He was amused at the way he felt protective of a woman who had nearly tagged him a murderer. But he curbed that amusement and replaced it by cold resolve. She was beautiful, and he liked her. In another time in another place, he would have tried to know her better. But right now, the last thing he needed was emotional complications. He had work to do and very less time on hand. Besides the blood moon was coming.
“Playing wife is not going to get you back into my good graces. I don’t need your sympathies. I remember asking you to leave.” He said curtly.
She turned smiling, the open blender jar in one hand and a tall glass in the other. This time she had known he was coming. Till he had walked into the kitchen, he had no idea she was still here. So, he had not judged it necessary to put up his barrier. And not being a person of magic he had no way of sensing her from far as she did. He could only block what he saw.
“I did not stay to make amends. I stayed because Han asked me to stay and make you this.” She said pouring the carrot smoothie laced with mint and celery into the tall glass and putting it in front of him on the table.
He was still standing, and he frowned at the glass. He did not like Han and his interim sister discussing him behind his back. Even then he picked up the glass from the table and drank half of it in one gulp. It was delicious and refreshing. But he would cut off a finger before he said so to her. So, he screwed up his face into a grimace of dislike as he lowered the glass.
“Tastes exactly like the kind of disgusting stuff I am supposed to consume. You got it right, honey.” He said with sarcasm dripping from his face. As he placed the glass back on the table, Ro refilled it promptly.
“You must think too much of yourself if you think I am trying to play wife to you.”
“Yeah right. I forgot that now you know,” He said pushing both his hands into the pockets of the track pants he had changed into and looking far out of the window. The loose gray t-shirt hung over him as if he was a skeleton.
“You know I didn’t mean that.” She said her smile wilting at his reaction. “I was referring to your not so amicable self.”
He scooped the glass back from the table and downed it still standing. Then wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he said.
“Let me show you how amicable I am. While you clean up the mess, you have made I will go take a shower. Then I will walk you home myself.”
Chapter Nine
When Eli turned his sleek black SUV into Rowena’s yard, they found that the sheriff’s standard issue van was already parked there. Brad was about to climb out of it when Rowena hurried over followed by Eli.
“Are you finally arresting me?” Rowena called out to him sharply.
Brad simply gave her a tired look and shook his head. He opened the door to the back seat of his van and pulled out a cardboard box. It was filled with something with folds and folds of gauze on top.
Rowena suddenly tensed, and Eli knew she had sensed something rather than seen or realized. He moved closer.
“Is that…Millicent?” she asked Brad. He nodded then motioning towards the house next door he said.
“Martha wanted to give her a decent burial. I thought it better to bring her by myself since it is so important to her and all. As if on cue, the door to the Norris’ cottage opened, and Martha came down the porch followed by Dom. They crossed the yard between the two cottages hastily and came over.
Brad held out the box to her. But Martha Norris made no move to take it. She simply peered into it like an eager child, tears flowing down her cheeks in rivulets. She looked up at Brad and said. “
“You are the nicest young man I ever met. You brought my Millicent home. I will never be able to thank you enough for this.” That was when she took the box from him and slowly made her way back to her house.
“Brad I did not do it,” Rowena said to him pleadingly. Brad looked on without expression.
“Of course you didn’t. Don’t be worried by what Marta says. She is a good woman, but she is a little off in her head.” Dom said trying to reassure her. Rowena looked up at him in surprise as if she had not known he could talk. In the twenty-five years of them being neighbors, it would have been only the second time that man had ever spoken to her.
“I have been watching you day and night for a week now, just as Brad here instructed me, kept a tab on every move you made. Told him so myself. You had nothing to do what so ever with this killing business.” Dom’s triumphant expression seemed awkward and out of place in the silence that followed.
Rowena slowly turned towards Brad who could not quite look her in the eye and said from between barred teeth with as much loathing in her voice as she can.
“You bastard, get out of my property right now. And mark my words, next time I see you or any of your minions on my grounds without a proper warrant, I will take my complaint to your superiors and have your badge for it. And remember I speak for Gabe and Han as well,” saying that she stormed into her house and banged the door behind her.
She was standing at the kitchen table her shoulders shaking, soft sobs escaping her breath when she sensed him come in. He had his guard down as he did most of the times now. She had expected him to come in and say a few words of sympathy after what perspired in her garden. What she had not expected was what he did next.
His fingers closed around her upper arm, and she could feel the horror that was inside him. But overriding that sensation was a sense of excitement at his touch. A small shiver of pleasure coursed through her as he turned her to face him then pushed her into a chair next to the kitchen table
Gently he wiped away her tears with his fingers while she avoided looking up at him. Then he pushed a starched white handkerchief into her hands, and while she dabbed at her eyes, he carefully secured the rioting curls of her hair behind his ears.
“I will make tea.” He said getting up and starting to fill the kettle at the kitchen sink, leaving her to catch up with herself.
“You don’t drink tea. I don’t think you know how to make it.”
“Oh yes, I do. I have seen Han enough number of times making that disgusting thing you witches call tea.”
“Eli, why are you always so mean to me?” she asked. He placed the kettle on the stove and turned with a sad smile. All this while, he had not denied her access to his aura even once. It was as if he had been trying to be nice.
Now he pulled her out of her chair and slid his arms around her slender waist. He pulled her forward then suddenly crushed his lips to hers. The assault was unexpected, and Ro had no time to recover. Her eyes went wide for a second before she closed them in sheer gratification taking, giving and drowning into him.
Ions passed before he finally drew back. But he still held her close. At that proximity, she could feel how near he was to his end. He rested his forehead against hers and whispered.
“I do it to forget how much I want you. How much I am attracted to you. I am a dying man Ro. I don’t want to kindle something that might consume you eventually.”
“I am already consumed. I think of nothing but you all the time Eli. And the only place I want to be his here.” She said snuggling a little closer.
“Looks like we are in trouble then,” He said. At that moment, the kettle whistled, and reluctantly they drew apart. Eli made the tea and brought it to her. He had chosen chamomile, for soothing and she smiled down at the cup when she saw that.
“What?” he asked eying her suspiciously.
“You would make a good witch’s mate. You even know what tea to choose when.”
“Is that what you want me to be? Your mate?”
“Among other things.”
“So what are the other things?”
“I want some help, Eli. I am in trouble. Brad suspects me of killing these birds and animals. He thinks I did for some magical purpose, as a part of some ritual. The way he is going he might even arrest me soon.”
“What can I do to help you?”
“You are a cop.”
“A cop is always a cop, no matter what,” she said looking up at him expectantly.
“And why should I help you.”
“Because I didn’t do it,” she said now getting a tad irked.
“How do I know you didn’t?”
Chapter Ten
Gabe was tending to his herb garden when Brad walked in through his front gate.
“Hey, buddy. Looks like you are coming from an undesirable mission.”
Brad looked haggard and defeated. His eyes were red from lack of sleep. He was wearing a pair of jeans and an old faded Azmin Creek high school t-shirt. He lowered himself on to a long wicker chair, reclining against its comfortable back, his feet up on its long side, and sighed audibly.
“Do you have anything to drink around here other than that disgusting tea you witches drink that tastes like lukewarm piss?
Gabe chuckled and got up. He went inside the pharmacy through a side door and was back out in a minute with a can of chilled beer.
“Just don’t tell Rowena I had it in stock.” He said and tore off the crimp, and handed it to Brad who nearly snatched it from him and took a deeply satisfying drink before he said to Gabe.
“Do you love Rowena, Gabe?”
Gabe had just put his hands back into the dirt where he was mixing manure, he and Rowena had prepared that season. He looked up at Brad from his crouching position and said.
“Of course I do and so do you Brad.”
“That is not what I asked,” Brad said turning in his lounging chair, leaning out a little, looking Gabe straight in the eye.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Gabe said a reddish hue creeping up his neck not quite meeting Brad’s eye.
“I see,” Brad said relaxing back into the chair.
“I went to deliver Millicent’s body to Martha Norris, yesterday. I met Rowena there. Han’s new tenant was with her. I think they have something going, the two of them. I had someone following the two of you all week. I knew this would happen and I wanted you two to be safe, so I took the precaution. But Dom blurted it all out in front of her, and she flew off into a rage.”
“hmm…” Gabe said not knowing where it was all going. He had spotted Brad’s deputy, who was supposed to follow him, every time. Sometimes he took long walks and drives just to play the guy around.
“That set me thinking, you know, maybe she did not do it herself. But she could have had an accomplice.”
Now Gabe stopped his work, hung his arms from his knees, as he balanced himself on the balls of his feet, still in his crouching position and said.
“Why are you telling me all this Brad? Isn’t your investigation supposed to be confidential or something?
“I went off duty an hour ago.”
“Good, then let’s talk about the upcoming major league game.”
“Gabe, you and Ro think I am trying to frame you, whereas I am just trying to protect you.”
“Maybe you should take your attention away from us just for a while and consider the matter from a fresh perspective. The fact that you know about our …abilities… is perhaps clouding your judgment.”
“Where were you between 3 PM and 10 PM on Friday? You closed the pharmacy early that day.”
Gabe looked up sharply at that and asked.
“Did you tell that to Rowena by any chance?”
“No why?”
“Good, don’t even think of doing it. I don’t want her on my case on this one ok? She worries too much.”
“Then tell me what really happened?”
“Brad I was not well. I had had nightmares the earlier night and had not slept well. I was nearly falling asleep on my feet. Ro had already done the deliveries that morning, so I knew she won’t be back. So, I locked up and went up to my apartment to sleep. I even saw your deputy out-front, the tall, lanky fellow from Dottie’s farm. He must have seen me too. Because when I woke up at around midnight, he was still out there from across the road.”
“Yes, Larry saw you go up and stay there all evening. He is a good lad, Dottie’s youngest.”
“Then you already know I was here, so why the inquiry?”
“…because I have another person saying with confidence that he saw you in the woods that evening.”
Chapter Eleven
“You actually think I killed those animals?” Rowena asked bewildered.
“No, I don’t.”
“Then help me, Eli.”
“Ok. Let me grant your requests one at a time” he said, and before she knew what was happening, he was carrying her in his arms and walking out of the kitchen.
“Eli, what’s got into you?”
“Which way is the bedroom?” he asked but did not bother to stop for instructions as the layout of the place was exactly like that of Han’s
“Eli, what are you doing?” she asked as he took her up the steps quickly and into her room.
“Granting your first wish.” He said laying her down on the bed.
She lay there quietly looking up at him with a mixture of awe and anticipation. He sat next to her on the bed and deftly undid the buttons on her shirt. Once the buttons were all off, he pushed away from the flaps of her shirt and looked down hungrily upon her lithe, beautiful body.
“Can you switch off for some time Ro. Can you be just the woman you are for some time with me?” he said undoing the clasp of her bra and discarding that little fragment of clothing.
Ro knew what he was asking. He wanted her to stop gauging him with her magic, stop the flow of her energy into him and the drawing out of his. She nodded in accent, though she had never tried this before. Her sexual encounters as rare and far between as they were, were mostly guided by her. She had always had the total control.
And now this man was asking her to cede that control. She felt strange but safe in his hands. Just before she did his bidding, she had felt his excitement his hunger at touching her. She knew he wanted. The raw desire, the need to possess, was something she had never felt inside another man and it scared her a little.
Eli placed a finger on her cheek tentatively as if he was touching something precious and fragile. Slowly he drew his finger down over her neck, along the cleft between her breasts, trailing it towards her belly button. He circled the round aperture several times, lost in thought before he continued down. When his finger came against the waistband of her jeans, he simply flipped the button on her jeans and pulled them over her hips down her legs and dropped them on the carpet next to the bed.
Rowena shivered with anticipation as; still fully clothed, he stretched himself alongside her.
She held a fist full of his and tried to yank it out of his jeans. Eli held her wrist in a tight grip and drew it away, pinning to the bed above her head.
“What’s your hurry witch? My turn first.”
Saying that he took her other wrist and delivered it to his grip above her head. He took up from where he had left and circled her belly button with his long bony fingers. As his fingers traveled down this time, Rowena whimpered knowing there was nothing to stop him from having a total access this time.
“Open your eyes and look at me.” He ordered “Look at me, Ro. I want you to look at me while I do this to you.” Saying that he swiftly parted her thighs and dipped his fingers deep into her core.
He smiled with satisfaction as her green eyes turned opaque with the sensation. He drew out then just for a moment, only to push himself in again. This time she came shuddering into his arms as he suddenly let go of her arms that he had been pinning and withdrew his fingers from her core completely.
He straddled her, careful not to crush her with his weight and took her lips with fiery greed. Her hands, now free, went around his neck, drawing him down to her. She fisted her fingers in his hair and gave with complete abandon as he took with more and more insistence.
When he finally withdrew her lips were swollen, and her breath was coming out in choppy little gasps. You are the mo
st stunning woman I have ever seen Rowena he said, circling one pink nipple with his finger. She cried out in ecstasy as he put his mouth there, first suckling gently then drawing onto her with force.
Rowena held fist fulls of his hair in her clutches as he switched from one breast to the other, pleasuring them in turns. When he once again pressed his fingers into the soft wetness of her womanhood and went deeper Rowena moaned out his name over and over again with bittersweet pleasure as waves of sensation washed over her.
She was still recovering from the latest assault when she suddenly felt cold and abandoned.
“Eli?” she said in confusion as she found herself alone on the bed.
“Right here darling,” he said from near the foot of the bed. He undressed deftly and came to her once again. This time she could feel the touch of his bare skin everywhere. Her hands roved over him ravenously.
“You are a right greedy little witch Rowena.” He said holding the mound of her breast in both his hands and drawing on it hard but care full not to hurt her.” He smiled slyly as she keened before saying, “I am not the witch right now remember? I am not controlling you like you asked.”
He was sprawled over her, nipping random kisses over her face and the side of her neck while she explored him at leisure. At some point, she had unintentionally, tried to place one long leg of hers across the other, but he had promptly pushed them apart and positioned this legs between them to keep them that way. Her breasts were slightly crushed under his weight, and his manhood lay snugly between their bellies.
“I asked you that not because I was afraid you would control me but only because I wanted you to have pure, untainted pleasure.” He said.
She looked up at him then, raising one neat little eyebrow, throwing him a look of question. He shrugged at her challenge and said with a devious grin.
“Have it your way.” He said and claimed her lips with his. It was neither a friendly kiss of exploration nor a hungry kiss of plunder like the ones he had given her before. This was different. Rowena true to her challenge tried to cast a web around him. But he had known it was coming, and he had put his shield up, and she could not approach his aura at all.
The Campus Jock: A College Bad Boy Romance Page 28