Moonsong (19 page)

“It must be fate,” Millie smiled back, losing her apprehension in the face of that smile in what she’d come to think of as
his
territory.

Though Amelia wondered what brought on the change within him, she was too chicken to come out and say anything about it, scared it would damage the fragile new shift in their relationship. “So, what are we looking for out here? Or are you patrolling the woods in the hopes of saving any other damsels in distress from a fate worse than death?”

His lips quirked into a faint smile. “A fate worse than death?”

“Well yeah, being chewed on alive by a mountain lion; I have to think that’d be worse than dying, don’t you?”

“Ah right, the mountain lion. Well, more than likely you’d bleed out fairly soon if it severed either the jugular or the femoral artery. So, it wouldn’t be a long, drawn out death. It’d chew you up afterwards,” his grin returned.

“You know that’s disturbing, right? You make it sound like you have all kinds of experience killing helpless things. Not exactly the best thing to say when picking up chicks.”

“Are your legs tired? ‘Cause you’ve been running through my mind all night,” he gave her a cheesy grin, and she groaned, nudging him with her shoulder.

“Oh God, you did
not
just say that.”

“You don’t like that one?”

“Is it true? Have I been on your mind at night?” she asked, darting a sidelong glance at him, but he didn’t reply. The silence stretched between them as they walked until she blurted out, “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

His feet came to a stop as he pulled her towards him, fingers rising to brush an errant wisp of hair behind her ear. “Neither can I,” Cutter admitted, causing her lips to part in surprise with a soft intake of breath.

Amelia’s eyes fluttered open and narrowed at him; was he playing with her? She couldn’t help the pout of frustration, holding back the accusation that sprang to her tongue. He wanted her; she knew it as surely as she knew her own name. Cutter might be resisting it for the moment, but something between them had definitely shifted, and she was confident she could work with that.

“Alright then, let’s take that walk.” But this time she slipped her hand into his before he retreated too far. “Tell me again what we’re looking for?”

“I need to find a new piece or pieces to work with; I’m almost done with the project I’ve been working on.”

“Oh…” Millie nodded and her eyes immediately dropped to scan the forest floor. “Do you have a place in particular where you normally look for wood, or is there a particular type of tree you prefer to use?”

“It’s less structured than that. Usually I just walk and… they call to me.”

A slender brow rose over that one. “The pieces of wood call to you?” she asked skeptically. “Do you hear voices from inanimate objects often?”

Cutter let go of her hand to give her rear end a playful swat. “Careful now, or I’ll leave you out here to find your way back on your own,” he growled, but there was no real threat behind his voice.

“Aw, you’d leave me out here all by my lonesome to be gobbled up by wolves while you go off to talk to the trees?” she pretended to pout.

“You do look pretty tasty,” Cutter grinned, catching up her hand again and bringing it to his lips. “It’s not that I talk to the trees exactly,” he tried to explain, running the pads of her fingers across his bottom lip. “Here, let me show you.” His eyes flashed with amusement, and he tugged her deeper into the woods as they resumed their trek.

“Okay…” Amelia watched him more than the path, trying to figure out what the hell he was up to and if he’d slipped a gasket from all of his years out in the woods on his own. Cutter walked in silence, eyes trained on the ground.

“There,” he pointed to a fallen chunk of wood and let go of her hand to bend and scoop it up, turning it over in his hands. “This could work…”

“So, you heard that piece of wood call to you? ‘Cause I didn’t hear anything, Cutter…”

“No, I didn’t mean I hear anything out loud…” Cutter searched for a way to explain it. “The wood will tell you what it wants to be.”

“Like, ‘
I wanna be a real boy’,
” she made her voice into a high falsetto, wiggling the chunk of wood to emphasize her words.

“No, that’s not what I mean,” he gave her a sour look. “Here, give me your hands,” Cutter curled her fingers around each side of the piece of wood. “Close your eyes.”

“This is silly…” she muttered, but at catching his look, she did as he requested, her eyes slipping closed with a long drawn out sigh.

“Keep your eyes closed. Gather the stillness around you and open yourself to receive what the wood wants to tell you.”

Right, listen to what the wood wants to tell me.
All she heard was the birdsong high above, and in the distance, the faint sound of running water from a brook or small stream. That and the sound of his voice, but she would stand there in the woods with her eyes closed for as long as he asked her to as long as he kept his warm hands enfolding hers. Almost as if he’d heard her inner thoughts, he removed his hands and her brows tugged closer together in disappointment.

“Now open your eyes and see the shape inside the wood, see what it wants to be,” he said softly, his voice coming from behind, but not touching her in any way.

Obediently Amelia opened her eyes and stared at the wood, letting her mind go blank, receptive to the first flight of fancy that popped into her mind. “It’s a doe,” she said suddenly, the idea coming to her out of the blue. “I can see the slope of her neck here,” she stroked the side of the wood, more detail coming to her the longer she stared at it. “She’s young; her coat is sleek and healthy, well fed. Her ears are up because she’s seen you watching her, but her eyes are gentle and trusting, she knows you won’t hurt her.”

Cutter’s arms wrapped around her middle from behind, drawing her close, his chin resting on top of her shoulder. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“That was using my imagination,” she scoffed, her eyes still on the wood. Or was it? The more detail she wrangled from the image in her mind, the more certain she was that the piece deserved to be that doe, the idea of carving it into anything else was just… wrong.

“If it makes you feel better to think so,” he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek before he released her. “Come on, let’s try again.”

“But what about the doe?” she looked down at the wood in her hands.

“Bring it along; she can come home with us.”

Amelia smiled over at him, still holding the piece of wood while she searched for the next one, and the next, until Cutter’s pack strained at the seams, already holding what would someday become the doe, a playful fox, a fat rabbit, and two wolf cubs, the latter of which she chose to carry herself, cradling it in her arms.

“Where to next?” she asked eagerly.

“Slow down now, we do want to leave some wood in the forest itself.” The corner of his mouth tilted up into a smile over her enthusiasm. “It’ll take me long enough to get through these.”

“Why, did you bring some food?” her brows rose with interest. “Don’t you know how dangerous it is to bring food out here into a predator’s lair?” she teased him lightly, recalling how he’d scolded her on that first day.

“Darlin’, I’m the only predator out here you gotta worry about,” Cutter grinned wolfishly, and Millie laughed over the endearment and the way he delivered that promise.

“More like put out to pasture to live out your remaining days in peace and tranquility. You did say that was what you wanted now above all else, wasn’t it? Peace and quiet?”

“I’ll show you who’s tame…” Cutter growled, pulling her to him suddenly. Plucking the piece of wood from her fingers, he crushed his lips to hers, hauling her up against the length of him.

Amelia recovered from her surprise almost instantly, melting against him as though she was sculpted for him and only him. Her hands stole up to touch the soft hair at the nape of his neck as her lips parted for him. Cutter’s mouth plundered hers, taking control of the kiss even as his hands slipped underneath her bulky jacket.

Joy leapt in Millie’s heart as he deepened the kiss, trying to tell him with her hands, lips and body what she couldn't come right out and tell him with words. Not knowing what the future might bring with all the obstacles between them, it might be their last time together alone and she intended to make the most of it. A soft sigh of pleasure escaped her lips as she kissed him as if there were no consequences; all those things she said to Chase about waiting and learning more about each other falling right out of her head when Cutter kissed her.

When finally he drew back and allowed her to catch her breath, Cutter smiled down at her slightly dazed expression. “Was that dangerous enough for you?”

“That was… better than I remembered,” she breathed, heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings. “Almost worth waiting for.”

“Almost?”

“It was a very, very good kiss Cutter, but we could have been doing this the whole time.” Leaning up on her tiptoes, Millie brushed her lips against his again.

“The whole time, huh?” he smiled against her lips. “Something tells me Adele might have something to say about us being in a perpetual lip lock.”

“Adele can kiss my…” Interrupted by the press of lips again, she was only too happy to be distracted until she emerged from the kiss, breathless and forgetting what she’d been about to say.

“Amelia…” he whispered, fingers tracing lightly over her face. “I don’t know what this means…”

Nodding, she knew instantly what he meant. “It doesn’t have to mean a life and death change right now, does it? It is what it is; can’t we just go where it leads us?”

“What if it leads us someplace you don’t want to go?”

“I can’t imagine that happening as long as we get there together,” she smiled up at him, fingers reaching up to touch the laugh lines around his eyes.

“You say that now…”

“Hey, let’s not borrow trouble, alright? Let’s enjoy the day. Then we’ll see what tomorrow brings, and we’ll go from there,” she suggested, laying her head against his chest as Cutter stroked her hair.

“Ooh… you!” she poked him again. “You know for a guy who claims to like peace and quiet, you sure do spend an awful lot of time in a noisy café, don’t you? I wonder why that is?”

“Maybe I find the service irresistible?” he kissed the top of her head, causing her to hug him a little tighter. “That Cherrilyn is a real charmer.”

Millie laughed at that, “Yeah, she thinks you’re a real charmer too. If you’d crack a smile in public every now and again people would probably smile back more, you know.”

“Why would I want people to smile at me?” he pulled back to look at her as though she’d said something looney. “First it starts with a smile, and then it’s a friendly nod. Before you know it, they’re… talking to you,” he grimaced with distaste, drawing another laugh from her as intended.

“Ah, my crazy hermit, it’s a wonder you ever leave your cabin at all,” Amelia sighed, twirling her fingers in the long tendrils of his hair. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I’m open to suggestions,” he grinned down at her.

“I can think of a suggestion or two that might be better served back at your cabin,” she purred back, “But for the moment, why don’t you feed me and we’ll see where the afternoon takes us?”

“Feed you; now that I can do,” he agreed, stealing another brief kiss before pulling off his pack, having to remove a few chunks of wood before he could reach the lunch packed below. “Hmm, it’s looking a little squashed, but it should still be alright,” he offered her a sandwich piled high with meats and cheese.