PoisonedPen (2 page)

“Half the time reviewer, half the time editor.” She sipped at her fourth drink. “You have done some time in the human world if that ink is any indication.”

He grinned, showing some serious fang. “I was abandoned as a child and was raised in a circus as the snake boy. It was a hard life, but it gave me some charming skills that I have used as I matured.”

She tried not to stare at the bicep so near her own. There was a swan in a Celtic knot pattern wrapped around his arm. Her mouth was dry, and she wanted to trace that design with her tongue.

When he left to attend another patron, she tried to snap herself back into sensibility. There was no reason for her hormones to run out of control just because an ex-circus attraction and current bartender smiled at her.

She watched him. His movements were graceful, smooth and when he served the ladies at the bar, his attentions were polite but didn’t invite any further approach on their part.

Ivy got the distinct impression that when he looked at her, flirting was on his mind. She sipped at the new fruit juice concoction and scrolled to the next book in her review list. Now and then, she peeped up at Chuck, and to her surprise, his gaze was fixed on her.

****

Chuck was resigned to his life in service to the Crossroads, but Ivy had caught all of his senses. He was holding back his tongue. He wanted to flick it out and taste the small pieces of her scent in the air. His eyes wanted to take in every inch of her dark honey-coloured hair, wrap it around his hands and use it to pull her to him.

She possessed a cute, pert nose, lips with a lush curve and wide amber eyes that took every bit of the world in. His body responded to the soft swells and dips of hers, and she was wearing one of the ugliest shirts he had ever seen. If she ever wore something formfitting, his dick might just blow off.

Smiling at his fanciful thoughts, he continued to work though his true attention was with the woman in the dark corner. He was going to write about her tonight, he could feel it.

****

After the bulk of the patrons had exited, Ivy gathered her things and got to her feet. She was halfway to the door when Chuck appeared at her side.

“If you don’t mind, I will escort you to your lodgings.”

She blinked up at him. “Um, the streets are fairly safe from what I have been told.”

“They are, but I am due for my break, and I need to stretch my legs.”

“By all means, take your exercise at my side.”

In an oddly old-world gesture from a man marked by his modern life, he extended his arm to her, and she took it.

He slowed his pace, and they promenaded down to the Crossroads. “Where are you staying?”

“The avian hostel. I am here on my family’s dime, so it was the best option for a long stay.”

His dark eyebrows rose above his gem green eyes. “Really? You will be here for a while?”

“If I don’t find a man, I agreed to stay for a month before heading home.” She chuckled. “With a place to hide, I think I can stretch it that long.”

“You will be back at the bar tomorrow?”

“I can’t think of why not. I mean, I will have to get some food eventually, so I will spend some time at the café.”

He paused in his tracks. “Have you eaten this evening?”

Ivy grumped. “No. I was supposed to have dinner at my parents’, but they shipped me here instead.”

“Come along. Have a snack and then a good night’s sleep. The Crossroads will begin to seem like home in the morning.”

She smiled, “I doubt that, but anywhere there is an internet signal or a way to send one is home to me.”

“That is it?”

“Pretty much. I enjoy my work with an unwholesome kind of enjoyment. I wished that I had the imagination to write, but I don’t, so I try to help the writers bring their creations into the world, or I tell the world what the author did wrong. I get to satisfy two moods at my whim.”

He grinned, “You sound a little power mad.”

She shrugged. “That comes and goes. It makes it hard to offer myself to a man who will crave my attention off the page. Selfish but true.”

“Very frank. So what about a man who could engage your senses on and off the page?”

“I would have to check out his writing skills.” She winked.

He opened the door to the café and ushered her inside. The bright light and cheery tables caught Ivy’s interest, and she turned her head around as far as it would go to take in all the details. The bustle of the waitress on duty marked her as a beaver. She moved smoothly and deliberately through the diners.

Chuck caught her attention, and she brought over two menus. “Welcome to the Crossroads Café. You are new?”

“I am. Today in fact.”

“I look forward to seeing you frequently. Now, what would you like to drink?”

She ordered decaf and a glass of water.

Chuck ordered the same and smiled at her. “So, what do you do for fun?”

She giggled. “I edit outside on sunny days.”

“Wow. Wild woman.”

“I have yet to find a reality that matches the world inside the books. I just enjoy it more.”

He frowned as their beverages arrived. “Have you ever considered living a life instead of just watching them in the books?”

She shrugged. “I have been alone my entire adult life. Spending that life having solitary adventures is not the kind of thing I want to do.”

“So, you are looking for someone to have adventures with out in the world?”

Ivy shook her head. “No, I am just looking for someone who doesn’t feel it necessary to demand my attention. I just want to
be
with someone and have them accept me for my bookish leanings.”

He nodded and smiled, but she saw a distant look in his eyes as if he was memorizing her words.

“It is a simple-enough desire. Why have you had problems so far?”

“It starts off fine, but when I get immersed in my work, it becomes far more important than attending a movie or a dinner party.”

He grinned. “I understand what you mean. Sometimes, the life of the mind is far more enriching than the physical. Don’t get me wrong, the physical is still fun, but setting your imagination free is satisfying in a different way.”

Ivy stared at her barely human companion in shock. “That is exactly it! It’s like you read my mind.”

Chuck snickered. “I spend my own share of time lost in my own thoughts.”

“You don’t spend all your time at the bar?”

He smiled. “No. I don’t sleep much either, so when I have the chance to spend time by myself, I carefully choose the form that my imagination takes.”

Ivy tried not to be coy. “You don’t…uh…have a mate?”

A flicker of pain crossed his features. “No. The mated folk here wear wristbands so that they are readily visible. That kind of confusion isn’t what we want for the Crossroads.”

“I see. Well, that would clarify things somewhat.” She smiled at the server and ordered some fries.

“That’s it?” Chuck was surprised.

“That is it. I am still a little nervous. Fries should stay down.” She smiled shyly.

“Still? I am not as suave as I thought I was.” He grinned. He ordered a steak, fries and a salad and the server bustled off with a grin.

“You are trying to charm me?” She smiled shyly at him.

He blinked and gave her a slow smile. “I suppose I am. Are you amenable to charm?”

“Not to be mean, but I have never found a serpent charming before. This is a definite first.” It was bluntly honest.

“Have you met many of my kind?”

“A few anacondas over the years.”

He sneered. “Crushers.”

“Exactly. Not my favourite shifters.”

He cocked his head. “What are your favourite shifters?”

“Honestly?”

“It seems a night for it.”

“Porcupines. They usually have a sense of humour and enjoy their own skin. It is an admirable trait and I get along well with them.” Her boss was a porcupine, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. A shifter’s other shape was their own.

“Well, I can’t compete with that.” He sighed and their food arrived.

“It isn’t a competition. You still have a chance to make it into my top ten.” She squirted a puddle of ketchup onto her plate and dug into her fries.

She noted a stillness across from her, and when she looked up, he was staring at her. His shy smile sent a trip through her heart.

“I do?”

“It is just a chance. Don’t blow it. Now eat.” She pointed with a fry, and he worked his way through his evening meal.

After a night in the avian hostel, Ivy woke with a smile on her lips. Her time with Chuck had been wonderful, and when he kissed her cheek at the barrier to the women’s areas, her heart had stuttered in her chest.

If she spent too much time around that snake, she was going to need a cardiologist.

Teal was waiting for her in the common room. “Are you ready to go for a swim?”

“I am very ready. Lead the way.”

Ivy was in good spirits, and Teal looked at her slyly. “Did you have a good night?”

“I did. It was lots of fun once I found a nice spot.”

“Did you meet anyone?”

Ivy thought about the twisting pictograms that covered Chuck’s arms and his hypnotizing eyes. “I did.”

“Does he have a name?”

Ivy didn’t answer.

They wound their way through the streets and walked along a path that took them through a thicket of trees. On the other side of the green wall was a beautiful pool fed by a foot-high waterfall.

Teal and Ivy giggled and shucked off their clothing, diving into the water and coming up in feathers to cruise around the pond. One black swan, one white in perfect harmony.

****

Chuck rubbed his eyes as he wrote frantically.

I am just looking for someone who doesn’t feel it necessary to demand my attention. I just want to be with someone and have them accept me for who and what I am.

He smiled. It was just the declaration his heroine needed, and Ivy had provided it without thought.

His publisher was pushing him for another book, but he wanted to do something different than the bodice rippers that Charlotte Penrose was known for. As an alter ego, it was a good one, but he was tiring of the same old story over and over. He wanted to write a smart heroine, one with spine, and have her find a man worthy of her.

If he could spend some more time with Ivy’s dry wit, he might just find his heroine.

****

Ivy enjoyed splashing around and the slow meditation of paddling in her swan form. It both soothed and invigorated her.

When she and Teal waddled out of the water, they swiftly shivered the few clinging drops of water back to the ground.

Ivy headed for her pile of clothing, and she shifted back to human. Getting dressed after a shift was always weird. None of her limbs moved right, and it took four times as long as it should.

Teal was sitting next to her and waiting. “I love doing that in the mornings. Tony likes a flight, but for me, there is nothing better than a swim with a companion.”

Ivy sighed and sat on the grass, watching the water. “It is nice to swim with the same species. I usually miss the group swims with my family. My schedule seems to interfere with it.”

“You make it interfere. There comes a time when you have to choose the important versus the inconvenient. Time with your family will not come again.”

Ivy sighed and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I know, but they nag me about finding a mate constantly, so I avoid them.”

“Find a mate and you will no longer have to avoid them. It is just that simple.”

“Was it that easy for you?”

Teal snickered. “No. I ran from an arrangement and Tony found me along the way. Then, I ran from Tony and I ended up with an appointment to the Crossroads.”

“I don’t foresee that for me.” She chuckled and watched the water happily cascading over the rocks and into the pond beneath.

“So, what is his name?”

“Chuck.”

Teal literally tipped over with shock. She sat up slowly. “You are not kidding.”

“I am not. I like him. He’s funny and sharp with a nice smile and surprisingly pretty eyes once you get used to them.”

“Oh, I know that. I am just surprised that a newcomer to the Crossroads can see it. It seems you look a little deeper than I first guessed.” There was respect in Teal’s voice.

Ivy shrugged. “I see what I see. He was nice to me, and he went out of his way to make contact with me. That puts him high up in my books, so to speak.”

Teal sighed. “Well, on that note, I am heading for breakfast. Care to join me?”

“Sure. I am a much larger fan of breakfast than dinner.”

They walked back down the path and headed to the café. No words were necessary, they were two swans moving in unison.

After breakfast, Ivy returned to the hostel and grabbed her work pack. With a spring in her step and a bright smile, she entered the Crossed Star.

A stranger was behind the bar, and when she walked up to it, he introduced himself as Jim.

“Hello, Jim. Can I get a glass of juice?”

He blinked. “Just juice?”

“Yes. It is a little early for anything else.”

He shrugged and poured her a glass of orange juice. His wristband flashed silver in the dim light.

She took her plain orange juice and slid into the dark booth in the corner. It was three hours before Chuck showed up, and there was something about the way he looked around that was very familiar.

Chuck spoke quickly to Jim, and Jim looked at her in surprise. Without asking, he brought her a Crossroads-colada, and he slid into the booth next to her.

“Good afternoon, Chuck.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Good afternoon, Ivy. How did you sleep?”

“I dreamed about being trapped in a snake’s coils.”

He frowned. “Nightmare?”

She grinned. “No.”

His tanned skin coloured, and he smiled. “Would you consider allowing me to record some of our conversations?”

She blinked. Whatever she thought he would say next, that was not it. “Um, why?”

He sat back and rubbed his neck. “I have a hobby.”