by Jane Cousins
Cara was trying to make sense of what was wrong, it was a storm, there had been forked lightning, no thunder. That wasn’t that unusual, not if the storm centre was still miles away.
“What’s going on?” Cara helped Adelaide, whose bag had tipped over spilling a few items.
“Gunther… Erik’s Dad, can shoot lightning bolts out his fingertips when he’s riled… or angry… or even when he’s happy for that matter.” Adelaide shoved the last few items into her bag, giving Cara a grateful smile. “Best to seek cover until his mood improves.”
“Erik…” One of his older distant cousins shook her finger in his direction, admonishingly. “We told you to ring your mother. Now your father’s on the warpath.”
“The man gets upset if I turn up to Sunday Lunch on time, Teri.”
“Well something has definitely set him off this time.” Katherine announced as another set of bolts zipped across the rain soaked sky. “And it’s looking more and more like you are the cause.”
As a group, the ladies now all had their coats on and their bags clutched to their sides ready to abandon the immediate area, or at least create some distance between themselves and Erik. Their plans to exit halted abruptly though as a rain soaked woman burst into the domed room, via the archway leading from the main reception area.
She made quite the bizarre picture, standing there soaked from head to toe, breath coming in rapid pants as if she’d been running. In her hands she clenched a ceramic dish covered with foil. Even with her distinct dark blue hair plastered to her skull, Cara could tell the woman wasn’t just pretty she was beautiful with high hollowed out cheekbones, wide dark eyes surrounded by lush long eyelashes and lips that were pink and pouty. And she was thin… bordering on the skeletal, except when it came to her breasts, there the woman was unnaturally blessed by high full breasts. Cara knew this because the off the shoulder colourful cheesecloth top the woman wore was now transparent thanks to the rain and the fact she had neglected to wear a bra.
“Erik.” The woman’s eyes fixed on Erik like heat seeking missiles. For all her awareness he may as well have been alone in the room. The newcomer beamed a smile of relief. “Your father told me I might find you here.”
Cara was surprised at the cool blank shuttered look that passed over Erik’s features. He’d retreated into his impersonal teacher mode which should have at least had the interloper hesitating as he looked far from welcoming. But the newcomer’s eyes weren’t fixed upon Erik’s face any longer, Cara noted, no, the woman’s dark eyes were fixated much farther south. Huh, so much for not flashing the woman anything more than his butt. Cara was guessing the woman had seen the whole package and was keen to sign up for a personal tour. Honestly, had this woman no shame, no self-respect?
“Actually, we were just finishing up the lesson… um… Marcie?”
“Saffron… and that’s good because I bought you dinner. My tofu surprise, I realised after the other night’s little mishap that in my excitement of preparing it for you, I left out the main ingredient.”
Erik’s glacial expression didn’t budge an inch. “Unless that ingredient is red meat, I doubt you’ll be able to change my opinion of your tofu surprise.”
The art class ladies tittered softly in amusement, enjoying the show, completely forgetting they had been in the process of departing.
Saffron tossed back her head and gave a practised laugh, pulling back her shoulders and thrusting out her chest.
Bitch, Cara felt a wave of hot anger sear through her. Saffron clearly knew exactly how transparent her top was, conniving cow had probably ditched her bra just before arriving.
“Trust me.” Saffron gave Erik a knowing look. “You’ll love this surprise.”
Unsubtle bony twig, cooking for Erik, thrusting her breasts in his face. Cara couldn’t believe Saffron’s nerve. Honestly, the woman needed to be taught a lesson in manners, she was practically stalking Erik, harassing him. Although, knowing him, he was probably secretly enjoying the free mammary display… the bastard.
And just like that Cara’s anger focused laser sharp low in her body and as Saffron took a step towards Erik, Cara felt a burst of energy explode from within her… the tremendous release that rushed through her almost caused her knees to buckle… Merda, what had she just done?
It had to be a coincidence that at the exact moment she had been contemplating hurting Saffron a piece of charcoal lying on a nearby table flew across the room, hitting the floor and rolling… just as Saffron’s foot came down on top of it.
Shrieking in surprise, Saffron fell backwards, the dish in her hands sailing up… up and up towards the ceiling, hitting one of the windows encircling the base of the dome with a loud explosion. Shattered glass rained down along with plummeting pieces of ceramic, chunks of tofu surprise and sheets of water.
Everyone screamed and ran for cover, including Saffron, who scrambled up from the tile where she’d fallen on her bony ass. Lucky everyone had been on the move as in the next split second lightning forked across the sky, one of the arcs heading straight for the dome, as if without the barrier of glass blocking it the arc was locked and loaded upon Erik’s position.
More glass exploded and Cara lost the ability to see for a moment as the world around her flashed too bright. Images superimposed over her retina even as she bought her hands up to cover her eyes. She wanted to scream, cry out, was Erik dead? Had that bolt of lightning really slammed into the room?
The next second strong arms were wrapping around her, lifting her, hustling her towards the exit, crunching over broken glass and ceramic as rain splattered through the broken window. Gasping, Cara opened her eyes, staring in shock at Erik who carried her. He was alive, relief flowed through her.
She glanced back over his shoulder at the disaster site receding behind them. How was that possible? How was Erik alive? Past the rain falling, splattering onto the colourful mosaic tiles, past the over turned easels and mess, her eyes were drawn for some reason to the stone column that Erik had been standing next too. Something about it had changed, was different… then she saw it, the black outline about half way up, it looked distinctly like a handprint. A large male handprint.
Chapter Twelve
“Are you okay?”
Cara’s hands still trembled slightly as she reached out to take the hot chocolate from Erik. She was sitting on the couch in her living room wrapped in a warm blanket, her bare feet curled under her. She still wasn’t quite sure how the two of them had gotten to her place.
Everything was kind of a blur after the lightning strike. There had suddenly been a plethora of security guards and police milling about, quickly joined by a crew of firemen. At least the damage to the dome room was contained and wouldn’t affect any of the books but still, she wasn’t too sure how thrilled Patricia was going to be that her precious library was damaged.
“Cara?” Erik took a seat on the couch next to her. The man certainly didn’t look like he’d been hit by lightning. Although Cara noted he’d divested himself of his black shirt and now only wore a slightly rain dampened navy t-shirt. “You here with me, Angel?”
She blinked, looking around. “Yes… yes. Are you okay? When… why are we here?”
“I’m fine, everyone’s fine, and we came here because with my father in a bad mood there was no way we could go back to my place.”
“But…” She tensed, turning to the large picture window that overlooked the road and the park on the other side that butted up against the sandy beach. Water ran in rivulets down the glass, the night beyond a drenched watery blur. Other than the falling rain the night was essentially still, no eerie winds, just steadily beating sheets of rain. Her whole body relaxed as she took a sip of her hot chocolate eyeing Erik with sudden suspicion. “What happened back there… at the library?”
“Hmmm, that’s a very good question. You tell me? Did your chaos whammy powers slip off the leash?”
Cara felt herself blushing, she couldn’t believe she’d confi
ded in Erik about her stupid powers but surprisingly the man wasn’t mocking her. If anything, he looked kind of amused.
“No… kind of.” They hadn’t slipped, she’d unleashed them, hadn’t she? Though she had no idea how she’d done it. From the moment she’d clapped eyes upon Saffron she’d wished that the woman would fall over on her bony ass… and wah-la, she had. Unfortunately as was the way with her whammy powers then things had gotten way out of control. The broken window, storm damage and lightning strike had been nothing but plain overkill. “Patricia’s not going to be happy with me.”
Erik shrugged, chugging down the rest of his hot chocolate. “I wouldn’t worry about it, in this town accidents happen all the time. We have plenty of people who specialise in clean up. Besides, my father is notorious for his lightning hits, no one is even going to think you were the trigger, the piece of charcoal can be our little secret.”
“You… you saw that?”
“I was watching you, it was kind of hard to miss.”
Wait, he’d been watching her and not Saffron’s wet t-shirt display? Err, no, no Cara, remember what happened tonight, the mayhem, the madness that she had caused. Do not get suckered in by Erik Valhalla and his cobalt blue eyes. “What can I say, I was embarrassed upon behalf of all intelligent women everywhere, she was just so… eager. Besides, I’m not a fan of tofu surprise either.”
From the kitchen a buzzer sounded.
Cara frowned. “What was that?”
“Dinner. I hope you are a fan of mac n cheese?”
“Sure.” She watched wide eyed as he strode over to her open plan kitchen and started to pull out plates and cutlery. Damn, the man looked right at home in her kitchen, relaxed, smiling… what was wrong with this picture?
Oh no, just when had Erik decided to stop being a jerk and be nice to her?
This was not good, so no good. She liked him way too much when he was like this. Okay, she was attracted to the man twenty-four-seven, but it was much easier to fight that attraction when the man was in jerk mode. And fight it she must, she refused to be responsible for getting Erik hurt or killed because of her wacky powers.
So why then was her next thought about how she looked? Her hair? Her mussed damp clothes? “Actually, I might just get changed first.” She threw back the blanket and headed for her closet, knowing even as she did so she was being contrary and irrational, but she couldn’t sit around in damp clothes, could she? For health reasons alone she should change. Although other than her work clothes it wasn’t like she had terribly many options. Don’t dither woman, just find something warm and comfortable to wear that doesn’t make your ass look huge. An impossible mission, everything she owned made her ass look huge, who was she kidding.
“You have one minute.” Erik’s deep voice made her jump in surprise.
Hurriedly she grabbed the top two things from her casual clothes pile, wine coloured yoga pants and a matching hoodie that zipped up the front. Racing into her bathroom she changed in record time, glaring at her reflection in the mirror, she rolled her eyes at her hair, honestly, what a mess, she yanked the braid undone and attempted to run a brush through her damp wild ringlets, grr, grabbing the rubber band again she twisted her hair back into a sloppy knot.
Why did she care what she looked like? Erik wouldn’t.
The man had ignored all those beautiful women panting over his every word in the art class last week and he’d been immune to Saffron’s baited wet assets this evening. He was obviously the pickiest man alive, but then with those cobalt eyes and that chest, the man was deserving of perfection.
On the other hand, his actions didn’t thoroughly explain why he was always eyeing her with heated interest? Why he grinned her way lasciviously or why his eyes too often fixed upon her breasts as if he were mesmerised? Erik Valhalla really was a complicated an annoying individual. All these mixed signals. Who was he really? A jerk or a nice guy?
Hmm, why did the answer even matter? For the sake of his continued good health she couldn’t allow herself to get too attached or even allow him to remain in her vicinity for too long. The longer he hung around her, the greater the chance that he would get seriously hurt.
“Come on, you can’t let mac n cheese get cold, it hardens.” Erik called.
Cara pulled on some sneakers and took a deep breath, cool and calm, it was just dinner, once they’d eaten she’d kick the man out and she’d get on with her life.
She strolled back into the living room in time to be handed a bowl of steaming pasta and a fork. Once more Erik sat next to her, tucking into his own bowl. There was silence for a few minutes as they ate, only the sound of the rain to be heard.
“So… the lightning bolts and your father… is he the God in your family?” Cara enquired, curious.
“Hah.” Erik laughed out loud. “The man has a God complex that’s for sure, but he’s not a God. He is the son of one though, which explains the lightning bolts and the remarkably good aim.”
“Wow.” Cara took a few more bites, surprised at how hungry she was. “So your Grandfather is a God? Which one?”
“Odin. Love him dearly but he can be a grumpy one-eyed bastard.”
“Odin? Odin’s your grandfather?” Cara had to concentrate on not letting her jaw drop open in shock.
“Hence my surname, Valhalla.” Erik shrugged nonchalantly, forking up the last of the mac n cheese in his bowl.
It felt as if he’d been running on fumes the last week or so, driven by the need to finish the sculpture of Cara. It was disconcerting to find even though he’d completed the piece in the wee small hours of the morning, thanks to the presence of his sleeping model, his pull, his attraction to Cara hadn’t lessened. At least the image of her naked that had been burned into his retina had faded away, although every now and then, the memory reared in sharp technicolour detail making his chest tighten and his cock harden.
“So shouldn’t you be off somewhere drinking ale, carousing with women and smiting down your grandfather’s enemies?”
“So judgemental for a girl who just found out five minutes ago she was related to a God.” Erik placed his empty bowl down on the coffee table and sat back, sprawling, resting his left ankle on his right knee, exhausted down to his very bones. “Trust me, I have more than enough cousins running around fetching Odin’s laundry and… smiting down his enemies, he’s long gotten over his disappointment that my brothers and I are failures on the warrior front. Besides, my sister followed in my Dad’s footsteps and she’s like worth the three of us plus a horde of berserkers combined.”
Cara set her own almost empty bowl down next to Erik’s and turned on the couch to face him, absently pulling the rug up over her knees. “You have brothers and a sister?”
Erik smiled. “Well I didn’t just magically appear in a lightning strike, if that’s what you’re hinting at. I have an older brother, Locke, who just recently got married and a younger brother, Fen, who’s a fireman and terminally single… like me.”
“And your sister? She’s actually a warrior, with swords, and a horned helmet and everything?”
“No helmet, but yes on the sword front. Goddess yes, she’s up the whazzoo with sharp objects is my baby sister. I’m kind of surprised you haven’t met her already. Maat’s beefcake warriors found and sent you here, didn’t they? Hadleigh can usually be found loitering in the general vicinity of her meld mate, Vaughn. He’s the really tall one with the blonde hair.”
“Hadleigh? The huge super soldier experiment with the red hair? She’s your sister?”
Erik laughed again. “My parents, to this day, claim it was a union of love that bought about her birth… me, I’m definitely going to investigate this super soldier experiment idea of yours.”
Cara smothered a yawn with the back of her hand, she was fed, comfortable and there was no eerie moaning winds battering her small cottage, only the steady drum of the rain on the overhead corrugated roof. “She’s seriously scary tall.” Cara shivered in memory and then agai
n when she recalled Hadleigh’s pale, almost clear grey eyes that looked at you in a very direct manner, as if she were determining the most optimal way of separating your head from your body.
“You think she’s intimidating? Wait until you meet my father.” Whoa, what the hell was he saying? Okay, yes he’d been hit by a bolt of lightning earlier in the evening, diverting it’s energy into the nearest stone column had both hurt and been kind of a buzz, but that was no excuse for relaxing and making promises to Cara Devigne that sounded way too similar to the kinds of promises a boyfriend might make.
He blamed her, with her soft husky laugh that he never got tired of hearing and her sparkling sapphire eyes, so hypnotic that he couldn’t pull his gaze away to stare at her lovely breasts and act the hound dog.
Goddess, fuck… face it man, you’re whipped. You want to be nice to Cara. You don’t want to see the hurt flare in her eyes when you act like a jerk anymore. You want her to admire you, like you… let you put your hands on those curves of hers, run your fingers over that golden skin, bury your face in that mass of red-golden ringlets.
Damn, it was one thing to be attracted to the girl but he found himself genuinely liking her, liking how she could be both direct and shy at the same time. How she tilted her head back occasionally to peer down her nose at him when he said something jerky. The way she laughed at him, how clever she was, with the witty comebacks and her take no guff attitude, even when the room around her was descending into chaos. She was warm, sweet, feisty, independent, funny and just all round… fucking kind of perfect.
Goddess, don’t save him, he was falling for Cara Devigne, a living Botticelli Angel… and let’s not forget, a walking disaster.
He should leave, but head where? He couldn’t go home or back to the library until it was given the all clear. Maybe he could crash at Fen’s place whilst his brother was out of town. He switched his attention back to Cara as she issued a soft half sigh, she was asleep, curled up in the corner of the couch.