FIRE ON HIGH

    “Fire On High” is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. All characters and settings © Tigermark 2003-2007 unless otherwise noted. Request permission before using them, please.

The characters of Anatol Altaisokova and Melinda Altaisokova are my names for characters © Max Blackrabbit. They appear in this story with his permission. The characters of Brandy, Maxwell, Tonya and Zig Zag are also © Max Blackrabbit and appear here with his permission. Events and information relating to Tonya, Anatol, and their family are presented here, but are not to be considered canon to those characters or any other story but this one. ZZ Studios, and all characters associated with ZZ Studios, James Sheppard, and Marvin Badger © James Bruner and appear here with his permission. Although characters from and events referring to Zig Zag the Story appear here, this story is not canon to that one, and the author will disavow any knowledge of this story. Wanda Vixen © Chris Yost and appears here with his permission. Sabrina Mustidalae © Eric W. Schwartz and appears here with his permission. This story is not canon to Sabrina Online the comic, or Sabrina Online the Story, either. Matt Barstock, Angie, Intermountain Charter, The Bitch, and her crew, and Jerry Kitt © Silver Coyote. See their story HERE.  Gail Rutherford © me and is not canon to any other story involving ZZ Studios. Gabrielle Ryder © Aslaug, from her stories Transitions and Transitions II. See them at her site, The Axe Shed, available from the links page.

Author’s Note: Lewiston, Maine’s airport, identifier KLEW, is actually uncontrolled. That is, it has no control tower. Poetic license was used for this story, so Alex and company talk with a control tower whilst aviating there.

Chapter 51

Anticipation

“Alright, Mr. O’Whitt, show me your preflight,” the leathery-skinned old opossum said. Dwight Parsons had been the FAA Flight Examiner at Lewiston for many years, and he knew his business very well. So far the tiger he was giving the oral and flight tests to today had shown himself to be very ready for his helicopter license. If things continued the way they were going, the flight would be a pleasant ride out and back instead of the hard challenge it became when a candidate wasn’t well-prepared. He’d done some of Ben’s students who were a real chore, but those had usually insisted upon the test without Ben’s recommendation. The old shaggy canid had spoken very highly of this one, and Dwight had to admit that the tiger seemed very adept so far.

Alex nodded and launched into the preflight, explaining each move and check. In short order, they were buttoned up inside the little Robinson and Dwight nodded for Alex to take off. A quick call to the tower got them clearance to taxi, and Alex lifted gently into a smooth hover. They taxied to the runway, and held short for a minute while a Cessna Caravan landed. Alex then called for and received takeoff clearance. A quick turn to line up with the runway, and Alex pulled up on the collective. They rapidly lifted up and away from the airport.

Dwight grinned a very toothy grin as he put Alex through his paces, calling for sharp turns, high-angle climbs, hover descents, and hover out-of-ground-effect. Then he simulated an engine failure. Alex handled the autorotation smoothly, and then Dwight pointed a thumb back in the direction of the airport.

“Take us home, Mr. O’Whitt.”

Alex lifted back off and turned toward Lewiston. He was setting up for the approach when there was a break in the radio chatter, and the opossum spoke again.

“So, Ben tells me you might be draggin’ Miss Corrie off to Kentuckay.”

 The opossum’s Maine accent was still there, but not as pronounced as Ben’s. Alex just managed to not show any reaction in the controls.

“Ah, he did? Well, we haven’t talked about that yet. She has good friends and a good job here. I’m not sure she’d be willing to leave them.”

Dwight continued to grin. “Oh, from what Ben tells me, and what I’ve heard ‘round the airfield, you’d best be talkin’ with her ‘bout it. Right now seems to me like it’s the five hundred pound kaht in the corner. You both see it, but neither wants to be the first to say ‘here kahtty.”

Alex nodded as he began his final approach. Several minutes later he was shutting down the engine and securing the cockpit, bringing the flight test to an end. After they got out, Alex secured the rotor blades and completed tying down the aircraft. With a nod to himself that he hadn’t forgotten anything, he turned to find the examiner looking at him speculatively.

“Is there anything else, Mr. Parsons?” Alex did a quick mental review of the shutdown and tiedown checklist, wondering if he had in fact missed something.

“Eh? Oh, no, no. You pass with flying colors. I was just thinking, ah, well, I was just thinking on whether you’ll ever bring Corrie back to see us, that’s all.”

Alex’s first thought was that he would never keep Corrie away from her friends and family. That just wouldn’t be right. His second thought was that Dwight Parsons was an old busybody, but his advice was pretty sound.

“You know Corrie better than I do. Do you really think I could keep her away, even if I wanted to?” Alex gave a wink to go with his statement. The old opossum gave a snort and a laugh.

“No, I don’t really think you could, at that. Well Mr. O’Whitt, let’s go sign your logbook and complete the paperwork so we can mint you as a brand new rotorwing av-ee-at-tor.”

Alex grinned broadly and made an “after you” gesture. He followed the opossum into the Old North office and saw him give a thumbs-up as he went in the door. As Alex walked in behind him, there was a sudden shout of “Congratulations!” from several voices. Alex’s grin got wider. The room was full of pilots. Ben and Corrie were there, along with most of the Old North crew and several others from around the airport. A tub of cold drinks and a table of snacks had been assembled while Alex was taking his test. The other pilots lined up to shake paws and congratulate Alex, with Corrie and Ben holding back to be last in line.

When they finally reached him, Ben shook his paw and gave Alex a bristly grin without commenting. Corrie wrapped him up in a hug and kiss reminiscent of their first one, bringing hoots and kaht-calls from the others. They broke their embrace and Corrie asked if he wanted something to drink. She then walked over to the tub where the drinks were cooling. Alex took the time to reflect on the day so far. He felt very accomplished to have gotten his helicopter license in just over two and a half weeks, but part of him was dreading going home. He was already missing Corrie. He smirked to himself. Now he was sounding like a mooning lovesick teenager. He knew part of the feeling also came from the fact he just wouldn’t see Corrie as much for the rest of his time there. He would be with a different instructor, familiarizing himself with instrument and turbine operations in the MD-500.  As Corrie returned with two cold sodas, and the chatter between the pilots picked up in volume, Alex and Corrie took the chance to talk.

“So Jet Jockey, now you’re rated. Guess I won’t see you as much. What are we gonna do about that?”

Alex gave her a wink and a smile as he replied. “Go out to dinner tonight, of course. If I can’t see you here, I’ll just have to see you away from work.”

Corrie gave him a smile in return and nodded as Daniel Prescott, the cheetah who flew the MD-500 for Old North, stepped up to Alex.

“Congrats, Alex. Ben just told me that you’ll be starting with me for turbine and instrument training for the rest of this week and next.”

Alex gave a single nod. “Thank you. I’m looking forward to it, Daniel.”

“Great, but I’m not going to kiss you if you do well,” the cheetah teased. Corrie and Alex laughed, and Corrie replied.

“You bettah not. That’s me job and I enjoy it very much, thank you.”

Daniel just grinned and touched two fingers to his forehead before moving away. Alex noticed Ben and Dwight motioning him over to the desk.

“Looks like they’re ready for me to sign my paperwork.”

“Okay Luv. I think I’ll head home and get some chores done. Since we’re celebrating with dinner, I’ll pick the place.”

Alex gave her a quick kiss. “Fine. See you around nineteen hundred?”

“See you then.”

Alex headed for the desk as Corrie called goodbyes to the assembled pilots. They were both anticipating a long talk with dinner.

# # #

Corrie took the load of laundry she’d just pulled out of the wash and tossed it in the dryer. She found herself humming an old tune she hadn’t heard since she was a cub as she set the controls and started the machine. She’d called for dinner reservations as soon as she’d arrived home. DaVinci’s had come to mind, but she felt like somewhere geared a little more for couples than families was in order. The restaurant she’d picked was an upscale place in east Lewiston called Atlantis. Corrie had only been there a couple of times, but as she recalled the atmosphere and seating lended itself to candlelight and quiet conversation. The establishment had a bar and dance club section next to the restaurant, separated by a thick wall and an airlock-style walkway. Corrie had looked in on that part of the place on her first visit and found the usual noise and smoke, with the requisite twenty-somethings grinding away on the dance floor. The bar was very busy serving the liquid lubrication for the dancing.

Corrie wasn’t big on the bar scene. She’d met a couple of her biggest disasters while trying to play the single’s game in them. Now they just seemed to be too frantic to be much fun. The restaurant was good though, and she knew she and Alex had to talk things over, as far as their future plans went. She had been thinking very hard along those lines for several days. She didn’t want to presume, but Alex gave every indication that he wanted to keep seeing her after his time in Maine was up. Corrie wanted the same thing, but with nearly two thousand miles separating them, she wasn’t so sure it was possible.

Taking nothing for granted, she decided to up the anté a little. Tonight, it was time for the LBD. She was tired of seeing things either blow up because of her problems or the male’s, or seeing the relationship slip away into nothing because she shied away too much. Finally she gave a snort. Running down the Never Never road of her past dating mishaps wasn’t doing her any good.

“Time for a shower,” she stated to herself as she finished folding the load of towels she’d taken from the dryer before putting the current load in. She walked to the closet and put them away, keeping two thick, warm, fluffy ones for her shower.

“Corrie ol’ gal, play your paw right and you might be bonzer well past your problem with males. Well, with this male anyway, and why the heck are you talking to y’self? You sound like you’ve gone beyond the Black Stump.” She gave her head a shake as she walked into the bathroom, and started humming again as she started the shower. She slipped off her T-shirt and jeans and picked up a stiff brush. A quick brushing would remove any loose fur and allow the water to soak through easier. As she stepped into the steaming spray, the title of the tune she’d been humming finally came to mind.

“Annti-ci-pation,” she sang in her brassy alto as she began working the shampoo into her hair.

# # #

Alex finished drying his fur, rubbing vigorously with a towel. He then went to the small closet space in his hotel room and selected the clothes he would wear. Next he went to his duffel and selected the rest of the things he would need, and then went to the bed. As he began dressing, he contemplated the coming evening. He’d stopped by after finishing up at Old North and bought a silk rose for Corrie, mostly on impulse. He had a feeling tonight would be special, with the idea of making plans for after his time in Maine was done. He’d even considered buying and wearing some cologne. He rarely wore it, as he considered most brands either too strong or felt they clashed with his own natural scent, so he’d passed on the idea.

He pulled on the clean white polo shirt he’d selected. It was one of only two he’d brought that didn’t have the Kentiger logo on it. A pair of black dockers completed the outfit. That was as fancy as the clothes he’d packed got. Alex stood in front of the mirror to give himself a final check, and then left his hotel room. He went out to his car, and headed out of town toward Corrie’s.

Checking his watch, Alex saw that he had plenty of time. He felt a familiar nervousness. At least, it was familiar now. It was the same feeling he’d had before his and Corrie’s first date. The anticipation and hope of great things.

# # #

Corrie put her earrings in and flicked her ears to settle them. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and shrugged. To her, there was nothing extraordinary about the reflection she saw. The dress was nice enough. It fit her closely, and showed off a bit of cleavage. It was short, reaching just below mid-thigh, but not too short. The pearl necklace she wore contrasted and complimented both the dress and her fur. Patti, along with the few dates who’d ever seen her in whatever version of an LBD she’d had at that time, had said she was “devastating.” She gave a snort as she looked in the mirror. She was way too much a tomboy to see herself that way.

She heard a car pull up below and looked at her watch. If it was Alex, he was five minutes early. She looked back in the mirror and did a last brush of her blonde hair. A moment later she heard footsteps on the stairs outside. Corrie waited for the doorbell, but after a moment with no sound, she started toward the door to see what had happened. Just as she reached the door, the bell rang. She arched an eyebrow and looked back at her watch. Nineteen hundred exactly.

Corrie grinned as she turned and went to get her purse and keys. She thought a second and decided that she and Alex were far enough along to forgo the pause between bell and answer. She went to the door and checked that it was Alex, and then opened it.

“Hi Alex, right on time as usual.”

Alex stood there with his mouth slightly open and a stunned look on his face. He’d thought Corrie was beautiful in the dress she’d worn on their first date, but the black dress she was wearing now just blew several connections in his brain. After a moment he realized one had been his power of speech. He tried to say something, stopped, swallowed hard, and tried again.

“C-Corrie . . . . Wow!”

Corrie looked down demurely, then looked back up and met Alex’s eyes. She was surprised to see, not lust, but more a look of awe. Back in the recesses of her mind, a voice told her she was mistaken. Males only wanted one thing, and she was only marginally acceptable for even that. She gave a slight shake of her head, attempting to dismiss the voice. Alex’s look clearly told a different story, and she wanted very much to believe he was genuine. The voice grew faint, but she could never seem to get it to go away completely.

Alex managed to get himself back together and smile. “Corrie, you look fantastic!”

Corrie returned the smile and nodded her thanks. “Ready to go?”

“Yep. I’ll drive, you navigate.”

“Sure thing, Luv. I think you’ll like this place.”

Alex held out a paw to her, still looking a bit dazed. “Lead on then, Love.”

Corrie took the offered paw as she shut her door, and then led the way down to Alex’s car. Alex opened her door for her and made sure she got settled in. He then went to the driver’s side, got in, and started the car.

“Where to, Corrie?”

“Atlantis.”

Alex looked askance at her. “Sorry, this is a car, not a submarine.”

Corrie smirked at him a second. “Right smart, Alex. No, Atlantis is a restaurant and club on the downeast side of town. Here’s the address.”

Corrie read off the address she’d written down from the phone book, and Alex entered it into the portable GPS. In a few seconds, the route displayed on the screen, and they headed out.

“Love, let me tell you again how fantastic you look in that dress,” Alex said as a conversation starter.

“Thanks Luv. I keep a few things around for special times, and this came to mind for tonight.”

“So this is a special time?” Alex kept his eyes on the road, but arched his eyebrow. Corrie looked at him coolly for a moment before she noticed the corners of his mouth turned up and realized he was teasing her.

“Oh, not really. I just thought we’d talk about the weather for a couple of hours and then call it a night.”

“Been nice and sunny today,” Alex replied. He couldn’t keep the joke going, though, and broke out in laughter.

“Okay, enough,” he said when he recovered. “Yes, I hope tonight is a special time, too. We need to talk about what happens when I’m finished here and go home.”

“Yes we do,” Corrie agreed. “But let’s wait until we’re at our table in the restaurant. That way we can look each other in the eye and not compete with traffic and such.”

Alex nodded in agreement, and they spent the rest of the drive to Atlantis in conversation about Old North and helicopters.

When the GPS prompted, Alex turned off the street and into a parking lot. The entrance to Atlantis was on the street just down the block. After parking in a well-lit spot, Alex got out and went to open Corrie’s door. As she got ready to get out, he slipped the silk rose he’d bought earlier into her paw. She stared at it for a long moment, taken aback. She then looked up and gave him a smile that would have lit a small city.

“Thank you. It’s been quite a while since anyone’s brought me flowers of any kind.”

“That, my dear lioness, is a shame and a disgrace. I’m glad I could correct the situation,” Alex replied, taking on a formal and rather stuffy air and accent.  Corrie nearly fell out of the car laughing, and Alex joined in. Once they recovered, Corrie got out and they made their way past a line of furs waiting to get into the club side of the building. Just beyond that a pair of doors opened into the greeting area of the restaurant. There a well-dressed chinchilla femme greeted them.

“Hello, welcome to Atlantis. Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes,” Corrie replied. “Patterson, party of two.”

The femme checked the list in front of her and turned to call a waitress. A slim skunk femme in black slacks and a company shirt, with an apron on over that, responded. The chinchilla turned back to Corrie and Alex.

“This is Frieda. She’ll see you to your table. Thanks for joining us tonight and enjoy your meal.”

“Thank you,” both felines responded on their way past. Frieda led the way back to a quiet table near the far wall. Once they were seated, Frieda prepared to take their drink orders.

“Before I ask you what you’d like to drink, would you like me to light the candle?”

Each table had a pillar candle on it, Alex noticed. The general lighting, like the décor, was very subdued. Corrie looked at Alex questioningly. Alex smiled at her and tipped his head.

“Please do,” he said, looking only at Corrie. Frieda smiled and pulled a long match from her apron. She struck it across the top of her order pad and lit the candle. After extinguishing the match, she took the order for their drinks and put a pair of menus down before leaving.

Alex gazed at Corrie, still smiling, for a long moment before he spoke.

“Corrie, what are your thoughts and feelings about us, after next week?”

“Coo Luv! You don’t waste any time, do you? Still, I like that. Right open. Okay then, here goes. I love you, and I want to keep seeing you and build on what we’ve stahted. I’ll tell you right out, though, that I can’t afford to go jetting back and forth to Kentucky all the time. I make a good living at Old North, but not that good.”

Corrie leaned back and tilted her head, her tail twitching a bit nervously beside her chair. Even after the flower, which she now had tucked and bobby-pinned into her hair above her ear, she couldn’t convince a part of her mind to trust in what she was seeing and hearing. Now would be where Alex either literally put his money where his mouth was, or where he’d begin distancing himself from the relationship and her. Corrie appeared cool and collected, but she was unconsciously holding her breath.

Alex tilted his head in the opposite direction from Corrie and gave a lopsided grin. “Not a rich gal, eh? Not a problem on my part. I love you too, Corrie Patterson, and I most definitely want to keep seeing you. I do really well, financially. But I can’t fly Stripes One up here every weekend. It will probably be more like taking a four-day weekend every two to four weeks and catching the airlines or flying my other plane.”

Corrie’s head came up and she gave him a questioning look as she felt herself breath again, so he continued. “I have a Cessna Skymaster that I fly for personal use. Stripes One is top-notch, but very expensive to feed. I fly her some for just me, but most of my time in her is at least partly paid for by Kentiger. I bought the Cessna to lower the costs when I was flying back and forth to West Virginia a lot while Dad was battling cancer. Now I can use it to fly up here on a regular basis. It’ll take a long day’s flying, but it’ll be well worth it to see you. I would like you to come to Kentucky once in a while, but we can work out the logistics of that when the time comes. Now, for longer term, I’d like to tell you how I see things going right now.”

Corrie smiled and narrowed her eyes in curiosity. “Longer term? I like the sound of that. Do tell.”

Alex paused as Frieda brought their drinks and took their meal orders. She retrieved the menus and left again. Alex picked up where he’d left off.

“As I see it, Love, if Billy and I agree on starting a helicopter service branch of Kentiger, we’ll need a chief pilot. I can’t promise, but if it happens I think you’d be the right choice. If we decide not to do helicopters, well . . . to be honest, I don’t know if I could ask you to give up your friends and job and start over again just to have you closer. I think what happens if we don’t go with helicopters, well, that will just have to wait until it happens. Whatever happens, Corrie, I want you to be a part of my life.”

Corrie’s eyes took on a mischievous gleam. “Got it all figured out, eh Jet Jockey? Good, cause I didn’t want to have to walk to Kentucky.”

Alex grinned as Corrie went on, taking a more serious tone. “Ah Alex, I’ve never said much why, but I’ve managed to sabotage or lose every relationship I’ve evah tried. It won’t be easy to keep the same thing from happening with this long-distance love. I’m very glad you want to try. I still had this fear you were just going to fade away back to Kentucky like a dream.”

“No chance. Besides, these stripes come with a lifetime no-fade guarantee.”

Alex had managed to say this with an absolutely straight face, but the merriment in his eyes made Corrie burst out in laughter, and it took a minute for her to recover.

“Ooo, I might have known you’d have a snappy answer. Well, it seems we’re in the green for now. Apples that we got it talked out before dinner even got here.”

Alex glanced back toward the kitchen area and noted their waitress working her way through the tables and patrons. “Corrie, we’ve both been down the approach more than once. We don’t need to dance around what we want to say to each other. That lets us talk over serious matters quickly and then get on to enjoying each other’s company. In this case, the timing was perfect. Here’s Frieda with our dinner.”

The skunkette smiled broadly as she set the plates before them, and then stepped away to refill their drinks. After she had done this and gone, Alex and Corrie’s conversation turned to helicopters, Dwight Parsons, turbine engines, and flying in general. An hour later, both their plates were empty, and they’d passed on the last drink refill offer Frieda had made.

Taking that as a clue that the pair was finished, Frieda laid the small folder with the bill on the table between the felines and made to leave. Alex motioned for her to stay a moment as he quickly retrieved his wallet. He put cash for the bill and a generous tip in the folder and returned it to the skunkette.

As Frieda said an enthusiastic “Thank you, come again!” and left with a big smile on her muzzle, Alex helped Corrie with her chair. Arm in arm, they walked out of the restaurant and into the cool night air.

On their way back to the parking lot, they passed the entrance to the bar section of Atlantis. As the pair approached the doors, Alex felt a familiar tension go through him. His combat instincts had gone on alert. He stopped instantly and put an arm out to the side to stop Corrie, as well.

“Alex, what?” she began. She had stopped to the left and slightly behind him. She fell silent as the doors to the bar suddenly flew open. Angry shouts followed a trio of furs as they staggered out. The center fur was a large male lion who seemed to be a bit unsteady on his feet. The furs on either side were lionesses, who were doing their best to steady and support the male as he did his best to grope both of them at once.

Alex felt Corrie tense. He recognized the lion, too. If they stood still and kept quiet, there was an even chance the trio would wander on down the street without them having to deal with any problems. The lion was grumbling and cursing to his companions and anyone else on the block.

“Damn bouncers! I’m not drunk, am I gals? They must have something against lions. Pre-ju-diced. I should sue ‘em! I’m barely got a good buzz goin’. I—” The lion stopped in mid-rant and blinked at Alex and Corrie. He’d looked their way when he weaved in their general direction.

“Well Shee-it! Look here gals. Ms. Corrine Patterson. She’s the one I told you about. Invited her several times to be a real lioness and join our pride, but she thinks she’s too good for that. You keepin’ company with the likes of this zebra?”

When Alex didn’t respond to the slur, and Corrie just let a low growl escape her, the lion continued his diatribe. “I told you, tiger, not to get in my way. I still owe you for what happened at Old North. I think I’m gone kick your ass, just to show this lioness what she’s missin’.”

Corrie was starting to bare fangs and claws. In lion prides, many times it was the femmes who fought when the male was threatened. When the two lionesses looked at Corrie, they exchanged a glance and then subtly backed away. Corrie got the impression both had been looking for an excuse to end their affiliation with the lion and the pride grouping. It was an archaic custom which few practiced anymore, and most who formed one disbanded within a year because the male became lazy and the femmes realized they didn’t need him as progenitor and protector in modern times. The backing away indicated they were leaving the male to his fate.

 The lion didn’t notice, although he was now much steadier on his feet than before. His eyes had gone from slightly glassy to sharp and feral. Corrie crossed her arms and took on a disdainful pose.

“Rex Richards, you are full as a boot! You’re acting like the egotistical ass you are. Go home before you get yourself hurt or in trouble.”

“Hah! Who’s gonna hurt me? You’re not getting’ the chance to kick me again, and I’m gonna break this old tiger in half! What about it, old fur? Ready to take a beating for your pussy?”

Rex had straightened up with the adrenaline of confrontation, but he wasn’t quite sober enough to notice Alex’s eyes narrow, or see the subtle shift of weight as he went into a fighting stance. When Alex didn’t respond to the taunt, Rex snarled and threw a vicious right cross at Alex’s head. The move was much faster than most would expect from someone who was staggering a moment before, but Rex was a long-time bar brawler.

The lion lurched forward when the punch hit . . . nothing. The next thing he realized was that he was lying flat on his back on the sidewalk with his ears ringing and his eyes out of focus. He tried to move, thinking he must have tripped when the punch missed. Missed? He found it hard to think. What was he doing, anyway?

The two lionesses were wide-eyed. To them it seemed like Alex never moved, but suddenly Rex had lifted up and hit the ground back first with a thud. Even Corrie, who was pretty fast as a kickboxer, wasn’t entirely sure what she’d seen.

“Ladies,” Alex said coolly. “Mr. Richards is having trouble with his footing. I suggest you take him home.”

The two still looked stunned, but moved and helped the lion unsteadily to his feet. He was still weaving badly, as they only had paws on his arms instead of supporting him like before. The difference wasn’t lost on Alex or Corrie. As the two femmes began to steer him on down the street, Rex managed to look back over his shoulder. When he saw Alex, he cowered, just a slight bit. Corrie he glared at, and managed to call out before going out of earshot.

“We’re not done, Corrine!”

“Yeah, go on home, Rex. I hope your bruises are only exceeded by your hangover,” Corrie replied, smiling sweetly.

Rex just gave a surly grumble and stumbled on. After a moment, he and his companions were out of sight. Alex turned to meet Corrie’s eyes, a grave expression on his face.

“I hope your bruises are only exceeded by your hangover? Oh Chopper Gal, that’s too good.” Alex expression changed to a wry grin before he began to laugh.

“Glad you liked it, Luv,” Corrie replied a bit nervously. The incident had shaken her. “Now, what exactly did you do? I saw a blur of motion when Rex threw that punch, but I couldn’t follow it.”

Alex’s serious look returned. “As I’ve said, I’m a third degree Black Belt. I leaned aside to dodge the punch, which threw him off-balance. I countered with a palm-strike to his chest. He fell backward and hit hard flat on his back. He’ll be plenty sore in the morning, but otherwise he should be undamaged.”

“Except for his overblown ego.”

Alex shrugged. “There is that. I think it’s safe now. Shall we go?”

“Lead on, Luv.” Corrie’s eyes were alight with both respect and affection. Alex, she realized, could have really injured the lion severely, but chose to repond with only the force needed. The two walked arm-in-arm to the parking lot and Alex’s car, ready to put the incident behind them.

# # #

“Ready Sandra?” the lioness asked. She was standing by the front door to the rambling old house she had called home for the past year. Two other lioness were waiting outside, each with a bag packed. It was nearly two in the morning, but each of the seven lionesses who lived with Rex Richards had voted to dissolve the pride. Each had somewhere to go, either with family, or their own apartments they’d maintained as a place to get away from the communal crowd.

Three others had already departed. When Sandra and Doris had brought the lion home, he’d slunk into bed alone and passed out. That had given them all time to gather their personal belongings in an orderly fashion, and compose a letter detailing Rex’s poor leadership of the pride and mistreatment of some of them, inform him of the dissolving of the pride, and warn him that a copy of the details would go to the police if he attempted to come after any of them.

Doris, a trim lioness in her late twenties and the youngest of the pride, put a paperweight on the letter and picked up her bag. “You bet I am. What a jerk and loser! That tiger was at least ten years older than Rex, and he dropped him like he was a limp rag.”

Sandra nodded, but her look was more speculative. “Oh yes he did. Kinda handsome, too. Shame that lioness already has her claws in him. Oh well, we’re lionesses. Hunting is what we do. Rex was about played out, anyway.”

The two giggled as they walked out the door, and out of Rex Richard’s life. Back in the first bedroom, Rex was awake again and hurting, enough to have heard the conversation in the front room. Too sore and beginning to lose his buzz, he was miserable. In one fell swoop, he’d lost his pride, and his pride. He didn’t blame the tiger. He’d won. That was what males did, and with lions, when one lost, one took the consequences. No, the one he was angry with was Corrine Patterson. She was the one who’d refused and defied him, and in the end brought him to the low he was at now.

“One day, Corrine. One day . . .” He passed back out before completing the thought.

# # #

Corrie was walking down a familiar path. She didn’t want to, but she had no choice. There were trees around, and she could catch the scent of water in the air. She heard something growling, and then it rose into a scream . . .

She sat straight up in bed, confused and panicked. The scream she’d heard had been hers. The sheets were a shredded mess around her, and her pillow looked like it had exploded, with bits of polyfill scattered everywhere.

When she realized what had happened, Corrie simply sank back down on the bed and cried. No doubt this episode of The Nightmare had been brought on by the confrontation with Rex Richards, but it was Alex and their future she was crying about. Alex had been so good, both in the fight, and in trying to make sure she was okay and that Rex wouldn’t come after her. He was so good, and she knew instinctively that the only one who could really hurt him would be someone he trusted enough to be close. How could she expect him to keep coming up from Kentucky knowing that one day, when they shared a bed, she might severely injure or kill him in her sleep?

Before she could form any kind of answer, fatigue won out and she cried herself back to sleep. Tomorrow, she would most likely be a royal pain to be around, but for now she slept an exhausted, mercifully dreamless sleep.

End of Chapter 51

 

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