Found

HAZEL

I only had half a day of work—I had them every now and again—and I was glad to be walking home in broad daylight. It had been a week, but I still felt uneasy on my route home in the dark.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was out, and though the heat didn’t quite reach the ground anymore, it was bright and pleasant all the same.

I decided that I would grab a book and head to the park to read there for a bit on account of the fine weather.

I was wrapped up in my coat and scarf, sitting on a park bench with my legs crossed under me. There were benches equally spaced out along the graveled path that split the park in two.

I was completely engrossed in my book when the sound of feet on gravel disturbed me. I glanced up reflexively just as the man who had rescued me from the hooded men sat down on the bench opposite me.

He was dressed more appropriately today—boots, black jeans, and a thick, gray, knitted sweater.

He was carrying a black coat in one hand, which he draped over one of his knees as he sat down and pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket.

His appearance was even more striking in the light of day, almost unnatural. My heart sped up a little at the sight of him.

The scars still startled me, and I found myself wondering what had happened to him.

He raised his green eyes to me then, and I quickly averted my gaze, focusing intently on the page I was reading. My cheeks warmed slightly by the embarrassment of being caught staring.

After I’d read the same paragraph several times, unable to concentrate on the words, I braved another glance toward the stranger. He was focused on his phone, tapping away, evidently texting someone.

My heart beat faster than normal as I again tried to pick up where I’d left off in my book.

Seeing him again brought back memories I’d rather have forgotten, but his presence was also oddly comforting, the reason likely being that I now connected him to being saved.

Because that’s what he had done.

When I’d most needed it, he had found me and he had saved me.

Again I tried to focus on my reading, but when he stood up, walked over to my bench, and sat down next to me, I was certain that I would not be able to read another word.

“Hey,” he greeted, looking at me tentatively.

“Um, hey,” I replied, sure that my face was betraying me and my confusion was written on it plain as day.

“How are things, you know after…” He trailed off, seemingly not wanting to mention the incident, and if I looked confused, he did not care.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, almost stumbling over the words.

His close proximity had sent my heart into a frenzy.

He was so close that I could smell him from here. It was a pleasant, earthy scent, like a forest after rain, with a hint of pine, and I wondered briefly if it was a cologne or if it was just him.

I’d never come across a cologne that smelled anything like that before. It was rather overwhelming, but nice all the same.

There was amusement in his eyes, and I wondered what about my reply had been funny to him.

“I’m glad to hear it.” His eyes made it hard to focus completely on his words, they were so intense—a pool of green so deep one could easily get lost in them.

“I’m Seth by the way, Seth King.” He introduced himself, smiling warmly at me, and my heart gave a little flutter.

He was mesmerizing, despite the scars that covered most of the left side of his face.

I had to stop myself from staring.

“I’m Hazel Porter.” I took an embarrassingly long time to reply, but I managed to find my voice at last.

“It’s nice to officially meet you, Hazel. Especially now, under more pleasant circumstances.”

“I guess our meeting wasn’t exactly traditional,” I allowed.

“Definitely not,” he chuckled.

We locked eyes for a moment before his phone buzzed.

He pulled it out and grimaced at the screen, then he looked at me again, those green eyes piercing mine, and I couldn’t have looked away even if I’d wanted to.

“I have to go,” he said regretfully.

“Oh, okay.” I was unsettled by the slight pang of disappointment I felt at his words.

He was a stranger, and his departure shouldn’t have evoked such feelings in me.

An emotion I couldn’t quite place flitted across his face as he looked at me. He lifted his hand to my cheek and held the side of my face in his palm.

There was a tingling sensation where our skin met, like little electric shocks. It was an entirely pleasant sensation.

His eyes widened and his pupils dilated until his eyes looked black instead of that brilliant green.

“Mine,” he growled under his breath.

My brain registered the strangeness of both his words and his actions, but it didn’t seem to matter, and I just sat there, frozen in place.

“Please be careful.” Seth’s voice was urgent as he let me go, releasing me from his intense gaze.

Then he was walking away, and I couldn’t do anything but stare after him until he rounded the corner at the far edge of the park and disappeared out of sight.

My mind was racing as I tried to process what had just happened. I knew I should be completely freaked out by it, but I wasn’t. There was something about him.

Mine, he’d said.

Did he really mean me? In that case, how could I be his when we didn’t even know each other? Besides, people weren’t property—you couldn’t own another person.

I lifted my hand to my cheek where he’d touched me. The skin still tingled slightly. I felt warm despite the cold, and my heart gave another small flutter.

I knew there was no way I could stay here and keep reading, so I gathered my things and walked back home.

All the while my mind was half in a daze as I tried to process and understand what had happened and why I’d reacted the way I did.

I should have felt unnerved, maybe even frightened, but I didn’t. Frustrated and slightly annoyed, sure, and rightfully so, but I also felt something else I couldn’t quite place or put into words.

Who was this man and who did he think he was? Did he think he had some kind of hold over me because he’d saved me that day?

You are not welcome here, this is my territory.

His words from that day came back to me. What had he meant? Why were the men so frightened of him?

It seemed to run deeper than his dangerous looks. There had been two of them and only one of him. If they’d tried, they could probably have taken him down quite easily, but instead they had fled.

Mine.

The way his voice had sounded, almost inhuman. The recollection sent a shiver down my spine, but it wasn’t entirely out of fear.

***

I could hardly focus at work the next day. Crystal kept shooting me concerned glances.

She asked me what was wrong, but I wasn’t entirely sure how to explain it to her. What could I say?

That a handsome, intimidating stranger had rescued me one night and now I couldn’t get him out of my head? It kind of sounded like an event from a movie, but watching it on the silver screen and experiencing it in real life were very different.

It felt almost like an obsession...one that kind of scared me.

The door to the shop opened, and I turned to greet the customer.

“Hello, welcome to—” my words died in my throat.

There he was. My obsession in the flesh.

Seth walked up to me, his dazzling green eyes holding me in a trance.

“I would like to take you out to dinner,” he said.