The Crystal Warrior

The Crystal Warrior (Chapter 6)

The Crystal Warrior

By Maree Anderson

Chapter Six

Chalcey registered the swoosh of the bathroom door as Wulf slid it shut behind him. And then she was on her own, with all the privacy she could possibly desire. Whoopee.

She slumped to the floor of the cubicle and covered her face with her hands, unwilling to face reality let alone crawl out of the shower. The hot water pounded over her. Pity the drumming of high-pressure water on stainless steel couldn't drown out her thoughts.

She was still taking the pill, thank God. But what she had just done was so completely out of character that it was darn near incomprehensible. Visions of brain tumors danced in her head. One of Sam's stepfathers—the second, or maybe the third—had been diagnosed with one, giving his wife a brilliant excuse for any personality trait of his that she'd particularly disliked. She'd been in heaven. Until he finished treatments, recovered, and his personality didn't change one bit. Mrs. Greenwood was a real piece of work.

Maybe—

Oh, wise up, girl! There were no excuses. She'd allowed hormones and the rather prolonged sex-free spell in her life to get the upper hand. Honestly, who could blame her for taking full advantage of the gorgeous guy who'd been more than willing to screw her 'til she was reduced to a quivering mass of orgasmic nerve-endings? It was something modern women did all the time. And as Sam frequently insisted, it was just sex. Really, really, incredibly great, mind-blowing sex, but just sex all the same. Nothing to wig out over.

So why had her heart been shredded into teeny tiny pieces when Wulf had untangled himself from her and stepped from the shower without a backward glance? Why did she feel so bereft at the sneaking suspicion that now she'd given him what he wanted, he would disappear back to wherever the hell he came from?

The door to the bathroom opened and Chalcey reached out to tweak the shower curtain closed. That was her, modest and all. Nothing like closing the stable door after the Wulf had bolted.

"You in there, Chalce?" Sam asked.

"Yep. Won't be a moment. Just—" she fumbled for an excuse "—washing my hair." Silence reigned. Figuring that she might as well authenticate her lie she grabbed the shampoo, crawled to her feet and slopped goop onto her hair.

"Wulf sent me in to see if you were okay. He mentioned you might need a towel."

"Oh, he's still here?" He hadn't used her for sex and taken off. She hugged the knowledge tightly to her heart. Not that it made the slightest bit of difference, she told herself sternly. She was still kicking him out on his sculpted backside as soon as she'd fed him.

"Of course he's still here," Sam said. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"I, uh, thought he would have— Oh, never mind."

A muffled sigh was the only warning before Sam yanked back the curtain. She pinned Chalcey with cat-like green eyes that examined every little nuance of her expression. All-seeing. All-knowing.

Chalcey did a full-body blush and cringed. "Jeez. Quit with the x-ray vision, will you? You're making me feel like I'm the latest viewing attraction at the zoo." She adjusted the water temperature, making it cooler to counteract the heat of her humiliation.

"So. You and Wulf got it on. You go, girl!" Now Sam had a huge smirk on her face—the kind proud moms got when their kids had done something extra special. Anyone would think she'd planned this whole encounter.

Chalcey decided her best chance of retaining a smidgeon of dignity was to brazen it out. "I would have thought that was patently obvious when you came in before. And I'm sure you're thrilled that my sexual drought is over. In fact—" her voice wobbled only the teensiest bit "—now I know what I'm missing, I think I'll fuck strange men more often." Warming to her I-just-fucked-a-hot-guy-so-what? theme, she muttered, "Can't believe I've spent so many years wedded to vibrators when I could have been screwing the real thing."