Wolves Gone Wild(16)
“They said it was like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Only wilder.”
“That’s as good as any other way of describing it.”
“So it’s just a big party with lots of fun things going on, people getting drunk, partying in the street? That kind of thing?”
“Yeah. There’ll be that going on for sure.”
“Milly, will you please just get to the punch line?” Getting answers from anyone in Forever was like trying to put a bowtie on a catfish.
“Okay, I’m going to level with you.”
“Good.” Yet she wasn’t sure Milly really would.
“Don’t get me wrong. Forever’s a great place to live. But we do have a few oddities that outsiders might find hard to understand.”
Finally, she was getting somewhere. She leaned forward. “Yeah? Go on.”
“Well, there’s the whole celebration thing.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s a big party, that’s true. And there will be a lot of people drinking and letting loose.”
“O-kay. But why is it dangerous?” She kept coming back to that word. Would Milly give her the whole truth?
“It’s this way. The celebration doesn’t happen very often. In fact, the last one we had was decades ago.”
“Really? But why? What kind of celebration comes along once in a blue moon?”
Milly gave her a strange look. “It’s not really a blue moon.” She waved her statement away. “It’s called the amber moon, and it’s when all the single residents of Forever, plus a few of the surrounding towns, go a little crazy. They drink, they fight, and have a rip-roaring good time.”
“Which I understand could get out of line, but I don’t see why you’d warn me that it’s dangerous.” She’d keep digging until she got an answer. Tenacity and curiosity were a powerful pair.
Milly dragged her hand through her hair again. “It can be dangerous, especially for nonresidents, outsiders, because during the amber moon, people do exactly what they want.”
“Like what? Break the law and get away with it?”
“You could say that, but we don’t have a lot of laws to break. Folks around here tend to follow their own code of ethics. We don’t have a police force, or even a sheriff, because we don’t need one. Jackson Carr’s the closest thing to a lawman and he tries to let people handle their own business as much as possible.”
Something wasn’t adding up. “So the town is used to policing itself. I get that. But whatever happens can’t be all that bad, right? I mean, what are we talking about? Jaywalking? Spitting on the sidewalks? Pissing in the open?”
“Uh, it’s a little more drastic than that.”
“Like how? Egging someone’s house? I mean, come on. This is a small town. I’d think the worst crime that could happen around here would be stealing someone’s bike. Or their car.” She let out a derisive snort. “We can’t be talking about robbing stores, or breaking and entering, right? Much less about horrible acts like murder or”—she laughed—“rape.”
She sucked in a breath at Milly’s cringe. Rape and murder? Once again, she wondered what she’d gotten involved in and had a sudden urge to get out of town. But how?
Chapter Four
Christy had to force the questions out of her suddenly clogged throat. “Are you kidding me? They murder or rape people? And no one does anything to stop them?”
Milly must’ve noticed her reaction and the sound of her strangled voice. “I don’t think anyone’s ever been murdered. Jackson does his best to keep a lid on things, but that’s the way the amber moon works. Or at least, that’s how it was handled the last time. I wasn’t around during then so I can’t say for sure. And I don’t think it’s really rape. At least not rape in the way you’re talking about.”
“What other way is there? When a woman says no, it means no. Or don’t people recognize that around here?” If they didn’t, it wasn’t the kind of town she wanted to hang around in for long.
Milly squirmed. “I’m thinking that the single women caught up in this thing don’t say no.”
Christy was at a loss for words. What kind of a woman would want men attacking her?
When the faces of Grant, Lance, and Duncan came to her, she knew her answer. If she were truthful with herself, she liked the idea of them attacking her. Although attacking wasn’t the right word. Maybe conquering was closer to the truth. Was that what Milly meant? She was sure she wasn’t the first woman who’d daydreamed—hell, wet-dreamed—about getting ravished by a dashing hero like in an old-time romance novel. Having three dashing heroes made it more enticing.