Day Off

Lindsay's alarm screeched into the dark silence. She groaned and opened her eyes, glaring at the ceiling. She had forgotten to turn the damn thing off last night; today was her day off work, she didn't need to be awake for another two hours at least. Grudgingly she crawled out of bed and stumbled across the room, a trick she had learned to wake her up in college when she had to turn off her roommate's alarm when she was nowhere to be found. After getting up and walking, she could never fall back asleep, which annoyed her this morning; she'd only gotten two hours of sleep.

The night before she had attended her sister's bachelorette party, held unceremoniously a week before the wedding. They'd gone out dancing at the local Country dance hall, Tombstone Torri's. Torri, the owner, was due to stop by later in the day to help finalize plans on the reception with Lindsay and Laura. Lindsay was supposed to pick up her sister by one so the three of them could decide before Laura needed to be at the airport for her departure flight from Montana to Texas to see her fiance. Who knew that being states apart was the best way to find a man?

When her thoughts turned to men, Lindsay looked toward her bed. Lying still ensconced in the blankets was the memory of her fiance. The perfect man, at least in her eyes. She blamed herself for his death years ago, still unable to forgive herself, and still unable to invite another man to her bed. Nobody understood, insisting she dance with every available male the night before. Dancing the night away had been wonderful, but it was lonely.

In the end, after a few dozen drinks, she turned down every invitation and went to bed alone. Now those drink were turning on her, as they do every morning after; her head was splitting with a lovely hangover migraine. If the alarm had been off, it wouldn't have hit quite just yet. Groaning, she stumbled back to bed and crawled under the covers, desperate to drown in her memories once more.

She rolled onto her side and curled up against the memory of Seth, only to find the memory wasn't a memory; there was an unclothed man sprawled across her dead lover's side of the bed. Before she could react, he woke from a feigned sleep and covered her mouth and pinned her down. First the alarm, then the hangover, now this; NOT my morning!

Unable to struggle, knowing that screaming would do no good, Lindsay went as limp as she could and stared wide-eyed at the intruder. In the dark, he looked fierce, but there was something about his face...she'd seen him before, but she couldn't say where. Damnit! Why'd I have so much to drink?! I can't think! His features were smudged in the early morning darkness, but high cheekbones were obvious. His eyes were impossibly black and mesmerizing.

"My dear, please do not tell me you have already forgotten me! I leave for two weeks and you treat me like a complete stranger!" His voice was deep and rich and wrapped around her like a comforting security blanket. The fear in her eyes fought with relief. His hand, thick with the scent of the forest and fresh air, slowly slid from her mouth. Trembling, she pulled one arm free and ran her hand down his cheek. It can't be...

"...S-s-seth?"

"Lindsay, honey, you are acting like you have just seen a ghost! I have only been gone two weeks!" Impossible! she thought, I saw you die! How..? Mind muddled, her astonishment showed through her face. She pulled her other arm free and cradled his face with both hands. A glint caught her eye. Her engagement ring shone in the darkness. She hadn't worn it since that last hospital visit. Tears filled her eyes as she stared at his face. All the guilt she had locked away over his death surfaced and escaped through the liquid streaming down her cheeks.

"Shh, baby, don't cry" he whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. His lips tasted just as she remembered, but different somehow. The taste of the earth, the taste of him, the taste of her on his tongue, all familiar and true to Seth, but there was something else. The slight scent of honey? Yes, there it was, just the tip of his lips brushed with honey. It wasn't a sticky honey, like the sugary food, it was the skin itself; it was him.

She froze. This wasn't Seth. Seth was dead. Her lips parted for a scream that never came; his hand was suddenly covering again, the scent of honey clear in her mind. Pinned once again, she struggled frantically.

"Be still! Darling, what's wrong?" He whispered in her ear. Unable to scream, desperate to get him to remove his hand, she bit hard on his fingers. His muffled curses preceded a sharp slap across her face. She lay still once more, glaring at him in the dark.

"You....You're not Seth!" She spit at him, breath coming fast. A sneer as a response to her accusation drove fear back into her eyes, bringing a gasp out of her throat.

"No, I am not. And you, my dear," he shifted atop her, "are a murderer. You killed Seth, and now you shall pay." She suddenly realized her struggling had worked him up, something she was surprised she hadn't noticed before, mainly because it was quite painfully obvious as he throbbed, large and thick, against her stomach. "That's it, tremble for me."

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, voice quite small with her fear.

"Do you not remember me? Or did you really only have eyes for Seth?" He shifted again, beginning to part her legs, not a difficult task for someone as muscular and big as he. "That first and only dinner you attended, hanging all over Seth, he introduced you to us all. Did you really forget he had a twin?" Grunting with the effort of holding himself up, Shawn sneered down at her wide-eyed face. He held both her hands with one of his, and slid the engagement ring off her finger, "You never deserved this," and tossed it across the room. "Seth never saw it coming." Slowly he lowered himself, as he entered her, he whispered "Now, you pay."

Her pain tried to fly out in a scream, but that scream was stopped by his mouth covering hers. He began pumping slow, nibbling her lower lip in time with his hips, using his free hand to caress her skin. Her body betrayed her and she moaned. The trembling faded from fear to excitement. She no longer fought, caving in and giving her craving body what it had been denied. It wasn't Seth, but it was the closest she'd ever come again.

Shawn couldn't understand her sudden change, it was supposed to be payment for killing his brother, not something she should enjoy! He pulled his mouth away and angrily pushed into her on his next thrust. Her shock and gasp was satisfying to his ear and he repeated the thrust. His hand squeezed tighter around her wrists, his nails bit into her tender breasts. Lindsay whimpered, the fear back in her eyes, but she was unable to control her body. Shawn sneered once more as he bent down to nuzzle her neck, biting none too gently. She cried out, fighting to regain control of herself, pulling at her captive hands, her hips still lost to their attempt to meld into his body.

Lindsay's regained attempts to free herself heightened Shawn's desire, driving him harder and faster into her. She screamed out from the pain and realization that he had no intentions of letting up now. Sobs fell from her lips as she began to beg him to stop, urged on by the feeling of blood dripping down her neck onto the bed.

To her surprise, he suddenly stopped, raising his head, her blood trailing down his chin. With a moan, he threw his head back and pushed as deep inside as he could. With the deepest dread, she realized she could feel his coming, deep and hot inside her.


She woke up in a sweat, clutching the sheet around her tightly. The clock lit up the room with the red digits, it was only four in the morning; she'd been asleep for an hour. Maybe she shouldn't have had those last few drinks.