Page 9 of Touched

Iblink a few times as the sun comes back into focus.

What the…

Sounds of horns fill the air and I want to cover my ears. I begin to roll over to my side and groan, uncomfortable pains igniting across my hip.

I’ll heal soon enough.

I freeze when a gentle hand touches my arm and warmth floods into the spot he’s touching. Whirling my head back around, facing the sun, I stare at the silhouette of a man.

Oh, hells.

No… not again.

Not just any man…

His scent confirms what I somehow already know?—

Callum has found me.

Albeit by hitting me with his vehicle, but he’s found me.

He bends down and I instantly take a moment to savor his unique and intoxicating aroma.

“Sir,” a woman calls from the sidewalk.

I clench my teeth in weary acceptance.

I suppose this is it.

This is the moment when the truth sinks in.

Can others, besides this human male named Callum, who so affects me, actually see me?

“Sir,” the person repeats as she steps up next to him. I squint to better see through the pain still pulsing within my hip and side and the glare from the sun. She’s younger, in human years, maybe her twenties. Around the same age as I am. She leans over next to him, her demeanor concerned. The woman looks in the general area where I lie, then back to Callum. Her brow creases as she waves her hand in front of his face rapidly a few times.

His brow lifts as he smirks before turning his head to face her. “What do you think you’re doing?” he dryly asks.

“I’m wondering the same thing, sir,” she answers slowly.

“How do you mean? And it’s Detective LeBlanc.” He pulls out a black folding case with a metal symbol of some kind from the neckline of his shirt. It’s on a cord around his neck. The metal shines as it catches the light of the sun. I squint harder to block the glare.

Detective Callum LeBlanc looks back at me. His eyes widen and he jerks back. “What the…” he whispers questioningly.

Oh, hells.

What he’s probably realizing is how fast I heal. The blood he saw… well, it’s more than likely pretty much gone. The open wounds? Non-existent.

I’m disoriented from the impact. I sort of feel as though I’m floating above this space in the middle of the road, watching Callum and the woman’s conversation unfold.

Oddly enough, this is kind of what’s happening. Only I’m sitting here beside them, not floating above them.

“Detective LeBlanc,” the woman starts again, her tone slightly off. “By all means, I’m sure you see…” she trails off, waving her hands to encompass the area. “Something. Maybe you’re on assignment. But the way you tore ass from your truck a moment ago, one would think you hit someone.”

His head whips back to her. “What did you just say?” His voice rises slightly.

She stands to her feet and brushes her hands against the clothing on her hips as if to remove dirt from her palms. I’m confused, unsure of what she could be removing since she hasn’t touched anything.

Maybe this is a human thing?

---