Melting the Minerals Page 7
She stared at him for a long moment.
"What? What are you thinking?” he asked.
"You said you were holding a piece of turquoise and thinking about how lonely you were?"
"I know that sounds odd, but after a pretty serious mistake in my life, I was wondering if there would ever be a time when a woman would come along who'd interest me again. I was growing afraid I'd end up like a lot of Mounties who're stationed in out-of-the-way places. They're by themselves and end up retiring that way. It's sad to see ‘em. Kind of pathetic."
"You're not pathetic, Trey. That's the last word in the world I'd use to describe you.” She turned on her side, reached towards the chair and picked up the turquoise. Its smooth, blue colour both soothed and calmed. “Native American people believe this particular mineral is part of the sky. There are dozens of legends about it. One is that it's a stone of healing.” She held the small mineral against his chest, over his heart. “It's also said that it guides its owner through the unknown paths of the future, protects against accidents, and has been reported to actually change colour to warn its owner of misfortune. Now, I'm rooted in the world of fact. But it's another coincidence you were meditating over this particular mineral before I got here. Bizarre, isn't it?"
"Stranger things have happened, Doctor Wallace. Unlike you, my world requires I use instinct and intuition to guide me. I'm thinking somebody wanted us together. I'll always believe that."
Tears filled Devin's eyes. She had to look away.
"Hey, that's the second time you've cried while I was holding you. Am I that annoying?” he teased as he kissed the corners of her mouth.
"No, you're that damned attractive. For someone like me, who uses science to explain away everything others find surreal, all this has been unnerving. I had no idea anything like this could possibly happen. If anyone would've said I could make wild, crazy love the way I have, I'd have kicked their butts and called ‘em crazy."
"But you had to be here so badly you risked your life. Some hole in the world where waiting a week wouldn't have mattered at all."
"Trey, no matter what happens, will you promise something?"
"Sure, honey."
"Don't go getting yourself shot or lost in a snowstorm, and I'll promise not to ever leave the safety of my apartment and get myself lost in a blizzard. Okay? The thought of anything bad happening to you doesn't sit well with me."
"Like I've said, you can put the sequence of events together anyway you want. I think all this happened for a reason. I wasn't meant to die getting shot by some poacher, or frozen to death from a fall into a fishpond. You weren't meant to die of hypothermia a few miles from my doorstep. I intend to be here quite a while, baby. I think you'll be in Cedar Ridge for quite some time, too."
"Unscientifically speaking, I think you're right."
"Make love to me, Devin. Take those damned stones and do anything you want. Go on ... talk minerals to me."
She burst out laughing. “Okay, Sergeant MacKenzie, you asked for it."
Devin picked up the crystal wand and prodded him to lie on his back. “Did you know the mineral sylvite is the official mineral of Saskatchewan?” She placed the crystal wand on Trey's chest and began to plant small kisses around it. “Of course, sylvite is just another name for potash. And one of this area's biggest exports is sylvite in the form of potash fertiliser. In fact, Saskatchewan supplies about twenty-five percent of the world's usable potash..."
Trey listened to every word, closed his eyes and hoped she'd never stop talking. When she got to the part about sylvite being formed in a cubic cleavage, he had to roll over and show her what he thought a perfect cleavage was like. He never knew minerals could be exciting. But then, he'd never met anybody like Devin Wallace, either.
And if time should make more of this relationship, and he believed it would, there was a lot he was going to have to learn about geopalaeontology. Just so he could keep up with Dr. Wallace and her unusual way of teaching the specifics of her profession.
As to his profession, it suddenly occurred to him that she might look good wearing some of his police leather and pretending to order him around as if he were a cadet in academy again.
Or he could picture her rubbing him with a fragrant bar of soap while they showered together.
He smiled, thinking of the possibilities.
Devin shoved her glasses on her nose, put her hand on the keys dangling from the ignition, and turned them. The engine started immediately. She stared at the man in uniform next to her.
"I thought you said it stalled?” he asked.
"It did. I swear it did. And even if I flooded it and nothing was wrong with the engine or electrical system, how in hell could my truck sit here in sub-zero weather and still start? That doesn't make sense."
Trey shrugged. “There're no coincidences, remember?"
Devin pulled the collar of her coat closer. “Well, this is preposterous! The engine wouldn't start, Trey. I'm serious."
"I believe you. Just accept it, Devin. Strange stuff happens.” He held up his cell phone. “Now, call your uncle, tell him you're coming, where you've been and what happened."
"Everything?” she squeaked out.
"That's up to you. But I'm making my intentions quite clear. He's gonna know something happened between us by the way I act around you."
Devin called and spoke to her uncle. But she didn't mention what she and Trey had been doing with each other. Her uncle wasn't stupid. Like Trey said, he'd figure what she'd been up to soon enough.
Trey could hear the man's voice over the cell phone, chastising his niece for her “precipitous action in driving in such hazardous weather."
When she finally handed the phone back to him, Trey opened the passenger door of her truck and got out. “Follow me. I'll make sure you get to your uncle's place safely. He walked to his marked police vehicle parked in front of Devin's. Before he opened his door and got inside, he returned to the truck and waited while she rolled down the window. “I don't suppose I could pick you up Friday night? You could bring along your minerals. The roads will be well cleared by then, and it'll be safe to drive. In fact, we're expecting an early thaw, according to all the weather forecasts."
Devin suspected he had more in mind than just a comparison of mineral collections. More so because of the wicked, hot expression in his eyes. She pretended to have a sudden interest in propriety. “Why, Sergeant MacKenzie, what will the town-folk think? Being alone with you in a blizzard is one thing. To come all the way out in the middle of nowhere for no reason might cause gossip. I'd be alone with you at your cabin. What will everyone say?"
"To hell with that!” He pulled open her door, pulled her to him, and kissed her hard, deep and long. “Will you come? I'll talk to your uncle."
Still breathless from the hot kiss, she swallowed hard and readjusted her glasses. “I-I'm an adult. My uncle knows I can handle myself when it comes to things like this."
"I won't hide the fact that you and I are intimate, Devin. I want you and mean to have you. You understand?"
"I'll tell him. In my own way."
"Good. Because he'll be seeing a lot of me. If you want us to continue, that is."
Devin smiled mischievously. She got out of the truck, went to the covered bed, and unlocked the tailgate. Trey stood nearby while she rummaged through a collection of boxes. When she turned, she handed him something wrapped in a piece of newspaper.
"I found this on a dig in Texas. Every time I look at it from now on, I'll think of you. And I'll let you keep it at your place just so you know I'll be thinking of you an awful lot."
Trey unwrapped the newspaper and burst into a loud round of hearty laughter. What she had handed him was a mineral called ‘coprolite'—dark brown, petrified dinosaur dung. But what made it even funnier was its shape—a full nine inches long and as phallic as anything Devin had ever found.
He wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. “Are you telling me I'm this big, or I'm full
of crap? Is that why this reminds you of me?"
"Yes to both questions. But I want to be with you anyhow."
He shook it at her. “Don't ever let anyone tell you you're boring again. I'll wipe the jaw of the first man I hear say that. But then, I intend to be the only man around you."
She smiled and pointed at the coprolite. “Just hang onto old faithful there. I'll see you Friday night. You're one sinful temptation I don't intend to do without, Trey MacKenzie."
Trey was still smiling as he drove north while she followed. He had a strange feeling things in his life had suddenly changed for the better. “Yeah, I'll be seeing you around the neighbourhood, little rockhound. Count on it."
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About the Author
C.S. Chatterly aka Candace Sams was a police officer for eleven years, worked on an ambulance for eight years as a crew chief, and is now an author. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Agriculture, worked as a police officer with the State of Texas, was with the San Diego Police Department, taught for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and with a law enforcement agency in Alabama. She is the senior woman on the U.S. Kung Fu Team, awarded the Medal of Putien from China and the Statue of Tao for martial arts, holder of several international martial arts titles, and is an award winning author of fantasy fiction. She also writes erotica under the pen name, C.S. Chatterly. Her hobbies include weight lifting, gardening, and looking after a family of pets who've adopted her. She and her husband, Lee, have been married for over two decades.
Email: erotica@cschatterly.com
C.S. Chatterly loves to hear from readers. You can find her contact information, website and author biography at www.totalebound.com.
Also by C.S. Chatterly
Sons of Olympus: Delos Descending
Sons of Olympus: Lydon's Exile
Uniform Behaviour: Tempting the Law
Uniform Behaviour: Daring the Underworld
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