Free Off the Beaten Path: Eight Tales of the Paranormal by Sharon Sant, Angela Roquet, Jason T. Graves, Monica La Porta, Chip Putnam, D.R. Johnson, Kath Langdon Page B

distance.  I wished he wouldn’t.
    “What happened to you?” I asked, unable to steady my voice.  He captured my gaze again, and that’s when I noticed his eyes were like liquid onyx.  As I waited for him to answer, I stared into the swirling pools of black and tried to remember if his eyes had been this dark before.
    “I made a friend.  He led me down a path I had to take.  I want to make you the same offer.”
    I heard his words, but I didn’t understand.  Heat was rolling off me in waves, and I was finding it hard to concentrate.  Somewhere, in the far back of my mind, warning bells were going off, but I ignored them.
    “ Lankin has already marked you as a job deserter, but maybe we can get your position back if you just explain to them what happened.”  The words tumbled out of my mouth even as I knew he would never step foot back at their offices – at least not to work for them.
    I couldn’t help it though.  My mind was still trying to grasp at something solid.  This wanton burn in my belly was not normal.
    “Laura, listen to me,” Nik said, his intense stare trapping me like a net.  “I received a far better offer, and I took it.  I’m extending that same offer to you now.”
    Nik reached into his front pocket and pulled out a small vial that appeared to be full of dark liquid.  He held it out to me, and instinctively, I reached for it.  Our hands touched, and it was like an electric jolt shot through me.  I noticed that it affected Nik also, because he dropped the vial in my palm and jerked back.  He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to steady himself.  When he opened them again, his stare was all the more intense.
    The burn in my belly grew into a hunger, now that I knew he felt the same as I did.  Reigning my galloping emotions, I glanced down at the small vial in my hand.  Rolling it around in my fingers, I saw a hint of red shining through the black serum.
    “Drugs?” I asked, amazed I was able to get the word out without choking on it.
    “No, it’s nothing like that.  It’s an immunity of sorts,” he said.  His brow furrowed, and now my curiosity was up.
    “Drink it.”
    I scoffed. There was no way I was going to drink that foreign liquid, no matter how sexy he was.  Then I met his eyes again and again my resolve melted away.  I could see forever in those deep pools.  Before I even knew what my hands were doing, I had already popped the little cork out of the top of the vial and was bringing it to my lips.  The alarm bells in the back of my head had turned into a full-blown siren, but I couldn’t stop.
    A thought flitted across my mind that somehow Nik was controlling me, making me want to do these crazy things, making me feel alive.  But that didn’t stop the motion of my hand, or the willingness of my mouth as the small glass cylinder rested on my lips.  In a quick motion, my wayward arm upended the contents of the vial into my mouth, and I gulped it.
    The richest delicacy I’d ever known slid across my tongue and down my throat.  Even my reservations gave pause as I savored the unknown liquid.  Time slowed as I felt it burn down my esophagus and fade away into my belly.
    I opened my eyes and took a deep breath, licking every drop of the fluid from my lips.  I found Nik smiling at me.  He seemed relaxed, and the tension in him that I hadn’t even noticed before was gone.  I slumped back into the cushions, copying his mood.
    “What was that?” I asked, feeling dazed and euphoric. I giggled for no reason.
    Nik’s smile grew as he stood before me, drawing himself to his full height.  He closed the distance between us to tower over me.  Whatever I had just consumed seemed to kill all my inhibitions, and I reached my hand up to run my fingertips over his taut belly.
    As soon as my hand made contact with him, Nik sucked in a quick breath and grabbed my wrist.  The way he purred his response placated me so I didn’t feel rebuffed from his