Summer Romance (Harbor Moon)

by Mitchell, Traci

  “Are you okay?” He turned toward me. “I know this is kind of a shock for you.”

  I turned to face him. He was so handsome, I couldn’t imagine turning into a killer and he would be my prey. I didn’t want this to happen. From the first time I met Eric, there was an instant attraction, even I couldn’t explain. My eyes filled with tears as I stared into his beautiful face.

  “Eric…I don’t want to become a killer.” A single tear fell from my eye, running down my cheek. Slowly, his hand reached for my face and wiped the tear away.

  “I know. I don’t want you to either. I don’t want to be your quarry.” He leaned closer, lifting my face to his. “Deanna, I can’t help it, but I’m very drawn to you. I’m attracted to you in ways I never thought possible. Call it a crush if you want too, but I know how I’m feeling inside when I’m around you. Believe me when I tell you this is just as frustrating to me as it is to you.”

  I knew in my heart, I felt the same attraction to him. We didn’t know each other very well, but there was this undeniable magnetism between the two of us.

  “I know how you feel. I feel the same way. What are we going to do? I mean I don’t want to turn into something that will kill you. That’s not me!”

  “I know. I haven’t figured that part out yet. Maybe it’s something we can both figure out together. As far as I know nothing like this has ever happened within my lines. Even my father is confused. He doesn’t know what to make of it.”

  “You told your father?” I screeched.

  He jumped back and his eyebrows rose. “Of course I did. My father is wise. We don’t keep secrets from each other. He’s actually on your side Deanna. He wants to help you.”

  “How? I mean, what can he do? Wouldn’t that put you and him in danger if whatever this thing is takes over me? No Eric. You saved my life and the least I can do is try and return the favor.”

  “Listen to me a minute will you? We can work through this. There is something about you that’s different from the other Hunters.”

  My head snapped up. “Other Hunters?” This just kept getting better and better.

  “We’ll I certainly hope you didn’t think you were the only one?” His right eyebrow arched. I was stung by his sarcasm.

  “You said the Hunters were a long generation…that means…”

  He blinked. “More than one. Come on.” He said stepping down out of the jeep.

  I followed and we walked around the lake. Finding a spot we sat down, far from hearing range of the people fishing on the docks.

  “Deanna, I knew what you were when I saw the charm and yet I protected you. Don’t you think I have your best interest in my heart?”

  “Yes. But…” I couldn’t think of anything to say, my thoughts scattered.

  “Like I said, there is something different about you. Even my Dad noticed it when he met you. He always told me to trust my wolf instincts, and right now they are telling me you would never hurt me or my family.” He stretched out on his side and propped his head in his hand.

  “And the lamb and the lion shall lie down together…” I mumbled looking beyond the lake into the wooded area.

  He chuckled softly. “I don’t think this means the same thing. But, if you are referring to peace between our kinds…you might be right. Dad thinks the same thing.”

  “So now you’ve given me the option of becoming a hero instead of a killer?”

  “It’s something you will have to fight against. You will change but, what you decide in the process will affect us all. I believe together we can fight this, unless this is something you truly want.”

  “No! Eric, I don’t want to kill anyone! Especially not you!”

  His eyes lifted to mine and my heart thundered. He sat up and leaned closer to me. I froze. His lips grazed over mine and my breath held in my throat. My body trembled when his hand touched my arm. He stopped and pulled away from me.

  “You’re afraid of me?” His soft voice carried the tone of pain.

  My face went hot. It really wasn’t what he thought. I wasn’t sure how to explain this to him.

  “It’s not that I’m afraid of you. It’s just that…” My face burned from embarrassment.

  “Deanna?” He leaned forward searching my eyes for the truth.

  I turned my head aside to keep from staring into his handsome face. Would it make any difference if he wasn’t so darn good looking? A soft breeze tossed my blondish-brown hair in my face.

  His finger touched my chin and turned my face back to his. A soft smile crossed his lips. “Sweet sixteen and never been kissed.”

  My faced burned with intensity. I nodded.

  His hand cupped the side of my face as his expression turned serious. Leaning closer to me, his thumb grazed over my bottom lip causing my lips to part slightly. My heart raced again and my breath froze when his lips touched mine. Slowly his hand slid around the back of my neck, holding me steady with one hand as his lips pressed harder against mine parting my mouth. His tongue grazed the inside of my lip then crossed into my mouth.

  Suddenly my body froze while the world around me began to spin wildly out of control. Silver dots danced before my closed eyes. Eric pulled away from me and I gasped for air.

  He chuckled softly. “Okay, so we’ll work on the kiss.”

  My cheeks burned again. “That bad?”

  “Let’s just say…you need to relax a bit.” He leaned forward and kissed me lightly on the lips. “Next time, you try,” he growled.

  My body shivered. For some reason his voice sent a bolt of fire through my veins and my breath came out in a gasp again. This new attraction thing was going to take some time.

  He chuckled again. “Well, I did promise your mother I would take you out to a movie and dinner. I like to keep my word.” He smiled.

  The rest of the evening, Eric and I spent together was wonderful. He took me to see some action movie, which I enjoyed. Then we went to a little pizzeria where we ordered a large pepperoni pizza and salad. Over dinner we discussed the movie and what we liked and disliked. We made plans for a standing movie date on Fridays through the summer.

  After pizza we had a couple of hours to spare before I went home so we spent the rest of the time at the coffee shop talking. The more time I spent with him the more I realized I really enjoyed Eric. In spite of the fact he was a wolf shape shifter he was just what the doctor ordered.

  I dreaded going home, but the evening drew to a close. Eric wanted to return me home at the time he promised my mother. I really didn’t want the evening to end. But I knew I would see him soon enough. We exchanged phone numbers and he promised he would call. He mentioned something he and his dad needed to do. I wondered if it had anything to do with the whole wolf and Hunter thing. He said it might. According to him, I wasn’t to worry about it.

  He pulled the jeep into the driveway and I felt the most important evening of my life was at its end. Reluctantly I climbed out of the jeep and met him while he waited to walk me to the front door. He was so old fashioned. We walked to the front door where I stopped and turned to him.

  “Eric, I really had a great time.”

  He smiled. “I did too. I’ll give you a call tomorrow and see if you want to do something. There’s still a lot in this little town to explore.”

  “That sounds great. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I paused before grabbing the door. I wasn’t really sure if the evening called for another kiss or not.

  Eric’s face broadened into a huge smile. His hand clasped around my arm. “Wait a minute,” he said giving me a gentle tug toward him.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. This time I melted into his kiss. His arm slid around my back holding my weakened body, and the kiss was just what I thought a kiss would be. Excellent!

  He pulled slowly away from me, holding my body steady. I opened my eyes to see his peering down at me.

  “Better?” I breathed out.

  He nodded. “Much.”

  I returned
the smile and turned to walk into the house. “See you later.”

  Eric waved and walked off toward his jeep.

  Once inside the house I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. My father called me from the living room to come and sit down with him and my mother. Quickly I checked my watch, it was 8:50, I was ten minutes early.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked moving into the living room.

  “Sit down Deanna.” My dad pointed to the love seat. I sat down and folded my hands in my lap.

  “Your mother tells me she gave you permission to go out on a date...” he turned to her. “Without asking me.”

  “Dad…I can …”

  “Wait.” He raised his hand. “I hear you went out with Eric Matthews. I think it’s nice. He seems to be a very nice young man. Did you have a nice time?"

  "Yes.”

  “That’s nice.” Dad shifted in his chair. “I’m guessing you’ll be seeing him again?”

  My stomach did a flip. “Yes.”

  “Okay.” Dad looked over to my mother. I guessed he needed back up. “We want you to be careful.”

  He wanted to have the sex talk. Oh, boy. “Dad!”

  “Now wait a minute, Deanna. We might not be teenagers anymore, but we were there once.” He peered over his glasses.

  “Dad, please!” I looked to Mom for help. “Mom?”

  “All your father is saying, is we want you to be careful. Don’t go rushing into anything. Let him know you are a …well…someone he needs to respect. You know, you’re not easy. Boys take advantage of girls like that.”

  “Mom! We haven’t …”

  “Now, if you two are going to go out again, I would like to meet Eric and sit down and have a little talk with him. He needs to understand the outcome if he breaks your heart. Worse yet, if he tries to take advantage of you.”

  “Dad! Please, we just went out one time! You make it sound like we are already on the way to …well…” I couldn’t even say it.

  “Honey, it happens. He’s at the age his hormones are running wild and yours too. Both of you are at the age where you want to experiment. And…”

  “Okay…you guys please… we’ve had the birds and bees talk already.”

  “Honey, we’re just happy you have a date.” Mom leaned over and hugged Dad. “And he’s cute.”

  “Okay. I promise. Can I go to my room now?” I pleaded.

  They both smiled and nodded. Thank goodness that conversation was over. I don’t think I could stand to hear anymore. Eric was a hottie, but I hadn’t even considered going that far with him. I barely made it through the first kiss, I didn’t even want to think about the other thing…sex. Chills ran up my spine. Not something I even wanted to discuss with my parents. I swore sometimes my parents made it their goal in life to find new ways of embarrassing me. There must be a parent’s handbook somewhere out there titled “1001 Ways to Embarrass Your Teenage Daughter.” How do they come up with this stuff?

  After I made it to my room, I plopped down on my bed and pushed the books aside. The brown leather book Dr. McCoy gave me fell off the bed. I leaned over and picked it up. This book would wait. I had the answers I needed. If this was what I was to become, I would fight it. I didn’t want to be a killer, much less end up killing someone like Eric. I opened my desk drawer and shoved the book as far to the back as I could. I didn’t want to know anymore.

  The rest of my summer would be filled with evenings like this one with Eric. It was my first summer romance, one I would remember forever. We still had a few conflicts to consider, but I knew in time his dad would help me overcome this transformation. I wouldn’t give up the fight.

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  Harbor Moon: Summer Romance?

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  Harbor Moon: Hunter’s Dawn

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