Framing Felipe by Holley Trent

She’s
not
going
to
heal
instantaneously
    like
the
young
ones
do,
but
we
still
need
to
examine
her
wounds
before
they
close
up.
    Maybe
we
can
figure
out
what
we’re
dealing
with.
Anyway,
we
have
to
get
her
out
of
    here
before
they
insist
on
taking
blood
or
running
tests.
    “Shit.”
She
closed
the
laptop
lid
and
raked
her
hands
through
her
hair.
If
she
never
saw
    the
inside
of
a
hospital
again
it’d
be
too
soon.
She’d
seen
enough
of
them
when
she
came
    home
burned,
and
then
as
she
recovered
from
what
that
research
study
did
to
her.
Good
    thing
Doc’s
clinic
was
in
an
office
park
and
not
a
hospital.
The
flashbacks
were
a
beast.

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
32
–
Holley Trent

    Felipe
sank
onto
the
cushion
next
to
her
and
uncapped
his
bottle.
    She
allowed
herself
a
moment
of
distraction,
watching
the
bobbing
of
his
Adam’s
apple
    as
he
swallowed
sip
after
sip
of
water.
Her
eyes
tracked
upward
to
his
chin,
now
shadowed
    with
a
bit
of
dark
blond
stubble,
and
then
the
pink
of
his
moist
lips.
    She
must
have
stared
too
long,
because
he
leaned
in
close
and
grazed
those
enviable
    lips
across
hers
once
more.
She
sat
stunned,
inhaling
the
spiciness
of
his
natural
scent,
    feeling
sleeping
things
in
her
body
awaken
and
unfurl.
His
mouth
tracked
lower,
finding
the
    edge
of
her
jaw
and
then
his
warm
tongue
lashed
against
the
sensitive
flesh
on
the
    underside
of
her
neck.
    She
giggled
and
leaned
back.
“Quit
it . ”
    His
chuckle
was
throaty
and
mischievous
as
he
leaned
his
left
elbow
against
the
sofa
    top
and
stared
down
at
her.
“You
say
stop,
but
the
way
your
breath
sounds
is
more
like not
    now .”
His
grin
was
downright
predatory,
and
she
found
herself
leaning
into
it.
Eager
to
    touch
it.
    The
hell
is
wrong
with
me? She
scooted
away,
mumbling
about
presumptuous
jerks
and
    opened
the
laptop
lid
to
send
Dana
one
last
message.
    Tell
me
where
to
poke
and
I’ll
get
you
some
information
if
you
want.
I
left
something
    on
the
backburner
in
Carrboro,
so
I’ll
be
heading
out
soon.

    That
was
code.
Whenever
a
Shrew
mentioned
Carrboro—where
none
of
them
actually
    lived—it
meant,
“Gotta
move.
I’ll
check
in
later.”
The
case
was
getting
more
and
more
    complicated
with
each
passing
minute,
and
with
the
Shrews
scattered
all
over
the
county
    on
were-‐cat
business,
they
didn’t
have
their
usual
safety
in
numbers.
Time
to
go
code
    orange.
Dana
would
know
Sarah
had
a
plan…or
at
least
an
end
goal.
    Sarah
closed
out
the
computer
programs
and
shut
the
lid
of
the
laptop.
    Felipe
brought
the
water
bottle
back
to
his
lips
and
eyed
her
with
a
lascivious
glint.
    “You’re
thinking
about
sex,”
she
intuited,
rolling
her
eyes.
“At
a
time
like
this.”
    “It’d
be
wonderful.”
    “You
sure
about
that?”
    “I
think
you
underestimate
my
creativity.
Have
you
forgotten
already
I
grew
up
in
the
    circus?
My
imagination
puts
you
in
some
very
delicious
situations.”
His
eyes
never
left
hers

    FRAMING FELIPE
–
33
–
Holley Trent

    as
he
set
the
bottle
on
the
coffee
table.
His
tongue
smoothed
over
his
bottom
lip.
She
was
    pretty
sure
it
wasn’t
an
idle
tic.
He
was
trying
to
entice
her,
and
given
the
way
her
heart
    pounded
and
belly
burned
at
his
seductive
maneuvers,
it
was
working.
    He
leaned
in
close,
slowly,
and
put
his
lips
against
her
ear.
His
right
arm
snaked
around
    her
front
and
drew
her
close—pressing
her
side
against
his
hard
chest.
“You
want
to
    experience
flying
without
a
net