By the Pale Moonlight (Book One of the Moonlight Series) (11 page)

"Your turn," I said.

His eyes swept over me. I swallowed hard. I
knew everything about the boy before me, but the closest I'd ever
come to being undressed before him was when we were kids scampering
about in bathing suits out on the back lawn.

"Come here." He motioned me over to his bed
and pulled back the covers so I could crawl inside. "I'll be out in
ten minutes."

The sound of running water filtered out to me
as I struggled to stay awake. My lids felt heavy and the next thing
I knew, I awoke to a slight shift in the mattress. Ty, dressed in
sweats and a T-shirt, curled up behind me and pulled me tightly
against him. My head fell back on his shoulder and his warm breath
stirred the hair around my ear.

"We need to wash our clothes," I said.

"In a few minutes." He clicked off the lamp
beside the bed. In the darkness, his body surrounded me—warm,
protective.

"Did you know?" I whispered. "That you'd
heal, I mean?"

"No."

The gravity of his answer sank in. He
could've died tonight.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

I hesitated, unsure of how to phrase it.
"That night on my porch...the night we almost... Was that the night
it happened?"

The silence stretched between us, but finally
he whispered, "Yes. I..." He snorted softly in the darkness. "I
couldn't sleep. I was too worked up after what
happened...restless."

A heat bloomed in my cheeks.

"I decided a walk in the woods would be the
answer. Something came out of the darkness... That's all I
remember."

A shiver went through me and he clutched me
tighter.

"It'll be okay, Mac."

I rubbed my chin against the soft cotton of
his pillow. I wasn't prepared to face the implications of it all.
Had someone watched us that night—waited for us to separate? Had my
father not come out, would Ty have avoided all of this? Some small
part of me was relieved it hadn't been me. I knew I'd never be
strong enough to cope with such a thing.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I asked. After
cleaning up the library, we'd sent Melanie on her way. She had
seemed so lost and alone.

"Yeah, strangely enough, I do."

"She said she saw Kim murdered. Saw what
attacked her."

He stiffened. "I know. We need to talk to her
as soon as possible."

"I'll look for her first thing."

"Alone?"

"Yeah, I think it might be better that way."
I squeezed his hand. "Does that bother you?"

"No." Something in his voice belied his
words. "Maybe. Hell, I don't know. I guess I haven't grown used to
the idea that I could be a killer."

I flipped around and narrowed my eyes. "Stop
saying things like that. Until we prove you did it, you're innocent
in my book."

A grim smile played on his lips. "I'm afraid
we'll find out I'm guilty as charged."

"I don't believe that for a minute."

He pressed his lips to my forehead. "I know.
Thank you."

"That's better." My cheek dropped down to his
chest and I snuggled in close, relieved to hear his heartbeat
pounding in a steady rhythm beneath me.

About to drift off, I barely heard the soft
words he whispered in the dark. "I just hope you're right."

I awoke to glaring sunshine heating my face.
It took a moment to remember where I was, and when Ty pulled me
closer, spooning me from behind, I didn't want to move lest I wake
him. His hand slid against my skin and my eyes popped open when I
realized it traced along the inside of my robe, which to my utter
horror, had come loose in my sleep. Although the belt was still
knotted around my waist, the flap parted to reveal a great deal of
naked flesh. The covers were pooled around my knees. I struggled to
inch them upward and pull my robe closed. Ty's hand made the latter
impossible.

"Mmm, morning." Ty's voice was husky as he
softly whispered in my ear.

Oh heavens
.

"Morning." My eyes widened slightly, waiting
to see if he'd realize where his hand rested. Right now it lay
innocently on my stomach, but a few inches up or down and we'd be
in one seriously compromising position. "Sleep well?" I chanced a
peek over my shoulder at him. His eyes were closed, only half awake
at this point.

A knock came at the door, I watched as his
sleepy green eyes registered where his hand rested just seconds
before we both sprang out of bed. He faced the opposite wall while
I struggled to pull my robe closed.

"Time to get up, Ty!" The door muffled Mrs.
O'Neill's voice and in a moment of panic, I fell on the floor and
out of view behind the bed.

"I'm up!" Ty's head appeared above me. "What
are you doing?"

You'd think it would be fairly obvious.
"Hiding—in case she comes in."

"You think my mother's going to come in here?
You really have no idea about mother/son relationships, do
you?"

Fair enough. I guess I didn't. Come to think
of it, my father would never think of barging into my room without
gaining permission either. "How am I going to get out of here
without freaking them out?"

My bloodied clothes still lay pooled on the
bathroom floor and putting them back on wasn't an option.

"How do you feel about scaling walls?"

"Not good?" I eyed his window dubiously. "I
haven't done that since I was twelve."

"Front door it is, then." He went to his
dresser and tossed some sweats and a T-shirt to me. "Hurry and get
dressed."

He disappeared into his bathroom. I hastily
pulled on the clothes. They were a joke. Even with the waist
cinched all the way, the pants were too loose to allow me to drop
my grip. The legs pooled around my ankles and I quickly rolled them
up. I snorted softly as I glimpsed the white T-shirt he'd thrown
me. "Boys," I murmured as I pulled out a colored one from his
drawer.

The bathroom door cracked open. "Are you
decent?"

"So to speak."

His head popped out. "I knew I was hoping for
too much with that white T-shirt."

I groaned. "And I'm the pervert?"

With one hand in Ty's and the other clutching
the sweatpants, I slowly crept behind him as we descended his front
staircase. The sound of clinking silverware carried from the
kitchen, his parents' voices raised in morning conversation. We
both froze when my stomach rumbled loudly, my nose having picked up
a whiff of bacon. Nothing happened and we continued.

Ty quietly unlocked the front door and
ushered me onto the porch. Once we were both clear of the house, we
ran across the yard and through the cover of the trees until my
back door came into view. I could picture my parents inside, most
likely eating breakfast. If I was extremely lucky, neither of them
would have discovered my absence by now.

"I guess I better go through the front—maybe
I can get in without them seeing me." I offered him a weak smile
before I started to rush forward. He pulled me back.

"Think we can top our first kiss?" He spoke
softly.

My heart leapt into my throat. I didn't have
time to respond before his lips touched mine.

My arms slowly rose to wrap around his neck
as he pulled me tightly against him. The kiss was tentative at
first, a slow exploration as we grew accustomed to one another.
When his tongue brushed against mine, a soft sigh escaped me.

He broke away, pressing his forehead to mine.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time."

Unable to sever the connection, the moment
stretched on as we stood locked together.

Cupping the back of my head, he kissed me
again. His lips were so soft and undemanding when he trailed them
across my cheeks. I knew this was the way it should've been but
never was with David. This was right.

With one last brush against my lips, he
released me.

o0o

Focus proved to be a big issue for me
throughout my morning classes. When my thoughts weren't preoccupied
with thoughts of werewolves, the memory of Ty's kiss played havoc
with my emotions, the whisper of it lingering on my lips. Pressing
my fingers to them yet again, I replayed the moment over and over
as my teacher rambled on about French verb conjugations.

Finally, the bell interrupted my teacher's
droning voice. I dashed into the hall and stood on tiptoe to scan
the groups of students milling about. I hoped to catch Melanie
between classes, worried she might run the other way if I tried to
sit down at her table for lunch. I spotted her dark head poked into
a locker and lightly tapped her on the shoulder. Her expression
gave me the distinct impression she was scared to see me. Well, she
had tried to kill Ty the night before.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi."

We sized each other up, silent messages
passing between us. She wanted to know if I could get past what she
had done. I needed to know if I could trust her.

"How's Ty?" she asked.

"He's okay."

She released a slow breath at this, and
nodded.

I lowered my voice. "Listen, we need to
talk—about everything."

"You're right, because if Ty wasn't the one
who attacked Kim, I think you may be in big trouble."

Her words startled me. I hadn't mentioned the
incident during the game, so how could she know? "What do you
mean?"

She shifted nervously, her eyes drifting
through the hall, surveying the students crowded around us. "Not
here. Meet me at the clock tower during lunch. There's something I
need to show you."

On that eerie note, she slammed her locker
shut and rushed away with her books tucked under her arm.

Gulping down the lump lodged in my throat, I
headed toward English class...and Ty. My step had an extra bounce
in it, and I told myself to chill. No matter how long I had wished
for this, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. Right now I
needed to focus on helping Ty, not on how cute he looked as he
approached.

Dressed in loose khakis and a green
lightweight sweater that highlighted his beautiful eyes, he looked
fantastic. Tousled dark hair and a sexy smile completed the look. I
fought the urge to jump on him right then and there.

"Hey." He leaned in close and I expected him
to kiss me again. He didn't. "Did you talk to Melanie yet?"

Flustered and disappointed, I pretended to
study the cover of my book. "Yeah. We're meeting at lunch to
talk."

"Good—maybe by comparing notes we'll be able
to figure something out."

"Let's hope." I paused, chastising myself for
letting his close proximity distract me. "Guess we better head
inside."

"Wait," he said. He took my hand and laced
his fingers through mine.

Jenna, seated near the front of the
classroom, stopped mid-conversation to give us a derisive look when
we stepped inside. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Ty squeezed my hand before we took our
seats.

I returned Jenna's mocking expression. "For
someone who hates me, you sure pay a lot of attention to what I'm
doing."

She scowled. "Whatever."

I watched the back of her blonde head and
realized I didn't have any regrets over her lost friendship. If
there was anything to be disappointed over, it was that it took me
so long to realize she wasn't the kind of person I should've placed
my trust in to begin with. I'd wasted a lot of time and I had no
intention of going back.

Shaking my head, I pulled out my homework and
reached behind to collect the papers of those seated in the back.
Ty caught my eye and winked. He understood and that was enough for
me.

o0o

The one feature I loved most about our school
was the clock tower. Located in the middle of the foremost wing of
the building, it towered above the entrance, its spiraling
staircase leading up to one of the most breathtaking views I'd ever
beheld. From the top of the tower—off limits to most students—the
town of Eddington sprawled, its Victorian homes and quaint business
district embedded in the encroaching woods that seemed to spread as
far as the eye could see.

Sometimes I liked to sneak up to the turret,
using the key my mother didn't know I'd copied from her ring. It
was my refuge—private and peaceful.

I met Melanie outside the archway leading to
the tower. Tucked behind a thick door reminiscent of a medieval
castle, the small room containing the stairs was a favorite meeting
place for students looking to fool around between classes. David
and I had spent many lunch periods ensconced in the alcove. I tried
to push all such memories out of my mind as we entered. With almost
a spiritual reverence, neither of us spoke as we climbed the dusty
steps up to the upper clock turret.

We reached the door at the top landing. A
large sign marked the inner room as restricted. I hesitated on the
threshold, my key a secret I wasn't prepared to share.

"The night Kim died, that thing—that
monster—chased me into the tower," Melanie began.

Her voice echoed inside the enclosure. All of
this was really happening.

"We saw you that night—at the football game.
Do you remember?" She looked at me with shining eyes.

I nodded.

The scene had played out in my dreams so many
times. In them, I'd see Kim's smile fade, her face reduced to
carnage, hear her musical laughter turn into screams of agony. I
could only imagine the horrors she saw in her mind's eye.

A sense of urgency seemed to envelop me, but
I didn't try to rush her. Whatever she was about to tell me was of
the utmost importance, and she could take whatever time she
needed.

"Some of the things I'm about to tell you
won't be easy. In a way, I feel like I'm betraying Kim in doing
so." She paused. "She was my best friend and I won't have anyone
thinking badly of her. Is that clear?"