
“It’s going to be one of those days,” he said to the attendant, who was struggling to contain her own laughter as Erika shoved a matching bright-pink ball into his hand before she took his wrist and dragged him after her.
“Come on, mister,” she all but crowed. “Time to lose.”
He snorted. “Right. You seem so confident about that, why don’t we put a little wager on it, hmmm?”
A pair of brown orbs glittered with delight. “Full-body massage to the winner, from the loser.”
“Done,” he said quickly.
Erika eyed him suspiciously, trying to figure out just what it was he was up to, but Harden just smiled and gave her a look that could only be described as angelic. It was her turn to blow air from her nose, not believing his look for a second.
“Whatever, let’s go. Hole One, this way,” she said, reading a sign.
Harden followed after her, admiring the way her rear swayed in her jeans as she walked. At one point he was forced to bite his lip as she climbed a small set of stairs in front of him.
“Quit gawking,” she said over her shoulder. “I don’t want to hear any complaints later about how you lost because you were distracted.”
“Trust me, there will be no complaints.”
He enjoyed watching her pale cheeks flush pink, highlighting her freckles even more. She was gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous, and he wanted her.
Patience. You can’t rush things with her. She doesn’t think the way you do, the way a shifter would. You’ll need to build up a rapport with her. Flirt more, make her laugh lots, and hope that she feels a connection with you. You’ll have to let her make the first move.
Armed with some restraint, he indicated for Erika to go first. She planted her ball and eyed the course. The first hole was simple, just a straightaway with a little speed bump-like hump between the ball and the hole.
Erika lined herself up, gripped the putter and took several practice swings. Then she tapped the ball and they watched it roll down the green, over the bump and flip out of the cup, rolling to a stop perhaps two feet away.
“I’m getting the feeling I might be a little outclassed,” he muttered, stepping up and hitting his ball.
It rolled right into the cup.
“Ba-boom!” he shouted, stabbing a fist forward and then yanking it backward into his side.
“Beginner’s luck,” she said dryly.
Harden just grinned.
They battled it out over the courses, with Erika winning some, and Harden winning others. Both of them had at least one atrocious hole per course, but it evened out in the end. The eighteenth hole of the second course loomed large, and they tallied up the score going in.
“Harden, 123,” she said. “Erika,” there was a short pause as she did the math. “Also 123.”
“Well, this is going to decide it then, isn’t it? Winner takes all, on the final hole. The tension is mounting, the nerves must be crushing right now. Whoever will emerge victorious?” he asked, sounding more like a stadium announcer than anything.
“Oh knock it off,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “We all know that I’m going to ace this hole.”
He chuckled nastily. “I’m not so sure about that. There’s a whole-body massage on the line here. You think I’m going to give that up easily?”
Erika gave him a dubious look, and then took stock of the hole ahead of them.
It was a tricky one. A long dog-leg to the left, it also went uphill at first, before a 90 degree left turn that was also a sheer drop down onto the green around the hole. Harden noticed a little metal opening on the inside of the corner at the peak of the hill. His eyes followed it to the chipped and faded yellow-painted metal rail that curved down and around, looking like it would deposit the ball in a line that would drop it into the hole.
“I got this.”
Erika stepped up, aimed, and sent her ball sailing smoothly into the metal opening. The pair of them watched her ball emerge from the hole and roll down the metal rail, bouncing slightly as it hit the ground and rolling to within a foot of the hole, an easy putt.
She looked at him smugly and then gestured grandly for him to step up and take his turn. Harden missed the hole, but his ball sailed off the right hand wall, then banked around the corner and ricocheted off several other walls, before coming to a stop perhaps a foot and a half away from the hole.
“Game on,” he said with a grin, strolling up the marked concrete at the side of the hole until they got to the green.
She walked up to her ball, and before he could say anything, tapped it in.
“One twenty-five!” she crowed, circling around with his putter in the air. “Beat that!
Harden thought long and hard. Then he stepped up to his ball, took aim, and shot it.
“You missed!” Erika crowed. “You lose!”
He grinned. “Do I?”
It took her a moment to catch on to his meaning, and then she smiled. “You don’t know what you were missing though.” Her tongue flicked out and ran across her lips.
He choked down the sudden lump in his throat and tried not to feel like he’d just lost. After all, he was still going to get to give her a full-body massage, running his hands across every inch of her skin. That in itself was victory, wasn’t it?
His mind filled in a picture of what she might have done with her tongue and those lips.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t total victory.
They turned in their scorecards and headed out, once again arms and hands linked together. The mood turned serious as they walked, both of them lost in their own contemplative minds. There was no reason behind the change, it simply happened, and neither of them could stop it. It was as if they’d discovered they could enjoy each other’s presence, but they needed to know more, without the humor and sexually suggestive actions. To know the real person.
“So, how are you making out in Cloud Lake so far?” he asked after the silence had stretched on for just a bit too long.
“It’s tough,” she replied immediately, without hesitation. “The people are amazing, the support from Cadia is unbelievable, but it’s tough. I…I don’t know the first thing about raising a child, let alone a shifter child. I’m alone, really, without a support network of people. I can’t rely on the other women, because they’re all in the same boat. All of us have given up everything we’ve known to become part of the program, and now it’s backfired on us. Nobody knows what to do, what’s going to come next. What happens after we give birth? We don’t know.”
Harden gave her hand what he hoped was a reassuring squeeze. She gave him a double in return.
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m strong enough to do this, I know I am. But strength is much more powerful when paired with knowledge. No to mention, most of us are all going to be going through this at the same time, within a few months of each other. That’s going to strain friendships horribly. I’m not sure everyone quite realizes that just yet. There won’t be anyone without a child to help us out. To be there when we just need a break, to pull our minds back from the edge of insanity.”
“You don’t know that.”
Erika stared straight ahead. “Yes I do. All of us are pregnant. The farthest along is like seven months, then trickling down to just over two. Each and every one of us. Sure, I suppose something horrible might happen and some might lose them early. That does happen unfortunately. But come on, Harden, we’re all going to be way too busy to be each other’s support. So what do we do?”
He was shaking his head before she even finished responding to him.
“What?”
“That’s not what I meant,” he said gently. “I wasn’t referring to the other women.”
Her face went still for a moment as she processed what he was saying.
“You mean a man.”
He shrugged. “Or another woman, I suppose. Whatever works. But yes, a partner, someone to help ease that burden. It’s entirely possible that many of you will be paired up by the time the children come.”
“Maybe,” she said noncommittally. “But I can’t bank on that, can’t plan ahead on the assumption that there will be a Harden Archer or someone there in the room with me, giving me a hand to squeeze until it breaks as I push this thing out of me.”
Harden couldn’t help but laugh at her blunt analogy of how the birth would go.
“No, you can’t bank on it,” he said. “But you can have hope.”
She shrugged. “If all goes to plan, I give birth in twenty-five weeks. That’s an incredibly short time to find someone who will stick by my side through all that.”
“Perhaps to humans, it is,” he agreed. “But it isn’t to us. That’s actually a rather long time, actually. I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of a courtship lasting that long before both parties knew that they were destined to be together.”
Erika didn’t reply, but nor did she drop his hand. All in all, he figured that to be a good sign.
“What would you like to do after the child is born?” he asked.
“Like I’ve thought that far,” she scoffed.
“I think you have,” he pushed, unwilling to back down. She was a driven woman, one who knew what she wanted. Harden didn’t buy for a second that she hadn’t thought about the idea of going back to work, of finding some way to help supplement the income that she got through the Cadian fund.
Erika turned to look at him as they walked along the sidewalk, passing by small little bungalows as they wandered through one residential neighborhood after another, on their way to the sprawling apartment complexes that the shifters had built in record time for her and the other women.
“I don’t know,” she said.
Harden didn’t speak, sensing that she wasn’t done.
“I’ve looked at the college here, at the programs offered by it. There isn’t much, but I’m actually surprised there’s even a college in this town, to be honest.”
“That’s news to me,” he admitted. “I didn’t know that either.”
“Yeah, it’s only a couple of years old I guess. But they offer a program to become a dental assistant that sounds interesting. It’s two years’ worth of study full-time, which means it’ll probably take me three to four, but I can do classes in the summer too, which should help. And there’s always places hiring for that. Cloud Lake has a bunch of dentists in it, believe it or not. If I could push myself, and finish before many of the others, I’d have a good shot at getting a job with one of them, so I could still live here and save up some money.” She frowned at him. “What? Something wrong with my idea?”
“Not at all,” he assured her. “Not in the slightest. I’m just laughing because you told me you hadn’t thought about it. Yet here you are with a plan of attack all laid out.”
Erika smiled sheepishly. “I dunno, I guess I wasn’t sure if you would laugh at me or not. And you did!”
She was just teasing him though, and gave another squeeze of his hand as she smiled at him to make sure he knew she was joking.
“I would never laugh at your goals, Erika,” he said softly. “Never. You should do it, you know. Speak to the college now. Maybe you could take a class or two before the baby comes. Get more of a head start.”
Erika’s face lit up. “That’s an amazing idea! They’ve got to know all about us and our situation. I’m sure there’s some basic, introductory courses I could power through now. That’s such a smart thing to do. Thank you!”
He smiled.
Hand in hand they rounded the corner and headed down the street that had her complex on it. The buildings were all built two stories high, one unit per story, in a long and sprawling community. It was all self-contained, and the outside still showed signs of construction. The buildings themselves had gone up in record time, but the fine details, such as landscaping and pouring of roads and curbs and the like had taken longer, as fewer shifters were kept available for that. The immediate need for shelter over, many of them had to go back to their jobs and their families. Progress was still being made, and Harden figured another two to three weeks and the last of it would probably be done.
Not too shabby, he thought, putting together three hundred units in two months, starting from scratch. They weren’t permanent homes, and likely would last no more than ten years. But by then, proper housing could be built if necessary. Harden doubted many would, however. He had a strange feeling that a lot of people expected the women to end up moving in with their shifter mates.
Erika guided him to her unit, and up to the front door. She didn’t say anything as she opened it and walked inside, holding it for him. Harden had been prepared to call it a day, but it seemed that she was interested in having him around some more. With a mental shrug, he followed her inside, closing the door behind him.