Moonsong, page 15
“You said before…”
“I know what I said…” his fingers lightly traced the delicate lines of her face. “And I know what I should be doing right now…”
Her eyes drifted shut at the light caress. “What should you be doing right now?”
“I should be taking you on that walk as promised.”
Amelia’s eyes fluttered open and narrowed at him; was he playing with her? She couldn’t help the pout of frustration, holding back the accusation that sprang to her tongue. He wanted her; she knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Cutter might be resisting it for the moment, but something between them had definitely shifted, and she was confident she could work with that.
“Alright then, let’s take that walk.” But this time she slipped her hand into his before he retreated too far. “Tell me again what we’re looking for?”
“I need to find a new piece or pieces to work with; I’m almost done with the project I’ve been working on.”
“Oh…” Millie nodded and her eyes immediately dropped to scan the forest floor. “Do you have a place in particular where you normally look for wood, or is there a particular type of tree you prefer to use?”
“It’s less structured than that. Usually I just walk and… they call to me.”
A slender brow rose over that one. “The pieces of wood call to you?” she asked skeptically. “Do you hear voices from inanimate objects often?”
Cutter let go of her hand to give her rear end a playful swat. “Careful now, or I’ll leave you out here to find your way back on your own,” he growled, but there was no real threat behind his voice.
“Aw, you’d leave me out here all by my lonesome to be gobbled up by wolves while you go off to talk to the trees?” she pretended to pout.
“You do look pretty tasty,” Cutter grinned, catching up her hand again and bringing it to his lips. “It’s not that I talk to the trees exactly,” he tried to explain, running the pads of her fingers across his bottom lip. “Here, let me show you.” His eyes flashed with amusement, and he tugged her deeper into the woods as they resumed their trek.
“Okay…” Amelia watched him more than the path, trying to figure out what the hell he was up to and if he’d slipped a gasket from all of his years out in the woods on his own. Cutter walked in silence, eyes trained on the ground.
“There,” he pointed to a fallen chunk of wood and let go of her hand to bend and scoop it up, turning it over in his hands. “This could work…”
“So, you heard that piece of wood call to you? ‘Cause I didn’t hear anything, Cutter…”
“No, I didn’t mean I hear anything out loud…” Cutter searched for a way to explain it. “The wood will tell you what it wants to be.”
“Like, ‘I wanna be a real boy’,” she made her voice into a high falsetto, wiggling the chunk of wood to emphasize her words.
“No, that’s not what I mean,” he gave her a sour look. “Here, give me your hands,” Cutter curled her fingers around each side of the piece of wood. “Close your eyes.”
“This is silly…” she muttered, but at catching his look, she did as he requested, her eyes slipping closed with a long drawn out sigh.
“Keep your eyes closed. Gather the stillness around you and open yourself to receive what the wood wants to tell you.”
Right, listen to what the wood wants to tell me. All she heard was the birdsong high above, and in the distance, the faint sound of running water from a brook or small stream. That and the sound of his voice, but she would stand there in the woods with her eyes closed for as long as he asked her to as long as he kept his warm hands enfolding hers. Almost as if he’d heard her inner thoughts, he removed his hands and her brows tugged closer together in disappointment.
“Now open your eyes and see the shape inside the wood, see what it wants to be,” he said softly, his voice coming from behind, but not touching her in any way.
Obediently Amelia opened her eyes and stared at the wood, letting her mind go blank, receptive to the first flight of fancy that popped into her mind. “It’s a doe,” she said suddenly, the idea coming to her out of the blue. “I can see the slope of her neck here,” she stroked the side of the wood, more detail coming to her the longer she stared at it. “She’s young; her coat is sleek and healthy, well fed. Her ears are up because she’s seen you watching her, but her eyes are gentle and trusting, she knows you won’t hurt her.”
Cutter’s arms wrapped around her middle from behind, drawing her close, his chin resting on top of her shoulder. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“That was using my imagination,” she scoffed, her eyes still on the wood. Or was it? The more detail she wrangled from the image in her mind, the more certain she was that the piece deserved to be that doe, the idea of carving it into anything else was just… wrong.
“If it makes you feel better to think so,” he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek before he released her. “Come on, let’s try again.”
“But what about the doe?” she looked down at the wood in her hands.
“Bring it along; she can come home with us.”
Amelia smiled over at him, still holding the piece of wood while she searched for the next one, and the next, until Cutter’s pack strained at the seams, already holding what would someday become the doe, a playful fox, a fat rabbit, and two wolf cubs, the latter of which she chose to carry herself, cradling it in her arms.
“Where to next?” she asked eagerly.
“Slow down now, we do want to leave some wood in the forest itself.” The corner of his mouth tilted up into a smile over her enthusiasm. “It’ll take me long enough to get through these.”
“Oh…” she replied, somewhat crestfallen. “Yeah, I guess so. Does that mean we have to go back now?”
“When are you expected home?”
“I don’t want to think about that now, it’s early yet.” Millie pushed away the inevitable for the moment.
“Are you hungry?”
“Why, did you bring some food?” her brows rose with interest. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to bring food out here into a predator’s lair?” she teased him lightly, recalling how he’d scolded her on that first day.
“Darlin’, I’m the only predator out here you gotta worry about,” Cutter grinned wolfishly, and Millie laughed over the endearment and the way he delivered that promise.
“Well then, I don’t suppose I’m in much danger am I? Seeing as how you’re so tame.”
“Is that how you see me? Tame?” his brows knit together.
“Well sure, you know, you’re always so restrained and cautious, like all of your dangerous days are behind you,” she teased.
“You might as well say I’m ready to be put down like a dog,” he grumbled.
“More like put out to pasture to live out your remaining days in peace and tranquility. You did say that was what you wanted now above all else, wasn’t it? Peace and quiet?”
“I’ll show you who’s tame…” Cutter growled, pulling her to him suddenly. Plucking the piece of wood from her fingers, he crushed his lips to hers, hauling her up against the length of him.
Amelia recovered from her surprise almost instantly, melting against him as though she was sculpted for him and only him. Her hands stole up to touch the soft hair at the nape of his neck as her lips parted for him. Cutter’s mouth plundered hers, taking control of the kiss even as his hands slipped underneath her bulky jacket.
Joy leapt in Millie’s heart as he deepened the kiss, trying to tell him with her hands, lips and body what she couldn’t come right out and tell him with words. Not knowing what the future might bring with all the obstacles between them, it might be their last time together alone and she intended to make the most of it. A soft sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as she kissed him as if there were no consequences; all those things she said to Chase about waiting and learning more about each other falling right out of her head when Cutter kissed her.
When finally he drew back and allowed her to catch her breath, Cutter smiled down at her slightly dazed expression. “Was that dangerous enough for you?”
“That was… better than I remembered,” she breathed, heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings. “Almost worth waiting for.”
“Almost?”
“It was a very, very good kiss Cutter, but we could have been doing this the whole time.” Leaning up on her tiptoes, Millie brushed her lips against his again.
“The whole time, huh?” he smiled against her lips. “Something tells me Adele might have something to say about us being in a perpetual lip lock.”
“Adele can kiss my…” Interrupted by the press of lips again, she was only too happy to be distracted until she emerged from the kiss, breathless and forgetting what she’d been about to say.
“Amelia…” he whispered, fingers tracing lightly over her face. “I don’t know what this means…”
Nodding, she knew instantly what he meant. “It doesn’t have to mean a life and death change right now, does it? It is what it is; can’t we just go where it leads us?”
“What if it leads us someplace you don’t want to go?”
“I can’t imagine that happening as long as we get there together,” she smiled up at him, fingers reaching up to touch the laugh lines around his eyes.
“You say that now…”
“Hey, let’s not borrow trouble, alright? Let’s enjoy the day. Then we’ll see what tomorrow brings, and we’ll go from there,” she suggested, laying her head against his chest as Cutter stroked her hair.
“I should be running for the hills…” he smirked.
“Hey… none of that,” she poked him none too gently in the ribs. “I’d just chase after you, to rescue you from yourself.”
“You would, wouldn’t you? End up getting lost and need rescuing yourself,” he chuckled.
“And would you save me?” she fluttered her eyelashes up at him.
“When I could finally have that peace and quiet I’ve been looking for?”
“Ooh… you!” she poked him again. “You know for a guy who claims to like peace and quiet, you sure do spend an awful lot of time in a noisy café, don’t you? I wonder why that is?”
“Maybe I find the service irresistible?” he kissed the top of her head, causing her to hug him a little tighter. “That Cherrilyn is a real charmer.”
Millie laughed at that, “Yeah, she thinks you’re a real charmer too. If you’d crack a smile in public every now and again people would probably smile back more, you know.”
“Why would I want people to smile at me?” he pulled back to look at her as though she’d said something looney. “First it starts with a smile, and then it’s a friendly nod. Before you know it, they’re… talking to you,” he grimaced with distaste, drawing another laugh from her as intended.
“Ah, my crazy hermit, it’s a wonder you ever leave your cabin at all,” Amelia sighed, twirling her fingers in the long tendrils of his hair. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I’m open to suggestions,” he grinned down at her.
“I can think of a suggestion or two that might be better served back at your cabin,” she purred back, “But for the moment, why don’t you feed me and we’ll see where the afternoon takes us?”
“Feed you; now that I can do,” he agreed, stealing another brief kiss before pulling off his pack, having to remove a few chunks of wood before he could reach the lunch packed below. “Hmm, it’s looking a little squashed, but it should still be alright,” he offered her a sandwich piled high with meats and cheese.
“Wow, I’m guessing you’re not a vegetarian, right?” she teased, knowing full well from his orders at the café he was definitely a meat eater.
“Christ, you’re not one of those are you?” he looked up sharply.
“Relax, I like meat fine. But ah, this looks more like you were aiming to feed a hungry trucker, I don’t think I can finish all of this,” Millie replied, hefting the sandwich to make her point.
“Oh,” Cutter gave her a half shrug. “No fridge; I had to use up all the cold cuts. I’ll eat whatever you don’t finish.”
“My human garbage disposal, now that’s what I call sexy,” she teased, patting his cheek lightly.
Cutter took his seat beside her and they ate in companionable silence, sharing from a water bottle passed back and forth. True to her word, Amelia was only able to eat half the sandwich, but Cutter had no trouble polishing off all of his and the rest of hers to boot.
“Next time I’ll bring some cookies.”
“I’d like that,” Cutter sighed, leaning back to rest his head on his arms, looking up at the sky above.
“I have off next Tuesday,” she commented, laying on her back as well, resting her head against his chest.
“Do you want to come out here for another walk or do you want to go somewhere else?”
“You mean like on a real date?” her lips curved into a smile.
Cutter blinked up at the sky. “I guess maybe I do.”
“Where would we go? I’m thinking the Muddy Rudder is out of the question,” she snickered.
“I was thinking of maybe driving over to Hanson, to take a look at the falls or we could go into the City, do dinner and a movie, that kind of thing.”
“So, we’re talking about a night time date? You come and pick me up at my house and my grandmother asks about your intentions?” A note of skepticism crept into her voice.
“I guess not,” he sighed. “Well, lunch and a matinee movie then, you can get away during the day, can’t you?”
“I should be able to.”
“I don’t like the idea of having to lie to your family,” he frowned up at the tree branches above.
“It’s not like they’ve been entirely honest with me either.”
“What do you mean?” Cutter tipped his head forward to catch her expression.
“I don’t know… it feels like there’s more they’re not telling me. Like they’re revealing only so much information at a time for fear I’ll bolt at any second. Just when I start to relax, something else comes to light.”
“Like what?”
“Like those delegates that came from Seattle to negotiate for me,” her brows drew together at the memory.
“Alphonse came here for you?” Cutter’s brow darkened, his arm tightening around her reflexively.
“Not him in person, but his representative, little guy with a goatee, I forget his name. You should have seen the pile of cash they laid down, and Gran scooped it up, pretty as you please, like it was no big deal at all.”
“Jaeger, he handles all of Alphonse’s business dealings. I should have known the man wouldn’t come himself,” he snorted. “How did they leave things?”
“Gran says she has no intention of selling me off to the highest bidder, but I dunno, it wouldn’t surprise me if she thought it was to her advantage, you know?”
“I wouldn’t let them take you, not if you didn’t want to go,” Cutter offered resolutely, his voice low but firm.
“You’d take on the whole pack for little old me?” she tilted her head up to look at him, a coquettish smile on her lips.
“Yes,” he said simply with absolute conviction.
Two men ready to risk death on her behalf and she still found herself unable to make any kind of real commitment to either of them. But maybe that was because Cutter hadn’t offered commitment to her yet. All he offered were a few kisses and the promise of a date, no other talk of the future. If she didn’t have the prophecy thing hanging over her head, it would be enough.
“You know the only way I’ll be safe from this negotiating and squabbling…”
“I do.”
Amelia waited for something else, his thoughts on the subject and if he was offering more, but he remained silent, so that she turned her head to look back up at the sky again. For the moment, it would have to be enough. And as they lay there together, his hand moving lazily in her hair, it was.
Chapter Nineteen
“Millie!” Scarlett’s voice rang through the crowded café as she threaded her way back to the rear counter.
Amelia’s head came up with a smile of acknowledgement before she looked back down to the cup of coffee she was delivering before it spilled. “Hey,” she waved her over to a seat at the counter, clearing away the dirty dishes and giving the counter a swipe.
“Have you seen it yet?” Her blue eyes danced with barely controlled excitement.
“Seen what?” Millie’s brow puckered, doubly so when her cousin waved away the offer of a coffee.
“Come on, you’ve gotta see then,” Scarlett beckoned.
“Are you nuts? I can’t leave work, it’s the morning rush.”
“Oh come on, can’t you take like a ten minute break? It won’t take that long to get there and back,” Scarlett took on a wheedling tone.
“It won’t take that long to get where? What’s going on?” Amelia demanded before she even considered leaving.
“To the gallery, that’s all I’ll say. Now come on, Juliet won’t mind covering your tables for ten minutes, will you Juli?”
Juliet’s plain face showed the beginnings of a frown before it grew shuttered and the frown was replaced by a placid smile. “Not at all, Miss LaRoche, Millie can take as long as she likes.”
Not liking the sound of that tone from her friend, nevertheless Amelia couldn’t wait to see what had Scarlett so hot and bothered. “I’ll be right back; I’ll make it up to you, I swear.” She gave Juliet a helpless shrug and mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ even as Scarlett dragged her towards the door.
“What in the hell is so important you have to practically kidnap me in broad daylight?” she demanded, but her cousin would only smile that infuriating smile as she steered her towards the gallery.
“You’ll see.”
It didn’t take long at all to get there and soon they were moving towards the rear corner of the house where Cutter’s wood carvings were displayed. “I’ve already seen the exhibit, don’t you remember?” Millie hissed, a brief smile going out to the owner who nodded at them politely but kept her distance.
