Namaste, Story Orgy fans, and happy Monday!

A couple of announcements this week before we get to the final chapter of my paranormal “Critter Catchers.” I hope you’ve enjoyed reading along with my story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m hoping there will be further adventures for Demetrius and Cody in the near future, but for now, bask in the rather extended (sorry, had to tie up all those loose ends!) final chapter.

The Story Orgy’s anthology And the Prompt Is… Road Trip Edition, is now available for purchase! Click on over to ALL ROMANCE EBOOKS and AMAZON to download your copy today! As always, the first 90 days of royalties will be donated to a charity benefiting LGBT interests, and this time we’re honoring the wonderful Jase, who volunteered his time to provide editing by donating to his choice: The Point Foundation, which provides scholarships for LGBT students.

Did you grab your own copy of Willow by Lee Brazil? It released on Friday, 11/16, and is already climbing the charts! Click HERE to hop on over and download your copy of Lee’s latest contemporary romance today!

Em Woods has joined forces with another author to bring you a lovely, romantic tale of a man who redeems himself after a life spent pushing away those around him. Who’s this other author? None other than Charles Dickens! Click HERE to check out the blurb for Em’s re-imagined A Christmas Carol, available 12/3 from Total E-Bound, and find out some things about Ebenezer Scrooge Dickens never mentioned!

Don’t forget that the character of Margie, the nurse, is named in honor of Margie Church who won the quick contest I ran looking for a vehicle model for good old Joanne Monroe, the widow in her 90s who drives a tan mid-70s Cadillac Sedan de Ville with a white vinyl roof and a yellow revolving bubble light on the roof. Congrats, Margie!

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and get the chance to visit with friends and family as you enjoy a day of thanks and fellowship.

Today’s prompt: He could admit that.

Critter Catchers

Parson’s Hollow Series, Book 1

Chapter Sixteen – Finale

by Hank Edwards

(c) 2012

Demetrius had been foolish, he could admit that, and now it might cost him his life.

He’d chased after the werewolf, or wolf man, whatever he was, and come right up beside the beast as it had knocked an old woman down to the floor. Demetrius found he still held the tattered magazine he’d picked up in the common area where he’d gone to wait for Cody, and he rolled it up tight and swatted the monster’s nose.

The wolf drew back, releasing the old woman from beneath its massive paw, and turned to glare at him.

Oh shit.

Demetrius backed up slowly, all the spit in his mouth evaporating as he watched the giant beast turn to face him. Over the monster’s massive shoulders, Demetrius saw the other residents scurry into their rooms and shut the doors. One woman in a wheelchair was stuck at an angle in the doorframe, but that didn’t seem to have the wolf’s attention. At this time, those ferocious golden eyes were focused only on him.

Bodies lay strewn about the hallway, and Demetrius carefully stepped over them as he backed away from the wolf. Where the hell did Cody and the nurse have to go for the gun, Parson’s Hollow Sporting Goods?

The wolf’s lip lifted in a snarling sneer and it hunkered down low on the tile floor. Demetrius saw its muscles tighten as it prepared to pounce, and he turned to sprint down the hall. Behind him, he heard the thud as the monster landed on the floor too close for comfort, and he put on a burst of speed. The sound of the wolf’s paws got closer and closer.

As the moist heat of its breath washed across the back of his neck, Demetrius dodged to the left and rounded a corner. He heard the wolf skid past the intersection behind him and hope flared inside his chest. He might just live through this after all. Maybe. Possibly.

A set of glass doors stood before him, a security light gleaming on the wall just outside, and beyond that a few cars in the parking lot. A howl echoed along the hallway, loud and shocking, and Demetrius covered his ears as he ran faster. He turned to use his back to push out of the door and, at the sight of the wolf bearing down on him, a scream slipped out of his mouth. His feet tangled together and Demetrius fell hard on his ass on the cement walkway outside the door. His teeth clicked together and he felt one of them chip.

He scrambled backwards in a crab walk, gaze locked on the door he had just stumbled through. His hands touched the cool, damp of grass and slipped out from under him so he fell flat on his back. He lay staring up at the full moon a moment, and then the glass door shattered and the werewolf landed amid the glass and twisted metal just ten feet away. It lifted its snout and let loose a terrifying howl.

“Demmy!”

Demetrius craned his head to look behind him. Cody stood at the end of the sidewalk beside the nurse. The woman held a gun in both hands, aiming right at the wolf.

“Stand down, Mr. Klemper!” the nurse shouted.

The werewolf turned its head to glare at her, and then it bounded past Demetrius toward Cody and the nurse.

“Shoot, Margie! Shoot!” Cody shouted.

Margie squeezed off two shots and Demetrius heard the heavy, wet sounds of the bullets striking the wolf’s body.

Then it was on her and, with one great swipe of its paw, the werewolf separated Margie’s head from her body. The nurse’s head bounced away across the parking lot and Demetrius could have sworn he saw the face flinch each time it struck the asphalt.

“Oh shit,” Demetrius heard himself saying. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

The werewolf turned in a circle, whimpering as it tried to lick the spots it had been shot. The moonlight made the blood look black and tacky on its fur. As Demetrius watched, Cody eased forward on his hands and knees, gaze locked on the injured werewolf as he reached out for Margie’s gun still clutched in her outstretched and bloody hand.
Margie’s body jumped, some kind of reflex muscle activity, and Cody shouted in surprise, attracting the wolf’s attention. It roared at him and Cody backed away, scrambling to his feet and running off across the parking lot. Cody shouted over his shoulder at the monster, “Hey, Klemper! Fuck you and your furry ass! Bet you can’t catch me!”

As the werewolf ran off after Cody, Demetrius pushed to his feet and stumbled over to Margie’s body. He pulled the gun from her grip and headed out across the parking lot after them. His body felt numb, used up, and his thoughts pinged around the inside of his head like a pinball. The gun was heavy in his hand, the grip still warm from Margie’s fingers. He tried not to think about the blood around her body, in the hallway of the nursing home, all the blood he’d seen over the last month. It had to end, tonight, before anyone else died. Especially Cody. He didn’t think he could live through Cody dying.

A howl pulled Demetrius up short and he stopped to look around the parking lot. It didn’t take long for Demetrius to locate the werewolf. It was using its claws to tear apart a car, Margie’s maybe, and inside the car he could see Cody huddled against the driver’s door, eyes wide with terror.

“No fucking way,” Demetrius said to himself and set off toward the car, shouting, “Hey!”

The werewolf stopped its destruction of the car and turned toward him. It’s eyes were blazing pits of fury and something that may have been flesh hung from its claws. The thing snarled and turned to face him, rising up on its back legs to its full height of over eight feet tall.

“Oh shit,” Demetrius whispered. He tried to think of a new plan of attack, but it was too late. The werewolf was running at him, fast, and all he could do was raise the gun, take a breath, and squeeze the trigger over and over again.

*     *     *

“You were lucky,” said Dr. Zenona Baldwin as she looked over Demetrius’s chart. “You know that, don’t you?”

Demetrius shrugged, then winced as the motion pulled at his scabs. His aim had been true; he had hit the werewolf in the head with the last four bullets in Margie Church’s gun and the beast had gone down hard. It tumbled into him and had sent him skidding across the parking lot, leaving him with a bad case of road rash on his shoulder and arm.

“You don’t think it was my marksmanship?” Demetrius asked.

Zenona gave him a flat, steady look and repeated, “You got lucky.”

Demetrius sighed. “I know.” He looked back up at her. “How’s Cody?”

“Sprained ankle’s splinted,” she said. “He’ll need to stay one more night.”

“You think you can give him another chance?” Demetrius asked.

Zenona rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated breath. “He’s a man child.”

Demetrius smirked at her. “But he’s handsome and loyal and more fun than any man you’ve known before.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “If he’s all that, why don’t you date him?”

A funny, trembling shiver worked through Demetrius’s stomach at the suggestion. He felt himself blush and turned away, waving at Zenona in dismissal. “You know he doesn’t play for my team, Zenona.”

Before she could respond, a quiet knock at the door drew their attention, and Demetrius smiled at the new arrival.

“Oh. Hi there.”

Oliver stepped into the room, his cheeks pink with a blush. “Hi. I thought you might need a lift home.”

Demetrius smiled. “I do, thanks.” He looked up at Zenona. “If I can be released, that is.”

Zenona nodded. “Yes, you can go. Layer antibiotic ointment on the scrapes and keep them covered for the rest of the week.”

Demetrius raised his eyebrows. “You’ll watch out for Cody?”

She snorted a laugh. “Maybe I’ll have him transferred to the psych ward while I’ve got him here.”

“They’d be too scared to keep him,” Demetrius grumbled as he pushed off the edge of the bed. He swayed a moment and Zenona reached out to steady him. When he had his feet under him, he smiled at her and said,

“Thanks. Where’s Cody?”

“He’s sleeping now,” Zenona said. “I’ll tell him you said good-bye and that you’ll see him tomorrow, okay? You go home and get some rest.”

Demetrius nodded, then shuffled to the door and lowered himself into the wheelchair waiting in the hallway. Oliver pushed him down the hall toward the elevator and pressed the button. They had the car to themselves on the ride down to the first floor, and Demetrius said, “Sorry we thought you were a murderous werewolf.”

Oliver smiled and shrugged. “It’s not the worst thing I’ve been mistaken for.”

“Oh? What’s the worst thing?”

“Mormon.”

On the drive to Demetrius’s small house, Oliver stopped to pick-up carry-out food from Margie’s Diner. The sign over the door made Demetrius think of the nurse, Margie Church, and for a moment he saw her head bouncing off into the dark parking lot, her face flinching with each strike. Had he really seen that? Had he really seen any of it?

The ride from the diner to Demetrius’s house was short and they sat at the small kitchen table to eat and make small talk. Oliver’s story had been splashed across the front page of the Parson’s Hollow Herald after he had been released from jail (even the charges of indecent exposure had been dropped). The security camera footage had captured all but the metamorphosis of Arnold Klemper into the werewolf. The cameras in the parking lot had, however, caught grainy footage of the werewolf falling under Demetrius’s gunshots and then changing from its wolf form into a pale elderly man.

“How many papers have picked up your story?” Demetrius asked.

Oliver shrugged and blushed. “All of them, it feels like.”

“Going on a world tour now?”

He shook his head. “Probably not. Just the big morning shows maybe. How about you?”

Demetrius shuddered at the thought. “No, and thanks for keeping our names out of it.”

“They’re in the police report,” Oliver said. “Someone’s bound to find out.”

“Later’s better than now. I need to get it out of my mind.”

Oliver got up and rounded the table, then leaned down to kiss him softly on the lips. “Maybe I can help with that?”

Demetrius smiled up at him. “Yeah? That would be nice. We’ll have to go slow, though, I’m still pretty sore.”

“You just come in here and let Dr. Berridge devise a treatment plan for you,” Oliver said as he helped Demetrius stand up and turned them toward the hallway. “Besides, it’s only fair I should see you naked, since you’ve already seen me that way.”

Demetrius laughed. “Yes, good point!”

Removing his shirt took some time, but Demetrius’s pants slid right off, leaving him standing beside the bed with his boxers tented. Oliver stripped to his underwear as well, then leaned in for a kiss. Demetrius closed his eyes and lost himself in the soft, warm touch of Oliver’s lips. The man was a good kisser.

Oliver ducked his head to lick, suck, and nip at Demetrius’s nipples, and Demetrius felt his boxers become even tighter. Oliver moved lower still, his tongue leaving a trail of hot, wet fire behind as he licked along Demetrius’s skin until he knelt at eye level with his crotch. Sliding his fingers beneath the waistband of the boxers, Oliver pulled them out and down.

Demetrius’s cock bobbed in front of Oliver’s face, and, as Demetrius watched with a tight feeling of disbelief coiled inside his chest, Oliver parted his lips and took him in his mouth. Wet heat wrapped around him, sent a shudder up his spine that left him gasping. It had been so long, so very long, since he’d been with anyone, not since Clint had broken up with him two years ago.

The speed of Oliver’s sucking increased and every muscle in Demetrius’s body clenched, including, it seemed, his heart. He looked down at the man kneeling before him, reached out to run his fingers through the soft blond curls, listened to the slick, quiet sounds of his cock slipping in and out of Oliver’s mouth.

“Close,” he said and sucked in a breath as he felt the familiar tightening low in his belly, followed by the flash fire of orgasm. Oliver took him deep into his throat and swallowed each drop that pumped out of him, leaving Demetrius gasping and weak-kneed.

Oliver stood up and gently laid him across the bed, then kissed him softly on the mouth.

“What about you?” Demetrius asked around a yawn. “You didn’t come.”

Oliver smiled and kissed him again as he drew the covers over him. “Time for that later. Get some sleep.”

“Okay,” Demetrius said, and closed his eyes. A moment later, he was out.

He awoke hours later, the room dark around him. Oliver laid curled beside him, an arm thrown over Demetrius’s side. Moving slowly, Demetrius slipped out of bed and shivered when his feet touched the cold wood floor. His shoulder and arms felt stiff, the scrapes on his upper body tight, and his legs ached. All in a day’s work.

Grabbing socks, fleece sleep pants, and a sweatshirt, he left the bedroom and hurried down the hall to dress in the dark living room. In the kitchen, he found it was just past midnight, and shook his head. He’d been asleep for thirteen hours. Paging Rip Van Winkle, please pick up the white courtesy phone.

Demetrius checked his cell phone. Five missed calls, all from Cody’s mobile phone, the last one just ten minutes ago. The phone had been set to vibrate so he hadn’t heard the familiar ringtone. He pressed the button to return the call and was relieved to hear Cody’s voice when the man picked up.

“Hey there,” Cody said.

“Hi. How are you?”

“You know me, nothing keeps me down,” Cody assured him. “You doing okay?”

Demetrius nodded, then remembered Cody couldn’t see him. “Yeah. I’m okay. Sore, and the scrapes are starting to itch, but I’m okay. Crazy shit, huh?”

“Definitely some crazy shit,” Cody agreed. There was a long moment of silence, unusual for Cody, and then he asked, “So Oliver took you home?”

Demetrius pulled out a kitchen chair and sat, his muscles tight against the chill of the house. “Yeah, he did.”
“How’d that go?”

A blush heated Demetrius’s face. “It went well, nosy Rosy.”

Cody laughed, but it sounded uneasy and tired. “Well, good. I’m glad you’re happy. You are happy, aren’t you?”
Demetrius frowned at the dark night pressing against the glass of his kitchen window. “Yeah, I guess so. Aren’t you?”

“If you’re happy, I’m happy,” Cody said.

“Nice,” Demetrius muttered. “Hey, you’re still in the hospital, right?”

“Yeah, one more day. Zenona says I can go home tomorrow.”

“How’s things with Zenona?” Demetrius wondered. “Think there’s a chance you two might get back together?”

“You never know,” Cody replied. “Stranger things have been known to happen.”

“Well, for the record, I like Zenona, and I think you two make a good couple.”

“Yeah?” Cody snorted a quiet laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Demetrius sighed. Same old Cody. “How’d you get to keep your phone in there?”

“I can be very persuasive,” Cody said.

“Oh, I know that,” Demetrius assured him. Another moment of silence, then Demetrius let out a breath and said, “Well, you should get some rest. I’ll come by and see you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Cody said. “Oh, just so you know, I checked the voice mail at the office earlier this evening and we’ve got a shit ton of jobs waiting for call backs.”

Demetrius smiled. “Seriously?”

“Seriously. I guess when people heard we could handle bringing down a werewolf they figured we can clear the squirrels and bats out of their attics.”

Cody’s mention of the werewolf brought a question to mind, and Demetrius asked, “Any idea yet how Mr. Klemper became a werewolf or a wolf man or whatever the hell he was?”

“Lucia stopped by my room after you left on your little honeymoon,” Cody said, an odd edge to his voice. “Looks like he went to Romania to visit relatives a few months ago, just before moving to Parson’s Hollow.”

Demetrius ignored the jab about his “honeymoon,” and said, “Ah. And when he was in Romania is there any mention of him being bitten by a big dog, perhaps?”

“Funny you should mention it,” Cody said. “Lucia tracked down a police officer over there who knows a bit of English and, after some back and forth, and you know how patient she can be—” Cody snorted a laugh that Demetrius echoed— “she was able to find out that he had been staying in a town near some heavy woods and happened to be out walking in the light of the full moon when he was knocked down and bitten. By a dog. A big dog.”

“And so begins our story,” Demetrius said with a sigh. “And all those people died.”

“All those people he argued with down at the senior center and in the nursing home.” Cody fell silent, then said quietly, “That Margie Church was pretty damn brave.”

“Yeah, she sure as hell was,” Demetrius agreed. “Good thing she had that gun in her car.”

“True that.” Cody yawned. “Well, buddy, I’m getting tired. Rest up, we’ve got lots of work ahead of us.” He paused.

“If you’re still interested in staying in business with me.”

Demetrius smiled as he thought about their small office, the way his desk faced Cody’s, the way they bickered like an old married couple, and the fact that Cody knew how he liked to take his coffee. The furnace clicked on and, as the warm air washed over his feet, Demetrius nodded into the dark and said, “No other way I’d care to make a living, old friend. No other way.”

~~ * ~~

Wow! So, Story Orgy readers, I hope you enjoyed getting to know Demetrius and Cody and some of the residents of Parson’s Hollow… Wait, what? What’s that I hear? Some disgruntled mumblings and a few shaking of fists over Demmy ending up with Oliver and not Cody? Well, never fear, dear readers, because as I’ve said before, I hope that this is the first of many adventures for Demetrius and Cody and you never know what’s going to happen in future stories. Feel better? No? Well, poop. How about if I tell you that next week your Story Orgy writers will be bringing you hot, steamy reads with Christmas themes, three per writer! We’ve decided that this year you’ve been so good (or good at being naughty) that you deserved three Christmas flash stories from each of us. So come on back next week and wallow in the spirit of the season. Until then, be good and be good to each other. For now, however, hop on over to the other Story Orgy blogs with me for more hot, smexy reads.

Lee Brazil,     Havan Fellows,     Em Woods

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Em Woods: @EmWoodsAuthor