What the hell?
Ramirez collapsed with a groan, unable to believe what had just happened. It had to be a dream, had to be. Yet, she realized as her mind cleared slowly, the evidence was right in front of her -- under her. Her bare chest resting on another, its skin kind of leathery. Her face half buried in someone's hair. The sheets on her bed twisted in her clenched fists.
This isn't happening. Christ, this can't be happening! She pushed herself up and squeezed her eyes shut. She remembered everything, had been aware of it all along but unable to stop herself. It had happened, but opening her eyes and seeing him beneath her would make it real, and that was more than she could handle.
Her thoughts were sluggish, her mind still feeling as if it had been dipped in rubber cement. The last time she'd been in control of herself was … when?
The garage. Opening my car door. Turning, finding someone behind me. Then everything had gone all fuzzy on her. She'd gotten into the car, started driving … everything was a blur from then on.
Until …
A voice under her, groaning softly, sounding confused. "What … uh … what just happened?"
She gasped, opened her eyes, and found herself staring at the face of a draconid. Beak, horns like a Triceratops, large glowing yellow eyes with reptilian pupils, and a mane of long, bushy, dark red hair. Mere inches from her face.
Her heart pounded and for a moment she couldn't breathe.
Oh, shit! It really did happen! The memory was still blurry, but it was clear enough -- seeing him walking down the street, picking him up and bringing him home, taking her clothes off and …
No! Oh, shit, no! She drew in a breath, wanting to scream, but was unable to get her body to work properly. Get up! Get up, goddamn it!
But she couldn't. She wasn't paralyzed -- she could move her arms and legs -- her body simply wasn't obeying her brain's orders to get off the bed.
The draconid looked around the room, moving slowly, his eyes wide, his expression dazed. "Where am I?"
Ramirez managed to push herself a few more inches away from him. Then she noticed an odd sensation on her chest and looked down.
His hands are on my tits! That freaked her out enough to leap off the bed.
"Shit!" She backed up against the wall, trembling, and stared at him. "Shit!" She glanced around frantically, saw her clothes scattered all over the floor, and finally found her gun near the foot of her bed. She dived at it, yanked it out of its holster and popped back up, aiming it at the draconid.
His eyes grew even wider and their glow brightened. He held his hands up slowly and shook his head.
"Wait -- don't shoot me! I don't even know what happened!"
"You don't know?"
"I … " He glanced around again, then down at himself, and finally at her again. "Uh … did we … ?"
"What the hell do you think?"
He flinched and scooted back against the headboard. "I'm sorry! It wasn't my idea! You're the one who picked me up."
"You're the one who got into my car!"
"And you're the one who drove me here and …"
"Whatever." She kept her gun on him for several more seconds, then she looked into his eyes and saw how confused and terrified he was. She sagged against the wall and ran her free hand through her damp hair. This can't be fucking happening. It's got to be a bad dream.
"I'm really sorry about this," the draconid stammered. "I don't know why this happened. I was just walking down the street and everything turned into a blur." He shook his head. "I wasn't in control of myself."
"Same here." She shook her head. She was still a little fuzzy, herself, as if she had overslept and was just now waking up.
"Not that I didn't enjoy it. But I don't like not being in control of myself." He shuddered and rubbed his hands over his upper arms.
"I can so relate to that. I mean, about not being in control of myself." Ramirez frowned and tried to keep a grip on herself. "It was like somebody else was remote-controlling me."
"Yeah, that's exactly what it felt like."
Ramirez nodded, and then scowled again. What the hell am I doing, standing here, naked, talking with this chimera? Still, as freaked out as she was, there was something about him that had a calming effect on her. Maybe it was his gentle voice or his behavior. He was clearly every bit as shaken up as she was.
She glanced down at herself again, noting the sweat all over her body, and thought about hopping into the shower. But she didn't want to leave this guy alone. She kept her gun pointed at the floor as she picked up her pants, but was ready to snap it up at the first sign of trouble. "Um, you had some clothes when I first saw you. They're somewhere around here, right?"
"Yeah. We both got undressed in a hurry." He glanced around and nodded. "Ah, there they are." He picked up a pair of cargo shorts and a tank-top that was designed to fit around his wings.
Shit, I'm still naked. She shook her head, slipped her pants on and gathered up the rest of her clothes.
A thump from downstairs made her freeze for an instant before turning toward the door. The draconid had heard it as well, and stared at the carpeted stairway outside.
"That sounded like a door closing. Is anyone else here?"
She shook her head. "My daughter lives with me, but she's probably still out with her friends." She glanced out the window. It was still dark outside except for the street lights and the neon in the distance. For once, she was glad that Kim wasn't here.
She slipped her T-shirt over her head and charged into the hallway and down the stairs. She kept her gun pointed at the floor, just in case Kim had come home early. She hoped that whoever was in here was a burglar, rather than her daughter. The last thing she needed was to explain to Kim why a chimera was in her bedroom.
She reached the front room and did a quick visual sweep. Finding no one, she opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch.
A dark gray van was parked across the street. A man in a black topcoat walked toward it. He glanced over his shoulder, saw her, and launched into a panicked sprint.
Ramirez didn't know how she knew, but she was certain that the guy had just been in her house. She bolted after him, reaching him just as he got to the van. She tackled him, slamming him into the side of the van, then spun him around, shoved him back against the van and pointed her gun at him. She backed up a few steps to stay out of his reach.
"NCPD! Don't move!"
He looked into her eyes and everything swirled around her and turned into a blur. When her head cleared, she was walking back toward her house. The draconid had followed her out and was staring at her with his head tilted to one side.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Huh?" She blinked and turned back, suddenly remembering the van. The man had just gotten inside. He gave her one last look as he started the engine.
The draconid ran past her and grabbed the van's door handle. The man stared at him, and he froze and then let his arm fall to his side.
What the hell? Ramirez tried to get a good look at the man's face, but the van drove off down the street before she could get any closer. With a sigh, she walked up to the draconid, who blinked and shook his head.
"What happened? I was gonna pull him out of the van, but … " He glanced around. "Where'd he go?"
"He did something to us. When he looked at us. First me, then you." Ramirez shivered.
"He must have caused us to have sex, then. What I felt just a moment ago was the same thing that happened before you took me to your house."
"Yeah, same here. The bastard must've been in my house." This was creepy as hell, but she was also starting to get pissed off. First time I've had sex in years, and it wasn't by choice. And the guy I screwed isn't even human. And a total stranger was in my home, probably watching us the whole time. "Son of a bitch!" She stormed back across the street and into the house, and the draconid followed her.
"What now?" he mumbled, a look of utter bewilderment on his face as he watched her slam the front door and lock it.
She snarled through clenched teeth. "I'm gonna find out what the hell is going on. I'm gonna find out who did this and I'm gonna make him wish the fuckin' ground had opened under his feet and swallowed him whole!"
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