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CHAPTER SEVEN: BUCK MOON - PART ONE
God damnit! It took everything Russ had not to crush his cell phone in his fist. Checking his messages had turned out to be a mixed bag. On one hand, he wasn’t fired or evicted for causing a fight in the apartment. But, on the other, neither was Tucker. Since Dawn refused to file an official complaint against Tucker — not wanting to make too much of it, not that Russ thought that was possible — Tucker couldn’t be officially charged with anything either. And, management was clear, if they couldn’t fire Russ, despite him being arrested — even if the charges were later dropped — they certainly couldn’t fire Tucker.
Russ wanted to smash his phone into a million pieces. Then, afterward, maybe some people’s heads. Storming through the hallways, he headed toward building B, ready for Tucker’s head to be the first and most satisfying of many.
“Russel Hardwick!” He pulled up short, his brain stalling at the sharp, stern tone. He turned and saw Grace rushing toward him with a gold-tipped, maternal finger wagging at him. “Where on Earth have you been and just where on God’s green soil do you think you’re going?”
Russ blinked blankly, still frowning at her tone. “I need to see Tucker.”
“Oh no, you do not.” Grace grabbed him by the elbow and tugged him back toward his own building. “You need to stay away from that boy before you make me call the cops twice in two days. You’re both lucky you didn’t wind up in jail or lose your jobs. And you have bigger things to worry about.”
“Bigger?” Russ, confused as to how or why this small, older woman was ordering him around — much less how or why he was allowing it — continued to scowl at her.
“You’ve left Dawn all by herself in that lonely apartment of yours. And after all she’s been through!” Grace shook her head and tsked, the small sound devastating. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Russel Hardwick. If you were my son, I’d disown you on the spot.”
First Elise. Then Harold and Willem. Then Garrett. And now Grace. Was everyone going to lecture him on his relationship with Dawn? Frankly, he was getting more than a little tired of it. Maybe he didn’t know what the hell he was doing, but he’d figure it out. He’d always done fine on his own before; he’d do it again.
Except, what had Garrett said? That he needed people around him to point out when he was being a fuck-up. And, Lord knew, he’d been fucking things up lately. So maybe he should try stopping and listening.
Grace put her hands on her hips. “And now you’re back and the first thing you want to do is pick another fight? Is your anger really worth more than Dawn’s well-being? Did you even check on her? See if she was all right? You need to take better care of her, young man.”
Well, hell.
She was right.
Damn.
He sighed. “You’re right. I’ll… do better. Thank you, ma’am, and excuse me.” He gave a slight bow of his head and started toward his apartment.
“Oh, she’s not at your place anymore.”
What? Russ stopped abruptly and spun around, his blood running cold. What did Grace mean, Dawn wasn’t at his place anymore? Biting back panic, he gaped at Grace. “Where is she?”
Grace sniffed and gestured toward the entrance of the building. “She said she couldn’t stand to be cooped up all day and needed to run — of all things.” The woman shook her head, as if she’d never understand why anyone would. “She’s been out there running around the block for the past hour or so. I sent Freddy out there with her, just to be safe.”
Relief rushing through him, Russ thanked her again before hurrying outside. He paused when he saw Freddy crouched in the corner of the parking lot, looking sweaty and exhausted. Russ moved closer. “Where’s Dawn?”
Freddy made a vague, circular gesture. “Around.” He stood up. “I tried running with her, but she’s fast as hell and can just keep going.” The teen shook his head and blew out a perplexed breath. “Did you know that deer can run, like, thirty-five miles per hour. It’s true; I looked it up, after the third or fourth time she passed me.”
Russ snorted, strangely amused. “She’s not a deer; she’s a hind.”
“Whatever. She’s fast and hardcore. Track team’s got nothing on her.” He shrugged. “So I figured I’d park it in front of the apartments. You know, make sure… you know who stays in his place and doesn’t bug her.” He stood up. “But now you’re here, so you’ve got this, right? I mean, you’re, like, a werewolf or whatever, so you can keep up with her, can’t you?” He shoved his hands in his pockets nervously. “So I can head back in now, right?”
Russ chuckled softly. “Yeah, kid, you can go on up; I’ve got this.” Freddy nodded gratefully and started to jog toward the building. “And thanks,” Russ called after him, before looking down one direction of the street then the other, wondering exactly where Dawn was. Should he just start running and hope to catch up with her? Grace and Freddy had said that she was doing laps; that meant that she would eventually come back this way, right? Should he just wait?
As he was trying to decide, he saw Dawn’s loping form gracefully making her way toward him. God, the things her body did to him! His gaze traced her every lithe line — from her long, limber legs to her soft, heaving breasts, hidden beneath a sports bra and an oversized tank top — as she moved like his every dream. Even from here, he could smell her — warm, sweet, and slick with sweat. Shutting his eyes, he groaned quietly as his body instantly responded. His hearing pricked up at the seductive sound of her panting coming closer and closer to him. Fuck.
As she slowed down and approached him, he fisted his hands and shoved them into his pockets, so they couldn’t do something reckless, like reach out to her. “Russ.” The simple sound of his name on her lips shouldn’t make his pulse race, but it did. He shook his head, trying to force himself to calm down. “You’re here.”
He nodded, but still couldn’t make himself look at her. Just the scent and sound of her were overwhelming him, he didn’t think the sight of her would help him gain control. Breathe. He just needed to breathe. But every inhalation just brought more of her tantalizing essence inside him.
“Are you okay?”
No. Clearly not. But he didn’t know how to say that without making it sound like it was her fault. And it wasn’t. It was his.
You need to talk to her. To let her know what’s going on with you, because it affects her now too.
He sighed. Everyone had told him some version of that; they couldn’t all be wrong, right? Okay. Talk. He could do that, despite an entire life to the contrary, right? He unclenched his jaw. “I’m… not feeling like myself right now.”
He opened his eyes when he heard her softly chuckle. Her lush lips smirked knowingly at him. “Let me guess; you’re feeling angry and anxious and more than a little overwhelmed by having your whole life turned upside down?”
He nodded as his face flushed, feeling ridiculous complaining to her, of all people. Whatever he was feeling, she had to be going through far worse.
She nodded too. “Me too; it’s been an infuriating, anxiety-ridden, overwhelming couple of days.” She cocked her head at him. “Wanna run it out with me?”
Was that what she was doing? It made sense, he supposed. Usually, when he felt like this, he’d head down to his garden, busying his hands with his plants. Letting it clear his head with its rich scents, grounded textures, and repetitive movement. He looked at Dawn’s legs, thinking running must do much the same thing. And, if it made her feel better, he’d do just about anything. “Sure, but I don’t run a whole lot.” Not on two legs anyway. “And you tired out Freddy pretty damn quickly; you might have to go easy on me.”
Dawn grinned at him and nudged him in the side. “I think I can do that.”
She started them out with a brisk jog. Nothing too fast, but enough to get their heart rate up. The steady trot of her hooves and his booted feet on the sidewalk was oddly soothing. And the brush of her shoulder or arm against him, every so often, was… nice in a way he didn’t want to dwell on. As was the heat of her body so close to his. And the sound of her breath.
He shook his head. Focus. He was trying to clear his mind, not fill it with her. So he tried to think about his own body. The easy strain of his muscles. The way his weight shifted with each step. The way his body kept pace, sought to match the smooth movements of hers.
Suddenly, hazy images of their bodies and all the many, intimate ways they could move together flashed in a mad, hot, lurid flurry through his head.
Goddamn it!
So, not thinking about her was simply not possible. Okay. He could deal with that. He could. He swallowed hard. He just had to figure out how.
Talk to her.
But about what? He wasn’t good at making conversation. It always felt forced and awkward.
Except with Dawn. But usually she started them. He snuck a look at her face. Her expression was set in determined lines as she stared forward, seeing but not looking at anything. He frowned. Maybe she didn’t want to talk right now. If this was all about emptying her head, would she really want him to fill it with his clumsy chatter?
He huffed, frowning.
“We can stop, if you hate it.”
He looked at her. “No, it’s fine.” He coughed. Talk to her, you oaf. Why was this so hard? “So,” he said, picking up the pace just a bit, so she’d know he didn’t want to stop, “you like to bake, run, and read, huh?”
She laughed. “Me in a nutshell.” He smiled, liking the sound of his words coming out of her mouth more than he probably should. “My best friend in junior high was on the track team. We used to train together.”
“You did track in school?”
She shook her head. “That was before Title IX included discrimination against species. Back then they thought, as a hind, I had an unfair advantage over human athletes.”
He frowned. “They wouldn’t let you on the team?”
“I didn’t even get to try out.” Her lips thinned resignedly as she shrugged. “They offered to start a magical team, but couldn’t get enough interest.” She gave a sad smile. “Besides, even if they did, who would we compete against?”
“So it was just you and your friend?” Sounded nice to him, but he knew someone like Dawn needed more than that. She deserved more than that.
“Mmm-hmm.” Dawn huffed, keeping her head defiantly up. “Till she left for college a year before me, anyway.”
Russ frowned, thinking of her running all by herself after that. “If you ever want to run,” he heard himself say before even really realizing it, “just ask.”
The curve of her lips, excited and happy, was foolishly rewarding and somehow both made him feel pathetically embarrassed and irrationally thrilled. “Really?”
She sounded like he was offering her something rare and special, instead of volunteering to be her running buddy. He grunted and shrugged. “Sure.”
Her hips swayed with sass and pleasure in a way that really shouldn’t have registered as sexual, but did to his dick-dumb brain. “You may regret that, mister. I have a habit of getting the itch at weird times, like first thing in the morning or right before bed.”
He frowned. “Then you really should call me.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Why? You too?”
He snorted. Hell no. “You shouldn’t run by yourself when it’s dark.”
She laughed. “Why not? We live in a nice neighborhood; what could possibly happen?
He shook his head. “Statistically, more violent crimes happen in smaller and mid-sized towns than in larger cities.”
She frowned, her pace faltering a bit. “I guess we both know that better than most, huh?”
Shit. He felt like kicking himself. Why did he say that? Except the idea of Dawn alone at night sent a shiver of pure panic down his spine. Rubbing his neck, feeling the scars left there, he swallowed hard. “Just… call me. Anytime.”
He saw her visibly shake off her worry and peek up at him. “You really wouldn’t mind?”
He shook his head. “It would make me feel better.” He shifted his shoulders, those words making him feel uncomfortably vulnerable.
But then she smiled, satisfied with that answer apparently. She nodded, soothing that strange tension within him. “Okay.”
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