Michele Hauf - Taming The Hunter

“I’m sorry for you. So much in life is a direct result of magic and unexplainable phenomena.”

“It’s my job to explain such phenomena. Everything has a reason and a source. Down to the very atom. I should probably tell you what I really do.”

“What? You’re not a scientist?”

“Oh, I’m a scientist. But for the past few years I’ve been, well, you might call me a debunker. I disprove paranormal phenomena and other items associated with myth and legend.”

“Seriously? Like a myth buster?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“How does a guy happen on to a job like that?” Now a little uncomfortable knowing she sat next to not only a scientist, but one who went out of his way to prove people of her sort a myth, she turned to face him, tucking up her legs and propping an elbow on the back of the sofa. “Was there an ad in the paper?”

He chuckled. Oh man, the guy’s laughter. It hit Eryss in all the feels.

“No,” he said. “I was recruited. It’s important that the public gets the right information about the things that tend to grow fantastical roots with remarkable speed via popular culture and social media. Human brains have a hive mentality, and if someone says a vampire exists it doesn’t take long for the rest to agree. Thus.” He splayed a hand before his chest. “The calm in the storm.”

“You?”

“Me. I’m doing what I love. Using science every day. And really, I can’t let the world sit back and actually believe in vampires, can I?”

“Fantasy is good for the soul,” she suggested.

Though she did agree with his purpose, if not his actual work. Vampires and witches? The fewer people who believed in them, the safer and easier it was for them to exist among the humans. “So you’ve debunked vampires?”

“On more than one occasion. I live in Santa Cruz, but my work frequently lures me to San Francisco. That city is oddly rife with murders staged to look as if a vampire did it. You would be surprised the lengths some go to get the teeth impressions just right. But they always drain too much blood from the body. If a vampire did exist, he could not exsanguinate an entire body in such a short time. I’m sorry. This is a morbid subject.”

“No, I’m interested in what you do. Does your being here in Minnesota have to do with your job? Should I be keeping one eye over my shoulder in fear of vampires?”

“You should not. And I’m here on a personal project, actually. Although it is also related to my work. I work in the Weapons division and am charged with debunking weapons of historical interest that have a legend of magic attached to them.”

“So, like Excalibur?”

“Yes, but I believe that legendary weapon was last seen tossed in a lake.”

“Not so. I’m pretty sure the lady living in the lake handed it to King Arthur.”

“Right. Because it’s entirely possible for a woman to exist in a lake. Mermaids are theoretically implausible. She may have been called the Lady of the Lake, but not because she actually lived in one. Of course, it doesn’t matter. The Arthurian Chronicles are fiction.”

“Wow. You haven’t a fantastical bone in your body. Did your mother never read you faery tales when you were little?”

“No, she read me the table of elements and notes from her psychology papers.”

Eryss gaped at Dane. He didn’t catch her shock as he sipped the lemonade. Poor guy. But she didn’t want to get into a deep conversation about childhood traumas and lack of fantasy play. The night outside the windows was gray, illuminated by the snowy ground and nearby forest. The air inside was fresh as summer, and all she wanted to do was touch his hair and...kiss him.

“It’s a good thing our pasts do not define us,” she said, even as she inwardly kicked herself for saying it. She, the woman who was obsessed with finding the lost lover from her previous lives.

“Indeed. But my past is what brings me to Minnesota. I’m after a weapon once owned by my father. It’s got some paranormal legend attached to it, which could make it an item of interest to the company I work for, but that’s not the important thing.”

“It was your father’s,” she stated.

“Indeed. He died when I was three.” Dane shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. And Eryss sighed inwardly as the glossy black strands swept over his ear. “Enough talk about what I do and why I’m here. I want to enjoy summer!”

Now he turned an absolutely delicious smile on her. He set the glass down in the grass and turned his body toward her. He set his shoulders back and spread his arms across the sofa back and arm. He was open to her, beckoning without words.

And if that wasn’t an invitation, Eryss was losing her wiles. She moved in for a kiss. His stubble brushed her cheek and the heat of him surrounded her, sending a shiver of delight across her skin. The tang of lemons sweetened her lips, and she inhaled mint as if it were his pheromones.

He’d rolled his sleeves up to his elbows and she glided her fingers up his arm, rough with dark hair and the map lines of thick veins. So masculine. She turned into him and he paused the kiss. His eyes held her, bewitched. “Is this all right?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I’m feeling a little out of my element. As if I’m stumbling here.”

“Really?” And here she’d thought the invitation overwhelming. “You’re doing fine.”

“Not with the kiss. I mean, this feels too good to be true, Eryss. We just met an hour ago and now here I am, kissing you beneath real candlelight on a sofa set amid an enchanted garden. It’s sort of blowing my mind.”

“I bet it takes a lot to blow your mind.”

“It does, actually. Your success is duly noted.”

“You like to think a lot.”

“I do.”

“Then that will be your challenge.” She swished away a curl from his brow. Yes, so soft. “You can’t think around me, you just have to be in the moment.”

“This is a good moment.”

“I agree. Now, stop thinking and kiss me.”

Her smile lured him to her like a night flower draws one to inhale its perfume. Dane kissed her and pushed his fingers up through her hair. His mouth fit hers in a way that was confident and yet so sweet. She knew him, and perhaps he knew her but didn’t realize it. It was a fantastical way of thinking, but there you go. She was a witch. It helped to have an active imagination.

“Come here,” he muttered, and pulled her onto his lap as he leaned back on the couch and looked up into her eyes. “Candlelight becomes you. It dances in your hair.” He stroked her hair and pulled it to his nose. “You smell like ice and sage.”

“I must still be working some of my ice queen mojo. You taste like mint and lemons.” She straddled his legs with hers and leaned in to kiss his jaw, licking the short stubble. A fern tendril had crept over the back of the couch and tickled her forehead. She giggled against his mouth. “The plants approve of this moment, as well.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were sentient beings intent on seducing the two of us together.”

“Plants are sentient. And we are together. Haven’t you ever been seduced, Dane?”

“I, uh, well, sure. Not in such a manner, though. It’s so...”

“Interesting?”

His eyes dropped to the rose quartz crystal dangling above her breasts. “Quick.”

He was having trouble with their sudden embrace? Yes, well, she had not followed his lead, as she’d told herself to do. Bad witch. Eryss sat back on Dane’s thighs and smoothed her palms over his tweed vest buttoned neatly over a crisp white shirt. “Do I intimidate you?”

“Honestly? A little.” He ran a hand back through his hair. “I can’t believe I confessed that. Normally I’m the one questioning if I’m the intimidating one. You’re a fascinating woman, Eryss, and I think it’s either that I can’t believe my luck or that maybe you really are some kind of snow queen and you’ve bespelled me.”