The Life He Never Saw Coming: Closed

[The_gladiator]

The Life He Never Saw Coming
By Glad and Nina

“Mother fucking son of a bitch. I should kill him. Note to self, eat him later.” Eliot Branson, “You’d better fucking call me Eli,” was swearing a blue streak as he reached into the tool box yet again and found that Tyler, his young assistant had once again put the tools away in the wrong place. “I have a system! I need to do my work, if the tools aren’t where I can find them that slows me down.” Not that there was anyone to hear Eli’s constant string of invective, as he had given Tyler the weekend off. It was the 4th of July, even Eli shouldn’t be working this weekend, but since he was a little disenchanted with his country right now, he decided he had better things to do than associate with people that didn’t want him around anyway.



Squinting through his aviators, not that it did him any good Eli finally found the wrench he needed through touch and after tightening the last nut on the wheel lowered the Colorado he was working on and stood up, one hand digging a knuckle into that spot in his lower back that always tensed up. “Why do I need an assistant anyway." he gripeed to himself. "You put one ass hole's radio in upside down and suddenly people start complaining. Ungrateful ass hole should have just figured it out, if I can fix cars without eyes the dumb bastard can learn to read upside down." However, the truth was Eli was losing business due to such mistakes. Taking on a fully sighted assistant was the best thing for the business. yet, the crotchety mechanic didn’t have to like it. He would continue to curse the new cars and their computers, everything with an engine to him was better at least 20 years ago.



Eli had lost his vision in the war. He didn’t talk about it, and most didn’t dare ask. The mission wasn’t declassified, and no one wanted to admit the government had used his kind as scouts and more. Werewolf soldiers, the term sounded ridiculous but was real enough. At least the army taught him to be a mechanic as well. He had taken to that work, and when he lost his sight, he just kept fixing engines, never even occurred to him to stop.



As he made his way through his cluttered garage to the sink to wash his hands and get a drink of water he heard the rumble of a familiar engine. “Fuck you, Larry. I swear to God, fuck you.” He would know that tow truck’s engine anywhere, it’s squeaky axles as it hauled something over the bump at the end of his driveway. Of course, Larry would tow a car here today. He knew that he wouldn’t turn away the business. His business wasn’t exactly struggling, but he wasn’t getting rich either. As more and more of the old trucks brok down completely, some of the locals bought new ones, and though Tyler helped Eli to work on those, his passion was the old ones, and he lived too far out to go into restoring historic cars. Out here they weren’t generally historic trucks, they just were the trucks folks used. However that work was dying a slow death.



Sighing, Eli dried his hands on a towel and headed out to meet the approaching tow truck. “Larry you Rat bastard, what have you brought me?” he called, more than expecting the other man to rattle off what he was hauling.



“1974 Chevrolet C10 Pickup.” Was the terse reply. “Won’t run.”



“I figured that part,” Eli snapped.



“Just saying, I can’t diagnose its problem, you can. Its owner the lady here may know what’s wrong also.”



Hearing that there was another with Larry, a woman no less Eli looked in what he assumed was the right direction extending a hand to shake. “A pleasure to meet you miss. You can call me Eli. Tell me a little bit about what happened with the truck while shit for brains…I mean Larry here puts your truck in bay 2. You’re lucky I’m open today. You know it being the holiday and all. Tell me what it sounded like, smelled like, all of it is useful.” He spoke in a slight drawl, yet rather rapid fire as well, not giving her a chance to even respond to his greeting until he’d said his entire piece.

 

[Nina327]

Lilliana Sterling was starting to daydream about her latest sculpture rather than the road she was driving on. She had been driving all day for the 5th or 6th day in a row. She needed peace. Her mother was getting married again and wanted Lilly there early. So she agreed she would head out, but she was going to take the scenic route. Boy, did she take the scenic route. She could have driven her Tesla straight up I-95 from northern Atlanta to the Hamptons in a day if she wanted to. She did not. She wanted to drive through places that didn't have cell service but did have trees, nature, fresh air, and limited stuffy snotwads calling her “Misses Sterling”. She wanted to spend time with Billy and her memories of her grandfather. She rubbed Billy's steering wheel as she drove, remembering the smell of oil and paint and ozone from the welder. That was the best part of her childhood. The summers she spent with her father's father restoring Billy. Her 1974 fully refurbished C10. The only modern thing in the whole truck was the radio and speakers. She couldn't stand the scratchy, tinny sound from the original radio. Even if it still worked, she needed the music to sound right, or she might pull her hair out.

Popping out from a tunnel of trees, there was suddenly a tiny bit of evidence that humans exist in this vast stretch of wilderness. A damned tiny amount of civilization. She coasted into the fuel station, taking in the General store across the street. Next to the gas station was the post office, and next to the General store was a butcher shop. The butcher shop looked to be the newest building, but still looked like it was built in the 80s. Maybe. She adored architecture, but not enough to remember the design styles of commercial spaces.

Hopping down from her truck, she looked around the …. Town? A street with things on it. Really, there wasn't even a stop sign. It was like a hundred years ago someone decided to use the small patch of flat, treeless pasture to put in a few conveniences. Her truck fit right in. She did not. She was wearing Marino wool for Christ's sake. It’s summer-weight wool. Dyed the same shade of maroon as Billy…. Nearly blood red and soft as sin. At least her crop top was the same color; her leggings and sandals were black. She took in the gas pump. No place for a credit card. At that moment, a tall boy came out of the fuel station. He was lean and long, like he'd been pulled by a taffy puller and wrapped in a set of coveralls with his name, DJ, on an embroidered name patch at his heart.

“Hey there, DJ,” she called as she walked toward the store, “is there a restroom inside?
“Ah.. what? Yes, in the back… um. Ma’am, you fillin up?’ He asked, confused as to how she knew his name. She replied in the affirmative and raced to the facilities. She didn't realize she needed to use them so badly. She wandered back out, much relieved, and just grinned at the inside of the station. One glass front fridge, a single rack of snacks, and a coffee maker with blessedly huge disposable cups. There was sugar and powdered creamer and a communal spoon for stirring. Gods, she loved practical people. Her mother would hate it here.
The young man walked back in as she was fixing herself a cup of coffee, heavy with both offerings. “I’m getting this coffee and I’ll be coming back in to pay after I fuel up, if that's ok, or do I need to prepay?” she asked without looking back.

DJ stammered a bit, replying,” I filled you up already, Ma’am”. He blushed profoundly red and hurried behind the counter to ring her up. He didn't look at her. Poor thing. She paid and went out to get back on the road when her phone rang.

Tapping the little earpiece she almost always wore and forgot about, she answered, “Hello, mother.”
Gloria Mitchell Sterling Gavin's Petroff, soon to be Marchcroft, replied, “Darling, have you left yet?”
“Yes, mother,” she replied, rolling her eyes.
Don't ‘yes, mother’ me, I worry, darling. When can we expect you? Your rooms are ready as always. Today? Tomorrow?” Gloria chirped.
“Mother, I'll be there a day or two before the wedding, and don't start. I don't need to be there with your bevy of assistants and party planners, every detail will be better than they ever have before,” she replied as she hopped, literally hopped up into her truck and turned the key.
She didn't hear anything else her mother said because Billy shuddered and BOOM…
“Mom, I have to go,” she hung up on her mother as her mother called out her concern.
Billy stalled, and Lilly turned the key again… the truck made a dreadful chugging sound and might have started gargling its own parts.
“FUCK!” she shouted as she dropped down and ran to the front of the truck. Her feet slipped as she tried to climb and open the hood. She kicked off her sandals and spidermonkied up onto the bumper, looking into the engine. Nothing. She could see nothing wrong.
DJ came outside and was face to face with her ass as he asked, squeaked really, if she was ok and if he could help.

The next 45 minutes were a test of her patience. She might have threatened the tow truck driver, DJ’s uncle, a time or two. Or three. About the fifth time he called her “Little Lady,” she reached behind her driver's seat into her bag and pulled out cash… not the colt, cash. She handed him $800. Told him to take her to a garage. She didn't care how far away it was. IF it cost more, she didn't care. She did threaten his balls then. “If you damage my truck, I will exact the same from your balls.” She then stalked off to go sit in the smelly tow truck so she didn't shoot the only person that could get Billy to a garage. She fumed about misogynistic shit fucks and overheard DJ say something about the mechanic killing them and eating her for bothering him. She had been grinding her teeth, but at that, she smiled slightly. Could be a fun date. She just hopped the ‘grumpy old bastard’ had all his teeth, but more importantly, some fucking manners.

The ride was blessedly silent from the direction of Larry, and it only took 20 minutes to wind partway up a hill to a very clean-looking auto garage. Well. fuck. She said. Kind of astonished.

“What the fuck, Larry! You said he's an old crazy bastard,” she said as she stared at the man stalking out of the 2 bay garage. He looked to be her age, maybe a year older. Mid-30s, and built like a brick shithouse. Larry looks older than that specimen. Larry just grunted and got out of the tow truck.

Her bare feet hit the ground on her side of the truck, and she stomped over to Mr. Tall, dark, and Snarly. She plastered on a patently fake smile on her face, thanking all the hells that ‘Larry' didn't call her ‘Little Lady' again. Recalling that she offered to remove his balls, she put a pleasantly evil hiss in her voice as she slapped her hand in Eli’s calloused mitt. She often slapped her hand into men's hands when they bothered to shake her hand rather than take her fingertips and try to kiss them, because it was effective in distracting men from the fact that her hands are fucking tiny. She's tiny. Strong, but at 5 feet 2 inches, she's not intimidating anyone older than 12.

Eli gripped her hand snug, not too tight, not soft like a dandy from debutant balls either. Thank goodness, because she was gripping his hand pretty hard herself. He was speaking, but the voice… the grumblly rumbly… oh my god sensation rubbed her nerve endings. It was like the time she sat on a hard saddle on a running Harley. She yanked her hand back and distractedly just spitfired her answers right back. She liked that better. Fucking direct, no coddling the “little girl. Great. What did he say? Problems, right.
She turned her attention to her baby boy and Larry, but kept talking to Eli.

“Hi Eli, the name is Lilly. I didn't realize it was a holiday. Fuck, it's already July. I left when it was still June.” She shook her head, locking her eyes on Larry, and she almost growled. “Shit for brains better not scratch my baby.” Inhaling deeply, she said softer, “Deep breath, Lilly, deep breath. Scratches buff. Just get Billy back in shape.” Continuing to Eli, she broke down the issue, “I didn't hear the initial problem. I was on the phone when I turned the key, but the whole truck shook once, and then a little rumble, and what sounded like a shotgun blast. Couldn't tell you if it was in the front or back because I was distracted. He stalled and did start back up, though there was a tiny, tiny squeal, and now the poor thing sounds like he's chewing bolts and ten penny nails. I didn't want to drive him to a shop, so the kid at the gas station called Mister Mayberrys douche canoo over there to haul Billy here. Kid at the station said you might eat me for bothering you. Sounded like fun, so we're here. Was he calling you a cannibal, or do you only eat women on weekends?

At that moment, Larry was unhooked from the truck. She walked out of the conversation with Eli, calling over her shoulder, “You don't have any superstitions about women being in your shop, right?”

Without waiting for an answer, she went into the garage, grabbed the screwdriver from her door's cargo pocket, and put her long chocolate hair up in a bun, using the screwdriver as a hairstick. Then she popped her hood. She had to climb the front bumper to push the hood all the way open, and then she practically climbed inside the engine compartment. As he got closer, she continued her own diagnostics out loud,” At the station, I didn't hear, see, or smell anything, and I still don't.” Leaning in, she sniffed the carburetor. “Nothing abnormal. No pooling gas. No radiator water smell. No electrical smell. And don't tell me electricity doesn't have a smell. I don't see or smell any broken hoses,” she said to him, edgy and a bit sad, from just above his head height.

 

[The_gladiator]

Goodness, did this woman take a breath? He deserved it for shooting all that at her at first but damn once she got going, she didn’t stop. Even as he listened, he took in what information he had learned from their brief contact. Small, she was tiny in size if not personality. The angle of her hand in his suggested a fair guess at her height. A foot shorter than him at least. Her willingness to shake said she wasn’t shy and wasn’t as delicate as she appeared.



“Well ma’am I reckon I’d eat women any day of the week that they let me, but I do have most weekends off. Not sure anyone’s come round wanting me to eat them for some time. I’ll have to work up a good appetite, though you seem a little spicy for most, be glad I like fire in the women I eat.” He didn’t know if her comments had been an inuendo, so chose to take them as such, DJ’s comments struck too close to home. He’d rather her think of him as a lecherous bastard than the werewolf he was.



He followed the sounds of Larry backing the truck into the bay as he listened to her continue to talk. “I don’t think I’d keep you out if I tried Lilly.” For the first time he tried on her name as he stepped in closer. By the sound she appeared to be climbed up onto the truck’s front. Eli could hear Larry driving off. Didn’t even bother to say good bye. Not that he honestly cared, but still seemed rude. “Of course, electricity has a smell,” he offered off hand as he lay his hand to the side of the truck, formally introducing himself to the Chevy. “Remember how I said it was a holiday? I was closing shop for the day and going to take tomorrow off. By the sound We’ll probably have to order you a new starter anyway and hope the grinding is just stuff backed up inside and you didn’t break a rod or two inside. Parts for this thing won’t be easy to come by out here; this baby isn’t getting any younger you know.”



He sighed, he knew he was going to have to check it out for her tonight, she didn’t seem the type to agree to let him diagnose the problem Monday like most would. “I should really close up shop like I planned, beautiful woman or not in my garage.” He took a chance with the flattery. Most women liked to hear they were attractive, even if by most standards he didn’t have enough to know for sure. From the brief touches and the sound of her voice he was convinced that she appealed to him, but that couldn’t really speak to what others found attractive. “I can’t order parts till Monday anyway. Harvey won’t have that hardware store open again until 7:00 Sharp Monday.”

 

[Nina327]

Her head was down, practically being swallowed by Billy's engine. She snorted when he called her beautiful. While conventionally true, it's not something that lasts. Lasting beauty is art in all its forms, like Billy.

She only replied after the third time he said ‘Monday’, “I hear you.. Monday. Got it. I know I'm intruding on your holiday weekend, and you probably want to go blow things up and celebrate ‘Merica.” If she sounded annoyed, it’s because she is. Freedoms and rights are disappearing so fast that it physically hurts.

Blowing out a breath, she grabbed his left shoulder with her left hand and vaulted herself out of the engine bay and headed to the driver's side of the truck.
“Take your time closing up the shop. I want to check a few things,” she says, still a little flat.

Standing in the open truck door, she reaches up and bumps the starter, just a hair turn of the key. No explosion. So she fully turns the key, and Billy turns over but chugs. Unhealthy but not horrible. She squeaks, turning off the truck and comes back around to the front of the truck. She is supremely relieved and excited; So excited she almost shouts,” FUCK, yes! No pings, tings, or backfiring. He turned over and started… and…”
She looks under the truck…
“and no fresh oil on the ground… You know what that means! I did not blow the headgasket, throw a rod. Or fuck up a piston. YEAH!” And she smacked his ass

She froze. Her whole body heated, practically came to a boil in a heartbeat. Is it possible to blush from head to toe, instantly?

“Oh.. hell.” She stammered, “I’m so sorry.”

She took a deep breath, reached out and grasped his forearm in both hands, not looking at him. She babbled, “This is not my shop.. Not my space… and you are not my assistant or my mechanic… I haven't known you whole 30 minutes!”

She cleared her throat and coughed… “yeah. I'm not usually nervous, ever. Billy is my pride and joy…” The skin under her hand was so incredibly hot her fingertips twitched, wishing to chase the heat… maybe she could find out if his voice came from him or an incubus inside him.

Panting slightly, she let go and patted Billy's grill.
“Ok. um. Do you know where I can stay till Monday? If the shop is closed, I can't sleep in the cab. Are there any motels, Airbnb-type things… a sturdy deer blind?” If she were wearing shoes, she might not have been able to fit her foot in her mouth.
And she was worried about his potential manners. Fuck.

 

[The_gladiator]

As she leapt down, he observed how easily she touched him. His world was touch, but he hadn’t met many that willingly wished to touch him. The wolf, his brother inside woke and took notice. Eli was suddenly aware on a different level that there was an attractive female around him. One he felt something for. He couldn’t describe it yet; he needed time to think more about what he sensed.



He didn’t immediately move off to close up shop, he’d done most of that work ahead of time, instead he closed his eyes behind the mirrored shades and listened to the truck with his hearing, focused on what he could observe. As the engine turned over, he nodded slowly to himself. He was already diagnosing it. “Timing,” he muttered to himself. She didn’t seem to hear as she was busy celebrating that her baby’s engine turned on. He’d already deduced that this truck had a name and was closer to her than any lover. That was certainly not unheard of and he found it endearing.



He lifted both eyebrows behind his shades as she popped him on the butt. “I usually make dates buy me dinner before they can spank me,” he teased. As he reached to cover one of her small hands with his, she had pulled her touch away and stepped back to ask him where she could stay. He let one hand cover his arm where she had touched him, not so much out of surprise, but something else. A slightly bemused smile crossed his lips. He shook his head slowly.



“Ain’t no hotels or what not around here. Don’t exactly get many guests as you could guess, mostly just locals here. That being said, you could stay with me. I figure my couch isn’t broken. Max would probably enjoy associating with more than just my sorry ass.” As always there was the slight growl inside at the mention of the Labrador. The wolf inside had a love hate relationship with Eli’s guide. “I suspect the issue is something to do with the timing. We can look it over tomorrow or Monday morning, then parts can be gotten Monday. For now, you can stay with me, I mean unless you’re afraid I might actually eat you.” He let the wolfish grin flash across his lips. The smile transformed his face. Even with the eyes hidden Eli, though always handsome had two looks depending on if he was happy or grim faced.



He turned away from her. It wasn’t that she didn’t have any options, she was free to Call Larry back and try to get a ride somewhere else, but they were lucky to get cell service here 90% of the time; she wasn’t going to get a better offer than to stay with him. He headed to the other bay to pick up and rearrange his tools, to prepare for the next day’s work.

 

[Nina327]

Her head popped up. Could she stay with him? Guess Mr. Tall, dark, and snarly really isn't offended by the pop on the ass. And she would buy him dinner. She wondered if he was the type of man that would insist that he be the one to pay for dinner. She hoped not. That usually came with all the patriarchal acoutramons. She tended to just verbally or financially rip those men's heads off and shit in the hole.

Max… there's a max now. Wife? Child… pet badger? Who knows, she could listen to him talk all day and all night. She smiled when he mentioned his couch. At least he isn't being presumptuous. Her skin flushed all over again at the mention of eating her… again. She didn't blame him; she started it.

Then he smiled… smirked… teased? Dear gods, he’s a tease and a smart ass. She wanted to drag him to the ground and sit on his face. Let him talk directly to her clit for an eternity. Then her earpiece chirped. Who needs cold water when your mother is trying to call you? She ducked past him as he turned away from her, saying, “I have to take a call. Outside.’ She popped open her driver's door, grabbed her phone out of her bag, and hauled her ass out the people-sized door in the back.

“Hello, Mother. I’m fine. Billy is going to be fine.”
“I know, you don't like my truck, and you can't have your phone synced to it.”. She rubbed her forehead. She could never forget that her ‘family’ is always tracking her, “Mother, I've already spoken to my assistant.” She had spent time texting her assistant when she was in the smelly tow truck. “ I do not need you trying to send your lapdogs to find me. I know exactly where I am, my team knows where I am. EVERYONE always knows where I and my uterus are at all times.”
All this was said as she looked around, almost in wonder. The garage seems to be very carefully set in the woods without fucking with it too much. Her eyes followed the stairs to the right up to a loft. The door of which has a dog door. Max could be a dog, not a badger. She started walking out into the yard; thankfully, she always watches her feet outside, so she was able to navigate around dog shit. Yep. Max is a dog. She really hoped Max was a dog. She liked dogs.
Her mother had enough time to circle around in her outrage two or three times before Lily made her way to the very rustic table and tree trunk seating, not too far from a firepit. She climbed up on top of the table and sat down so she could watch the trees.

“Mother, I’m going to stop you there’ her mother kept talking, so she pulled up signal on her phone and sent a single text to her fixer: Threats? It took 12 seconds to get a reply: none detected. Her fixer, IT specialist, hacker, and best friend would have researched the shop owner the second she entered his property. She didn't get the details. If her friend thought they were necessary, she would share them, but they have been close for 12 years. Lilly only wanted peace, so her friend looked out for her and let her have as much peace as she could.
Her whole body relaxed out here. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, looking at the dappled sunlight on the tree trunks. She spotted a wolf looking at her. It wasn't very well hidden. It was too small and the ears were too big for it to be an adult. She blew it a kiss, and it drew itself back slowly. Smiling to herself, she couldn't get mad that her mother hadn't so much as paused. Let alone taken a breath and here she was, in the middle of no man's land with a juvenile wolf in front of her, no doubt there's more out in the woods, and a big bear of a man behind her.. And Billy.

She laughed and lay back on the table. She laughed even harder when her mother finally stopped sharing all the wedding details and who she was going to sit Lilly with. “Mother, you are not sitting me with Teddy, the doughball finance bro. Nor are you sitting me with Leopold. One, because his name is Leopold, and two, because all of his money couldn't buy him smarter brain cells than his mother gifted him with.’ Her voice dropped into whispered thunder, “If you even think Gregory's name again, I will fuck Mr. Marchcroft the fucking first. I’ll marry him and make you my daughter-in-law. I’ll make your husband my lapdog and burn every merger you thought was settled. That man is a sniveling piece of weasel shit. I do not care that he's a plastic surgeon. His public specialty is carving up adult women to make them look way too young. You're disgusting for continuing your association with him and his kind… keep disturbing my peace, and I will end you.”

She hung up the phone and her earpiece and threw them at the fire pit. She didn't care if they went in or not. She just didn't care. She would enjoy this little time in paradise, where she was almost alone.

The screwdriver fell out of her hair and thunked on the table. It made her start laughing again, low and deep and wanting. She didn't raise her voice much when she called out to him; she didn't know if he was near, but if he was.. “Hey Eli, my security tells me you're not a threat to me…. So, if you're not too busy… do you think you could get some cow put over this fire pit and maybe have a fire?” Much softer, she added, “and I just might let you make me desert.”

 

[The_gladiator]

Eli organized his wrenches into their proper slots in the toolbox, fingertips verifying their proper sizes. It took some time, but he had fixed where Tyler had fucked up. “You just can’t get good help anymore,” he muttered to himself.



He was trying not to listen to Lilly, but his hearing was good. Blind, plus the wolf within meant he heard everything, including some of the other side. Though honestly, he tuned most of her mother’s whiny commentary out. Instead, he listened to the purr of her voice. Her voice was not that of a little girl. She might be tiny, but she did not sound young. He liked that. He could probably listen to her laughter when that sounded all day.



He made his way to the back of his shop and found himself leaning against the wall just beside his window to listen to her talk. Not because he was eves dropping per say, but he was eves dropping. He did not know who she was. He did not know what sort of threat she might be to a man like him.



When she spoke to him, he took the steps to the back door and strowed outside. He caught all her words to him but he pretended he had not other than he knew she was talking to him. “What was that?” His boots crunched through the gravel to the right of the grassy area, approaching it from the opposite side she had. Where the grass was not was bare dirt and gravel. He did not cut through the grass, Tyler hadn’t been in the mood to fling max’s poop into the trees recently and now Eli didn’t walk there right now, he didn’t relish the thought of picking dog shit out of his boots.



He approached the table and leaned his hip against it, hand falling to the surface. “You called for me?” His hand landed not on the wood he expected but in a puddle of her hair as it spilled out over the table. He knew he should apologize, but he didn’t pull away as rapidly as he aught to. He considered what he might say. “I had to know if it was as soft as I hoped. Maybe this makes us even for your spank earlier,” and he was clearly teasing her again. He shoved back one of the benches and took a seat. “What’s this about me not being a threat? I’m not, but I could be, what’s that supposed to mean?” he wasn’t exactly indignant, he was more curious. Was this because he was blind? He was no threat? Was it because he was a decent guy. What information did her people have on him.

 

[Nina327]

She didn't move when she heard him make his way out to her little island, which was his table. She didn't move when his hand slid once across her hair. She did laugh, softly, though, tit-for-tat, maybe she could make a game of it. She smacks his ass anytime she wants him to run his hands through her hair.

She rolled away from him when he sat down. Mostly because she couldn't look at him right then and because his inquisitive tone was a bit sexier this close... and the man moved a bench made of treetrunks without even a grunt of effort. That's terrifying, but she was just impressed.

"I know you 'could be a threat. Most people are, either from knowledge, skill, ignorance, or stupidity." She sighed, making a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret. She decided maybe she could relax.
Gathering her hair, she let it cascade over the table's edge and into his lap. It's baby fine silk, the one thing she absolutely adored about herself. Then she told him, "You are not a known threat to me personally. My IT specialist, best friend, hacker has access to a vast majority of the planet's information. As of this moment, she probably has all the information on you, your known associates, and any military or business records sealed or not. Hell, she probably knows when you lost your first baby tooth. She's analyzed everything she's found and determined that you would not harm me and my peace. I could ask her to share your dossier, and she would. Until I do so, she gives me the ability to just connect with people without judgments or preconceptions. It's rare for me to be able to do so. Like, this is the third time in my lifetime, rare. Hell, you could be an assassin, an accountant, a pro wrestler, or just a sexy mechanic tucked into the forest for completely benign reasons. We could be sitting on a lay line, and you could be a world-class witch or warlock. Nothing in your past trips her spidy senses. So if it's alright with you. I'd like to stay a few days here, with you... in the middle of nowhere."

 

[The_gladiator]

To say Eli didn’t like the idea of some snot nosed hacker knowing every time he took a piss, was an understatement. Did this person know he was a were wolf? The special forces secret she likely couldn’t crack was bad enough, but his lycanthropy was in his military record, sealed, but there. “Knowledge, skill, ignorance or stupidity. I check most of those boxes.” He was startled as her hair spilled into his lap, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. His fingers started stroking through it, lightly clenching and unclenching his hands around the mass, quickly finding his fingers tangled in the strands. “Don’t know nothing about all that. I am who I am. You could ask me, probably more accurate than any report. But either way, you’re welcome here, already told you that.” There was no censure in his words, just honesty. “I mean unless you plan to steal my Jeep, not exactly sure how you’re getting anywhere else anyway. Can you secretly fly or something?”



The entire time he spoke he idly played with her hair. He was now separating it into three sections, like he was planning on braiding it. He probably should stop, or apologize for his actions, but he didn’t. If she hadn’t intended him to touch that part of her, she wouldn’t have made the deliberate action to put it in his lap, and while on that thought could use her words to just tell him to bugger off. Inside the wolf poked its proverbial head up and noticed the smell of another nearby. He didn’t ask her if she’d seen one, he would just pay attention.

 

[Nina327]

Lilly sighed and let her lids half close. He seemed more curious than righteously indignant. That she could work with, she would completely understand if he wanted nothing to do with her besides fixing her truck so she could get the hell out of his life. Just his statement of her being welcome was enough for now.

She was going to lie on that table and talk... and feel his fingers run through her hair. Her hair was something she didn't let people touch. Even lovers. Having someone run their hands through it or brush it or just pet her... it let her body and mind find tranquility
. Well, it let her body find more than that, to be honest. Done correctly,y it was like Valium and viagra had a half-slumbering whore child.

Her voice, caught somewhere between sleepy and a fuckable whisper, laughed almost inaudibly. The wolf pup hadn't left. It poked its head out from behind a different tree. Oddly, it looked eager, this little spy. She wondered if Eli let Max play with wolf pups. "You must not have neighbors very close," he hadn't seemed to see the wolf yet, "theres a half grown wolf pup poking its head out from behind trees. it looks sheepish and eager at the same time. Do you let Max play with wolves or is this one just nosey?" she could hear the smile in her own voice. She loved nature; it's so much simpler. Most of it boiled down to 'fight, feed, fuck, or flee'.

"No," he growled as he replied, and his volume increased enough that the pup would hear him, "young ones have more balls than brains." The pup vanished through the brush, instantly.

Her eyes closed, and she shivered in a breath. She forgot she was going to answer him about her fixer, her life, him being a smartass; but no... the growl in his tone reverberated across her skin and sank into her bones. Add that to his hands in her hair, and all other thoughts flew away except for fight, feed, fuck, or flee.

Lilly rolled towards him and propped herself on her elbow, not pulling her hair out of his hands. She leaned in, using her index finger, and she hooked onto the V of his shirt collar and slowly pulled him forward. She wanted to give him plenty of time to pull away or be tormented by the achingly slow closure of distance. As his face neared hers, she let her cheek caress his, sliding past his ear, where she placed a kiss on the tough tendon just there. She was breathing deep, taking in the smell of him. He hadn't pulled away, so she purred in his ear, "I'm hungry.... You need to feed me or fuck me."