Page 6 of Shaded Amethysts
Forcing that scary thought from my brain, I felt around the damp, filthy drain. When I touched the wet glob, I had to force myself not to yank my hand back.
As I quietly chanted the words, “Please be a kitten… Please be a kitten…” I wrapped my fingers around the small clump and began lifting it out of the grate.
My hand had gone into the grate much easier than it came out while holding the drenched animal. I turned it this way and that, but wasn’t able to make it work. The man noticed my struggle and stretched out on his stomach just over me to assist.
His warm nearness made me incredibly uncomfortable, but not in the frightened way I would have assumed. Clearly, it had been far too long since I’d had any physical interaction with a hot-blooded male.
He grabbed my wrist with his huge, strong hand. For as big as he was, he was incredibly gentle as he worked to guide my hand free of its metal prison.
We worked and worked, but couldn’t wriggle my hand free. My frustration grew by the minute as I tried not to be attracted to the man stretched out behind me, hoped no one would see us in this risqué situation, and wondered if the animal I was trying to save might actually be something other than a kitten.
Finally, I said, “I think I’m going to have to set it down to get my hand out. Maybe we can use a rope to pull it up?”
“Let me try one more thing first,” the man said very near me. His voice reverberated in my ear and made the tiny hairs at the back of my neck stand at attention.
I tried not to notice how much I missed his touch when he let go of my wrist.
He stretched out two long, thick fingers to create a bridge for the animal from my hand to an adjacent opening in the grate. The side of my palm heated in the spot where his fingers connected with it.
“Loosen your grip on the kitten and cup him in your palm,” the man suggested quietly.
Once I did that, he said in a sing-songy voice to the animal, “Come here, little guy. You can do it.”
I felt movement in my palm, so I whispered excitedly, “I think he’s trying to stand up!”
We waited for a long moment, but nothing further happened. “He must be scared or unsure what we want him to do.”
Or a rat that is getting ready to chomp his sharp teeth into my hand,I added silently.
In a higher-pitched tone than I would have imagined he could manage, the man chanted, “Here kitty, kitty, kitty.”
That call must have been precisely the impetus the animal needed because I felt it begin moving and suddenly its weight was gone from my hand. I offered a silent prayer that it hadn’t just fallen back down into the drain as I waited for the animal to walk across the stranger’s fingers.
The bedraggled animal slowly emerged and flopped into the man’s oversized palm.
No longer clutching the animal made it easy for me to release my hand from its metal jail. Once I was free, I sat up and watched the man as he tenderly wiped off the filthy animal with the bottom of his shirt.
Relief swept through me when he had it clean enough for me to recognize that it was, indeed, a small kitten. It let out a pathetic mewl as the man gently rubbed it.
I couldn’t wipe the wide smile off my face as I watched the sweet interaction between the enormous man and the fragile animal. Seeing this sensitive side of him made me picture how loving and caring he would be with a baby in his arms––or a woman in his bed. My cheeks heated as I realized that he probably had a darker, more passionate side that would come out in the bedroom.
After shaking my head to clear that unwanted mental image, I said, “We should get that little one to the doctor to be checked out. It just so happens that I know the new vet in town, Dr. Noah James. I’m sure he would be happy to take a look at this little guy tonight.”
The concerned look that arose on the man’s face was undeniable just before he asked, “Could you take him?”
I was surprised he would go through all of this effort to save the kitten, but then bail on him before taking him for a check-up. Not seeing another option, I said, “Umm, sure, I’ll take him.”
Relief arose on the man’s face just before he dug into the pocket of his jeans and emerged with several hundred-dollar bills. “Here. This should cover it.”
“Oh, that’s more than enough,” I assured him as he shoved the money and the kitten in my direction.
Once I accepted both, he stood and quickly walked away without another word. I looked down at the grimy animal and asked, “What the heck just happened?”
6
Avery
If my ringing of the office doorbell awoke the handsome doctor, he was polite enough not to point it out. He accepted the filthy kitten and promised to take good care of him before quickly ushering me out the door.
