The
Ninja Tattoo was my NaNoWriMo novel in 2009 and I went on to publish
it with Tirgearr Publishing in 2013. It is the first in my, loosely
grouped, Florida series: The Ninja Tattoo, Conduct Unbecoming, Call
Me and Mirrored. Teague meets Vivica by chance—he runs into her
with a door as he backs out of the Dunkin' Donuts. Despite the
inauspicious beginning, they fall hard and fast for one another.
However, problems arise and Teague decides it's prudent to head out
of town with Vivica, in order to keep her safe.
Vivica
and Teague drove silently out of town. He was planning, she could
tell his mind was working out how to hide them both and protect her.
With decision, he made the turn west on Canal Street, heading to
I-95.
"Where
are we going?" Vivica asked after he turned north on the
interstate.
"About
an hour away, a small place called Volusia."
"We're
in Volusia."
"We're
in Volusia County. I'm talking about the spot on the road
outside Astor. Ain't much of a place, but it's mighty handy if you
want to go camping."
"Camping?"
Vivica said with alarm. "Seriously?"
"Ocala
National Forest is up there," he said with finality. "And I
can get us good and lost in the woods."
"I
don't want to get lost in the woods," Vivica said.
"I
don't mean lost, lost," he explained. "I mean like
not found."
"Can
we at least have a cabin?" Vivica didn't look pleased about
roughing it.
"It
ain't campin' if you've got a cabin," Teague said, letting his
Southern accent flavor the words. "But maybe we can borrow the
camper and hook it up. Depends on how lost we wanna get. Good and
lost means a tent in the middle of BFE."
"Maybe
now is a good time to tell you I've never been lost in the woods
before and my idea of camping is spending the night on someone's
couch."
"There's
an advantage to camping in the deep woods." He raised an
eyebrow, grinning at her.
"Oh?
Snakes in my sleeping bag and scorpions in my shoes?"
"You're
looking at the downside."
"There's
an upside?"
"Sure!
You can scream all you want during sex—ain't nobody gonna
complain."
She
punched his shoulder, laughing. "Okay, so there's a little
upside."
"I'm
thinkin' that's a damn good one. Mm, sex in a tent. Haven't done that
in quite awhile."
"I
don't even want to know," Vivica said with a shiver of delight.
"Don't
want to know what?"
"How
many girls you talked into doing that."
"Country
girls can be mighty obliging."
He
looked smug. She punched him again.
Vivica
eventually curled up, putting her head on Teague's shoulder and fell
asleep. He held her close, the scent of her perfume tickling his
nostrils. Thoughts of her body wrapped around his made him a little
crazy and he couldn't wait to get her to the cabin so they could make
love again. He couldn't resist kissing her forehead, wanting to do
much more, but not wanting to wake her.
He
took State Road 40, pulling off onto a narrow, poorly paved road that
quickly changed to dirt. They bounced around quite a bit on the
rutted track. Vivica roused when her pillow moved, yawning and
stretching.
"We
there yet?"
"Almost,
sweet darlin'. About 10 more minutes. You okay?"
"I
need to pee."
"No
place to go unless you fancy a bush. Don't worry, Uncle Tack has
indoor plumbing."
"Thank
God!"
They
pulled up a short time later, in front of a huge, custom designed
cabin. The sprawling edifice had a warm and welcoming aspect making
Vivica feel at home and safe. Teague got out first, walking toward
the house with his hands out, away from his body.
"Be
right back. Don't get out until I tell you."
"Why?
What are you doing?"
"If
you lived out in the middle of fucking nowhere, would you be
expecting guests at this hour?"
"No,
I suppose not."
The
door opened disgorging six hunting dogs. Behind them, the tip of an
over & under shotgun emerged. At first, Vivica thought the
shotgun was held at waist level, until a man walked out. The gun was
jammed to his shoulder, he held it leveled at Teague.
©
Dellani Oakes 2015
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