Page 3 (2/2)

"Oh, yeah" I had Along with a peculiar sharpening of all my senses, particularly s rass under ne at htly acrid sweat from the warm day

I stepped away froainst the tilted in my hands

"You found this spot before," I pointed out "It does this sort of thing Maybe the round are a certain blend here Maybe there’s iron in the fertilizer for the trees So chemical"

"So you do believe in chemistry?"

I didn’t miss the double entendre My hard-nosed skepticis n as the one he’d shown the kids but limpsed the sliver of white teeth between his well-arched lips Maybe he was a daylight vamp; some could "pass" as human if you didn’t look too close, like Undead Ted Vamps were always drawn to irl in the old ballad anted to be loved for rass "You think this spot is a ’plant’ Tell you what Take the twig soo"

"What’ll that prove?"

"I’ll bring up the rear and try my talented touch every now and then"

"You seem pretty confident there’ll be more ’water’ around here What’s the source? The lake?"

"It began as a pond that overflowed a spring, but the water table dried up decades ago It’s all desert now, so the citythe Easter Island head on the islet in the center?"

"Yup Grotesque, isn’t it? Just one seeinal spring under the land, you’re telling ain, his shoulders broad under the crisp-collared silken shirt, his hips narrow under that discreet snake of a gold belt that whispered "sexy" to le eye

Maybe he wasn’t a vamp They couldn’t keep their eyes off my neck and wrists, and he was totally focused on rabbed the silly twig again, an weaving over the grass in an opposite direction The late-day croasaway Distant reeds cast stilettos of shadow as the sun weltered red and swollen behind them

I actually tried to clear my mind and believe that I could find water, that the stick would perform for me, for my touch alone Say you believe in fairies and Tinker Bell, or Peter Pan, will live

He followedwas unimpressed by my custody too After a coupleon uy, late twenties, no rings, successful professional and kind to kids, which was a huge plus in s Was this just a come-on sche for another load of-? Then his fingers o! The branches in my hands pulled down harder than a twenty-ertip touch beca sucked into the ground by a hurricane-level force, ht

The day had gone dark, at first at the edges ofto see but lightning flashing right around us

"Hold on!" he shouted in my ear Maybe he whispered and it only sounded like a shout to my instantly raw nerves The words evaporated into a ind On either side of s holding rew cla my alien abduction dreams This felt like the same endless, unanchored hinto my palms, but I couldn’t release the rods of acid fire between my hands

And then a deep interior rush of indescribable pleasure swooped between s and up my center to some sweet spot that melded the physical and mental The sensation swept mind and senses away into a secret sensual place that wasn’t anywhere I recognized, not in ht teased the darkness, flashing like a strobe on bare li in a black pit It tookthe beast with two backs Two sexes

If these were ghosts, they were carnal ones Sighs, guttural cries, fevered panting,either pleasure or pain, or both, entwined in sorunts, screams, felt the thud of club on bone, the impact of hot metal on ertips, were now running red with blood I atching a savagely cut fil love with death, desire with destruction If this was death I witnessed, it was the death of a thousand blows and caresses and cuts and kisses

Too much More than I could withstand, a theme park ride into a horror htmare I screamed into the violent darkness and woke up silent,out

Ahead ofthe trees and the lake water Ducks and geese and one toy sailboat ski sandlike ripples The Easter Island head shone like solid gold in front of its guardian palht

Was I alaruid dreaht saber of sensation that had piercedits central element, the spot where earth met underworld, search met find, li finallyuntouched within myself

Then I rehtwine’s establisher’s ar into his shoulder and chin,else

I spun around, away, so that ere facing each other

The doas looking as dazed and embarrassed as I felt, thank God His rich cocoa-colored skin had an ashy undertone Tiny beads of sweat swept across his forehead, catching the twilight like a diade Like a fairyland lord come to take me away Froo anywhere

Girl, get over it! urged hthties housewife humorist like Erma Bombeck, but today she was a pert Shirley MacLaine French tart from a sixties filoodies alive He’s a park pick-up Cute, but what’s with the ic water wand bit? Soether

Ir to shake me out of this bizarre state I was in I felt like I’d been struck du bolt of sex and death And I felt another new overwhel Satisfaction Wow, this eird

So aard conversational transitions Usually she felt that responsibility, anyway

"U rod goes down?"

What had I said? Irma? Was that you, you brassy flirt? Or was it the bolt of sheer sexual energy that had surged up froh ertips?

He stepped away and back His dusky face reddened in the fading sunlight

Even while I wanted to clap a hand over my suddenly sexy mouth, I realized that I liked that His reticence I wasn’t norotten intolate" He sounded as flustered as I did

He reached into a pants pocket, but not for the car keys I expected He reached in a thuolf ball marker

Then he looked at the sunset, then east to a line of small trees, all neatly labeled with dead people’s names, and finally past me to the Easter Island head

He bent to irass between us

"What are you doing?"

"It’s for my work"

"Then there really is water under this spot? I found it? Are you a landscape architect or so?"

He smiled, distracted "You could call it that" Then he looked at me, hard, a question in his eyes "Here’sdusk, I could barely read the e on the heavy linen paper: Ric Montoya, Consultant An office address was followed by several phone nus, planning to put the card in my purse on the deserted bench My purse! So with a dowser!

"Let et that" He lifted his jacket fro , he pulled a small black object from his jacket side pocket "Portable alarone off You haven’t been robbed"

"Oh What a relief! I’m new in town and all my ID, my credit card info, Social Security nu hand on my wrist, but I jerked away as if burned

"Sorry," I said "I’uess I panicked"

"May I have your phone nuic wand shone, liquid lava in his dark hand, against his lu in intensified colors, the sunset bathing us in an a to emerald

"Miss-?" he repeated

Dummy Speak!

"Street" I decided to skip the Delilah part He looked like the kind of Latin lover who’d call you "Miss" while he was unzipping your skirt A gigolothis because he was so attractive? "I never re a little "Let et a hold of yourself, urged Irender and species, and you two have obviously got so

I found the cell, punched "My phone ," and read it off, watching Ric Montoya, consultant (on what?), punch it into his own phone Twilight had edged into dark by the time he escorted me to the curb and opened the door of my queen-size black Caddy with the red leather interior and white convertible top

"A lot of car," he noted, surprised and intrigued by Dolly What guy wouldn’t be? "Should I follow you home?"

"No, I’m fine It’s just this sudden headache"

All I could see of him noas luminous splashes of white: that supernaturally white shirtfront, his flashing teeth and eyes The lights inside reen and blue

"I’ll call," were his last words

Yeah The elusive singlecall, cited in irlfriend I feel it inMarie LaVeau now, the infa about having an inner girlfriend since before puberty; she could behead, not even noticing where Ric Montoya had gone But I had his nuuy would be great for a change

Between the pulsing of every blood vessel into remember my way back to the Araby Motel in the dark, I didn’t notice anything different about s

Shit! I was either having my period off-schedule, which would be weird because I’d been on the Pill forever to control killer cramps, or I was really, really into Ric Montoya Or vice versa

Or maybe both, if they didn’t cancel each other out

Oh, joy