Guardian Dragons of Prospect Falls: (A Paranormal Shifter Romance)

by Serena Meadows

  Chloe sank down into the chair next to Emma Jean. “I’m sorry. You must really miss her. How long has she been gone?”

  Emma Jean sighed. “Almost thirty years, but sometimes it feels like she just stormed out of here yesterday and I still have a chance to make it right,” she said. “I thought I was making the right choice, doing what was best for her. I didn’t want her to grow up without a father like I did. I didn’t want people to treat her differently. But it didn’t work out that way. Simon drove her away instead of taking care of her, and I’ll never forgive myself. For years, I hoped she’d come back and we’d make up, but then she died and any chance I had to make it up to her died with her.”

  Chloe sighed, feeling the older woman’s pain. “I’m sorry, Emma Jean, but I’m sure she knew that you loved her,” she said, thinking about her own mother and her last words.

  Emma Jean looked over at her. “I hope so,” she said, managing a smile. “Now, let’s have some tea and talk about something else.”

  “Okay, that sounds like a good idea,” Chloe said, getting to her feet. “Something soothing to help us sleep.”

  “Oh, I won’t have any trouble sleeping tonight,” Emma Jean said. “This has been the most exciting day. Did you and Gabriel have a nice chat?”

  Chloe turned around and looked at Emma Jean, but she was studying the table intently, a little smile on her face. “Emma Jean, are you matchmaking?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

  “No, of course not,” Emma Jean said, trying to look innocent. “I wouldn’t dream of doing anything like that.”

  “Good, because I’m not in the market for a man,” she said, turning back to the sink.

  “That’s too bad because Gabriel is really a catch,” Emma Jean said. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you look at him.”

  Chloe took her time filling the teapot and putting it on the stove, then turned and looked at Emma Jean. “I can’t deny that I’m attracted to him, but I’m just not ready for something like that,” she said. “I’ve been on my own for a long time, Emma Jean, and right now, what’s going on here is all I need. I have a feeling that Gabriel Hawthorne is a complicated man, and I’m not sure I can handle that right now.”

  Emma Jean studied her for a second, then she nodded. “You’re more perceptive than I gave you credit for, but sometimes complications are what makes life exciting. Don’t make the same mistake I did and choose safety over the unknown,” Emma Jean said. “I’ll get the tea and let you think about that.”

  Chloe knew that she should move, shouldn’t let Emma Jean get the tea, but her words echoed in her mind, almost penetrating the wall she’d built around her heart. But in the end, the walls held, her guilt stronger than the little light of hope that had burst to life, and the flame went out. She pushed Gabriel and all her tantalizing thoughts about him to the back of her mind, determined to focus on the gifts she’d already been given; to strive for anything more might tip the scales, and she didn’t even deserve what she had.

  Chapter Six

  ***Gabriel***

  Gabriel stood on the porch looking through the front windows like a stalker, but he knew that he had to time his entrance just right if he wanted to slip inside unseen. Chloe seemed to be everywhere at once, moving from room to room greeting customers, smiling and laughing as if she’d known them her entire life. Clearly, she was in her element, and it showed on the faces of the women around her, and any doubt he’d had about the tea house staying in business was quickly fading.

  He hadn’t been back for three days, three long days when he waited hungrily for any gossip about Chloe. But when he’d woken up that morning, he knew that he couldn’t stay away any longer, that he had to see her if only to remind himself that she was just a woman like any other. When she came into the big dining room from the kitchen, his body responded with a burst of heat, and he knew that he was deceiving himself.

  Chloe wasn’t like any woman he’d ever known, and he was going to figure out why, even if it meant spying on her. After she’d made a circuit of the room and headed back to the kitchen, he made his move.

  “I’ll just find a table,” he said, slipping past Emma Jean as if he were there every day.

  She stared after him but didn’t stop him, so he slid into a chair at a table back in one corner of the room, then slid a potted palm out so that it partially blocked him from view. Pleased with himself, he settled back to wait for Chloe, hoping she wouldn’t spot him right away. He was rewarded when she came out of the kitchen, arms full, and headed straight for a table right behind him.

  Tucked away like he was, Chloe couldn’t see him. He not only had a perfect view of her, but he could hear every word she said. “Ms. Bethany, I mixed you up a new batch of tea, but I hope you went to see Dr. Hawthorne like you promised,” she said, setting a tea service in front of one of his most difficult patients.

  “I went just like I promised, and I’ve been doing the physical therapy, but I really think it’s this tea that’s making my knee get better,” Ms. Bethany said.

  “As much as I’d like to take credit for your improvement, I think it’s the hard work you’ve been doing that’s making the difference,” Chloe said. “The tea just helps with inflammation and relaxes you.”

  “Well, just in case, I won’t stop either of them,” Ms. Bethany said.

  Chloe laughed, and he felt a warmth spread through him at the sound but pushed it away when he began to feel something else. The warmth of his attraction to her was still there, but over riding, it was a new feeling, an energy he didn’t recognize at first but soon realized was magic. It had been so long since he’d felt any magic different from his own and the shifters around him that for a moment, all he could do was let it wash over him, let it soak into him.

  But then just as abruptly as the feeling had come over him, it vanished, leaving him feeling bereft. Shocked by the dept of his feelings, he came out of the trance he’d been in to find Chloe standing by his table, her hands on her hips, tapping her toe. Still stunned, he couldn’t find any words to explain what he’d been doing hiding behind a plant watching her but felt a flare of desire when her their eyes met.

  “I don’t know if I should be angry or flattered that you’re watching me through the potted plants,” she hissed at him, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to figure out what you’re up to,” he hissed back at her. “Would you like to talk about it here or find someplace a little more private?”

  Chloe glared at him, then turned and walked away, so he got up and followed her, a triumphant smile on his face. She led him through the kitchen, out the back door, across the yard to a big tree, then stopped and turned around to face him, her shoulders squared for battle.

  “I keep thinking we’re past this, but you keep circling back,” she said, her eyes flashing with anger. “Out with it. What is it that I’m doing this time?”

  “It’s what you’ve been doing all along,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Using magic to heal people.”

  She paused too long, her face full of shock, but she recovered quickly. “That’s even more ridiculous than the other things you’ve been saying,” she said. “Now I’m what; a witch?”

  Gabriel studied her, the way her chest was rising and falling with panic, the little vein in her neck that was pumping so fast he could see it and knew that he had her. “You said that I didn’t,” he said, closing the distance between them one slow step at a time. “Are you a witch, Chloe?”

  She started to turn away from him, but he caught her arm and held her there. “Tell me the truth Chloe,” he said, his eyes locked on hers.

  “I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” she said, looking away from him but not trying to walk again.

  “Well, we are,” he said. “I felt it, Chloe. I felt your magic.”

  She looked up at him, surprised. “But how...what do you mean you felt my magic?
” she stammered, then turned away from him. “No, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

  He stood there for a second, staring at her back, knowing that he was about to cross a line that he’d promised himself he wouldn’t cross. Deep inside him, an ancient instinct was coming to life; he felt it stretching and growing, and he knew that if he didn’t flee right then, nothing would stop it from coming to life. But that knowledge did nothing to stop him from walking over and wrapping his arms around Chloe, a surrender of epic proportions that he refused to think about.

  ***Chloe***

  Chloe felt Gabriel’s strong arms go around her and wanted to pull away but couldn’t make herself. “I think you do want to know,” he said. “I think you already know; you’re just as aware of me as I am of you.”

  She turned in his arms and looked up at him. “I don’t want to know, Gabriel; once I do, there will be no turning back,” she said, finally managing to pull away from him. “I just found a place where I belong. I can’t risk losing it. I can’t do what you’re asking me to do.”

  “Why not, Chloe?” he asked, stepping toward her again. “What am I missing?”

  Feeling tears threatening, she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath. “I’m just not ready for this, Gabriel; we just opened the tea shop and Emma Jean needs me,” she trailed off, her excuses sounding flimsy to her own ears.

  He studied her for a long time, making her body begin to throb, and her resolve threatened to follow, but she didn’t move. “I think you’re scared,” he said. “I think you’ve been hurt in the past, hurt so badly that you’re afraid to get close to anyone. Well, I’m scared too, Chloe; we didn’t ask for this, but we can’t just ignore it.”

  The impact of his words hit her like a punch to the stomach, and she wished that she could tell him just how close to the truth he’d come. “Yes, we can,” she said, instead, raising her chin.

  Gabriel studied her for a moment, then before she could stop him, he pulled her into his arms, lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her. He parted her lips with his tongue, slid it inside her mouth, and deepened the kiss, making her legs tremble. She knew that she should push him away, but when she tried, her arms went around his neck instead, and he pulled her up against him, and all thoughts of resisting disappeared from her mind.

  He kissed her until she was breathless, then slowly pulled away and looked down at her. “Do you still think we can ignore that?” he asked.

  “That wasn’t fair,” she said, backing away from him on trembling legs.

  “I never play fair,” he said, then pulled her into his arms again.

  This time, when his mouth came down on hers, she was ready, determined not to let him kiss her, but her resistance only lasted a second before she was kissing him back. When he finally let her go again, her head was fuzzy with pleasure, and it took her a second to notice the triumphant look on his face.

  “You are going to be the biggest challenge I’ve ever faced,” he said, lifting her chin up and looking into her eyes. “But you are also going to be the biggest prize I’ve ever won.”

  She couldn’t help but gasp at his words as a powerful thrill of desire washed over her, and she almost launched herself back into his arms but managed to stop herself. He grinned at her as if he knew what she was thinking, then turned and walked away, leaving her staring after him, anticipation making her breath come in short bursts. She shivered, his words echoing through her mind as she watched him cross the yard and disappear behind the house.

  Even though she didn’t know Gabriel very well, she’d seen the look in his eyes, the look of a man who knew what he wanted and wouldn’t stop until he had it. It should have frightened her, should have made her angry, but all she felt was a burgeoning sense of hope. Unfamiliar with the feeling, she stood taking deep breaths, telling herself that it was ridiculous to hope that she’d finally found a man who could see into her soul.

  But she couldn’t push the feeling away, and still reeling from her discovery, she headed back to the house, sure that she’d been missed. When she got to the back porch, Emma Jean was sitting in a rocking chair waiting for her, a sweater wrapped around her shoulders against the autumn chill.

  “Emma Jean, what are you doing out here?” she asked.

  “Why, I’m spying, of course,” she said, grinning up at Chloe. “I guess he figured out that you’re a witch.”

  Chloe stared at her for a minute, too shocked to deny it. “How did you know?” she asked, sitting down on the top step.

  Emma Jean grinned at her. “The same way you know that Gabriel is a complicated man: I can feel it,” she said. “Besides, a witch always recognizes another witch.”

  “I think I’m confused,” Chloe said. “You don’t...I mean...”

  “My magic faded away a long time ago,” Emma Jean said. “Simon wouldn’t let me use it, and after a while, it just wasn’t there anymore. I thought it was gone for good, but when you showed up, it started to come back. I don’t know if I’ll ever be as strong as I once was, that was so long ago, but I’m happy just to feel it again.”

  Chloe thought about what it would be like to lose her magic completely, to not feel the comforting hum deep inside her, but she also realized that without it, she wouldn’t have the power to destroy lives.

  “Sometimes, I wish my magic would go away, that I could lead a normal life,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’ve been hiding my magic for a long time. It’s evil, Emma Jean; terrible things happened because of me, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself.”

  Emma Jean made a scoffing noise. “I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. Your magic is not evil,” she said. “Maybe you don’t know it, but you’ve been using your magic all this time. Gabriel saw it, and so did I. You’ve already helped people in this town, many people, and nothing evil could do that. The magic inside you is special, Chloe; it’s strong and pure, but even something that perfect can be used by evil in the right circumstances: that’s a fact of life.”

  Chloe wanted to believe her, wanted to feel the relief of letting her guilt go, but wasn’t ready to take that step. “I don’t think you understand just what I’ve done,” she said, then got to her feet. “But that was in the past. We have customers waiting for their tea, so we should get back inside.”

  Chapter Seven

  ***Gabriel***

  Gabriel was still grinning when he drove away from the tea house, his lips tingling where they’d touched Chloe’s. Kissing her the first time had changed everything, had made it clear to him that she was the woman for him, and he’d decided that since he couldn’t alter his fate, he’d embrace it. When he’d kissed her the second time, no longer fighting his attraction to her, he’d felt all the possibilities, all the passion that could be awakened between them.

  Still slightly shocked by the sudden change in his feelings, he drove through town with no destination in mind, letting it sink in and sensing the fear that began to creep up on him. He let the fear come, let it wash over him, then thought about Chloe, and it faded away, replaced by a feeling of warmth.

  Gasping, he pulled his car over to the side of the road, put his head down on the steering wheel, and took several deep breaths. Only a few seconds later, the sound of tires crunching the gravel behind him made him pick up his head and look in the rear-view mirror. He was relieved to see Adam’s truck parked behind him, but slightly embarrassed to have been caught sitting in his car on the side of the road.

  When Adam stepped up to the window, he rolled it down. “I thought you gave up sleeping in the car,” he said, grinning at him.

  “I wasn’t sleeping,” he said. “I was thinking.”

  “This is a strange place to be thinking,” Adam said, looking up and down the road. “You maybe want to come to my house and do that thinking?”

  Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. “I think that’s where I was going,” he said.

  The farmhouse was quiet when they walked
in. “Where’s Molly?” he asked, surprised not to find her there.

  “She’s with the rest of the girls working on their dresses for the festival,” Adam said. “I think they had to let hers out again, and I don’t think she was very happy about it.”

  “Not much longer and you’ll be a father,” he said, shaking his head.

  Adam laughed. “A year ago I wouldn’t have believed you if you’d told me this was going to happen,” he said. “But I’ve never been happier.”

  Gabriel followed Adam into the kitchen, sat down at the table, but didn’t say anything, his mind still spinning. “Aren’t you ever scared?” he finally asked, looking up at Adam, who was filling the coffee pot.

  Adam finished filling the pot, put the coffee on, then came over and sat down. “I’m scared all the time. First, I was scared that Molly would wake up and decide she didn’t want me. Then, I was scared that something would happen to her. Now, I’m scared something will happen to both of them,” he said.

  “I don’t know if I can live that way,” he said, his stomach sinking at the thought. “I’ve seen too much, Adam, too much heartbreak, too much suffering. I don’t think I am willing put myself through that.”

  Adam got up, filled two cups with the freshly brewed coffee, and brought them to the table along with a plate of cookies. He handed one to Gabriel. “Taste that,” he said, then waited until he took a bite. “Without all that fear, I wouldn’t have those, the woman that made them, or the child we’re about to have. I live each day like it might be the last, and savor every moment; that’s all we can do, Gabriel. You can’t spend your life worrying about what might happen in the future; at some point, you just have to take a leap of faith, but if it feels right, and you’ll know when it does, it’s worth it.”

  The truth of Adam’s words echoed through his mind. “I suppose I should have seen this coming,” he said. “I don’t know why I thought I would escape.”