Tarnished Soul: A Nine Minutes Spin-Off Novel Read online

  “If you’re going gator hunting and you’re going to do it the right way, I want to go with you,” she informed him.

  His answer was a grin.

  Over the course of the next two weeks, Lucy and Jonas fell into such a comfortable camaraderie they could almost finish each other’s sentences. One day ran into the next, and the effortlessness of their routine was reminiscent of simpler times the cabin had witnessed. They rose with the sun and said goodnight beneath a canopy of stars in the dark stillness of the tiny cabin.

  They limited cooking to an outdoor firepit since the woodburning stove would’ve turned the place into a sweat lodge this time of year. Jonas appreciated that Shasta and Shay had piled the firewood inside, but he ended up restacking it on the porch. He taught Lucy not only how to fish but how to prepare what they caught. He took her on small hikes of the surrounding area, familiarizing her with the plant life and their medicinal, as well as nourishment, properties. He also told her what plants to stay away from. He showed her how to clear out the pond if she wanted to swim or bathe in it. Of course, he was always nearby and would do it for her, but she was adamant about doing it herself. She’d grown particularly fascinated by his crossbow and even his guns, and as repayment for teaching him how to read, insisted on lessons of not only how to use the weapons but how to safely manage them.

  “A single woman should know how to properly defend herself.” She’d beamed after one lesson where she proved she was a quick learner.

  Jonas gave her a hard stare. “You’ll never have to defend yourself if I’m around.”

  “You won’t always be around, Jonas,” she playfully replied and then considered how that sounded. “I mean, you can’t be with me every single minute of every day.”

  As much as Jonas appreciated Lucy’s determination to learn new things, he couldn’t help but think that with everything he’d taught her, he was slowly removing himself from her ever needing him for anything. Lucy Renquest was a self-sufficient woman, and as much as the Neanderthal in him had a difficult time accepting it, he couldn’t help but admire her.

  And there was a lot to admire. Jonas was impressed with Lucy’s ability to seek out challenges and find solutions. She’d even drawn a sketch outlining a way to bring hot water into the cabin.

  “Even though the water that comes into the cabin is from a fresh underground spring, precautions should still be made for avoiding contaminates.” They’d been heating a pot of water over the firepit every few days to wash the dishes and utensils they’d been using. She stood one day looking at the sky and told Jonas, “I think I figured out a way for us to build a small water tower that will not only allow you to take a hot shower,” she swung around to look at him, “but can purify the water for drinking and washing dishes right at the kitchen sink. Of course, I would suggest we make it an outside shower because I don’t think it would be a good idea to subject those old wooden floorboards to anything that could compromise them.”

  “My grandfather would’ve appreciated it back in the day. And I’ve no doubt your plan would work, but it sounds like a lot of effort for the short amount of time we’ll be here.”

  She looked away from him, embarrassed to meet his eyes. “Of course.” She pushed her glasses up her nose. “I guess I was just thinking if you’d planned on staying here long-term in the future.”

  They stayed busy with not only the work required for survival in such a remote area of the Everglades but relaxation as well. They swam in the pond. They fished off the old dock in the back of the cabin. And they sat on the porch sipping beer, swatting at dragonflies, and watching the clothes they’d hand-washed dry on a homemade clothesline that Jonas had strung up near the shed. He’d had to purposely train his eyes not to settle on Lucy’s delicate and enticing lingerie. Just imagining what she looked like in her bra and panties caused his blood to thicken. And while they watched nature from the front porch or the dock, they also watched each other.

  Lucy had a hard time equating him with the hardened criminal he claimed to be. And he couldn’t liken her to the high school outcast that Christy had described at the restaurant. Of course he’d seen a smidgen of it when the busboy had confronted her in the restroom corridor and again when the guy with the dog at Walgreens was rude. She may have had issues in high school, but he was certain it hadn’t followed her to college. She was absolutely brilliant in the brains and beauty department, and he couldn’t deny the feelings of fury when he thought about her being with another man. He remembered asking her if she had a boyfriend during their first meal at the Waffle House and was seriously shocked when she told him that she didn’t. He didn’t pry further but knew that a catch like Lucy probably had to swat the men off like flies. A job that he wouldn’t mind handling in the future. If he could light Davey up for making a derogatory and threatening comment, he couldn’t imagine what he would be capable of when meeting a man who might show a romantic interest in her. Or worse yet, meeting someone who’d slept with her. Just the thought made his back and jaw go rigid.

  Chapter 31

  Although neither would admit to it, their favorite part of the day was dusk. They’d gotten into the habit of reading. And unlike that first night when Jonas had distanced himself at the end of the couch, they’d slowly gravitated toward each other. They now settled down to read every evening with Lucy leaning back against Jonas’ chest while she read to him and challenged him to read parts of the book to her. It was almost more agonizing for him than falling asleep in the same bed. While reading, Lucy’s back was pressed up against his chest. Not only could he smell her hair, but he could look down the soft rise of her neck and see the gentle swelling of her small breasts. She didn’t have much cleavage, but what she did have caused him to toss her off his lap more than once with the excuse that he had to relieve himself. But not in the way she assumed. On several occasions he’d resorted to jerking off outside the cabin in the dark. It was becoming more of a habit than not, and he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d done it before Lucy came along. He’d never lacked for women. Whether they did it for money or not, they were always willing. He was getting the impression that Lucy would be more than willing, but he still felt the need to go slowly with her. He knew that if he kissed her and she returned his kiss, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from going further, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. And if she didn’t return his kiss? He wouldn’t let himself travel down that road of thought.

  That night, they lay back-to-back in the bed that now smelled permanently of peaches and cream, and Lucy posed a question. She’d been wrestling with her emotions for weeks and couldn’t deny the feelings she was having for Jonas. And even with all the bad things he’d shared about himself and all the legitimate reasons someone with her intellect could use to dismiss him, she realized the things she loved about him outweighed the things she told herself a sane person would deem completely unacceptable. So, she pushed him to tell her more. To give her even more reasons to side with her brain that was doing serious battle with her heart.

  “Jonas, tell me about the guy you lit on fire. You said you did it after I pulled away from the gas station. Why?”

  Jonas heaved out a heavy sigh in the blackness. “He said something nasty about you. Something he wanted to do to you.”

  She got up on her elbows, and he felt her slightly shift toward his back. “What did he say?”

  After he told her word for word what Davey had said, he felt her plop back on her pillow. “You lit a guy on fire for making an empty threat? Do you know what the odds would be that he would actually carry through on it? I’d probably have a better chance of being hit by a falling helicopter.”

  Even though he couldn’t see her, Jonas turned to face her so quickly it startled her.

  “This is where your common sense takes a backseat to your brains, Lucy. Just like all the mental calculations you told me you did to logically explain how some of your belongings wound up in this cabin that f
irst day, you need to know there is a whole world out there that you have no clue about.” He knew he’d insulted her when he felt her stiffen. “The reason I did what I did was because Davey would’ve done exactly what he said. He would’ve jumped on his bike and caught up with you and followed you home and stalked you and then made a move. And that move would have been to bring you to the camp and put on a show for the club.”

  “A show for what?” she whispered, her voice shaky.

  “To impress them. Davey is a live wire. He’s a newer member and Anthony and X have had their eyes on him. In fact, they both told me to keep an eye on him too because they don’t want unwanted attention, and he’s been pulling some stunts to make himself look like a badass. My guess is Anthony was about a minute away from ordering either me or X to take him out to the swamp and put a bullet in the back of his head. So by lighting him on fire, I probably saved his life.” He heard her gasp but continued. “I watch people. I watch them real close. I saw him eye his bike before and after what he said about you. I saw that gleam in his eye, that wild excitement a person gets when they’ve spotted a victim. He had that look, Lucy.”

  She knew exactly what Jonas meant. She’d recognized it in Artie Shaw’s eyes right before he launched his nasty on her at the restaurant. “So, I guess I should thank you for saving me from Davey?” she gulped.

  “I’m not looking for you to thank me. You asked a question and I gave you an honest answer.”

  “Will Davey press charges against you? Even if he doesn’t, there had to be witnesses who would.”

  “Nobody, including Davey, will press charges against me.”

  He said it with such finality and authority Lucy knew not to ask for details. She let herself absorb everything he’d told her. Everything he’d been telling her. And even though she was appalled at what Jonas had done to Davey, she couldn’t deny she’d been even more horrified of what Davey had intended to do to her. And if not her, surely some other unsuspecting soul. She’d continued to make excuses for Jonas’ behavior. Maybe she was looking for the one thing that would solidify in her mind why she needed to walk away from him. As if the things he’d already told her wouldn’t be enough for a normal person. Or rather, a normal person who wasn’t already in love with him.

  She felt her head waging war with her tongue, but the question was out before she could stop it. “The worst thing, Jonas. Tell me the most vile, awful, worst thing you’ve done to another human being.”

  He knew what she was doing and why she was doing it. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew this was a test. She wasn’t testing him. She was testing herself. So he launched into a story about what he’d done to the man who’d attempted to rape and planned to murder Anthony Bear’s woman, Christy.

  Lucy’s voice was quavering when she asked, “The man had threatened to bite off some of Christy’s flesh?”

  Jonas shifted slightly. “It was more than that. When Anthony showed up, the guy was on top of a nude Christy and told her he was deciding what part of her body he was going to take a bite out of. And after he did, he told her he was gonna chew on it for a while and spit it back in her face while he was raping her.”

  “I can’t, I can’t even imagine someone doing that. Poor Christy. Thank goodness Anthony showed up when he did.” She was quiet for a moment before asking, “What does this have to do with the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

  “Anthony tied the guy to a pole and offered a pile of cash to the guy who could fill up a bucket with the most amount of the man’s flesh.”

  Jonas didn’t have to see Lucy to know that she’d raised her hand to her mouth. A mouth that was forming a perfectly prim O.

  “Is it safe to assume Anthony wanted the man’s flesh bitten off?” she whispered in the dark.

  “Yeah, and it’s also safe to assume I won the bet. And I didn’t do it for the cash. I did it for Christy. And I’d do it again for Christy. And I can’t even tell you what I’d have done to that lowlife piece of shit if I’d found him on top of you, Lucy.”

  The room was eerily quiet but not to Lucy. The mental cacophony playing out in her head was so loud she wouldn’t have been able to hear a roaring train if it blasted through the room. One half of her brain was challenging her to stomp on her own heart and any shred of love she had for Jonas. Their thirty days was past the halfway point. In less than two weeks, she could walk away from him and never look back. The other half of her brain was shocked and saddened at the same time. Not only shocked at what Davey had wanted to do to her and what Jonas had done to him, but shocked that there were real people out there, people she may have stood behind at the grocery checkout. People, she was saddened to realize, who were capable of doing horrible things to good people like Christy. In the end, neither side of her brain could resist the passion that had driven Lucy since she was a child.

  Jonas found Lucy’s silence deafening. He was certain his admission was the final nail in the coffin that would seal their fate. And if he hadn’t lost her with the Davey story, he’d most certainly lost her now. Finally, he sensed she was ready to speak and was completely floored by what she said.

  “Tell me something, Jonas.” She reached for his hand in the dark. “What exactly does human flesh taste like?”

  Chapter 32

  Jonas had expected shock and outrage. He was even prepared for her disgust. What he hadn’t anticipated was Lucy’s curiosity. Then again, knowing that her passion was to cure diseases, especially diseases of the flesh, her question made some sense. He’d never met anyone like her and probably never would. His Lucy was a puzzle. He fell asleep that night wondering when he’d started thinking of her as his Lucy.

  They continued their discussion the next morning as Lucy shared more about her desire to research and cure specific diseases and the reason behind it. “It really goes back to a church mission trip to South America,” she told Jonas. “I saw some people there who had awful skin diseases. And they had to wear their ailments on the outside so they couldn’t even suffer anonymously. Everyone saw their pain and not everyone was compassionate about it. They were outcasts because people were afraid to be near them. Afraid they were contagious. It just gave me a heart for them. I think it’s a worthwhile calling.”

  They’d been cooking breakfast over the firepit when Jonas stopped what he was doing to look at her. “More than worthwhile, Lucy. And I have no doubt you’ll find your cures.”

  Her reply was a shy smile.

  A fierce thunderstorm rolled in by mid-morning. The sky hung gray and heavy, the black clouds uncomfortably close. Lucy was inside washing the breakfast dishes and skillet when she saw Jonas grabbing their dry things from the clothesline. She heard the door open and close behind him as he made his way into the cabin seconds before the dark clouds exploded. The rain was thunderous as it pelted the cabin’s rusted tin roof.

  Jonas had tossed the dry clothes on the couch and watched Lucy’s back as she stood in front of the sink. A bright flash of lightning caused her to jump back from the window. Before she knew it, she felt Jonas’ hard chest pressed against her back, his huge arms encircling her from behind.

  He’d woken up every morning for two weeks with Lucy in his arms. He didn’t know if it was the shock and resulting energy from the bolt of lightning or the realization that he’d thought of her as his since before he even knew her name. All he did know was that he wasn’t in a dark bedroom reaching for her while in a dream state. She was now in his arms and he knew she belonged there. A current of longing buzzed through him as he slowly turned her around to face him. He raised a hand to her cheek and softly stroked it with his roughened knuckles. He knew it was a now or never moment. He slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

  Lucy stood back abruptly and looked up at Jonas. “You told me we were here to establish a friendship. What are you doing?” She stoically raised her chin and waited for the answer she longed to hear.

  He grabbed her roughly by the shoulders and pulled her back toward him. Bef
ore his mouth came crashing down on hers, he managed to say through gritted teeth, “Killing our friendship.”

  The kiss was rough at first, until Jonas came to his senses and remembered he’d wanted to take it slow with Lucy. He allowed himself the pleasure of gently exploring the inside of her mouth. She tasted as good as she smelled, and he was surprised when Lucy revived the heated pace of their kisses. He could feel her heart pounding erratically against his chest, matching his own. He felt her shiver when his fingers traced the back of her neck and then slithered down to the base of her spine.

  Lucy had a death grip around Jonas’ neck. It was as if she was hanging on for dear life. Part of her was afraid to let go. Terrified if she released him, she would somehow lose him. Her senses were assaulted by the tickling of his beard against her face and cheeks. The leftover smell of smoke from the morning’s fire mingled with the soap he’d bathed with hours earlier. A scent that would forever be sealed in her subconscious. He tasted like coffee with a hint of mint from the toothpaste he’d used after eating breakfast. She was certain his fingertips making their way up and down her spine were shooting flames against her skin.

  At some point, the rain had stopped just as quickly as it had started. But neither one noticed.

  “I want to take it slow with you, Lucy.” His voice was gruff. “But you’re making it hard for me, sweetheart.”

  “I know,” she breathed into his mouth. “I can feel it.”

  He reluctantly broke their kiss and slowly disengaged her arms from around his neck. “I wasn’t talking about my dick, even though you’ve been making it hard for weeks,” he said with a chuckle. “I mean you’re making it hard for me to take it slow with you. I want to savor you, Lucy.”

  She stood back from him and adjusted her glasses. “Oh, right. I know what you meant. I was just, I was just…”