Page 6 of Under A New Moon

Darla took the opportunity and caught the collar of his shirt, dragging him backward. She dodged flailing arms, buckled down, and held fast until he wavered on his feet, stumbling as his air ran out.

His breaths came in ragged gasps as he clawed at the shirt, managing to tear it open at the very last minute. When she released, he swung again, catching her on the side of her head.

This time, when the world spun, she couldn’t catch herself.

A streetlight blinded her, and the pavement came up to meet her face. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder turning her over until she was blinded again. Another hand tore the mask from her face, and the silence drew long, even as she shielded her watery vision.

When he did finally speak, it was slow. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. “Shelly?”

Five

Galen

Galen’s racing heart sank. “Shelly?”

He’d subdued her, but she’d be up and fighting again if given the opportunity. So, he sat atop her, knowing what those vicious little legs could do. When she bore her flat teeth, they were bloodied. “Fuck you.”

“No, fuckyou,” he retorted. “What the absolute fuck is going on? Who are you, really?”

Galen had her by both arms so she couldn’t even wriggle free. She turned her head to one side with a silent snarl. “Let me go.”

His laugh surprised them both. “ThehellI will.”

But something about her scent was different. He leaned in and sampled it. It wasn’t the same as how she smelled at the diner. This was- redolent. His eyesight blurred, and not from the gratuitous beating she’d given him.

The woman- Shelly—probably not actually Shelly, he realized—tried to pull away when his nose brushed her throat.

“What is this?”

She tried to knee Galen again, barely managing to squirm ineffectually beneath him. Her warmth and hot breath—and maybe the fight—made him hard. He felt a twinge at the tip of his dick before the damned thing started to grow.

If she felt it, she didn’t give any sign other than the occasional jerk of her limbs.

“You’ve got ten seconds to tell me who you work for, or I’ll-”

“PEACE,” she interrupted, closing her eyes. “I work for PEACE. I can prove it. My badge is back in the car I’ve been renting. Now, will you get off me?”

“Not a chance.”PEACE?he thought, looking her over anew. She didn’t look like a PEACE agent, and up until a moment ago, he thought she was pretty cute. He even gave her a handsome tip for the trouble of taking care of his mess. “You were an agent all this time?”

Her lips pursed.

That scent pulled him in again.

Galen couldn’t help himself. He leaned in. The urge started small, like a tickle at the back of his throat, and grew into a raging thirst he couldn’t quench. He craved a taste of her skin, and that salty bite of sweat wafting off her.

“Fucking pervert,” she hissed.

Galen shook his head, trying to regain some measure of control. He really wasn’t like that, and he couldn’t understand why her scent was doing this to him. “Says the one who jumped me…”

Their eyes met.

He lost his train of thought. The desire to claim her was overpowering. He’d never felt this way about anyone, and he’d had more than a few encounters in his time. This was not that. This was something completely different.

The wind shifted.

Every hair on his body stood on end, and he tensed.

She must have felt it because her eyes cleared as if she remembered they were sworn enemies. She struggled anew, slipping an arm free and attempting to roll.

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