The Bigger They Are...

Lovers on the Fringe - 2

by

Stephanie Julian

Chapter One

“Are you seriously telling me that network is going to give you hundreds of thousands of dollars to chase after the Abominable Snowman and dinosaurs in Africa? And you signed an actual contract?”

“Yeah, can you believe it? This is my big break, Sis.”

Jenna Durham took a moment to consider that maybe the only break had been between her brother’s reality and the one everyone else lived in.

Sucking in a deep breath, Jenna made sure she hit the mute button on her cell phone before she blew out a ragged sigh.

She loved her twin dearly. Truly, she did. She’d gone to bat for him every time someone had called him crazy. If she played in the majors, she’d have a .350 batting average.

But Joss had never been what anyone besides his merry band of idiots in the Society of Paranormal Abnormalities would consider normal.

And if Jenna was just the teeniest bit jealous that Joss had the courage—or the foolishly blind determination—to jet all over the world in search of his dream, well, she’d just keep that to herself.

“Jenna?”

She clicked off the mute and forced enthusiasm into her voice. “Joss, that’s great. Really wonderful. Where are you going and when do you leave?”

“I’ve got a flight out in the morning to Scotland. But that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about.”

Shit. She knew it. He needed money. Joss always needed money.

Hey, Sis, I’m in New Jersey tracking El Chupacabra. Can I borrow a hundred bucks for raw meat?

I’m ghost-hunting in Montana. Can you wire me some money for batteries for my EVP?

Hey, Jenna, did you know you can accidentally electrocute yourself by falling into a river with your digital camera strapped to your head with duct tape?

“Joss, I don’t—”

“It’s not money,” he broke in immediately. “Actually this time, I’ve got a job for you. Just don’t say no until you’ve heard me out, okay?”

Since she’d only just started her fifteen-minute drive from the city of Reading, Pennsylvania, to her adorable little house in the suburbs of Spring Township, she figured what the hell.

Which immediately made her think of that song by Avril Lavigne.

She and ole Avril happened to be the same age, a ripe old twenty-seven. They both had brown hair and a previous predilection for bad boys who liked to skateboard. But that was where the similarities ended these days.

Avril was making a shitload of money while Jenna continued to work as a freelance accountant for small businesses, like Macy Williams, who made cakes in the shape of penises for bridal showers and Doug Millstock, who printed tabloids for such world-renowned groups as the Alternative Christians, People for the Kind Treatment of Llamas and the Association for the Growth of Brilliance.

Last week, Doug had dropped off a stack of “reading material” for her office.

Joss probably already had a subscription to the one on top. The Weekly News Journal had a double-issue expose about Bigfoot, complete with pictures.

She had to admit the story had put a smile on her face the entire day. The article had been witty and the pictures just blurry enough to be tantalizing.

She wondered how they’d—

“Wait one freaking minute, Joss.” While she’d been thinking, Joss had been talking and her brain had finally caught up. “You want me to do what?”

“I want you to go to Tioga County and check out a bar for me. I think Bigfoot hangs out there.”

* * *

“I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with me, Fry. It’s like I’m sick of sex with hot chicks. I don’t even want to pull out my fur coat and terrorize a few backwoods housewives. Dude, I must be dying.”

Anadi Lohani, known to everyone but his mother as Andy, knocked back his first shot of Jack and nodded to the bartender for another.

His best friend Fry rolled bright-green eyes and gave his blue-tinged wings a fluttery shake as he laughed. “The only thing you’re dying of, my friend, is boredom.”

Andy tipped the next shot of Jack down his throat, appreciating the burn and wishing he could actually get drunk. To do that, he’d need another two bottles because his metabolism was so high, it worked alcohol out of his system faster than moo shoo pork through a dog.

“Yeah, so what’s the cure, you smartass fae?”

Fry didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gave a little wave over his shoulder at the twin sylphs sitting in the booth across from the bar.

Andy followed Fry’s gaze and checked out the Irish water nymphs giving him and Fry matching smiles from beautiful mouths as they raised pale, thin hands to return Fry’s wave.

The women were gorgeous. Beautiful in the way only Fringe dwellers could be. They had that little something else that made them stand out in a crowd.

Even in the crowd here at the Mystyk Bar in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where everyone was a Fringe dweller.

Hidden in a forgotten valley of the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon and known only to the Fringe, the Mystyk was a safe haven for people like Fry to be able to flap their wings in peace. For the Appalachian Mountain dwarves to cheat the Irish leprechaun out of his gold at their card game in the corner. And for the three Japanese tengu at the table by the door to giggle like schoolgirls as they stroked the scales of the Chinese dragon sitting on the floor next to them.

“The cure is sitting right over there at that table.” Fry gave the sylphs a devastating smile. “Or would you rather take a shot at the pretty lady in the corner?”

Yeah, the brown-skinned pixie was a beauty but he was afraid he might crush her.

Andy sighed and turned back to his drink. “You know what, Fry? I’m sick of meaningless one-night stands.”

Fry froze for a second before he blinked and his dark brows arched in crescents over his eyes. “Whoa, big guy. Now you’re starting to worry me. Maybe you better see the doctor. When the hell did you decide to become an adult?”

Andy gave Fry the finger though he didn’t bother to deny his friend’s accusation. Hell, just yesterday, he’d actually considered having a salad instead of fries with his burger because heart disease would really suck.

Of course, he had the fries because he wasn’t that far gone. Yet.

He couldn’t say the same for his cousin, Tim. Poor guy had probably bought life insurance and made an appointment to get his balls made into a purse for his girlfriend, Carrie.

“Oh, wait. I know what’s going on.” Fry’s smirk showed off his finely pointed incisors. “This is about Carrie.”

Shit, had he said that aloud? Or had Fry just read his mind?

No, Fry couldn’t know what he was thinking. He hadn’t told anyone about his foolish crush.

Not on Carrie. Well, not completely on Carrie. Sure, she was great, a redheaded Amazon built for loving. But Tim had seen her first and Andy didn’t poach.

Andy gave Fry his best “you’re an idiot” look.

“Oh, don’t even.” Fry snorted. “You’ve been moping since we saw them last week.”

Fucking Fry. Andy would give his wings a coat of pink glitter if he didn’t think Fry would rock the look like every teenage girl’s wet dream. Combined with the Scottish accent, the guy had women falling at his feet.

“I haven’t been moping, you fucked-up Tinkleberry. I’ve been thinking.”

About how miserably lonely he was and how Tim seemed to have beaten the blahs with the one woman he should’ve never fallen for.

At least she wasn’t a SPAz. The members of the Society of Paranormal Abnormalities were a bunch of idiots who thought they knew all about the Fringe. Turned out they knew only enough to be truly annoying.

No, smartass Carrie Benton worked for a tabloid that liked to print fuzzy pictures of Bigfoot. Just so happened Tim was Bigfoot. Cupid definitely had a sense of humor sometimes, the little bastard.

Fry’s undignified snort made Andy give his friend a warning glare. Not that Fry ever heeded Andy’s warnings. Fry usually brushed Andy off like a fly, which was a damn weird analogy considering Fry had wings and only stood about five-ten, while Andy topped out at seven feet and looked like the Viking offspring of the NBA and the WWE.

The fact that Andy could crush Fry like a bug—pun definitely intended—never entered Fry’s mind because he knew Andy would never hurt him.

Hell, violence of any kind was abhorrent to Andy. Why tire yourself out and risk bodily injury beating on someone when you could cut them down to size with a few sarcastic remarks?

Or just terrorize the shit out of them by shifting into his fur coat.

“What?” Andy demanded when Fry just continued to look at him.

Fry rolled his eyes again and lifted his drink for a long swallow. “Dude, do I really have to spell it out for you?”

Well, maybe he did, because Andy wasn’t getting Fry’s meaning. Which probably had more to do with Fry’s attitude than Andy’s comprehension skills.

“You’re jealous,” Fry answered as if Andy had told Fry to go ahead and insult the hell out of him.

Andy drew himself up to his full seven feet, towering over Fry and making the sylphs sigh in unison.

“I am not.”

Fry’s wings gave a dismissive shake. “Of course you are. Your mom’s right, man. We need to find you a woman.”

* * *

“I cannot believe I allowed him to talk me into this.”

Jenna checked the GPS unit again and shook her head when the annoyingly smooth female voice said, “You have arrived at your destination.”

“And you’re sure this is the place?”

“You have arrived at your destination.”

Had her GPS unit just given her attitude? Hell, if a television network—one that had paid real money upfront—had given her brother enough funds to go to Scotland, she figured pigs could fly and GPS units could be snotty bitches.

Considering she’d been bitching the entire drive, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d heard a disgusted sigh issue from the stereo speakers of her new Honda Civic.

But really, what kind of idiot believed in fairies and dragons?

Apparently the kind who got paid actual money to go find them.

Didn’t that damn network have better things to do with their money, like make another Saturday night movie as epic as Mega-python vs. Gatoroid?

Debbie Gibson and Tiffany catfight. A Monkee being eaten by a giant snake.

She’d nearly laughed herself sick.

Or it could have been the fact that she was watching that movie alone on a Saturday night after turning down a friend’s request to barhop.

With a sigh, she looked out the front window of the car again.

The next time her brother asked her to investigate some weird bar that catered to monsters in the middle of the freaking Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, she was saying no.

Which would seal her fate as the most boring person in the world.

But really…

Jenna eyed the run-down shack in the middle of nowhere, trying to see beyond the peeling paint and the shuttered windows for any redeeming qualities.

So far, all she saw was a lawsuit waiting to happen when someone put their foot through the rotting floorboards on the porch.

Had someone sent Joss this address as a way to play with his mind?

For the past couple of months, as Joss had gotten more and more convinced that he was close to proving the existence of some of the most incredible creatures in the world, Jenna had considered the fact that maybe someone was leading Joss on. Was there someone out there who had it in for her brother? Who might actually try to lure him out to this remote area and harm him?

Or maybe she’d simply traded Joss’ delusions for her own conspiracy theories.

Jenna stared out at the unrelenting forest, the sight of all that forbidding darkness reminding her of the horror that had been sleep-away camp as a kid.

All those trees. Bugs the size of her hand. And animals that belonged in a nice, safe zoo wandering around without a leash.

What had her parents been thinking when they’d forced her to spend two weeks there?

Hell, she’d always given a wide berth to the neighbor’s overly friendly handbag-sized Chihuahua.

Today, camping to Jenna meant a hotel without room service. And she refused to stay in one of those.

This… This was hell.

“I can’t believe I let him talk me into this. Jesus, I’m an idiot.”

She should just turn around and head back to the lovely bed-and-breakfast about fifteen miles down the road where she’d booked a room for the weekend. It boasted gourmet food, a world-renowned spa and free WiFi.

Civilized.

This place didn’t look civilized. It looked almost…prehistoric.

Except for the parking lot beside the shed where six cars sat. Mocking her.

Shit.

Come on, Jenna, you know I wouldn’t ask you to do this unless it was important, right?

She and her brother had extremely dissimilar views of the meaning of important.

Joss thought it meant proving there really were prehistoric monsters cruising the Great Lakes. Jenna believed important meant solving childhood hunger and the crisis in the Middle East.

But Joss had pleaded with her, begged and bribed and finally guilted her into promising to check out this place.

Come on, Jenna. If there’s nothing there, at least you’ll get a weekend away out of the deal and make a couple thousand bucks.

It had been the money that had sealed the deal. She had her eye on a new refrigerator.

“Jeez, maybe you really are the most boring person in the world.”

She half expected the GPS to agree. Luckily for its health, it stayed silent. But she knew it was mocking her. She just knew it.

With a sigh, she forced herself to put her car in drive and inch down the lane, which was more like a path, rutted and muddy and suited more for the SUVs and Jeeps she saw in that makeshift lot next to the building her brother thought might hold the Holy Grail of his career.

Career. She snorted. What kind of career could a grown man have chasing myths and legends around the world?

He’s getting paid more than double what you made last year, though, isn’t he?

Yep. She’d definitely rather fight with the GPS. It was much less snarky than her own brain.

She was happy for her brother. Really, she was. Usually she just nodded and smiled when he talked about the pitiful grants he received from groups like UFOlogists United and The Center for Cryptids and Unexplained Phenomena to “investigate” Bigfoot attacks and poltergeist damage. The UUs and CCUPs of the world were plentiful but they didn’t pay very well.

And Joss didn’t have a reputable career to fall back on. He was like Indiana Jones without the college gig.

She was the person Indiana Jones would hire to do his taxes.

Damn, she needed to get a hobby. Maybe she’d learn how to skydive. Or maybe she should start with crocheting.

And yes, she was stalling.

The closer she drew to the building, the more her heart started to pound. Instead of pulling into the lot, she parked just shy of it, turning off the car but not removing the key.

She still hadn’t talked herself into getting out of the car.

She was pretty sure she was trespassing. Even if the sign at the entrance said state park, the sign had also said the park closed at dusk. And that had definitely been a couple of hours ago because right now the only light was that of the moon.

She’d driven for what seemed like forever to get here and she wasn’t sure where here exactly was.

Above, the sky shone with waaay too many stars. All those tiny pinpricks of light were kind of freaking her out. They looked too damn…cheerful.

Where was a good, old flickering streetlight when you needed one? Hell, she’d feel safer on the streets of Reading at midnight with a homeless guy asking her for money than she felt here.

Here… Mountain lions and bears and wolves, oh my.

Why—

The door to the shack opened, light spilling out into the darkness like a party dress in a dark club. A shadow cut through the light and a man walked out. At least, the shadow was man-shaped.

Her mouth dropped open. Holy crap, the guy was tall. So tall, he had to bend down so he wouldn’t hit his head on the doorframe.

Backlit, she couldn’t see his face but she did catch a glimpse of blond hair that brushed linebacker-wide shoulders.

The guy stopped to lean against the porch railing, staring up at those same stars, and now she gasped.

In the weak light of the bare bulb over the door, she could just make out his features.

And, oh my goodness, the man was gorgeous. Her heart actually tripped over a few beats on its way back to a normal rhythm.

He didn’t look like anyone she’d ever seen before. He looked…a little wild. A little rough. A whole lot gorgeous.

Typically, she dated guys who had their hair styled—their word, not hers—every three weeks and didn’t own a pair of jeans that weren’t pressed and creased and able to stand on their own.

This guy…

Wow.

The broad planes and sharp angles of his face gave him an exotic, mysterious air. She couldn’t decide if he looked Nordic or Asian or eastern European. Probably some combination of all of those and more.

Which just made him absolutely stunning.

And made her tingle from head to toe.

He had blond hair, and she didn’t mean run-of-the-mill, department-store gold. She meant Tiffany’s platinum. The guy had to spend at last two days a week in a high-end salon to get that shade of white-blond and make it look so damn natural.

And the waves. Tousled waves fell to just below his shoulders, longer than her recently shorn pixie cut.

My God, the man should be hawking shampoo. Or butter substitute. He’d sure as hell sell more than that freaking Fabio.

Then there was that face. His features were such an exotic mix of east and west, broad nose and forehead, sharp cheekbones and eyes that hinted at an Asian ancestry. But his skin tone was definitely on the lighter side of golden.

She’d never seen anyone like him.

And she’d like to see a whole hell of a lot more of him, preferably naked and sprawled on a bed big enough to let them roll around on it. She didn’t think he’d fit on the queen-size mattress in her room at the B&B but she’d be more than willing to compromise and let him hog more than his share.

She wondered if GQ was holding a top-secret Big & Tall male-model convention in the backwoods of Pennsylvania.

If this guy was one of the models, she was sure as hell signing up for the catalogue. And the calendar and the pay-per-view event.

Please, God, let it be unrated and clothing optional.

As he walked off the porch and started toward her, she knew her mouth was hanging open but she couldn’t seem to care.

Not when he wore that quirky grin that let her know he saw her looking at him.

Good old-fashioned lust made her insides turn to liquid even as her nipples hardened into tight points and her thighs clenched like a virgin at a male strip show.

Holy crap.

She knew she’d been suffering from sexual frustration since she’d dumped her last lover five months ago. They’d dated for over a year and she’d never wanted Craig to strip her naked, bend her across the hood of her sensible Honda and make a few dents.

She wished she was the sort of girl to proposition a guy like that. Or any guy she liked, for that matter.

The only propositions she got involved bribes for tax evasion. Not quite enough to make her panties wet.

This guy could probably do it reciting the latest IRS newsletter for CPAs.

Somewhere in the back of her mind was a voice screaming at her to get out of the car, meet him halfway and say, “Hey, you’re hot. Can I climb you like a telephone pole and ride you like a cowgirl?”

She wondered if he’d say no. She couldn’t imagine the man, who looked like a cross between a Nordic god and the Wild Man of Borneo, hadn’t had some pretty far-out come-ons in his time.

What was this guy doing out here? For that matter, what was anyone doing out here in the middle of nowhere?

What if Joss is actually on to something?

No, that was crazy talk. Crazy talk made you believe ancient aliens built the pyramids.

And no matter how much she admired the skill it took to make Giorgio Tsoukalas’ hair defy gravity or the fact that he’d parlayed a totally insane idea into a series on the History Channel, there was no way she believed little green men from outer space had visited Earth to show ancient humans how to cut perfectly square rocks.

Then what is this guy doing here, where there’s supposed to be nothing and no one?

She’d done her homework before she’d left home. She’d checked out the coordinates on Google Earth and come up with nothing but trees.

This building stood in a clearing. It should’ve shown up on Google Earth. And yet it hadn’t.

Did that mean someone had gone to great lengths to hide this place? To make it secret?

Or had she finally joined her brother and tasted the Kool-Aid?

No, that was… No.

There was a reasonable explanation for everything. She’d just have to come back in the light of day and find it.

No way in hell was she getting out of her car and asking the hot giant if he could introduce her to Bigfoot.

Chapter Two

Andy had noticed the car parked up the lane as soon as he’d leaned against the porch railing and looked out into the dark forest.

His night vision was good enough to make out the woman in the car. A damn pretty woman who stared at him as if he were an exhibit in a sideshow.

What the hell was she doing here? Who the hell was she? And how the hell had she gotten here?

He didn’t recognize her, which didn’t mean anything. Except…she smelled totally Normal.

Edible but Normal.

Which meant she really shouldn’t be out there staring at the Mystyk Bar as if she’d stumbled onto Shangri-La. Which was absolutely worth staring at for hours.

The outside of the Mystyk…not so much.

Good thing he hadn’t shifted to go lumbering through the forest to the cabin he and Fry had rented.

He’d thought maybe he’d get lucky and scare the crap out of a long-haul trucker or two as he made a “classic Bigfoot crossing”.

That show Finding Bigfoot on Animal Planet had become one of his not-to-be-missed pleasures in life. And that skeptical scientist was kinda hot.

Though not as hot as the girl in the car.

What was she doing here?

Probably better go find out before anyone else walked out of the bar. Didn’t want her to get the bright idea that she needed to get out of the car and investigate. Some of the other Mystyk patrons might not be so willing to divert her attention.

They’d mess with her mind for a while then scare the hell out of her until she thought she was crazy.

Of course, maybe he’d found the perfect diversion for his boredom.

Messin’ with Normals ranked high on his Most Enjoyable Pastimes list.

Stepping off the porch, he headed toward her car, watching her eyes get bigger with every step he took.

With his hands in the pockets of his oldest, most comfortable jeans and a tight blue t-shirt that matched his eyes, he knew he looked pretty damn good.

Women had been known to swoon at the sight of him.

Of course, just as many had run in the opposite direction, so that pretty much dealt with most of the ego he might’ve developed.

When he reached the car and leaned down to knock on the window, he decided to start with charm. Save the scare tactics in case the charm failed.

Which he hoped didn’t happen because, wow, the lady was a looker.

Her hair was shorter than his, a pretty chocolate brown that perfectly matched those wide eyes and fluttered all around her adorable face. She had soft, rounded features that reminded him of that actress, Reese Witherspoon. Pretty, sweet. The kind of girl you took home to meet Mom.

Not the kind of girl you wanted to strip naked and pin up against a wall.

Which was exactly what he wanted to do.

His smile widened and so did her eyes.

“Hey. You okay out here?”

She opened her mouth but he didn’t hear anything come out. Her cheeks flushed bright red, showing up as blotches of color on her milk-pale skin.

Her gaze dropped to the steering wheel and she took a deep breath.

Now she could be frightened. A seven-foot guy walks out of a ramshackle building in the middle of nowhere and knocks on your car window. Most people might have cause to fear for their life. Or at least wonder if he hid a chainsaw or meat hook behind his back.

But he didn’t think that was what was going on here.

She looked…gobsmacked. In a good way.

In the same way he felt.

He really freaking hoped he wasn’t reading her wrong, and he usually had a good sense for these things.

Of course, there had been that one time with that beautiful cat shifter… He’d mistaken a hiss for something other than a warning and… Well, chicks dug scars, right?

He really didn’t want this woman to freak out, put the car in gear and scream bloody murder as she drove back to where she’d come from.

So he squatted down until his eyes were level with hers and waited until she turned her head to look at him.

Which she did after a few seconds.

And he was struck again by an urgent need to beat his chest and throw her over his shoulder as he ran to the nearest cave.

Guess he shouldn’t give in to that one. Didn’t want to feed the stereotype.

He forced a smile back onto his lips, hoping he didn’t frighten her anymore.

Looking from his lips to his eyes, she blinked a few times then slowly returned his smile.

And lowered her window.

“Hey,” he started again before reining in the urge to say exactly the same thing he already had. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. Are you lost?”

Slowly, she nodded, but he couldn’t be sure what she was saying yes to—being lost or being afraid.

“I guess I must be. Lost, that is.” Her gaze flickered toward the bar for a brief second and he had a momentary thought that she was about to lie to him.

Then she flashed those big brown eyes at him and his brain just keep repeating, Fire bad, girl pretty.

He’d have to lay off the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer reruns.

“I must’ve gotten turned around when I got into the park. I was heading back to the bed-and-breakfast and I have such a terrible sense of direction and the GPS didn’t seem to be working all that well out here.”

Her expression turned apologetic though she didn’t bat her eyes as if she were trying to charm a cop into letting her out of a speeding ticket. She looked genuinely guilty and sorry about it.

Like maybe she thought he was a park ranger about to bust her for being in the park after hours.

Damn, wasn’t that just the perfect excuse?

And to some degree, you could argue that was true…if you bought the theory that a Yeti shifter had any jurisdiction over a territory held by the Bukwas tribe of shifters, who were based in British Columbia.

Yet, looking into those oh so guilty eyes, he didn’t want to lie to her.

What the hell did he say?

“I could show you the way out. I was just getting ready to head back to town. I’ll lead you out.”

Her gaze shifted back to the bar for a brief second before she smiled up at him. And made his heart thump with a rock ’n’ roll beat.

Okay, he definitely needed to spend a little more time with this woman because she was definitely up to something. Something that involved the Mystyk.

Very interesting. If he had a goatee, he’d be stroking it.

He wanted to stroke her instead.

“Let me get my truck and you can follow me back to town.”

She smiled at him again and his cock perked all the hell up.

“I’d really appreciate that. Thank you so much.”

He thought about sticking his head back in the bar to tell Fry he was going but decided not to press his luck. All those nosy bastards could decide they’d want to get a closer look at the hot chick Andy had found outside.

And that would not be good for so many reasons.

One of which was not because he didn’t want to share her.

And yeah, that was a total lie.

He got into the Tahoe he kept in his cousin’s garage when he wasn’t on this continent then drove up to her car. He gave her a stupid little wave and a grin he hoped wasn’t too eager then pulled forward so she had enough room to execute a perfect three-point turn in her sensible little sedan.

She didn’t crowd him as he wound through several small back roads before he turned onto the main road that lead out of the park and finally to the two-lane country highway back to town.

It took almost a half hour to get back to town, a drive that normally only took fifteen minutes, and that was only if you got behind an eighteen-wheeler doing the speed limit.

Since there was only one bed-and-breakfast in the small town of Bailey Falls, he knew where she was staying.

And, gee, what a coincidence. That’s where he was headed too. The cabin he rented was owned by the same couple who ran the bed-and-breakfast.

How convenient was that?

After they’d parked in the lot, he hustled out of the truck so he could open her door for her and watch her slide out of the car.

Damn good call.

Long legs emerged first, encased in formfitting denim that he wanted to pet. Followed by a totally hot set of tits that’d do an all-natural porn star proud. At least a C-cup, if not a D. Damn nice rack.

He wanted to bend down and rub his five o’ clock shadow all over them. First he’d pull off that well-worn t-shirt that had some obscure college symbol on it.

Wait, was that…

He started to smile.

Starfleet Academy. Her shirt bore a wickedly artistic symbol that only made sense if you knew what you were looking at.

And since he happened to be a fan, her hotness factor had just gone up about a thousand points.

“Classic or Next Gen?”

Pleased surprise flared in her eyes before she returned his smile. “Classic, of course. And DS9 had more depth than Next Gen, though Picard still rules.”

“A woman after my own heart. Kirk was a Neanderthal compared to Picard. The prime directive was more a guideline with James Tiberius than an actual directive.”

As they started to walk toward the inn’s front door, he realized he’d never gotten her name.

“I’m Andy, by the way.”

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs as she climbed to the porch. When she turned to face him, her eyes were almost on level with his.

In the warm, dim glow of the porch light, he saw just how beautiful they were. Golden brown, almost amber.

“Jenna.” She held out her hand and he wanted to grab it and lay it on his chest. Preferably while he was naked.

Then he’d move it lower. Slide it down his stomach. Wrap those slim fingers around his dick and show her how he wanted her to touch him.

She must have seen something of what he was thinking on his face, because those beautiful eyes widened again and, when he took her hand, her fingers tightened around his convulsively before releasing him. He didn’t want to let her go and had to force himself to do it.

And he definitely wasn’t ready to say good night before she took herself off to her bed and he trudged, brokenhearted, to his own. Alone.

“Hey, you wanna get a drink? I know Matt and Birdie have a bar in the lounge for the guests to use. We could,” make out, get naked, have sex, “talk for a little while.”

She blinked. “You know the owners?”

Well, yeah, he did. He’d been renting a cabin from them for years. The mated mountain lion shifters had inherited the property from Matt’s parents several years ago.

Frankly, Andy was shocked that they’d rented a room to a Normal, given that their clientele was almost exclusively Fringe.

Now he really wanted to know what this woman was doing here.

He shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Yeah, I’ve been coming here for years. I like…” roaming the forest and scaring the bejesus out of the occasional hiker “hiking around here.”

Her head cocked to the side and he got the impression she was trying to get a read on him. That sharp gaze made him want to fidget like a kid caught passing notes in school.

Of course, if she’d been his teacher…

Then again, he wondered if she had a little plaid skirt and maybe a tight button-down top—

Her lips curved into that smile again, the one he wanted to feel against his mouth. “Sure, I’d love to have a drink.”

Yes! He restrained himself from pumping his fist and doing a little victory dance. Since he’d been told he danced like a palsied chicken in its death throes, she’d probably bolt to her room. Alone.

Opening the door, she slipped into the front room of the inn, turning her head to send him a quick, sweetly hot glance over her shoulder. That look would’ve had any red-blooded man panting after her.

Now it wasn’t like women didn’t throw themselves at him. They did. Occasionally.

Well, maybe throw was a bad word. Fringe women, at least those who knew him or knew of him…

Some of them actually knew too much about him. They knew he was a nerd who never missed a Comic-Con or an opportunity to dress up as a Klingon. Or Thor.

He even had his own chainmail costume and detailed hammer that been created for him by an Appalachian dwarf long before Marvel had cast an Australian as a Norse god.

Which had actually turned out better than Andy could have hoped. Same with Iron Man, though that last movie…

Well, Stan Lee wasn’t infallible. Damn near but not totally.

Marvel had had more than a few flops on their hands. The unfortunate Incredible Hulk debacle was one. On paper, having Ang Lee direct a superhero movie must’ve seemed inspired.

But some visions just didn’t mix. Some relationships just weren’t meant to be.

Daredevil and Karen Page. Nurse Chappel and Spock.

Fringe dwellers and Normals.

Yeah, but look at Tim and Carrie. They’re making their relationship work.

Not that Andy was thinking relationship. That was a huge leap from having a drink with Jenna.

Just because they shared a love of Star Trek and he wanted to get his hands on the sweet curves covered by those tight jeans and that geeky t-shirt—

Which he loved, by the way.

A woman unafraid to let her geek flag fly. Now that was a woman worth getting to know.

Chapter Three

As she led the way through the charmingly decorated front sitting room to the even more charming den, where the bar was located, Jenna was pretty sure Andy was eyeing her ass.

Which made her self-conscious.

And made her want to let her hips sway just the slightest bit more.

She was a girl, after all, and Andy… Well, Andy made her feel as if she’d swallowed a gallon of Pop Rocks. All tingly and fizzy low in her belly.

He was one big, gorgeous hunk of man flesh. And damn, but he was tall. And perfectly proportioned, not lanky and lean like some guys his height. No, he had broad shoulders and thick biceps and strong thighs. Oh my.

And that hair… A perfectly natural mix of platinum and gold and wheat and honey. She could tell, now that she’d been close to him, that the color didn’t come out of a bottle. No one could get that shading that perfectly abstract so that it blended that well.

Jenna had always had perfectly tame dark-brown hair. She’d never really wanted to be a blonde, except for that unfortunate period in middle school. Teenagers could be so cruel. She’d had to live with the nickname Jenna-Ghoul for a year, even after she’d dyed it black for her morose punk phase.

Not that her friends ever teased her. Sure, it’d been tough being one of the only girls in the school who played Warcraft and The Legend of Zelda. Or even knew that they were computer games.

Most of her friends had been guys with the same love of comic books and role-playing games. Her few girlfriends had explained away her love of Star Trek and her crush on an obscure makeup artist named Tom Savini, who created the makeup for George Romero’s zombie movies, as a fluke.

Of course, they’d loved her for introducing them to Harry Potter nearly six months before anyone in her school had even heard of it. Her mom had bought a book called Harry Potter and Philosopher’s Stone for Jenna as a gift when she’d gone to a conference in England. She’d forced the book on a few friends, who’d declared her brilliant. For a month anyway. Then she went back to being just Jenna.

She wondered what Andy saw when he looked at her.

An average-looking woman of average height wearing a ridiculous shirt that she loved that her brother had bought for her in Japan on a trip to make contact with the ghosts of Hiroshima.

The bar suddenly loomed ahead of her and she stopped short and turned. Right into Andy’s chest. She brought her hands up to brace herself and they landed flat against Andy’s abs.

My god, the man was solid as a rock. Her fingers flexed convulsively but his muscles held steady.

And damn, but he smelled good. Like the forest on a crisp, cool fall day. She wanted to rub her face against his chest like a cat. Preferably without the t-shirt in her way. Only her cheek against his warm flesh—

Oh wow. She needed to stop before she had to change her panties. Which might already be too late.

She told herself to take a step back but her feet refused. Or the message got hijacked somewhere between her brain and her feet.

She thought she might have to fight with herself to get her hands to release his chest.

Of course, he wasn’t moving away. No, he’d gone statue-still before her. Was he waiting for her to do something?

What would he do if she took another step forward until their toes touched? Would he wrap his arms around her and pick her up until their lips were aligned and her feet couldn’t touch the floor?

Her head tilted back and she looked up, and up, into his eyes.

Standing this close, she had a better impression of his size and… Holy Klingon Warrior. Give the man a few ridges on his forehead and a club and he’d win awards at cons across the country.

Then again, give the man a mighty hammer and a cloak and he could pound her—

She blinked and sank her teeth into her bottom lip, hoping to stave off any inadvertent moans she might make, because she now had an image in her head of Andy wearing nothing but a red silk cloak and a grin.

She wasn’t thinking Superman. Not clean-cut, wholesome, corn-fed Clark Kent.

No, Andy was much more exotic. His broad features and darker-toned skin and that blond hair contradicted each other every which way but it all worked to make him freaking gorgeous.

For some reason, the Thundercats popped into her head. Not that Andy had fur or looked like a cat. No, he was all man.

The exoticness of him reminded her of the crush she’d had on Lion-O, the leader of the Thundercats.

Ho! Indeed.

Okay, maybe she and her brother weren’t as opposite as she liked to think.

Then again, Joss actually believed the Thundercats existed, although he called them werecats and said they lived a solitary life somewhere in India.

“Jenna?”

Wow, that voice. It sneaked beneath her skin and stroked between her legs. It held an accent she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She wanted to tell him to just keep saying her name over and over again until she figured it out. Or came just from the sound of it stroking against her skin.

“Yes?”

Andy wished like hell that she was using that word in response to him asking if she wanted to go to his cabin where he would kiss her entire body before settling between her legs and licking her to orgasm.

Right now, he felt every one of her fingers through the thin cotton of his t-shirt, felt those fingers clench into his muscles and watched her gaze drop to stare at her hands.

She blinked then swallowed then bit her bottom lip.

With them standing this close, their size difference hit him. She was at least a foot and a half shorter and the top of her head didn’t reach his chin.

He was used to being taller than everyone else. Even in his family, he had at least an inch on everyone.

When he went out, he’d gotten used to the wide eyes and the whispers behind his back. To the pointing.

Yeah, he was a freak of nature. He’d accepted it long ago, embraced it even. Had fun with it.

He’d met women over the years who’d looked at him as if he were an all-you-can-eat buffet and they’d been living on lettuce leaves and water for years. Usually they looked like that was all they’d been eating. Tall, skinny. No tits, no ass.

Not a Victoria’s Secret model among them. Usually, they thought he was some basketball player they’d never heard of.

And mostly, he let them think that because otherwise they’d want to know what he did for a living and telling them the truth was out of the question.

Besides, if he told them he was a CPA or some other boring office drone, invariably they’d lose interest. He had a funky sense of humor that not every woman got and the ones who did… Well, those were the smart ones. The ones who wanted to know what exactly he did for a living. What job allowed him to fly around the world seemingly on a whim? Why did he have blond hair when biology would dictate he should have dark?

And why the hell did he have such an obsession for all things odd?

He couldn’t tell them the truth. Those smart women would think he was lying and blow him off and the other ones, the not so smart ones… Well, he didn’t really want anything to do with them anyway.

Jenna…

The way she looked at him right now… He wanted her to continue to look at him like that. For as long as possible. Hopefully at least until he’d gotten her into bed and showed her just how good a freak could be between the sheets.

Eventually, he’d say something idiotic because, yeah, he was mostly a geek. On top of being a seven-foot Yeti.

But for now, he wanted her to continue to look at him just like this.

After a few more seconds, Jenna drew in a deep breath then slowly withdrew her hands. He fought against the urge to grab her and put them back on his body, preferably lower. And under his clothing.

But he figured he should get to know her better first, possibly even before he tried to get into her pants.

“So,” he said, happy his voice hadn’t cracked like a teenager’s, “how about that drink?”

Her hands dropped to her sides and she tilted her head back, as if he’d startled her. She blinked up at him, her head tilting to the side and her eyes staring so deeply into his, he felt his body straining toward her even as he tried to rein himself in.

Don’t do it, you idiot. Don’t lean down and kiss her. Don’t scare her away.

Finally, she nodded. “Oh, yeah. Sure. Just…um, let me…”

She turned and went behind the bar, bending over to open the fridge.

Damn, he really liked her ass in those jeans.

While she couldn’t see him, he reached down to adjust his erection, currently trying to bust through his zipper, before she could come back up and catch him.

“Do you want a beer? Or wine? Or there’s soda.”

“I’ll take a root beer. Matt makes his own. An old Amish recipe he picked up years ago. There should be a few brown, unlabeled bottles in there somewhere.”

A half second later, Jenna said, “Aha,” and straightened with two brown bottles in her hand and a smile on her lips.

This woman definitely needed to end up in his bed.

He followed her to the overstuffed couch on the other side of the room, where there were more shadows than light. He saw her glance at the table lamp then look away without turning it on.

He hoped that meant she wanted to sit in the dark with him. And all that implied.

Not that she didn’t want to be able to see his face.

Damn, man. When did you become such a girl?

Ignoring the inner dialogue that bounced back and forth between, You’re an idiot and, Damn, what if she doesn’t really like me?, he took the bottle she held out to him and popped the top. Then he handed that one back to her and opened the other.

His mother would be proud. He wasn’t a complete beast. At least, not all the time.

“So what are you doing here, Jenna?”

Her gaze dropped for a second before she smiled up at him. “Oh, just a weekend away. My brother thought I could use a vacation, so he booked me the room. I’ve never been to this part of the state and I’ve lived in Pennsylvania my whole life. This area is beautiful.”

Now why did he get the feeling she wasn’t telling him the entire truth? “Yep, the view’s definitely gorgeous.”

She blushed and dropped his gaze at his obvious flirting. Sue him. It was second nature and it was totally true. He could sit here all night and stare at her.

“Where are you from, Andy?”

“The accent gave me away, huh?”

Her gaze had strayed to his lips as he spoke and he had to restrain the urge to bend down and kiss her.

Not yet, idiot. You’ll scare her away.

“It’s really beautiful but I have no idea what it is.” She blinked and her gaze shot to his. As if she hadn’t been staring at all. “Where are you from originally?”

“Nepal. But we only lived there for a few years when I was a child. Then my family moved around Europe for a few more years.” Spreading the legend with them. Good times. “We have relations in the states and I ended up here for high school and college.”

Her gaze flew to his hair but he didn’t see outright skepticism in her eyes. “Do you get home much?”

“Not as much as I’d like.” And he realized that was true. “I miss the mountains. And the snow. But there’s also the forests and the temples. It’s a different way of life. My parents moved back years ago and I visit when I can.”

“Have you climbed Mt. Everest?”

“Yeah, I have.” In a way she could never imagine. “So you grew up in Pennsylvania.”

Her lips twisted in a rueful smile and her gaze dropped to her root beer for a few seconds. “Yep. Never traveled farther than New York and Florida, though I have been to Las Vegas.”

And there was that intriguing blush again.

“Vacation?”

She paused. “Convention.”

His lips curved. He knew the reason for that blush. “The Star Trek convention.”

Her chin kicked up and she looked him straight in the eyes, as if daring him to make fun of her. “Best week of my life. I met William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.”

He settled back into the couch with a full-blown smile. “I met them and Patrick Stewart and Marina Sirtis. Always had a thing for Deanna Troi. And Nana Visitor. I think it was the ridges.”

Her expression was a revelation. She looked at him as if he’d told her she could wear a red shirt and get a walk-on role in the next film.

God bless J.J. Abrams for ensuring there would be a next film.

Then she started to babble.

About how she’d been a fan since she was eight. How her cousin, a proto-geek who’d been building computers before most people had known they existed outside of top-secret government facilities, had introduced her to the classic series on VHS tapes that he stored in space bags so they weren’t overexposed.

How her parents had spent nearly a thousand dollars to buy her the entire series of classic, Next Gen and DS9 when they first came out on disc because she’d wanted them more than she’d wanted a car.

How she’d chosen her senior prom dress because it’d reminded her of one of the dresses in the Mudd’s Women episode. How she’d loved that they’d finally gotten a female captain in Janeway and how disappointed she’d been when the show had been canceled.

He lost track of the conversation a few times because the sound of her voice mesmerized him.

Good thing he knew his Trek, because he was able to weave in and out of the conversation without losing points for not listening. And he was listening.

Really, he was.

Okay, mainly he was watching her mouth. How she’d pause for a few seconds after every couple of sentences, waiting for him to respond, which he would. And then she’d smile when he said the right things, and keep talking.

Which really wasn’t a problem except he really wanted to kiss her.

So he was ready the next time. Watching for the pause, he was moving as soon as she started to draw in that breath.

He bent his head and stole a kiss.

Although, he didn’t think it was stealing if she didn’t seem to mind him taking it.

She didn’t freeze, didn’t pull away. Her lips remained soft and pliant under his but she didn’t return the kiss and he pulled back before he scared her.

As he put more distance between them, he held his breath, watching as her eyes slowly opened and stared up into his.

She looked shocked.

Shit. That wasn’t what he’d—

Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and her lips crushed against his.

She kissed him, hard. Her mouth moved against his with an enthusiasm that made him groan and pull her forward.

Her breasts pressed against his chest as he lifted her closer, her legs spreading so her knees settled on either side of his hips. With their height difference, she still had to tilt her head back to keep their lips locked.

His hands molded to her back as her mouth ravaged his. And damn, the woman could kiss. Her lips were warm and mobile and soft against his. He’d never been kissed so well that he was content in the moment to let their lips mingle and mesh.

Usually, he wanted to move on to the getting naked and getting laid portion of the evening’s festivities. Followed by the inevitable sorry, gotta go, call ya later part.

He had the feeling he wasn’t going to want to say sorry, gotta go all that soon to this woman.

Drawing in a breath, he let the sweet scent of vanilla from her hair and the peach from her skin sink into his lungs. He swore he could taste those flavors on her lips and wanted to feast on her as if she were dessert.

Then she opened her mouth and let her tongue stroke across his lips.

And he swore he saw rainbows flash behind his eyelids.

His groan echoed through the room, probably loudly enough to wake the rest of the guests, though he wasn’t sure anyone else had returned from the Mystyk yet.

It wouldn’t be long before someone found them, making out like a couple of teenagers.

Although what he wanted to do to this woman went way beyond making out. He had an image in his head of Jenna tied naked to his bed.

For some strange reason, he also had a vision of her in a short-skirted red Starfleet uniform and no panties as she sat on his lap on the deck of the Enterprise NCC-1701.

His cock throbbed behind the zipper of his jeans, and his hands moved up her back until he could sink one into the soft hair at her nape. He let his fingers wind through the short strands until he had a firm grip. He wouldn’t hurt her but he had a primal need to hold her tighter.

And she appeared to like it.

Her low moan made every hair on his body stand on end and he strained toward her even as she inched closer.

The height difference forced her head back even farther and he knew that had to be uncomfortable.

Besides, they were sitting in a common room where anyone could walk in.

And knowing the people who stayed here, they’d have no problem sitting down and starting a conversation while he had his tongue down Jenna’s throat and his hands up her shirt.

He thought about saying something like, “Hey, Jenna, would you like to take this somewhere more private?” But the words got lost in the wet heat of her kiss.

He didn’t want to stop kissing her long enough to speak. He was almost afraid she’d come to her senses, take one look at him and run screaming for her room.

Then again, the way her fingers dug into his shoulders like a mountain climber’s spikes heading up Everest, she didn’t seem to be thinking about anything but kissing him back.

And what a boost to the morale that was.

She wanted him. All seven feet and two hundred fifty pounds of him.

If he ever got her in bed, missionary position was out.

Of course, he wouldn’t be complaining when he was lying on his back watching her ride him.

Probably getting ahead of yourself there, hoss.

But now that the image was there, he couldn’t shake it.

He groaned into her mouth, his hands wrapping around her waist as he urged her closer against him.

She didn’t need much encouragement. In fact, she shimmied even closer.

And Andy had a brief moment to wonder when the piano might fall on his head before Jenna broke away with a little gasp and opened her eyes to stare into his.

“Wow.”

Wow was right. At least, he hoped she was having the same wow moment he was. Like, “Oh wow, that was a totally awesome kiss, let’s go upstairs where I will rip off all your clothes and ride you like a Christmas pony”.

And not, “Oh wow, I can’t believe I just sucked face with a guy who could bench press a car and might possibly be the love child of Andre the Giant and Brad Pitt”.

All right, maybe Robert Redford. He’d never been a Pitt fan. Dude had way too many kids and Angelina scared the shit out of him. She had more ink than he did, which wasn’t saying much because Andy only had one tattoo on the inside of his wrist because that sucker had hurt.

He wanted to ask what that wow meant but he knew he shouldn’t open his mouth. Knew he should wait until she said whatever was on her mind, because she definitely had something on her mind.

Keep your mouth shut. Be smart for a change.

Hell, who was he kidding? He was the guy who bench-pressed the occasional Cadillac if it happened to be in a parking space he wanted. And he enjoyed scaring the shit out of city folk who moved to the country and made the mistake of thinking there really wasn’t anything that went bump in the night.

“Would you like to continue this in my cabin?”

She paused and he swore he saw her brain working. Then she took a deep breath, as if she’d made a momentous decision.

“I would love to continue this in your cabin.”

Not waiting for her to change her mind, he stood, making sure he kept her in his arms. Her eyes widened but she wrapped her legs around his waist and tightened her arms around his neck.

“I didn’t know there were cabins.”

He walked through the house, ducking so he didn’t knock his head on the doorjambs until he got to the kitchen. “A few. And they’re not that far from the house.”

Her mouth curled up at the corners as she looked up into his eyes. He wanted to stop and stare, those eyes were so pretty—

“Shit!”

Pain splintered through his brain as the top of his head hit the ceiling fan light. Jenna hissed in sympathy and her face screwed up in an adorable frown.

“Are you okay?” She lifted her hand to rub her palm over the sore spot on his head. He nearly tripped over his feet as he trembled and he had to force his legs to keep going forward.

She started to shake and he clutched her closer.

“Hey, are you okay, Jenna?”

Had he hurt her? What the hell—

She burst out laughing and the sound got inside him and lit that fire even hotter.

“I’m so sorry.” She put her hand over her mouth but her eyes shone. “I shouldn’t be laughing when you’re in pain.”

“What pain? You laugh and it disappears.”

Her laughter cut off and she blinked up at him. He was pretty sure those eyes were going to be his downfall.

“Wow. That’s…wow.” Her tongue peeked from between her lips for a brief second. “Please don’t take this the wrong way…”

He tensed, sure she was about to tell him to put her down and get lost.

“But I think you should go a little faster.”

Faster. Yes. He could do faster.

As Jenna wound her arms around him and rested her head against his shoulder, he made it out the back door and down the path to his cabin without dropping her or tripping over something. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d actually stepped on his tongue.

Kicking the door closed behind him, he almost expected her to turn shy on him, or at the least, make him continue the seduction.

But he’d barely loosened his hold on her, ready to set her back on her feet, when she tightened her legs and took his mouth in a sinful kiss.

Chapter Four

Jenna let herself drown in the heat of Andy’s mouth.

She’d never kissed a guy like this before. With her entire concentration. It made her crave him with an intensity she’d never experienced.

Her hands gripped his broad shoulders before sliding down to his hard biceps. God, the man was built like a… Well, like a god.

Her breasts pressed against the solid wall of his chest. Her legs remained wrapped around his waist, her thighs registering the tight flex of muscles there.

She couldn’t wait to get him stripped down so she could run her hands along those tight, powerful muscles.

Her brain had a moment to think, Are you really going to do this? Which her body answered with a resounding, Hell, yeah.

She was already wet and achy for him. And despite his size, he’d been so careful with her.

If he was going to hurt her, he’d had ample time. But she sensed absolutely no danger from him. And working in the city, she’d acquired a well-developed danger antenna.

Here…now, all she felt was lust.

She slid her hands to his back, bunching his shirt in her fingers and pulling it up. She knew she’d have to release him to get it over his head but her legs weren’t getting with the program. They wanted to cling.

Compounding matters, her pelvis rocked forward, rubbing against his stomach, pressing the seam of her jeans into her clit. Yes, right there.

She moaned into his mouth. She wanted his big, blunt fingers right there, pressing the exact same way. Wanted to feel the heat of his skin against hers.

Wanted to see what he looked like naked and spread out on the ocean-sized bed she’d noticed before she’d attacked him.

Okay, maybe attack was a little harsh but that was how she felt.

She wanted to tear off his clothes, fling him on the bed and pounce.

It was almost like a compulsion, as if she’d been put under a spell. But she, the levelheaded sibling in the Durham family, did not believe in magic. This was pure, old-fashioned lust.

Finally, she unclenched her legs and let them straighten. Andy immediately set her on her feet, his hands tightening on her waist before he released her completely.

Now she looked up until she could look into those dark-blue eyes that stared back so intently.

She saw lust held in check, waiting for her signal to be released.

She reached for his belt buckle, figuring he’d get the hint.

He got the hint.

He reached for her shirt, gripped the hem and tugged up. Since she was busy with his belt, he didn’t get it very far. And she wasn’t about to lift her arms until that buckle surrendered. And it would surrender.

As her fingers fumbled, Andy’s grew more sure. He lifted her shirt as far as he could get it then stroked his fingertips along her sides.

She nearly melted from the heat. Then she shivered with desire. Okay, maybe she could give the belt a pass for the moment because Andy had magic fingers.

He played them up and down her sides, raising goose bumps and her body temperature. Each time he moved them up, he got closer to touching her breasts. And each time, he stopped just short.

She wanted— No, she needed those huge hands on her. On her naked skin. Which meant he’d have to use those hands to strip her.

“Andy.”

“I love your voice.”

Oh wow. And she loved his, that dark, husky tone that made her insides quake and made her think of dark, thick chocolate dripped all over that broad chest so she could lick it off.

“Then listen to me and take my clothes off.”

That quick grin of his surfaced and she nearly had to cross her legs to make sure she didn’t leap at him.

“Lift your arms.”

She did what he wanted because she wanted the same thing.

With her arms straight up, Andy grabbed the hem of her shirt and stripped it over her head then unclipped her bra so when she put her arms down, it slid off.

When Andy put his hands on her breasts, the sensation nearly made her come. His fingers plucked at her nipples, sending bolts of pleasure straight to her clit. Her lips parted to take in more air for her oxygen-starved brain but Andy bent his head to seal her mouth with his. The angle was awkward, though, because the man was so tall and he pulled back.

Which gave her the opportunity to get back to that belt buckle. As he yanked his shirt over his head, she finally got the buckle to cooperate so she could unbutton his jeans and—

She actually froze for a brief second to admire the perfect proportions of the man’s sex. Not grotesquely huge but large enough for her to say a quick thank-you to Santa Claus for finally answering her wish and bringing her a man with a cock that could give her vibrator a run for its money.

Andy’s erection stood proud and strong and stiff enough to hang a flag on it. Or make a girl very happy.

With one hand on his chest, she pushed him back toward the bed until the back of his knees hit the mattress and he went down like a tree. Good thing the bed was huge. And sturdy.

Then he smiled at her and held out his hand. “Come here, Jenna. Climb on.”

She didn’t need a second invitation. Shedding her shoes, socks, pants and underwear—thank God she’d worn black satin instead of white cotton—she climbed onto the bed then knelt by Andy’s side.

So much man. Where should she start?

Apparently at his cock, because her fingers had already wrapped around the iron-hard shaft and begun a slow, sensuous glide. Up. Down. His skin, silky soft, warmed against her fingers. The underside was particularly soft and she let her fingers play over that spot again. A smile curved her lips when Andy groaned and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“Jenna.”

She loved hearing him say her name. Loved knowing she was the one who made his hands clench into fists in the bed quilt.

Tightening her hand around him—and sighing when she realized her fingers didn’t meet—Jenna slipped her other hand between his legs to cup his heavy balls.

He hissed in a breath and her hands froze as her gaze flashed to his face. Had she hurt him—

“Jenna, Jesus, don’t stop.”

The impassioned plea in his voice sent a shiver through her, making her nipples harden into throbbing points and her sex clench, almost painful in its intensity.

She’d never wanted anyone as much as she wanted Andy and knowing she was going to have him made her want to put off the actual act just a little while longer.

Sweet, sweet torture. Andy’s wide chest rose and fell in a ragged rhythm and she leaned forward until she could nip at one flat nipple.

“Ah, shit.”

Andy shuddered as she did the same to the other then bit her way down his chest to his stomach until her lips were millimeters away from the firm, wide head of his cock.

She swore his breath stopped as she pressed a kiss to the tip in preparation for taking him inside. But Andy rolled to the side and she had a second’s doubt before he reached into the bedside table and came back with a condom, which he held out to her.

Torn for a brief moment between not wanting to let him go and getting to the really good stuff, she grabbed the condom and sheathed him, making sure to tease him as she rolled it on.

When she had him covered, she sat back to survey the manscape, her smile growing wider by the second.

She contemplated slinging her leg over his hips and just riding him like a cowgirl. He must have read her mind, because he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her right where she wanted to be.

Which was spread over his hips.

Her lungs felt starved for air as Andy pulled her down while she pulled his cock back, handling him with as much care as he held her.

She thought about teasing him some more but decided she didn’t want to wait. She needed to sink down onto all that firm flesh, take it in then ride him until they both came.

With her gaze on his, she lowered her hips until the tip met her sex. Already wet, she slicked the broad head of his cock with her juices, teasing them both with the heady sensation. Shivers ran through her, causing her sheath to tighten and pulse, already so close to climax, she was almost embarrassed.

But the way Andy stared at her, the way his gaze was glued to hers instead of her body, watching her reactions, obliterated everything but the desire.

Slowly, she sank, hissing a little as he stretched her, silently praising his girth because god knew she didn’t want to say anything stupid aloud but, damn, he felt amazing.

She sank until they were fully joined, her eyes nearly rolling back in her head. They sat there, the only sound their heavy breathing.

Then Andy shifted his hips and tiny fireworks began to pop and sizzle in her lower body. With his strong arms, he lifted her as his hips withdrew, his cock sliding from her until only the tip remained. Then he let gravity do its thing and Jenna decided she was going to worship Isaac Newton, just as soon as she could think again.

Andy started to increase the pace, the muscles in his arms bunching and releasing, providing a stimulating visual that engaged her brain and her body in the act.

It was his expression, though, that made her nearly incoherent with lust. He looked just as lost as she felt. His eyes glazed and barely open, his lips parted. Each finger a brand on her skin.

Sensation built until she felt like a bottle of soda, corked and shaken until she couldn’t contain the pressure any longer. She tried to hold on, tried to retain that edge but…

She exploded, her hands reaching for his wrists as he let her sink until he was buried deep inside, pulsing through his own release.

And when she couldn’t hold herself up anymore, he drew her down onto his chest.

Wow. That was… Wow.

Chapter Five

I really should get out of here.

Jenna stared at the wall of the Andy’s cabin, intensely aware of the heavy arm he had around her waist.

Heavy, but not unwelcome.

Actually, she really liked it.

She liked how big he was. How she felt so completely surrounded by him when they curled together like this. The man gave off enough heat to keep her warm if they were stranded on the ice planet of Hoth. She liked that too.

So why, exactly, should she leave?

She’d had the best sex of her life last night. With a man she’d met only minutes before she’d torn off his clothes.

She should be embarrassed. She didn’t do things like this.

But, oh my. It had been amazing.

Or…maybe she’d just been depriving herself and last night hadn’t been as good as she’d thought.

She sighed. No, that definitely wasn’t it.

So why did she have the overwhelming urge to leave before he woke?

Behind her, Andy shifted and all that naked skin rubbed against hers and she swore she was going to melt.

The arm currently cushioning her head moved lower until he wrapped it around her shoulders, drawing her even closer. She wriggled against him until she felt the wiry hair on his legs brush against the skin of her butt, forcing her to stifle a lusty sigh.

Which became that much harder to do when the arm around her waist tightened and one huge hand engulfed her breast.

Heat shot through her as her head angled back. Behind her, Andy nuzzled her before he opened his mouth and bit the tender part of her neck where it joined her shoulder.

Geez, this was better than an alarm clock any day. And that firm, hot cock pressing against her butt cheek… She wanted to spread her legs and take him inside.

What happened to leaving?

No way was she leaving now, not when things were just getting interesting.

“Good morning.”

His words rumbled through his chest and vibrated against her back, making her shiver with anticipation.

“Good morning.”

“How did you sleep?”

Considering how little sleep she’d gotten, she was amazed at how great she felt. Usually if she didn’t get at least six hours, she felt like roadkill.

Not this morning.

She felt…vivid. Alive. Horny.

Amazingly horny.

Who knew it would take a seven-foot blond god to light up her libido?

About to roll over and see just how much better she could feel this morning, she stopped when she heard the unmistakable ring of her cell phone. She knew it had to be hers because she didn’t think Andy had the theme from Farscape as one of his ringtones.

Having a brother who knew his way around a computer editing program did occasionally come in handy.

Except that was Joss’ specific ringtone.

“Do you have to get that?” Andy pressed closer, making it clear he would be more than happy to take her mind off whatever Joss wanted. She stifled a groan. What could Joss possible want this early—

Wait, it wasn’t this early in Scotland. It was actually probably midafternoon. Maybe something had happened? What if the money had fallen through and he was stranded somewhere in Great Britain? What if—

“Jenna, are you okay?”

Damn it, she really wished she could say yes to that and mean it.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just need to answer that.”

With a sigh, she slid away from Andy, from the heat of his body and the temptation of all that naked flesh.

Which of course meant he could see her in all her naked glory. She didn’t have many hang-ups about her physical appearance. She kept in shape and if she had a few more pounds than she wanted, at least she carried them in her breasts and ass. Both of which Andy didn’t seem to have a problem with.

Still, she reached for Andy’s shirt on the floor and pulled it over her head even as she reached her pants and grabbed the phone from the pocket. “Hey, Joss, what’s up? Is everything okay?”

“Jenna, where are you?”

She frowned. Her brother sounded worried. Joss never worried. Not when he was lost in some state park in Maine in the middle of winter and definitely never about her. He knew she was steady as a rock.

Except, the proof of the decaying bedrock of her stable life was still in the bed they’d nearly destroyed last night.

“Um, I’m at that little B&B in Tioga we talked about. Remember, we discussed this trip before you left.”

She didn’t want to say too much because she didn’t want Andy to overhear anything. Especially not anything that might make her sound as if she was chasing crackpot cryptids, like her brother.

“You actually went? Damn, Jenna, for the first time I was hoping you’d ignored me. Doesn’t matter. You gotta get out of there. And fast.”

A shiver ran up her back at Joss’ anxious tone. “What are you talking about? You’re not making any sense. First you tell me I have to do…something for you and now—”

“Now I’m telling you to go home. Right now. I don’t have time to go into everything, but you need to get out of that town. Now.”

“Joss, slow down—”

“I can’t. We’re getting ready to board the plane and we’re going to get cut off. And they’re confiscating our cells.”

“I thought you’d already left for Loch Ness?”

“Change in plans. Look, Jenna, if you trust me at all, please just go home. There’s nothing there. I was totally wrong. Just go.”

Now he was really starting to freak her out. “Are you okay, Joss? Did you hit your head or something? Do you have a fever, nausea? Did something bite you? Did you eat something you shouldn’t have?”

She wouldn’t put it past Joss to have tried some mushroom because the locals told him it would help him see the monsters better. Or to have been bitten by some wild animal as he trekked through remote forest.

“Jenna, this isn’t about me. I’m fine. You just need to leave—”

The connection clicked off in her ear and she lowered the phone to stare at the blank screen.

What the hell?

“Jenna? Are you okay?”

Andy’s voice sounded strained but she put that down to her own baffled confusion.

Hell, five minutes ago, she’d been thinking about doubling the amount of great sex she’d had in her life. Now…

“Jenna?”

“Yes?”

She turned to find Andy staring at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher. Almost as if he looked sick to his stomach.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head. “My brother…” She sighed. “He’s worried about me for some reason.”

“And your brother is…?”

She frowned before she could stop herself. Why did that sound like an odd question? Almost as if he wanted her to spill secrets.

Maybe she was reading too much into Andy’s tone, but…

He almost sounded like he knew who her brother was. Which was crazy, right? She hadn’t told Andy her last name, which seemed kind of silly now, considering he knew exactly how she liked him to stroke her clit to make her come.

So she deliberately misunderstood his question.

With a weak smile, she said, “Not usually a worry wart. He’s a…” Crackpot who believes in Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil. “He’s on a business trip to Scotland. I don’t have any idea what would set him off like this.”

Andy had no idea what would have set off Jenna’s brother.

Then again, he’d had no idea Jenna was Joss “That fucking SPAz” Durham’s sister before he’d slept with her.

Holy shit. What the hell were the odds?

Too fucking high.

So she can’t be.

Yeah, she is.

No way.

Yes—

Christ, he felt like Gollum. And that was not only creepy but depressing.

Joss Durham was the king jester of the idiot brigade otherwise known as the Society of Paranormal Abnormalities, a group dedicated to proving the existence of what they called cryptids.

SPAz was what the Fringe society called the self-proclaimed “researchers”—and yes, he used that word loosely—who believed in Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster and El Chupacabra and a whole lot of other things that other people knew were fictional.

Only they weren’t.

And the SPAz… They weren’t dangerous so much as a major pain in the ass. Most Normals wrote them off as crackpots, which was just what the Fringe dwellers wanted.

But some of them, like Joss, were a little smarter than the average bear. And when they got an idea in their head, they were like starving terriers with a bone.

Most Fringe dwellers gave the SPAz a wide berth, but some took the time to screw with their heads for fun. Hell, he’d messed with Joss personally a few times. The guy had an uncanny knack for showing up at the right place at the wrong time.

Like when a seven-foot, shape-shifting Yeti was visiting his American Bigfoot cousin and they decided to take a run through the woods to work off some steam.

That episode had been more than two years ago, and the couple of fuzzy pictures Joss had gotten had only made it as far as a few cryptid blogs.

Still, the guy was tenacious and surprisingly smart for a SPAz.

“So, your brother…what does he do for a living?”

Her expression turned even more pained. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about Joss. Hell, she was downright embarrassed.

She didn’t believe, not like her brother.

And now he didn’t know whether to be relieved or bummed. What would she do if he flipped the switch and pulled on his Yeti form right now?

With another woman, he might have gotten a laugh out of it. At the very least, a chuckle.

So why did he feel like a teenager who’d just been told Justin Beiber had married Lil Wayne and they planned to adopt a couple of kids and move to Europe?

Jenna dropped her gaze to her hands, twisting in knots in front of her. “He just got a new job, as a matter of fact. Filming documentaries.”

Shit, shit, shit. “Oh yeah?” He tried to force some enthusiasm into his voice but it was like trying to smile while eating dirt sandwiches. “What kind of documentaries?”

Whatever she heard in his voice made her entire demeanor change. She stopped fidgeting, her hands went to her hips and she lifted her chin in the air as if she were going to battle City Hall for the right to sell lemonade on a street corner.

“The first one is about the Loch Ness Monster. After that he’s heading to France to do one on loup garou.”

Yep. No doubt about it. She was Joss’ sister.

He’d had the best sex of his life with the sister of his sworn enemy. Now he’d have to battle Joss with lightsabers on an inner-planetary playground—

Dude, overreact much?

He wanted to roll his eyes at himself. This wasn’t West Side Story, for chrissake. This was more like the soft-core History Channel version.

A Yeti and Joss Durham’s sister walk into a bar…

There was no way that joke ended with anything other than a bad punch line.

But damn, Jenna Durham sure packed one hell of a punch.

Andy thought she was absolutely beautiful. Especially with her hair mussed from sleep, wearing his shirt with her chin stuck in the air, daring him to say something asinine about the brother she obviously loved, even though she thought Joss was just a little off his rocker.

He should do it, piss her off so she stomped off in a huff.

And he would never see her again.

“That sounds…interesting.”

He offered her a lopsided smile because he couldn’t treat her like some backwoods nutcase who told people like Joss about their midnight encounter with Bigfoot. Sure, some of them happened to be telling the truth but still…

As she took a breath, Jenna’s shoulders softened and so did the look on her face. Her mouth curved back into a gentle smile and damn, if his cock didn’t sit up and make him want to beg her to come back to bed.

“Thank you. But I know how it sounds. It sounds crazy. But Joss isn’t crazy. I mean, not really. He’s just…passionate.” Her smile had brightened as she started to believe her own story but now started to fade again. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s ever going to find any definitive proof. I mean, who really believes those stories about dinosaurs in the jungle and blood-sucking creatures in the New Jersey badlands?”

She stared into his eyes, as if pleading with him not to look too unkindly on her brother. She’d probably gotten more than her share of condescension from people who knew Joss and lumped her into the same fanatical group.

Only Joss wasn’t crazy.

There really were blood-sucking creatures in New Jersey except they didn’t live in the badlands. They lived in Trenton, which could conceivably be considered the worse of the two locations. At least the chupas thought so.

Dinosaurs? Well, he figured you couldn’t blame the Normals for mistaking dragons for prehistoric lizards. They did have common ancestors, after all.

Jesus, how the hell did he get himself into these situations?

Fry was probably laughing his ass off at the moment, although he wouldn’t know why. He’d always said some day karma was going to bite Andy on the ass.

Guess he’d be picking teeth out of it for a while.

“What about you, Jenna? What do you believe?”

What did she believe?

Now that was a loaded question, wasn’t it?

Jenna knew what her answer should be. She should smile, laugh a little, maybe shake her head and say of course she didn’t believe in Bigfoot. What person in their right mind would?

But her brother wasn’t crazy. Just a little…misguided.

“I believe there are probably creatures in the world we haven’t discovered yet.”

It was her stock answer when defending Joss. She’d perfected it over the years, gotten it down to as few words as possible so there was less to argue or discuss. And she hoped Andy would let the conversation die a natural death.

She’d really rather be doing something other than talking.

Because sex like they’d had last night was just as elusive as finding a living dodo bird.

“So what do you do for a living, Jenna?”

Annnnd now she was going to bore him to tears and he’d be hustling her out the door and back to the bed-and-breakfast with an “I’ll call you” and a pat on the ass.

Then again, maybe she could distract him with sex.

Jenna never really thought of herself as a sexy person. She had all the necessary parts but when she thought about being deliberately sexy…well, she ended up more as a cross between Zooey Deschanel in The New Girl and Mayim Bialek on the Big Bang Theory—a cute dork who occasionally walked into closed doors because she was too busy thinking about tax deductions and getting excited about finding an extra thousand dollars in refund money for the bodega owner down the street from her office.

But she was still a dork. And while that might work for some guys, that wasn’t how she wanted Andy to remember her.

Instead of answering, and before she could have second thoughts, she stripped the t-shirt over her head, dropped it on the ground and gave him her best attempt at a sexy come-hither stare.

Which she didn’t think he noticed, because his gaze immediately dropped to her body.

Her chest, to be more precise. Andy was definitely a chest man. His gaze stayed glued to her breasts as she walked over to the bed, careful not to trip over the various pieces of clothing littering the floor. She didn’t think Andy would’ve noticed if she had. His gaze was fixated on her naked body.

Which she had to admit was pretty freaking arousing. It’d been dark the first time. She hadn’t caught more than a few glimpses of the full glory of Andy’s nudity. And she had to admit she wanted to turn on all the lights, open all the windows and let the light pour down on all that gorgeous man flesh. All seven feet of him.

As a matter of fact…

She stopped at the side of the bed and reached for the sheet covering his lower body. He barely noticed as she pulled it away from him, baring him completely.

Her mouth actually watered, that’s how gorgeous she found him. Tight muscles. Long, lean limbs. Huge, hard… Oh yeah.

She reached for that huge, hard shaft, already stiff and straining upward. So soft, so male. So irresistible.

She wished she had the courage to bend over and take him in her mouth but…

Well, why the hell not? This was her fling, after all. She was never going to see Andy again. And even if that thought gave her a curiously hollow feeling in her stomach, it also gave her more of a sense of urgency. And a sense of freedom.

Without releasing him, she knelt on the mattress beside him, gently grasped his cock then bent until her lips touched the thick crest.

She thought she heard Andy gasp but it sounded kind of garbled. Like maybe he’d almost swallowed his tongue.

She liked the idea that she’d surprised him. She also liked how he got even harder as she wrapped her hands around the shaft and let her lips and tongue play over the head.

“Damn, Jenna…”

He sounded breathless but the hand he laid on her head didn’t force her down. Instead, he cupped his hand on the back of her neck then let it slide down her spine before he dipped around to her front to cup her breast.

Even as he began to pant like a freight train, his cock straining, his fingers didn’t pinch too hard. Just hard enough. Her nipples felt tight, almost painful to the touch.

If she could’ve panted she would have. As it was, she was much too intent on making him come with her mouth.

He’d become her favorite treat and she loved the way he tasted.

So when he groaned and lifted her away from him, she actually thought of resisting. For all of about two seconds because she realized then that she wanted him to fill her.

Before she realized what he was up to, he’d set her on her knees and crowded behind her. His fingers stroked against her sex lips, slid over her clit, teasing her.

Slippery now with her moisture, his fingers glided inside her, only just penetrating. Not enough to really fulfill her.

She wriggled against him, trying to get him to sink deeper, but he used his free hand to tap her ass. It didn’t sting, but it did tingle enough to make her wonder if she’d like him to smack her a little harder.

So she wriggled again but this time he did go deeper.

As she moaned his name, her sex gripped his fingers tight, trying to suck him in.

Instead he withdrew.

She barely had time to breathe out a denial before he slid back in, this time to the base of his fingers.

And when he twisted them inside and stroked, she felt a quick, sharp orgasm cut through her.

Not enough. Never enough.

“Not yet, babe,” Andy growled out. “Hang tight.”

Withdrawing, he reached for a condom from the drawer. Seconds later, his cock nudged at her entrance then he thrust inside and rode her. No time for slow. This time it was fast and hard.

And she loved every thrust and retreat. She loved the way he’d push inside, his hands tightening around her hips as if he wanted to drag her as close as he could get her.

“Jenna, are you close?”

“Yes, just…oh yeah, right there.”

Jenna moaned as he hit that spot that made her melt, made her body shudder and her orgasm spread like a starburst.

Arching her back, she tightened around him, heard him gasp out her name then felt the pulse of his cock inside her.

As she deflated onto the bed, Andy came down beside her, careful not to put too much of his weight on her.

Damn, she could get used to this.

Too bad she had to leave. And never see him again.

Chapter Six

“So, I really should be going.”

Andy had been dreading this part.

They’d gotten dressed but had only made is far as the couch before he stole one last kiss, which had turned into fifteen minutes of necking.

He couldn’t seem to get enough of her but it was close to noon and she’d said she had a long drive.

Damn it, he did not want Jenna to go even though he was pretty sure he shouldn’t want her to stay.

She had to be here investigating a rumor for her brother and she’d been too close to the Mystyk Bar last night for it to be coincidence. The fact that he’d never heard of Joss having a sister until now probably only meant he’d been keeping her as a stealth weapon.

It’d be too much to hope that her being here was mere coincidence.

“Do you have somewhere you need to be?”

A blush turned her cheeks rosy and Andy felt his stomach twist.

“Actually, this is going to sound really stupid. And now that I’m here, I know how foolish it really is, but… No, never mind. I have to get home. I’ve got work that needs to be finished and…stuff I need to do. I really would love to stay but…” again that blush, “I really should get back to real life.”

Real life, huh? So what had last night been?

“I had a great time last night, Andy.”

She smiled at him and all the heated anger that’d started to gather in his chest at being considered something less than real sank lower. Really low. And definitely was no longer angry.

Hell, he’d finally met a girl who turned him on like no one he’d ever met but he should be glad she was going.

This situation totally sucked.

But what the hell could he do about it?

“I had a great night too. Can I at least get your number? If I ever get back through,” he remembered at the last second that she’d never actually told him where she lived, “here, maybe I could give you a call?”

Her cute little nose wrinkled. “Actually, I’m not from around here. I live closer to Reading, which is about an hour north of Philadelphia. But if you ever get down there…”

Well, hell, wasn’t that almost too convenient. His cousin Tim didn’t live far from Reading.

Maybe Tim would get a few more visits a year than he was used to. Carrie wouldn’t mind. She could always use some pictures of a Yeti for her magazine.

“I’m sure I could manage it.”

Her undiluted smile made him want to throw her back on the bed, strip off the clothes she’d just put on and get her to agree to stay for the rest of the day, at least. Maybe the next day, as well.

But what he really should be doing was pushing her out the door and on her way home. Away from here. Away from him and his Fringe friends.

If Fry found out who she was, he’d never hear the end of it.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t heard from Fry at all last night. No texts, no calls asking where he’d gotten to. Maybe his buddy had gotten lucky too. Probably not as lucky as Andy but maybe he’d picked up a woman at the bar and went back to her room. The guy was as chick magnet. Something about those wings…

Then again, what if something had happened to him?

Nah, someone would’ve called him. If Fry had gotten drunk—and that was a damn good possibility—he wouldn’t have been able to fly so there would be no smashed Fry on a tree or a windshield somewhere.

Someone had probably given him a drive back to the B&B where he was sleeping it off in a room.

“Andy, is something wrong?”

He blinked and realized Jenna’s smile was gone. Probably because he’d started to frown.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. I just realized I didn’t tell my friend where I was going last night and I haven’t heard from him since then.”

“Do you think something happened to him?”

“No… No, I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Maybe you should give him a call. It’ll make you feel better. And I really should check in with my brother again.”

And there was the invisible pink elephant in the room again.

“I had a great time last night, Jenna. And I really do want to see you again.”

Damn, her smile made him horny as all hell.

Turning, she began to look around the room then turned toward the desk. She jotted down something on the notepad by the phone then headed for the door.

She opened it but turned back to him before walking out. “I’d really like to see you again too. I left you my number. Plea—”

Jenna disappeared with a squeak.

For a second, Andy blinked at the space where she’d been standing. In the next, he ran for the door, his body obeying signals from his subconscious before his sex-addled brain realized what had actually happened.

Throwing open the door, he stepped outside and assessed the situation. Then he took two strides and grabbed the guy trying to drag Jenna down the path toward the B&B. The guy couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet and barely came up to Jenna’s shoulder. Andy would’ve thought it was a kid except for the scraggly beard covering his chin and the receding hairline.

The guy squealed and released Jenna when Andy picked him up by the scruff of his neck and let his feet dangle inches above the ground.

Jenna turned, hands on her hips, a furious expression on her face. “Mike, what the hell’s going on with you? What’re you doing here? And why the frack are you trying to kidnap me?”

The tone of Jenna’s voice made it clear she knew the guy. And wasn’t happy to see him.

The look on the guy’s face was sheer panic. Andy was surprised ole Mikey here wasn’t begging for his release.

“Joss wanted me to make sure you were okay. He didn’t want anything to happen to you.”

Jenna’s arms crossed under her breasts now and Andy couldn’t help but sigh at the sight. “And why exactly would he think something would happen to me?”

Mike flicked a somewhat frantic look at Andy over his shoulder as his feet pedaled in the air. As if he might be able to get enough motion going to get free. Andy just lifted his eyebrows at the SPAz. Definitely SPAz.

His new buddy Mike had that look about him.

“Joss just wanted to be sure you got his message. Since I was in the area, I told him I’d make sure you were okay.”

“Bullshit.”

Andy’s mouth quirked in a grin at the heat in Jenna’s tone. He really liked this girl. And when she caught his grin and returned it, that heat sank into his blood.

“I want to know what’s going on and I want to know now. Andy, I think you can let him down. He may be an idiot but he’s not dangerous.”

Andy would reserve judgment on that one. Not on the idiot comment. That was definitely true.

As soon as he put the guy on the ground, Mike made a beeline for Jenna, and, while he didn’t exactly cower behind her, he did stick pretty close to her side.

Mike must’ve seen Andy’s displeasure with his proximity to Jenna but, even though the guy practically quivered like a hairless Chihuahua in a snow storm, he didn’t move.

“Jenna, who is this guy?”

“And why would you think this was any of your business, Mike? What are you doing here? I thought you went with Joss.”

Mike flushed a bright, uncomfortable red. “I was going to but my mom needed me at home. She’d be all alone if I left and…”

Jenna actually looked sorry for the guy and Andy had to admit it was kind of pitiful.

“So now you’re following me around?”

“No! Well, not really.” Mike gave Andy a furtive look before leaning closer to Jenna. “Joss told me why he asked you to come here and I think I found something you need to see.”

Well, shit. That didn’t sound good but Jenna just rolled her eyes.

“Whatever it is you think you found, Mike, I’m sure it won’t interest me.”

Mike deliberately ignored her or, more likely, he didn’t pick up on Jenna’s tone, which definitely told Mike to get lost. Instead, he started tugging Jenna toward the B&B.

Andy was about to go rescue his damsel but the damsel didn’t appear to need any help as she made a short, sharp motion and freed herself from Mike’s grip. Before he could attach himself to her arm again, and before Andy could grab the guy by the scruff and give him a shake for daring to touch Jenna, she held up one index finger and stared Mike down as if he were a first-grader having a temper tantrum.

If Andy had had a teacher like Jenna, he probably would’ve flunked out of school because all he’d do all day was stare at her.

Finally, Mike actually stomped his foot like a child. “Jenna, you gotta come with me. Joss will have my head on a platter if anything happens to you.”

“And again, I say, I’m old enough to take care of myself. And older than you by five years.”

Andy made a mental note not to get on this woman’s bad side. That tongue could cut like a knife. When it wasn’t licking up his—

“Jesus, Jenna,” Mikey’s voice had dropped to a level he probably thought Andy couldn’t hear. Too bad for Mike, Andy had great hearing. “I’ve got a freakin’ fairy trapped in my trunk. You gotta come see.”

It was Andy’s turn to roll his eyes.

Well, hell. That probably explained the mystery of what’d happened to Fry last night.

How the fuck did the guy get himself into these situations? This wasn’t the first time Andy would have to pull his ass out of the fire. Or, in this case, Mikey’s trunk.

But how did he do it without Jenna seeing Fry?

Or maybe…it’d be a good way to gauge Jenna’s reaction to the Fringe. Of course, if she turned out to be just like her brother, he’d never be able to see her again. And if she told anyone she’d slept with a Yeti, well, she’d lose any credibility she’d ever had.

Which would be a shitty thing to do to the woman he had a freaking hard-on for right now.

So what the fuck did he do? He couldn’t leave Fry in the back of the little twerp’s car, though it would serve Fry right if he did, at least for a little while.

“Now, Mike, really. I know you probably think you have a fairy in your trunk but maybe it’s simply a bat or a—”

“Bat’s aren’t almost six feet tall with blue wings.”

Yep, definitely Fry.

“Oh my god.” Jenna’s expression made Andy wince and Mike practically folded in on himself. “Do you mean to tell me you have an actual person trapped in the trunk of your car?”

“He’s not a person, he’s a fairy.”

“Oh, for—Mike! You’re going to get arrested for a hate crime!”

Andy couldn’t help himself. He started to laugh even as Mike began to wave his hands in the air as if he were guiding a fighter jet onto the deck of a battleship.

“No, I mean he really is a fairy. He’s got wings and everything.”

Now Jenna threw her hands in the air and started stomping back toward the B&B. Like a good little boy, Mike fell in behind her. Andy followed at enough of a distance that he could ogle her ass. He figured it’d be the last time he got to see it.

They reached Mike’s car in what seemed like seconds and Andy started to laugh again. He couldn’t help it.

Mike drove a Gremlin.

The damn thing didn’t have a trunk. It had a see-through hatch. The only reason no one had noticed Fry in the back was because Fry had curled in on himself. He looked like a pile of clothes, his dark hair blending into the dark fabric of his coat.

While he tried to hold back his laughter, Jenna and Mike gave him funny looks. Jenna’s confusion scrunched up her face in adorable bemusement while Mike just looked pissy.

Just wait, little man. I’ll show you something that’ll wipe that pissy look off your face in a heartbeat.

“Mike, open this car right now.”

“But Jenna—”

“Don’t ‘but Jenna’ me.” She held up her index finger and Mike looked like a puppy she’d just taken the newspaper to. “Open. The. Car.”

With a huge sigh, Mike trudged over to the car, pulled keys out of his pocket and fumbled around until he got the right key in the slot.

The hatch popped open.

Fry didn’t move and a quick blast of fear swept through Andy that his friend was actually hurt. Then he caught a whiff of alcohol.

Not hurt. Drunk.

How the hell much did Fry drink last night? Not that it took much to knock the guy out. Alcohol did funky things to the fae.

“My god, Mike, did you hurt him?”

“No! Of course I didn’t.” Mike actually looked affronted that she’d even think that. “But I let him have the bottle of moonshine I had in the car. You remember that trip your brother and I took to Kentucky a few months ago? To track down that Bigfoot sighting? Well, we kinda got lost and stumbled onto this illegal moonshine ring. They held us hostage for a few hours before they realized we weren’t with the Feds. Then they gave us a couple of bottles and told us where they’d actually seen a Sasquatch. We didn’t find anything that night and it took us two days to find our way out of the forest. We must not have followed their directions right.”

Andy choked on another laugh. He’d bet those moonshiners had been hoping Joss and Mike would never make it out alive. Probably figured the moonshine and the forest would take care of them. Joss’ uncanny luck had struck again, apparently.

Jenna lifted one hand to rub at her temples as her eyes closed and a long, deep sigh issued from her lips. When she spoke, she formed each word carefully, as if she might trip over them.

“Mike. Please help the man out of your trunk.”

Mike’s mouth fell open in shock. “But he might fly away.”

Another sigh and her cute little teeth sank into her bottom lip before she took another deep breath. “Mike. If you don’t get that guy out of your car, I’m going to call the cops and the only flying anyone will do is you through the legal system and straight into the loony bin!”

Looked like Jenna had reached her breaking point. Not that Andy could blame her. He’d get frustrated if he had to deal with this yahoo.

Mike blinked up at her, frozen like a deer in headlights. An angry Jenna definitely was a sight to behold. Her eyes blazed with heat, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink. When she put her hands on her hips, her breasts jutted out and nearly made his tongue fall out of his mouth.

Fry chose that moment to regain consciousness. He yawned, tried to stretch before he realized he didn’t have enough room then sat up with a jaw-cracking yawn.

He had Jenna’s and Mike’s full attention as Fry threw his legs over the end of the car and rubbed at his eyes…with the ends of his wings.

Andy heard Jenna gasp. And Mike said, “See? I told you he was a fairy.”

Then Mike turned to Andy, his head cocked to the side. Andy had seen that expression before.

It was the look true believers got when first confronted with proof that there were little green men. Only they didn’t come from Mars. More like Ireland.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Andy just stared back.

Then, since he couldn’t resist, he flipped the switch. For five seconds, with Jenna’s attention solely on Fry and Andy completely out of her sightlines, he shifted into his Yeti form.

His body grew taller and broader, his form closer to a bear. His shaggy white fur gleamed in the sunlight and Andy bared a mouthful of sharp teeth in a shit-eating grin.

Five seconds was usually all it took for the yokels to realize what had happened. Unless they were dumber than the average yokel.

Apparently Mike was average. His mouth dropped open as his eyes widened. He literally froze, like a kid playing statue. Andy wanted to laugh but knew he’d give himself away with his growl.

Then Andy flipped the switch again and Mike gave a high-pitched squeal worthy of a tween girl who’d just found out her parents still had sex.

Jenna didn’t appear to hear him or, if she had, she totally ignored him.

Moving to her side, Andy knew it was time for the reckoning. Because Jenna was not your average yokel. She might be the smartest person he’d ever met. Her brain never stopped working.

Except for right now when she looked like Eymorgs had stolen her brain, just waiting for someone to press a button and turn her on again.

“Hey, Andy.” Fry grinned up at him from the car, his eyes bleary and his grin lopsided. “What the hell happened to you last night, buddy? You disappeared and I had to take care of those tengu all by myself.”

Jenna blinked again then looked between him and Fry. Between that blink and the next, Jenna’s brain began to compute.

And what she came up with equaled a hell of a lot more than four.

“Why does this man have wings?”

“Jenna…”

Mike tried to break into the conversation at that point but Jenna held up one hand and Mike closed up like a clam when she turned her sharp gaze on him.

“How did you know to look for me in Andy’s cottage? Joss called this morning to tell me to go home. After he practically begged me to come up here and check out…this town.”

Andy caught her slight hesitation and knew exactly what she’d been going to say. Joss had somehow found out about the Mystyk and sent Jenna to investigate. She’d been blissfully unaware of what she’d been about to stumble onto and now she was going to be either pissed off or scarred for life.

There was no way out of this situation without a little heartache for either of them. He just hoped Jenna didn’t freak. He hated when women he really liked freaked out because they’d slept with him.

He’d been hoping he could see her again.

Damn it, he really didn’t want this to be the end of their relationship. He liked Jenna. They had a connection that went beyond a geek’s love of Star Trek.

But first he had to deal with Mike, because ole Mikey was hiding something.

And he wasn’t doing a very good job of it if the flush covering his face was anything to go by.

“Joss was worried about me. Why was that, Mike?”

Seems Jenna had come to the same conclusion Andy had. That the only trouble Jenna was in was from Mike.

Which proved to be only too true when Mike pulled a gun. The hand holding the gun shook so much, Andy didn’t think the guy would be able to hit the broad side of a barn. But at this close distance, he wouldn’t even have to aim. A wild shot could hit any of them.

“Joss was worried I’d find the truth about the Mystyk before you did. And he was right. Now I’m going to be the one who gets the TV and book deals. I’m going to be famous. Everyone will talk about me when I show them a real, live fairy.”

“I do prefer fae,” Fry pointed out from the back of the Gremlin, where he continued to sit. “Fairy has such a distasteful connotation these days. Of course—”

“Fry.” Andy kept his voice in a pleasant, everything’s just fine tone. “Could we discuss this after the nice man has put the gun away?”

Fry hiccupped then covered his mouth with his hand to cover a burp. “Of course. But why does the nice man have a gun? That doesn’t seem very nice to me.”

Mike waved the gun in Andy’s direction as if he was going to twirl it baton-style. “I have a gun because I’ll shoot you with it if you don’t do what I say.”

Andy would do anything as long as the guy didn’t point the gun in Jenna’s direction again. He held up his hands in classic “Dude, don’t shoot me” position.

But Jenna… Jenna wasn’t taking any shit.

Before he realized what she was about to do, Jenna pulled back her arm and cold-cocked Mike.

In a scene worthy of an 80s Power Rangers episode, the gun flew out of Mike’s hand and landed in Fry’s lap, who brushed it onto the ground and under the car. Mike went down in a heap.

And Jenna began to curse like a sailor as she shook out her hand before she turned to him.

“I want to know what’s going on right now.” Without glancing away from Andy, she put her hand out toward Mike, who’d made a slight motion toward getting up. “You move and I will make sure you sing soprano for life.”

Andy sighed. “You know all those things you’re brother believes in? They’re true.”

Then he flicked the switch again.

Jenna didn’t think her mouth could open any wider than it was right now.

I so owe Joss an apology.

It was the only thing she could think as the creature that had once been Andy raised a shaggy paw and waved at her.

Like Chewbacca. Damn, he looked like a freaking Wookie.

A white wookie, actually. And strangely…cute. Shaggy white fur that didn’t look straggly at all. Actually it looked as if it’d been recently brushed. Like a show dog before judging.

Behind her, she heard something fall to the ground. And the fairy—sorry, the fae, began to laugh. “Well, that’s one way to shut the guy up.”

“I…I…”

Her brain kept trying to tell her that that…creature…was Andy.

Andy was the Abominable Snowman. No, wait…what did Joss call them? Yetis.

Yeah. Sure. Andy was a Yeti. Made perfect sense.

Bumbles bounce.

She blinked as the world began to darken, despite the fact that the sun was shining overhead. Passing out became a distinct possibility.

“Uh, Andy? She’s looking a little…pasty.”

She turned to look at the guy with the wings and couldn’t help but grin when he waved at her with the tip of one of those beautiful, blue-tinted appendages.

Holy crap. The guy had blue wings.

And the man she’d slept with last night was a Yeti.

She had to tell Joss. She had to apologize for not believing in him. For occasionally thinking he was a crackpot and secretly patting herself on the back for being the sane sibling.

Joss was going to be a millionaire. A superstar. Forget about a cable show, he was going to make movies and…and…

She blinked and Andy stood in front of her again as a man. The hunky man he’d been before he’d turned into a seven-foot, white-haired snow monster.

Or—

No. She was going crazy. That’s all there was too it.

“Jenna, I think you need to breathe,” Andy said.

She automatically sucked in a deep breath and realized she’d been about to hyperventilate.

“What are you?”

She had to hear him say it. Had to know she wasn’t going crazy and seeing things that weren’t really there.

Andy’s chin went up and he drew himself to his full height, an impressive sight.

Then he bowed and Jenna had the urge to curtsy.

“I’m a member of the Yeti tribe. My home is in Nepal but most of the younger tribe members no longer live in the village of our ancestors.” His voice had taken on the cadence of the guy who narrated a lot of the whacked-out shows on the History Channel, odd breaks and all. “Now we travel the world, spreading—”

Fry reached out and smacked his arm.

“Please excuse him.” Fry’s words still slurred a bit and, combined with the accent, she was charmed. “He tends to get a little ferklempt,” hic, “when he talks about his roots.”

Andy shrugged. “Well, it’s kind of cold in Nepal and we get kind of sick of snow and all the freakin’ tourists. Yeah, we’ve got fur coats when we want them, but it’s still getting crowded in our neck of the woods.”

“And you’re really a…a Bigfoot?”

“No, my cousin’s a Sasquatch. I’m a Yeti.”

“Of course he is.”

“Jenna, you know I would never hurt you, right?”

She rolled her eyes at him. The thought hadn’t even had time to cross her mind, and now… Well, of course he wouldn’t hurt her. The guy who’d rocked her boat last night wouldn’t hurt her. And neither would the hulking, seven-foot white wookie. “Did you ever meet George Lucas?”

As Fry nearly fell out of the back of the car laughing, Andy’s adorable face screwed up in a frown. “Uh, no, I don’t think— Oh, wait. You think I’m a freakin’ wookie?”

Uh-oh. Jenna bit into her bottom lip at his offended tone. “I’m sorry. I actually think they’re cute.”

Fry did fall out of the car then, blue wings wrapped around his shoulders as he howled with laughter.

“Jenna,” Andy started then stopped to shake his head. “I’m sorry too. I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

Damn, she totally knew where this was going. When a guy started telling you he was sorry for something, either he was about to tell you he’d cheated on you or he was dumping you.

And since it couldn’t be the first, all things considered, it had to be the second. Which totally sucked, even though she understood. Really, she did.

What had she been expecting anyway? A lifelong commitment? She’d gone into this with the idea that it would be a fling and that was what she’d gotten.

A fling with a guy who could turn into a Yeti. Which, up until this moment, she hadn’t believed existed.

It was enough to make a rational girl believe she needed a straitjacket and a rubber room.

And Jenna was nothing if not rational. Maybe too rational.

Maybe she needed to be a little irrational sometimes. Maybe she actually wanted to continue the romance with the Yeti.

Yeah, and what should she tell her brother?

Guess what, Joss? I met this great guy and he fulfills all my fantasies. And he’s an abominable snow monster and would prove all your crazy theories and make you famous. And make Andy’s life unbearable.

She couldn’t do it.

Better to leave now and promise to keep his secret. Besides, no one would believe her. They’d think she was just another crackpot. Just like Joss.

She forced a bright smile. “I’m not sorry to have met you, Andy. And I won’t betray your secret, not even to my brother. But what are you going to do with Mike?”

“Mike won’t be a problem. We’ve got ways of making him keep quiet. Jenna…”

Andy looked pained, so at odds with his normal expression that she lifted her hand to stroke away the lines.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I won’t tell a soul.” Not only would no one but her brother believe her but she’d be lumped into the same category of flake as her brother…which wasn’t so flaky anymore.

“I should be going. I’ve got a long drive home and I have to work tomorrow.”

Back to her boring life of numbers and equations and boring people who thought wookies weren’t as cute as ewoks.

And that sometimes the things that went bump in the night were actually more interesting than the people who sleepwalked through their day believing the only strange things in life were people who thought K was an acceptable substitute for C in given names.

How could she reconcile her boring life to the one he lived?

“Jenna,” Andy sighed. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine. Really, I will.” Maybe not her heart but…

“I know this is a lot to take in. And I totally understand that you don’t want to talk to me right now. But, if you find you do need someone to talk to later, look up Carrie Benson. She works as a reporter for the Weekly World News in West Reading. She’s been in the same situation as you.”

“Carrie Benson. Sure.” Of course he wasn’t offering to come visit her himself. She figured as soon as she was gone, he’d go jetting off to another part of the country. Or the world. He was a freakin’ Yeti.

“Jenna.”

Instead of answering the entreaty in his eyes, she turned and took a step back rather than throwing herself at him then turned and forced herself to start walking.

Back to normal life. Which, after today, was going to be completely overrated. And oh so lonely.

Chapter Seven

“Jenna, are you sure you’re okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I’m fine, Joss. Honestly. Nothing’s wrong. Tell me how the shooting’s going?”

For a few seconds, Jenna thought Joss wasn’t going to let her change the subject. He’d called her every day for the past week. Every time his question seemed legitimate.

Hey, Jenna, can you stop by my apartment and make sure I locked the back door?

Hey, Jenna, do you think I need to see a doctor for this rash on my leg?

Hey, Jenna, will you check to see if I paid the bill for my cryogenic storage chamber?

But she knew he was checking up on her. And here she thought she’d been doing a good job of hiding her depression.

She missed Andy. Which was ridiculous. She’d only known him for a day. Sure, it’d been the best sex of her life but he was a globe-trotting Yeti shapeshifter.

She was an accountant who lived in a house with a spotless white kitchen. Whose white kitchen was ever spotless?

As Joss finally began to talk about the fact that he was shooting at Loch Ness and how cool that was and how he’d only fallen off the boat twice, once on purpose, Jenna let her mind drift.

Back to Andy, of course. She wondered what he’d think of her if he saw her now, slouched in her black chair in her bland, cream-colored office with mahogany furniture, everything neatly in its place. Her books arranged by subject and her file cabinets meticulously alphabetized.

Even the diplomas on her walls were perfectly level.

“God, I’m the most boring person on earth.”

“What? Who told you that? I’ll kick their a—”

“I’m sorry, Joss. I’m going to have to call you back. I’ve decided I’m sick of living in a world without wookies.”

Silence for a full five seconds. “Uh, Jenna, are you sure you feel okay?”

“Cookies. I mean cookies. I’m on one of those stupid diets again.”

“You don’t need a diet, Jenna. Did someone tell you need to be on a diet? They’re full of shit. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

She actually felt tears come to her eyes at her brother’s defense. “I love you, Joss.”

“Yeah, love you too. And Jenna?”

“Yeah?”

“Nobody wants to live in a world without wookies.”

* * *

“Well, it’s not every day my accountant comes to visit. I hope you’re not bearing bad news.”

Jenna kept her smile as bright as she could even though she wanted to wince at the volume of Bill Dailey’s voice.

The short, round and balding editor of the Weekly News Journal always spoke as if he had to be heard over a jet engine.

“No bad news, Bill.” She took his outstretched hand and let him shake until she thought her arm would fall off. “How are you doing?”

“Can’t complain, can’t complain. Well, I could, but nobody listens.”

Jenna didn’t know how anyone could fail to listen but, as she looked around the office filled with several messy desks and a few antiquated pieces of office equipment, she saw no one paid him the least amount of attention.

“Anyway, we’re still making payroll, so that’s good,” Bill continued. “We’ve actually seen an increase in subscriptions lately so that’s even better. Lot more tinfoil-hat-wearing people out there than you might think.” He left off with a bray that reached ear-splitting levels before cutting off. “And since you’ve been working your magic on our books, we’ve managed to make a profit, as you well know.”

Yes, the Journal had made a tiny bit of money last year. Enough to buy a couple of high-end computers for the graphic designers. Or, as Bill called them, the wizard geeks.

“So what can I do for you, Jenna?”

“Actually, I’d like to talk to Carrie Benson, if she’s here. She and I are serving on a committee together and I just need a few minutes of her time.”

The lie rolled right off her tongue, amazingly enough, without a telltale blush or stutter. She’d had to practice but she figured she’d be getting a lot more practice if this went well.

Bill barely paused. “Care! Get over here.”

“Jesus freakin’ crap, Bill, I’m right here.”

Jenna did jump then because the voice came from right behind her. She turned to find herself staring at a rather well-endowed woman. A woman who could pass for an Amazon. She stood at least six feet tall, was perfectly proportioned and had long auburn hair that hung around a pretty face. And sharp green eyes that stared at her intently even though her smile was easy. And knowing.

“Hey, Jenna. Nice to see you again.”

This woman lied even better than Jenna, who caught back a sigh of relief before Bill could notice. Carrie was going to play along. Did that mean Andy had told Carrie about her?

“Hi, Carrie. Sorry to bother you at work but do you think we could talk for a few minutes? I just have a few things—”

“See ya later, Jenna. Have a nice day. Things to do.” Bill patted her on the back, which nearly made her topple over then headed for a guy slouched in a chair in the back corner. “Jamey, where the hell’s that picture of the alien baby autopsy?”

Jamey gave Bill the finger.

“Why don’t we go into the break room?” Carrie motioned toward the front of the office on the second floor of a quiet building in West Reading. “Should be quiet.”

Jenna gave a short nod then followed along, her eye catching several times on the Journal covers plastered on the wall.

Aliens Ate My Baby!

Wolf Boy Spotted with Lizard Man in Philadelphia Sewer!

A Weekend in the Alps with My Yeti Boyfriend!

She paused at that one, her eye caught by the incredible likeness to Andy in his Yeti form. Almost as if someone had taken a picture of him then made it just blurry enough to look fake.

“Like that one? I think it’s one of my best.”

Carrie wore that grin again, the one that said she was in on the joke, whatever that joke might be. Right now, the joke appeared to be on Jenna.

“Did you take that?”

“Sure did, right over the Berks County line in the woodlands in Schuylkill County.”

“It’s an incredible shot.”

“Thanks. Amazing what you can do with Photoshop these days, isn’t it?”

Except Carrie and Jenna knew that photo hadn’t been altered to insert a picture of the Yeti. The only alteration Carrie had done had been to make the photo look as fake as possible.

“So.” Carrie waved her into the lunchroom and closed the door behind her. “What can I do for you? Since we both know we’re not serving on a committee together.”

Jenna jumped in with both feet since Carrie didn’t look like the kind of person who put up with any bullshit. “I need to get in touch with Andy.”

“Andy who?” Carrie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the nearest table. She still wore an easy expression but Jenna could tell the other woman was waiting for Jenna to say the right thing. Or the wrong thing.

“Andy Lohani. We met last weekend in Tioga County when my brother sent me to investigate a bar where he believed supernatural creatures hang out. Except they’re not creatures. They’re people. I met Andy, who…” She paused, not knowing how much she should say in a room that wasn’t soundproofed or swept for bugs. “Well, when I freaked after we were nearly shot by my brother’s friend, I told Andy goodbye.”

Which she’d regretted since the moment she’d driven away. “Biggest mistake of my life. So I’m here to beg you to give Andy a message from me. I’ve kept my promise. I’ve told no one. I will never tell anyone his secrets. Or the secrets of his friends. I just want to see him again and apologize.”

Carrie stared at her for a few seconds before shoving that gorgeous red hair over her shoulder and leaning down until her eyes and Jenna’s were on the same level.

“I’m not saying I believe your crazy story, Jenna, because really, who believes in supernatural creatures?” Carrie’s smile was back and this time it had a bit of a hard edge. “They’re just figments of our imagination and fodder for crazy tabloid stories, right? Or a way for a guy to make a living traipsing around the world shooting documentaries with fuzzy film footage and fading footprints in snow.”

Jenna tried to keep her disappointment from showing. Carrie wasn’t going to help her. Andy must have told her that, if Jenna came looking for him, Carrie should pull a Men in Black and deny everything.

Jenna understood. She really did.

She was a clone living with other clones on the Death Star while Andy and his friends hung out on the much cooler Millennium Falcon.

“But,” Carrie continued, “just for the sake of argument, let’s say these people really did exist. Don’t you think they’d be understandably gun-shy about getting close to anyone who wasn’t born in their world? How the slightest hint of rejection might make them more than a little reluctant to let anyone have a second chance. Sometimes you have to be willing to put yourself out there a little further.”

Hope began to bubble. “Sounds like you have a little experience with that.”

Carrie shrugged. “A little.”

“And how would you suggest I do this?”

“Are you sure you’re really ready to embrace the crazy? Because I gotta tell you, there are days when you’re gonna wonder if you’re ever going to see the other side of the rabbit hole again.”

Jenna nodded. She’d been living on the other side for way too long. She wanted Andy and she was willing to step into a little weird. “I’m positive. I haven’t thought of anyone or anything since I left Andy. I’m willing to do what it takes to show him I’m not going anywhere.”

Now Carrie’s smile was genuine. “Then consider yourself invited to a little party.”

* * *

Jenna almost turned around at the end of the lane leading to Carrie’s boyfriend’s house.

She’d actually been hoping the GPS would talk her out of this crazy idea but the stubborn thing had remained silent the entire way.

Hell, the damn thing hadn’t even acknowledged that there was a house out here, much less a road that led to it.

Carrie had warned her to carefully follow her written directions because otherwise, she’d never find it. Carrie had been right.

Jenna had missed the last turn and had had to execute a three-point turn worthy of a stunt driver.

“What if he doesn’t want me here? What if he’s already seeing someone else? What if he doesn’t even remember me?”

Once again, the GPS totally ignored her.

Jenna frowned. “Bitch. Just wait until the next time you tell me to take a left. I’m definitely going right.”

Since she’d finally gone off her rocker, she figured she might as well park at the end of the line of cars along the lane and make her way to the house.

From here, she could see the beautiful log home—and the crowd of people hanging out in the yard.

Getting out of the car, she smoothed her costume down, wondering if anyone would realize she was dressed as Princess Leia visiting the Ewok Village in The Empire Strikes Back. She’d made the tan-and-white dress by hand when she’d briefly dated a Star Wars fanatic and it hadn’t seen the light of day in years. Surprisingly it still fit. But back then, her hair had been long enough to mimic Carrie Fisher’s and she hadn’t felt as awkward as she did now.

When that romance had fizzled, Jenna had packed away her dress and stuck it in a closet behind her Star Trek, Next Gen and Enterprise uniforms.

“Maybe you have way too much time on your hands and need to get a life.”

Then again, she might just fit in here more than she’d imagined.

The party had spilled out of the house and there were at least twenty people hanging out in the yard.

All of them wore elaborate costumes. It looked like a backwoods version of Comic-Con, complete with two Dr. Whos, a Captain Jack Harkness and someone who looked like Gary Oldman’s Dracula monster.

As she drew closer, she realized that last one wasn’t a costume. Oh-kay.

Captain Kirk and Spock had their arms around each other, bringing to mind a fan illustration she’d seen as a teenager. Back then she’d been stunned at the insinuation that her childhood heroes had a thing for each other. As an adult, well…she got it. And read the fanfic.

Now though, she could only wonder if Spock’s oversized, pointed ears were real. Guess she was about to find out.

As she walked toward the house, she didn’t see Andy but Carrie had assured her he’d be there. Andy loved a good party.

And if she wasn’t mistaken she did see Fry, blue wings on display as he chatted to a couple of women dressed as Buffy and Faith, vampire slayers.

Except they had hooves.

Deep breath. Don’t stare. And for god’s sake, don’t pet anyone.

Except maybe the blue tiger lounging on the grass in a patch of sun.

Captain Jack noticed her first. He approached with a wide grin on his handsome face and an outstretched hand. He looked nothing like John Barrowman though he did look completely human. And only four feet tall.

“Hello, my dear, and welcome. It’s nice to see a new face at one of our shindigs. My name’s—”

“Gonna be Mud if you don’t take your little hands off her, Darwin.” Fry strolled over and grabbed Jenna’s hand before she could take the other man’s. “The woman’s spoken for. Hello again, pretty Jenna. I’m glad you showed up.”

It was hard not to smile at Fry. He really was almost blindingly handsome and his eyes blazed like sapphires. “Hello, Fry. It’s nice to see you. Is…is Andy here?”

“If you can call sulking in a corner ‘here’, well then, yes, he is. Why don’t you let me show you where to find him?”

Leaving a sulking Darwin behind them, they made their way through the crowd, many of whom stopped to stare at her. They knew she wasn’t like them, probably wondered why she was here at all.

A few of the women gave her dirty looks. One might have even hissed at her but Fry glared and she backed off. But not after giving Jenna a fanged grin. Seriously, the woman had fangs. Real ones.

Inside, bodies filled the open living space. Almost all of them stood over six feet tall.

She saw Carrie first, standing next to a handsome guy who had to be almost as tall as Andy but he had the most amazingly gorgeous brunet hair, all shades of browns and golds and reds. Damn, the guy was gorgeous. Not as beautiful as Andy but still…

As Fry continued to pull her farther into the room, she tried to spot her Yeti but there were several other guys there with blond hair. A few of them had to be related to Andy, the resemblance was so close.

But still not the man she wanted.

Fry kept moving through the crowd, not stopping to talk to the few people who called out to him. He appeared to have a specific destination and a single-minded determination to get there.

They’d crossed the entire width of the house before she finally saw him.

Her own Han Solo, dressed in leather pants and vest with a white shirt and a blaster on his hip.

What more proof did she need that they were meant for each other?

Andy stood at a window at the back of the house, staring out into the trees. The sun glinted off his hair, pulling out gold highlights. The man truly was stunning.

And even though she didn’t have claws, she was going to scratch the eyes out of the girl standing next to him, doing everything in her power to fall out of her skimpy Princess Leia slave costume. She had long, dark hair and a pretty face but Andy didn’t seem to notice the hussy.

And when Fry called out, “Hey, Andy, I got a present for you,” he didn’t even turn from the window.

“I’m not doing another of those redheaded sluts, Fry. The last ones tasted like cough syrup.”

“I don’t think you’re going to object to this present. Not when she seems perfect for you.”

Andy turned then, his eyes lighting up when he caught sight of her. “Jenna!”

The unfeigned pleasure in his voice made her smile and when Andy took a step toward her, she threw caution to the wind and threw herself at him. She trusted he’d catch her and she wasn’t disappointed.

She ended up with her arms around his neck, her feet a foot off the floor and her mouth sealed against his.

Nowhere else she’d rather be.

* * *

By the time they reached Jenna’s house, they’d circled back around to the starting point of their conversation.

“I know it’s going to take some work but I’m not ready to give you up yet, Jenna. I shouldn’t have let you walk away that day.”

“And I’m sorry for walking away. I was worried that I wouldn’t fit into your life. I mean, I don’t even know what you do for a living or where you live.”

“Most of my family is in the travel business. We facilitate tourists coming into Nepal. I act as liaison to the travel companies all over the world, though mostly in the US.”

“Where do you live?”

“Nowhere, really. I mean, I’ve got an apartment in Nepal and one in New York City and Frisco but that doesn’t mean I can’t work out of somewhere smaller, like, say, Reading?”

“But what about my brother? He’s going to take one look at you and know.”

Andy hadn’t gotten around to telling Jenna that he’d heard an interesting story about Joss in the past couple of days. A story that, if it were true, might just change the way Joss looked at the world.

“We’ll worry about that when it happens. I’ve gotten pretty good at hiding in plain sight.”

Jenna looked as if she was about to say something else but they’d finally reached her neighborhood. Finally, Andy pulled his truck to a stop at the curb.

Jenna’s neighborhood should’ve been in the dictionary next to the definition of suburban.

All small brick homes probably built in the 50s. Square little boxes that had been modified over the years until they each had their own personality.

Jenna’s looked like a dollhouse. Her exterior had been painted white, the shutters were a deep purple, the front door bright yellow. The expansive flower beds mimicked those same colors. Only a couple of patches of grass remained in the front yard and the front porch was a square of white concrete filled with pots of plants.

It looked so…normal.

Until he noticed the gnome peeking out of one of the beds. And the fairy and the gargoyles. And the… “Where did you find garden statues of the Argonath?”

She smiled as she slid out of his SUV then waited for him to join her on the sidewalk before heading toward the front door. Actually, they almost ran. If any of her neighbors were watching, they probably had a good laugh as Andy nearly tripped over his own feet watching Jenna hurry to the front door and throw it open.

“Do you really want to talk about my Lord of the Rings obsession right now or would you rather be naked in bed?”

Good thing he’d already made it up the steps or he’d probably be on his face.

As it was, he barely remembered to duck as he stepped through the door, which flew shut behind him as Jenna shoved it then began tearing at his clothes.

“How about naked on the couch. It’s closer.”

“Fine by me.”

“Wait. Can you leave the dress on?”

“Only if you leave the pants.”

“For you, baby, anything.”

She pulled back to smile at him, the way he was already addicted to, then lifted her skirt. She was bare beneath it.

His heart nearly stopped before beginning to thump like a heavy metal drum line. “Holy crap, Jenna. If I’d known you were naked under there, we’d be doing it in the car on Tim’s lane.”

“I think I like my couch better.”

“I think you should come here now.”

Instead of obeying his not very forceful command, she reached for his pants.

He groaned. “Okay, that works too.”

She didn’t tease him. No, his Jenna was practical about it. She wanted his pants open, she opened his pants. And when she had them down low enough that she could get her hands around his cock, she began stroking him even as she maneuvered him until he sank onto the couch.

He was pretty sure he heard something creak beneath him but then Jenna lifted her skirt again and placed one knee on either side of his hips.

He got a peek at her pretty pussy, and he was gone. Normal had never felt so good.

Leaning forward, she feathered her mouth against his as she brushed the lips of her sex against the tip of his cock.

He groaned, the sound rumbling against his ribs, and felt Jenna’s mouth curve in a smile.

When he grabbed her hips, ready to pull her down onto him, she put her hands over his and shook her head. “No, no. This time, we’re playing by my rules.”

“Honey, as long as your rules say you’re not going anywhere anytime soon, I’m good with that.”

She released him and cupped his face in her hands, staring into his eyes with a smile. “Now why would I want to go anywhere when here is pretty damn good?”

Her hips moved again, eliciting another groan from him as she rubbed against his length. Her juices coated his cock in slick heat as her lips closed over his.

He opened his mouth when her tongue flicked against his lips, which parted to allow her access. Her tongue slid into his mouth and played with his, tormenting him, until he couldn’t take it anymore and took over the kiss.

He sank his hands into her hair and pulled her even closer, her breasts pressing against his chest.

Sliding one hand from her hair, he trailed his fingers along her neck until he reached the neckline of her dress.

Stretchy. Good.

He pulled it down until he freed one breast. “No bra,” he said against her lips. “I admire your authenticity.”

“More like I didn’t have a bra that wouldn’t show.”

“All the better for me.”

Wrapping one arm around her waist, he lifted her until he had the right angle for his lips to suck on one puckered nipple.

Her breathless sigh made his blood pound and he licked and sucked until her hips ground against his abdomen and his cock was so hard, he could probably hit home runs with it.

“Andy.”

He really loved the way she said his name when he had his teeth on her nipple.

“Yeah?”

“I want you. Right now.”

But he hadn’t tasted her other breast yet. So he ignored her until he’d sufficiently played with that one as well.

By the time he leaned back, Jenna had a death grip on his hair and a beatific look on her face.

Not that he was unaffected. Hell, his muscles shook with the strain of holding steady, of not yanking her down onto his cock and forcing her to ride him like a cowgirl.

Now, though… It was definitely time.

“Jenna.”

Her eyes opened to a half slit, dark and mysterious. “Yes.”

That definitely wasn’t a question.

With a slight adjustment, she repositioned herself, her sex closing around the head of his cock.

As she sank onto him in slow, measured strokes, he watched her eyes close as bliss transformed her expression.

Heat shot through him. From his cock to his balls to his spine, where it spread out like lightning. She rode him just like he’d imagined she would, just hard enough to rattle him but slow enough to make him want to beg. Sinking her teeth into his earlobe, she tugged then licked the tiny hurt. “I think I’m gonna like living on the Fringe, Andy.”

Grabbing her hips, he couldn’t wait any longer. He began to thrust hard and fast.

His balls tightened, his cock throbbed and he lost the battle. With his arms tight around her, he gasped out her name as he came. Just before she did the same.

“If this is normal, babe,” he said, still trying to catch his breath, “it’s way more fun than I ever gave it credit for.”

About the Author

Stephanie Julian is an avid reader who used to have a book-a-day habit. Then she realized she not only wanted to read books but write them too. Romance has always been her first love, the sexier the better. Hot men, strong women and a heaping helping of magic dominate (and she does mean dominate) her blazing hot stories.

When she’s not writing, she’s, well…she’s certainly not cleaning. And she only cooks when her guys complain that they’re hungry (ain’t cereal grand!). Otherwise, she’s got her fingers on a keyboard, her butt in a chair and her head in the stars.

Stephanie welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.

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Content

The Bigger They Are...
Lovers on the Fringe - 2
by
Stephanie Julian

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

About the Author