~ Searching ~

by

Judith Miller

She had no sense of time as she walked. The moon gradually drifted behind a screen of fir trees and its light faded, though she could still dimly see the path. A momentary twinge of anxiety touched her and she turned around, looking back the way she had come. How had it gotten dark so fast without her noticing it? And it was quiet suddenly, and spooky. All she could hear was the sound of footsteps on the trail.

Footsteps that weren’t her own.

Lissa spun back around peering into the darkness, her mouth dry, heart pounding. All the magic had fled the evening leaving her filled with terror of the looming shadow on the trail ahead. She sucked in her breath, preparing to scream.

"I’m not sure Osgood will like being woken up this time of night by anything other than his precious Sasquatch."

The scream that never made it past her lips dwindled into a deep sigh of relief. As she watched him move out of the darkness, she realized the reason for her midnight wandering. She had been searching for him. Somehow she had known he would be out here.

"Gam. You scared me to death."

"Sorry. I didn’t expect to find anybody exploring my forest this time of night." He hadn’t expected, but he had hoped. If she turned up, he didn’t know what he would do, if she didn’t, he would have been more disappointed than he would ever admit to himself. He pointed at her robe, now dusty at the hem from trailing in the soft, dry soil. "I hope you’ve got something more practical to wear in the woods than that." Silent sarcasm echoed in his ears--terrific conversationalist you are, buddy. But his real worry was, had she been with Osgood? Their tents were so close together, he could have already seduced her. She could be walking off the romantic aftereffects. Or worse.

Lissa blushed, and the knowledge that she was blushing made her cheeks tint even more. It had been a long time since a man had made her blush. Now all anybody had to do was mention this man’s name and she looked like a cosmetic advertisement. "I couldn’t sleep." The words fell from her lips awkwardly. What had happened to her poise, her city-bred polish? Gone on the night wind.

The moon drifted from behind a giant hemlock and bathed them both in silver light. Lissa couldn’t help herself. Her feet seemed to move of their own volition until she was only inches from his broad chest. The faint scent of a spicy soap filled her nostrils. It was all she could do to keep from unbuttoning the red shirt he was wearing and explore the warm skin beneath with her sensitive fingers. She turned her head, looking from side to side, then back into his dark eyes. There was witchery about them. Did he know?

"Don’t you feel it?" she asked him, her voice a whisper.

He was very still, watching her, like a great stag poised for flight. "Feel what?"

"The magic. The night is magic here." She lifted her hand and showed him the moonbeams spilling over her spread fingers. "Is it always this way?"

Gam sighed and nodded. He was amazed. No one since his childhood had spoken of such things. No one since his mother had left. He felt a small, sad twinge and pushed it away. He wouldn’t think about that; there was no point. He was a grown man, not a boy. Leave the past where it belonged. Yet, he still enjoyed using his imagination to enliven his world.

"Magic? Always. That’s one reason I live here. But there’s more of it tonight."

"Why do you suppose that is?"

A smile made Gam’s dark eyes gleam. His hand lifted and a finger grazed Lissa’s cheek. "It has something to do with you, I think." All his doubts and fears about this lovely woman had fled. The night wind took them, too.

Lissa returned his smile, knowing something very delicate, special, something all too easily destroyed, was being born. "And with you," she whispered.

The touch of his lips was feather light, yet filled with searing heat. His beard against her sensitive skin was soft as a caress. Lissa’s arms drifted up around his neck. Her fingers twined in his hair. The kiss deepened and heat flashed through the two bodies now melded tightly together. Lissa moaned softly, her pulses pounding, and raised herself on tiptoe to insinuate herself even closer, when she felt his body stiffen. He straightened, and she could see him staring over her shoulder, his eyes cold. His hands dropped to his sides and she lowered her arms as well, backing away, hurt, not understanding what was happening.

"Well, well, well. What’s this? A moonlight tryst? I didn’t think you had it in you, Gam old boy." Phillip Osgood stepped into view. He eyed Lissa, smiling speculatively. "Though I can’t say I blame you."