Page 48 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

As he was busy buttoning her jacket all the way up, she said, “We agreed it’s not a date, Carnal. Just a ride. Nothing more.”

He threw his leg over the bike and smiled. “Nothing less.” Then he held his hand out to help her on. “Hold on to me. The roads aren’t even. So until we get out to the sand, you’re going to need to hold on tight and lean when I lean.”

“Okay. Got it.” She put her arms around his middle.

He took her hands and wound them tighter. “More like that.” He smiled and started the engine.

Though it made no sound at all, Rosie felt the vibration through the seat and was a little excited about the outing. Not to mention the fact that her proximity to Carnal was not just disconcerting, but all-consuming. Pressed so close to his back, she smelled the tanned leather and the saltwater steam, but under that there was a distinctive scent that was pure Carnal. Male. Musky. Wild. Exciting.

She turned her face into his back and breathed a deep, hopefully surreptitious, sniff, but Carnal’s hyper senses made him acutely aware. He turned his head just a fraction of an inch in response. He knew she’d sampled his aroma. He also knew instinctively that it was the first step in a primeval mating dance. Because of that, he was smiling when they rolled out of the settlement slowly, everyone within sight looking on with undisguised curiosity. Once they were beyond the big gate, Carnal sped up.

“Hold on,” he said.

When they lurched forward, Rosie grabbed hold in earnest as a laugh was forced out of her lungs. She was glad the surprise reaction was a laugh and not a girly squeal. Ten minutes later they’d wound their way down the hills to the valley, traversed the winding forest road that ran alongside a stream, and shot out into the wasteland where it felt like they were moving almost as fast as Rosie did when she was traveling the passes between dimensions.

It was a unique and multilayered experience, the combination of vibration, wind, and the desolate space of flat wasteland where it felt like no one existed besides Rosie and Carnal.

In the distance a small cluster of towers rose up from the dust and that was where they appeared to be heading. Within minutes Carnal was rolling to a stop at the base of one of the towers. Though the wind was cold and biting when they were traveling at high speed, the warmth of the sun had Rosie wanting out of her jacket as soon as they slowed.

“You first,” Carnal said. Rosie swung her leg over the rear wheel of the bike and climbed off. “So?” Carnal removed the goggles he’d worn to keep the sand out of his eyes.

Rosie couldn’t stop the grin that wanted to break out. “It was fun.”

“Yeah.” He smiled, looking like he clearly enjoyed her pleasure and was trying to remember his first ride.

She looked up at the tower above them. “So this is where the nuclear power plant used to be?”

He followed her line of sight. “Nuclear. Yeah. I guess,” he said as he opened one of the saddle bags. “I brought food.”

From one side he pulled out a blanket. From the other he pulled out a gunny sack and a jar of liquid that looked suspiciously like the hard cider Rosie pulled on tap.

She grinned. “A picnic? I’ve never been on a picnic. Too cool.”

Carnal looked around. “If you’re too cold, we can move out into the sun.”

“Uh, no, I don’t mean that kind of cool. Never mind. This is great. What’d you bring to eat?”

He looked at the sack like he’d forgotten. “Just bread, cheese. I think there are some apple slices or something like that.”

“You don’t know.”

He handed over the sack to free his hands so he could spread out the blanket. “Look and see. Joy put it together.”

“Joy put a picnic together for you and another woman? Is it laced with poison?”

He stopped and stared. “Joy… You know she’s… It’s not like that with her. She’s part of my crew, but she’s not somebody I’m interested in like what you’re thinking.”

“No?”

“No. Look. I like girls and, well, she does, too.”

“Ah. I thought maybe she was kidding about that because I saw you that night at the Commons and…” Realizing her mouth had gotten ahead of her brain, again, Rosie knelt down on the blanket, opened the sack, and peered inside. Sure enough, there was half a baguette, a hunk of yellow cheese, and some apple slices. She thought it was overkill to have ciderandapple slices, but all in all it was a nice picnic.

“And what?” Carnal flopped down beside her and smiled with a twinkle in his eye. “Were you jealous?”

“What? No!”

“You were. I can tell.”

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