He thought about that for a second, then reluctantly said, “I guess I wasn’t looking at the big picture.”
“If you want my advice, take her out and see what she can do. You might be surprised,” his father said. “And just so it’s clear, your mother was a fierce demon fighter in her day. I’m sorry you never knew that. I guess we should have talked about it more. I’ve always felt a little guilty that she decided to give it up after you were born. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make for you, but I think she always missed it.”
Vincent’s head was spinning; the woman his father was describing was nothing like the woman he knew, and it was hard to put the two together. “How did you let her do it?” he asked. “I mean, it had to be hard to watch her fighting demons, you had to be scared the entire time.”
His father laughed. “When you’re in love, you want the person you love to be happy, and killing demons made your mother happy. It wasn’t easy, especially the first few times, but she never needed my help,” he said. “Your talent doesn’t just come from me.”
His father’s words sank in slowly, and his earlier guilt came rushing back. “Dad, I have to go. I need to fix something,” he said, put the car in reverse, and backed up the driveway.
The lights were all still on in Charlie’s cabin when he pulled up, but he sat there for a second, wondering what he was doing, then got out of the car and knocked on the door. It took her a long time to answer, so long that he almost got back in the car, but then the door opened a crack, and she peered out at him, a look of surprise on her face.
“Vincent, what are you doing here?” she asked, opening the door a bit farther.
She was wearing a long white tee-shirt that reached just to the tops of her thighs, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the dark outline of her nipples through the cloth. He knew that she’d asked him a question, but his body was going haywire; tingles of desire raced through him, and he couldn’t have spoken if he’d tried.
Dragging his eyes away from her chest, he noticed that her eyes were dry and wondered if he’d imagined her reaction in the car. “I just wanted to see if you were okay. You seemed upset when you ran inside,” he stammered, doing his best not to let his eyes roam over her body.
Charlie shrugged and the tee-shirt rose just enough that he got a glimpse of her purple lacey panties. “It was a bit of a shock, but I’m okay,” she said, studying him. “I’m surprised to see you here. Aren’t you hoping I’ll quit?”
Vincent was tingling all over; a strange throbbing deep inside that he’d never felt before made his blood pump through his veins faster, and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and kiss her. An instinct he’d never felt before came to life inside him, and he couldn’t stop himself from taking a few steps toward her, his body burning with desire.
***Charlie***
Charlie watched Vincent, her heart pounding in her chest as the air around them began to crackle with energy, and his eyes filled with an almost predatory look. When they swept over her body again, then filled with desire, she shivered, tempted to back up a few steps, but couldn’t move. A primitive part of her responded to the look in his eyes; her body began to tingle in a way it never had before, followed by a throbbing need that sparked deep inside her.
“I don’t know what I want,” Vincent said. “All of this is so confusing.”
She had to take a deep breath before she could speak. “All of what?” she asked, her voice trembling.
He pulled her into his arms, crushed her against him. “This,” he said, then lowered his mouth to hers.
When his lips touched hers for the first time, she felt a jolt of electricity pass between them, followed by a burst of pleasure so intense, she had to grab onto him to keep from tumbling to the floor. She gasped, and his tongue slid into her mouth, sensuous and demanding. She could do nothing but let him kiss her until she was breathless. But when she felt his hands beginning to explore her body, alarm bells went off in her head.
She pushed against his chest, and legs trembling, backed away from him. “Vincent, that was...you shouldn’t...” she stammered, tempted to throw herself back into his arms.
He was staring at her, his blue eyes still filled with desire, but he slowly backed away from her and out the door. “That’s what’s confusing,” he said, then turned and disappeared down the steps.
She stood staring at the empty doorway for a long time, the feel of his kiss still on her lips, her body throbbing with need, then slammed the door shut. For the second time that night, she heard the car drive away, but this time, she waited until she heard it roar off into the distance before going back to the bedroom. Still stunned by the kiss, she climbed into bed, wondering if she should be angry or thrilled by the encounter, and discovered that she was both.
Confused by her warring feelings, she closed her eyes and tried to clear her head but could only see Vincent and his piercing blue eyes in her mind. When her mind started to wander to places it shouldn’t, she reminded herself that she wasn’t there for romance: she had a purpose, a goal that she had to reach. No place in her plans had she seen a man, at least not at this stage of her life, and certainly not one like Vincent, but just thinking his name made her body tingle.
Exasperated with the latest turn of events, she rolled over, then sat up and punched the pillow several times. Then she realized that she was going to have to face him in the morning. Her cheeks turned pink at the thought, and she wondered for the first time what that kiss had meant. It had been so possessive, so demanding, that she almost felt like he’d laid claim to her in some way but pushed the idea away.
Desperate to escape from the implications of her last thought, she closed her eyes again and began to mentally do one of her father’s workouts. Imagining herself flying through the trees at home blocked Vincent and her confusing emotions long enough for her to fall into an exhausted slumber. But it was a restless sleep filled with visions of her father and Vincent, the two men vying for her attention.
When she woke the next morning, groggy from a restless sleep and still confused about her feelings, she stumbled to the kitchen and made coffee. After she started a fire to chase off the mornings chill, she sat in the chair, drinking her coffee and trying not to think about Vincent. When it was clear that she’d have to distract herself to keep her mind off him, she grabbed her computer and curled up in the chair to write the emails that should have gone out the day before.
By mid-morning, her stomach was growling loudly, so she got dressed and brushed her teeth, then made herself a big breakfast. After she was finished, she went back to work, determined to finish the emails before Vincent showed up, but as morning turned to afternoon, it became clear that he wasn’t going to come by. When she hit the send button on the last email, the sun was just beginning to sink in the sky, and her stomach sank as well.
Leaving everything as it was, she went back to the bedroom, stripped off her clothes, and got into the shower. She needed to get out of the cabin, stop thinking about Vincent and talk to people, she decided as she let the hot water soothe her aching shoulders. But she knew too that soon she was going to have to shift, let out the pent-up power that was slowly building inside her. It hit her then that she might have just stumbled upon her problem, the reason she was having such a strong reaction to Vincent and came up with a plan.
After stopping at the sheriff’s office and the hospital, she finally found her way to Adam’s farmhouse outside of town. When he opened the door, a look of surprise on his face, she announced, “I need to shift, and I don’t know where it’s safe.”
He grinned at her. “Hi, Charlie, come in,” he said, holding the door open wider for her.
She followed him down a hallway to the kitchen and was greeted by three smiling faces when they walked through the door. “Look who I found on the front porch, and she says she needs to shift,” he said, still grinning.
“It’s about time,” Michael said, getting to his feet.
&
nbsp; “Now, hold on you three; dinner first,” Molly said. “It’s almost ready.”
Chapter Ten
***Vincent***
Vincent was still in his office when the sun began its slow descent behind the mountains, and Janice began making noises about shutting down the office for the day. He’d had a productive day, but each hour had felt like an eternity, and he wondered if he should have just driven over to see Charlie. Instead, he’d spent the day trying not to think about her and the kiss they’d shared the night before.
His reaction to her had scared him, if he were honest with himself, and he wasn’t sure what would happen the next time he saw her. He knew all too well the signs of bonding between shifters, and his almost instinctual need to kiss Charlie wasn’t a good sign, nor was her reaction to that kiss. But he wanted to do it again, which was why he’d avoided her all day.
“Time to go home,” Janice said, startling him.
“I could lock up, you know,” he said. “I have a key too.”
She shook her head. “You’ve been locked in that office all day brooding about something. Go home and sulk for a while,” she said.
“I think I’ll have dinner at the restaurant tonight,” he said, telling himself it wasn’t because he hoped to run into Charlie. “I don’t feel like cooking.”
“Well, whatever you’re doing, get on with it. I want to go home,” Janice said, but she was smiling at him.
He walked Janice to her car, then decided to leave his behind and walk to the restaurant. It was a nice night for that late in the year, and he hoped it would last until the festival. The restaurant was full, but there was no sign of Charlie, and he turned to leave, trying to decide if he should stop by her cabin. But just as he opened the door, Gabriel appeared, looking more haggard than the last time he’d seen him.
“You look like crap,” he said. “When was the last time you slept?”
“I haven’t been home for four days,” Gabriel said, heading for the counter.
Vincent forgot about Charlie, followed Gabriel over to the counter, and sat down next to him. “You can’t go on this way much longer,” he said. “Can’t you find anyone to help you?”
“I’ve finally got someone coming to help out tomorrow,” he said. “But he’s fresh out of residency, so I’ll have to keep an eye on him.”
“If you can keep them open,” Vincent said, trying to make Gabriel laugh.
All he did was roll his eyes. “I’m too tired to laugh at your terrible jokes tonight.”
“Okay then, we’ll just sit here in silence and eat dinner,” Vincent said.
Gabriel shook his head. “Instead of making bad jokes, I’d like to hear about how it’s going with Charlie. You two looked pretty cozy at dinner last night.”
“I haven’t seen her all day,” he said, shrugging her shoulders. “I just brought her last night so she could meet everyone.”
“Oh, well, that’s good,” Gabriel said, looking over at him. “Then you wouldn’t mind if I asked her out to dinner once I’m free to do things like that again.”
Vincent whipped his head around so fast his neck popped. “What do you mean, ask her out to dinner? You mean like on a date?” he asked, feeling something dark and ugly waking up inside him.
Gabriel shrugged. “Why not?” he asked. “It’s been a while since I dated, and you have to admit, Charlie looked pretty good last night; that dress was something else.”
Vincent had to clench his hands into fists in his lap to keep himself from punching Gabriel in the face. He was shocked by his reaction but unable to control the jealousy that was coursing through him. “Do you really think it’s appropriate for you to date our demon hunter?” he asked.
“Unless she’s already bonded, I don’t see what the problem is,” Gabriel said, watching Vincent carefully. “That is…unless you’re interested.”
It took him too long to answer, and he knew from the look on Gabriel’s face that he knew it. “Hmm, what was that conversation we had not too long ago about one of us being cupid’s next victim? Oh, I remember, you said it would be me and I said it would be you; now I wish we’d made a bet because I think I would have won.”
Vincent groaned. “Don’t read too much into this, Gabriel,” he said, then got up. “I think I’ll skip dinner.”
The sound of Gabriel laughing followed him all the way out to the street, his words echoing through his brain, along with the memory of the pure jealousy that nearly drowned him, and he knew that he was in trouble. He sat down heavily on a bench, not noticing the cold wind that blew down the street, or the people rushing by on their way home. He sat there for a long time, thinking about how he could stop what was happening, put an end to the connection that had already grown between them.
But then he got to his feet, understanding that he didn’t want to sever the link between them, that nothing had ever felt as right as this did, and headed for the cabins. He had no idea what he was going to say to Charlie, but he had to see her, had to find out if what he’d felt the night before was real. But when he knocked on her door, there was no answer, and he realized that in his haste, he hadn’t noticed that all her lights were off.
Retracing his steps, he got in his car and tried to figure out where she might have gone, who in Prospect Falls she knew well enough to visit. Deciding that it had to be one of the other guardians, he headed for Adam’s house, hoping he wasn’t about to embarrass himself by showing up unannounced looking for Charlie. When he drove up and saw her car parked in the front yard, he grinned, pleased with himself, and parked next to it.
But when he knocked on the door, it was Molly who opened it. “Oh, Vincent, I didn’t expect to see you tonight,” she said, opening the door to let him in.
“Sorry to bother you so late, Molly. I was looking for Charlie,” he said. “I need to talk to her.”
Amy came out of the living room. “Oh, hi, Vincent,” she said, looking over at Molly, then back at him. “Charlie’s out with Michael and Adam; they left about an hour ago, headed for the cabin, I think.”
Vincent’s heart sank, and his protective instincts kicked in, the image of Charlie up at the cabin making his blood run cold. “I have to go,” he said, then turned and shifted before he was off the porch.
***Charlie***
Charlie took a few steps away from Adam and Michael, closed her eyes, and let her power flow, relishing the feeling after so long, then shifted and immediately took to the air. She circled the farm a few times, letting her muscles get used to the change, then settled back down on the ground and waited, shifting from leg to leg, power surging through her. It had been too long since she’d had a good workout, and she was impatient to get back into the air.
Adam looked over at Michael, a huge grin on his face. “Ready?”
Michael grinned back at him. “Vincent isn’t going to like this.”
Soon, the three dragons were flying though the moonlit night, Charlie between the two much larger beasts, enjoying the feel of the cold wind on her face as they followed a road higher into the mountains. Below her, the trees flashed by in a blur of green and brown, the road stretched like a long dark river, and the ground seemed to glow.
Soaring through the night with Adam and Michael, she began to feel like a dragon hunter for the first time, and her heart soared with joy. It had been a silly mistake not to come to Adam or Michael sooner, but she’d been so determined to change Vincent’s mind, it had never occurred to her. But now she was finally getting her first chance, and Vincent couldn’t do anything to stop her.
When Adam and Michael suddenly veered off the road and into the trees, she was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice until they’d disappeared into the darkness of the forest. With a well-practiced tip of her wing, she swung around and followed them, all her senses heightened, her eyes penetrating the darkness as if it weren’t there.
Adam was ahead of her in the trees, swooping from one to another, perching on a high limb, then swooping back into
the air again only to settle in another tree. Michael was nowhere to be seen, and she knew that he posed the bigger threat, so she hovered, watching Adam and letting the sounds around her trickle into her brain. One by one, she blocked out the sounds she recognized until all she could hear was Michael’s quiet breathing as he slowly approached her from behind.
She turned and sprang on him before he could attack, and he went tumbling to the ground with a thud. Turning to face Adam, she saw him frozen in a tree, staring at Michael on the ground, and didn’t hesitate to take the advantage. Light and agile, she was on him in only a second, but he leaped into the air just as she got to him and took off through the trees.
It didn’t take her long to catch up to him, and after nearly colliding with a tree, Adam flew to the ground and bowed his head to her. She landed next to him, returned his gesture of respect, then they both shifted back to their human forms, out of breath and laughing. Michael joined them a few minutes later, but when he shifted, he wasn’t laughing.
“Don’t worry, she got me too,” Adam said. “I had to give up after I almost collided with a very large tree.”
The scowl on Michael’s face dissolved and he burst into laughter. “How did you know I was there?” he finally asked.
“I could hear you breathing,” Charlie said, grinning at him. “I have exceptional hearing, even for a shifter.”
Adam raised his eyebrow. “That could come in handy,” he said. “Let’s go up to the cabin. You passed your first test, Charlie.”
“With flying colors,” Michael added wryly. “I’m going to be sore from that fall tomorrow.”
“Sorry, Michael,” she said, but she was ginning.
“Yeah, you look really sorry,” he said, but he was grinning too.
Soon, they were all standing on the porch of the cabin, catching their breath and absorbing the beauty around them. Charlie looked out at the moon-lit lake, and wondered what it would look like in the summer, but then something caught her eye.
Dragon Hero (Guardian Dragons 0f Prospect Falls Book 3) Page 6