Ancient Guardians: The Uninvited

by S. L. Morgan

  Levi bit his bottom lip, struggling not to laugh. “You need to hold still.”

  “This is so embarrassing!” she said in an annoyed voice.

  He stood up and unknotted the straps of her dress at the back of her neck to allow him more slack so that he could work with the zipper without pulling her hair. “Allow me to make something perfectly clear to you,” he said, as he placed the untied straps into her hands. “You should never be embarrassed of anything while in my presence.” He kissed her shoulder. “Now, hold still so I can fix this without causing you pain.”

  He knelt down and started to work on freeing her hair.

  “Well, embarrassed or not, this is ridiculous.”

  “Reece, it’s fine; but out of curiosity, how did this happen?” he said, finding the situation amusing.

  Reece sighed. “I think it was a mixture of thinking about our day out together, and rushing to get ready to leave tonight. I leaned my head back as I was zipping the dress up, and now you’re dealing with the result of that.”

  “Actually, I believe I’m working on the result of your attempting to fix this situation on your own.” He laughed again. “It probably would have been easier if you’d called me when you first got into this situation.”

  “You’re not making this any easier on me, Levi!” she grumbled.

  Finally, the majority of her hair that was caught and tangled was removed. He was able to unzip the zipper slowly and free the last of her captive hair. “Got it!” he said triumphantly.

  Reece gathered her hair with her hand and brought it over one shoulder. “Thank goodness. Thank you,” she said, as she waited for him to zip up her dress for her.

  Levi barely heard her as his eyes were drawn to the newly exposed skin of her lower back. Her body was so enticing, and he couldn’t resist the desire to place his lips on the small of her back. Carefully and affectionately, he brought his lips to her soft skin and kissed her indulgently. He kissed up the center of her back leisurely, while he zipped up her dress.

  Reece’s breathing had picked up, yet she said nothing. Levi rose up and took the two straps out of her paralyzed hands. “I must say,” he said, as he pursued her exposed shoulder delicately with his lips, “I am quite taken with your choice of dress this evening.” Reece moaned and he grinned, knowing very well what he was doing to her.

  Once he finished tying her straps, he kissed the top of her head. He let his lips linger there while he absorbed the sweet aroma of her silky-soft hair. He gently placed his hands over each of her shoulders, “I am also grateful we didn’t need to go to the extreme of cutting your hair, either.” He felt her body shudder as he slowly traced her collarbones with his fingers, and gathered her blond tresses into his hands, bringing her hair to fall freely down her back.

  When he turned her to face him, her eyes were glazed as they stared up into his. Then her expression changed to that of her feigning reproach with him, and Levi laughed in response.

  “If you keep kissing me like that,” her eyes stared intently at his mouth before she brought her stern gaze up to meet his playful one, “you’ll be lucky if we make it to dinner tonight.”

  “Oh, is that so?” He ran the back of his fingers up the center of her chest and along her neck. The V-shaped pattern of the deep-red halter dress perfectly displayed and complemented the glowing tone of her healthy skin. “Abandoning our dinner plans sounds like an excellent idea to me.”

  Reece’s eyes narrowed at him as she playfully batted his hand away. “If we weren’t sharing the villa with your cousin, I would happily agree with you.” She glanced over at her bed, and then back at him. “We really need to go!”

  “As you wish, my love,” Levi answered as Reece brushed quickly past him and out of the room.

  When they were in the car, Reece placed her hand in his. He raised her hand to his lips, inhaling deeply of the intoxicating aroma of her skin. “I haven’t had the opportunity to tell you how stunning you look this evening.” He smiled at the hint of red that touched her cheeks.

  As he exited the parking structure, he looked over at her. “So, my love…” he brought the back of her hand to his lips again. After a small kiss, he looked over at her and smiled wryly. “Do I need to find a place where they serve hamburgers tonight?”

  Reece laughed and squeezed his hand. “What am I going to do with you? I really don’t care where we eat, but I’m sure Harrison already has our destination for dinner laid out for us.”

  “He has, and I believe you will enjoy it.”

  “I’m sure I will. I have enjoyed all of his little romantic ideas so far. Who would’ve ever thought that Harrison had a romantic bone in his body,” Reece teased.

  “I don’t know about romantic, but he certainly knows how to charm the ladies,” Levi said with a laugh.

  He pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant; after parking, he exited the vehicle quickly in order to open Reece’s door for her. When they entered the elegant dining hall, the hostess led them to a table in the middle of the room. Levi glanced around, looking for a more isolated area for them to dine. “Excuse me, but if it is not too much of a burden, I would prefer being seated in a more isolated area.” he said politely.

  The young woman’s face tinted red as she turned and locked eyes with Levi. “Oh!” She swallowed hard, “Absolutely, sir. I’m sorry, I was—” she stammered.

  “It’s not a problem,” Levi smoothly cut her off with a kind smile.

  He felt Reece laugh softly at his side as the woman struggled to maintain her composure. She turned to face the candlelit room, which was filled with patrons. When she looked back she avoided eye contact with Levi. “There is a secluded table in the front, if you’d like. Or I can have the—”

  “A table in the front will be fine, thank you.”

  As soon as they approached the table, Levi pulled Reece’s chair out for her. As Levi sat in his seat, the hostess handed Reece and Levi their menus. Levi requested their finest wine, and brought his attention to the menu before him as the waitress left.

  “So,” Reece narrowed her eyes at him. “It appears that the Pemdai are not the only people star-struck by you.” She laughed. She stared intently into his eyes. “I can’t say that I blame her, though; those sapphire-blue eyes of yours got the best of me, too,” she said, as she placed her napkin in her lap. “Why do we have to sit in a secluded part of the room, anyway?”

  Levi grinned. “Well, from this location,” he glanced over his shoulder at the large glass windows that displayed the view of the glistening ocean behind him, “you have the best view of the Aegean Sea.”

  “And?” she asked.

  Levi laughed softly. “And I prefer a location where I can better judge the room.”

  Reece’s eyes widened with excitement as she leaned over the table. “So,” she whispered, “are there any aliens in the restaurant?”

  Levi chuckled pulled his menu open. “As a matter of fact, there are two.” He dropped his menu down and smiled at her awed expression. “It’s nothing to be concerned about, of course, or I wouldn’t have brought you in here.” He looked at her hands, which were clenched to her menu tightly. “Reece, would you care to decide upon what you want to eat this evening so that I may order for you.”

  She sat back in her chair and squinted at him. “We’ll finish this conversation in a minute.” She pulled her menu open and looked at it for a moment before she closed it. She sat back and took a sip of her wine. “I can’t understand any of this.” she said, “Feel free to order for me; you know what I like to eat.”

  “Very well, then.” he said, as he brought his attention back to the menu.

  Levi didn’t fail to notice that since they’d arrived in Greece, Reece had hardly eaten anything. So tonight, he planned to order various delicacies for Reece to sample.

  Once the waitress took their order and left, Reece crossed her arms and leaned into the table. “So there are really two aliens in here with us?” she asked discreetly
.

  Levi sipped his wine and nodded. He leaned forward, keeping his voice low. “They mean no harm; they are from a dimension known as Torlief. They are a species of beings that are very intrigued with how humans interact and so forth.”

  Reece lifted her chin. “Do they know that you’re a Guardian?”

  “Yes. They also know that there are four other Guardians among them in the room as well.”

  Reece smiled. “So this the way it’s always been? The people of Earth are just walking around with aliens among them all the time?”

  Levi nodded. “Sort of. The ones who walk amongst humans are the ones who have the ability to shape-shift into human form.”

  “Are there a lot of those types out there?”

  “Yes.”

  She stared at him in admiration. “And the Guardians keep all of them in line, huh?”

  “That’s what we do.” He winked playfully at her. “As long as they pose no threat to any human, we allow them to enjoy their visit to the planet.”

  Their food arrived at the table; however, yet Reece had shown no interest in the plate of food before her. She reached for her goblet of wine and sipped it, her thoughts obviously elsewhere.

  “Reece, please eat. I can see the questions lining up one by one in your head.”

  She stared at him with concern. “Reece, I didn’t mean to frighten you. You will be fine—they have no intention of harming you. These particular beings have no knowledge that you are the Key.”

  Her eyes widened. “I just thought of something!” She placed her wineglass on the table, and then took a bite of her food, still deep in thought.

  Levi sat there, clueless as to what could be going on in her mind. “Well? Are you going to leave me to guess about this revelation? What is it that you have thought of?”

  After she swallowed her food, she stared somberly at him. “I didn’t want to say anything about this, because I didn’t want anyone to think I was crazy. Also, I didn’t want to bring all of it back up again; but now, I think all of it makes perfect sense.”

  “What makes perfect sense?” Levi asked as he gazed into Reece’s perplexed eyes.

  “Reece, whatever it is, I will not think you are crazy.”

  Her expression softened. “You know when I stopped eating and then I got really sick? And then after that I was so mean to everyone?”

  “Yes.”

  “I think I know why I was having those terrifying dreams now.”

  What? he thought in concern. “Terrifying dreams?” he asked in bewilderment.

  She ignored Levi’s concerned response, nodded and went on. “Maybe being at Castle Ruin somehow affected me subconsciously.” She said, mainly talking to herself. “Especially when we walked into that room and I saw all those terrifying aliens—” She stared over at the wine in her glass. “That has to be the reason for those dreams.” She spoke in a low voice, and then finally raised her eyes up meet Levi’s.

  Levi gazed at her, still trying to follow her. “I wish you would have mentioned something to me about these dreams.”

  Her eyes brightened. “I really think that’s why I had those dreams, because of those creatures in the council.” Her lips twisted, “I do understand that there are other dimensions out there. I know that you are not human.” She smiled. “And even though I’m aware of it all, it’s like I forget how scary it really is to me. It’s a little unnerving to know that there are other beings not from Earth or Pemdas in this room with us. I keep forgetting that all that crazy stuff that people have always speculated about is real. That’s what freaked me out so bad in the council! I witnessed it with my own eyes; weird creatures that I would never have believed existed, and it was definitely a frightening experience.”

  He reached for her hand that was resting on the table. “Reece, I am deeply regretful that you had to suffer through the council, but I wish you would have told one of us that your dreams were tormenting you; we could have helped you.”

  She stared down at her plate. “I couldn’t. I would wake up from the dreams and be completely disoriented and scared. I decided to write them down instead to see if I could make sense of the dreams.” She looked up at him. “I didn’t tell anyone because I thought that they’d go away.”

  “Did documenting the dreams help you in any way?”

  “Yes, but after I started writing them down, I would read what I wrote and then become sickened for dreaming such horrible things.” She stared at Levi remorsefully. “They were mostly dreams about you being violent.” She inhaled and brushed her thumb over the back of his hand. “I hated those dreams I had about you.” She said through her teeth. “That’s why I forced myself to stay awake, so I wouldn’t have them. Then I completely lost my appetite, I couldn’t eat or drink anything. That’s where I got into trouble,” she stared out of the windows behind him, “and couldn’t tell the difference between dreams and reality.”

  “This is why you were so frightened of me.” Levi replied, now understanding why Reece was so hesitant and defensive around him.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything.”

  “Don’t apologize, I am glad you told me.”

  He gently rubbed his thumb over her hand. “Next time, you must let me know if you are suffering in such a way. It distresses me to know that you had to deal with this alone.”

  Reece smiled at him. “Well, it’s all in the past now, and I’m sorry I brought it all up again.” She shrugged. “The thought came to me when I got the eerie feeling that there are other aliens in the room with us.” She raised her eyebrows at him. “But I promise you, no matter how weird the dream, I will tell you next time, because I’m not going through all those emotional outbursts again—ever!”

  Levi smiled in relief as she brought her attention back to her food. “As I said, you have nothing to apologize for; and yes, you must tell me of these dreams if they return.”

  After dinner, Reece suggested spending the rest of the evening walking along the shoreline outside of the restaurant. There were couples walking about; however, it wasn’t too busy, leaving Reece and Levi in perfect solitude as they took their shoes off and strolled along the shore.

  Levi stopped, turned, and embraced her. “Remind me to thank Harrison for his excellent wardrobe planning with the hotel staff. I believe this is my new favorite dress; you look unquestionably ravishing in this particular shade of red.”

  Reece smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “We’ll have to let Jasmeen know that then, won’t we?”

  Levi bent down and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “Indeed.” He kissed her nose. “We shall.” Reece tilted her head up and offered her enticing lips to him, and he gladly accepted.

  “There you two are!” a familiar voice called out.

  Levi groaned softly as he ended their kiss and stared over Reece’s head. “Harrison,” he informed her in a low, annoyed voice.

  Reece laughed, squeezed him tightly, and kissed his chin. “Looks like you can thank your cousin for his wardrobe planning now—instead of later.”

  “All my gratitude for him left a moment ago.” He reached down for her hand and smiled. “Come—let’s go see what he needs.”

  As Harrison strode briskly toward them, he held both his hands out and smiled widely. “And so everything is as it should be.” He stopped in front of them and grinned at Reece. “You two had nearly driven me mad over these last few days.”

  Reece chuckled softly. “Thanks for putting up with us.”

  “You are very welcome, and it appears that you did need to return to Earth for a while. I’m glad it helped,” Harrison responded.

  “It really did.” Reece said.

  “Now that everything is cleared up, and you two are happily in love again, some of the men and I were about to go exploring the wonderful nightlife in Greece. You’re welcome to join us.”

  “Harrison, it’s bad enough that I have to deal with this nonsense alone on Earth with you on our missions; why should I a
llow you to drag Reece into the middle of your crazy adventures as well?” Levi said.

  Reece wrapped her arms around Levi’s waist, “I think we’ll pass on your offer, the three of us have spent enough time together already.”

  Harrison laughed, “Very true,” he turned to leave, “you two enjoy the rest of your evening.”

  After Harrison left, Levi and Reece continued to walk along the shoreline. “This really has been a wonderful day.” Reece said as she held Levi’s hand.

  Levi leaned over and kissed her on her temple, “I couldn’t agree more.”

  Reece was up early the next morning preparing for the day to be spent with Levi. As she left her room, she saw that the door to Levi’s room across the way was open, and his bed was neatly made. The aroma of coffee filled her senses, enhancing her excitement for the day ahead of them.

  As she walked past Levi’s room, she noticed him standing out on his balcony. He was leaning against the railing, holding a cup of coffee, and quietly staring out at the ocean. Reece came up from behind him, and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly.

  “Good morning,” she said, as she kissed the back of his shoulder.

  Levi rose up and brought his arm around her. “Good morning. You are up early. Did you rest well?”

  “I did.” She glanced over at the coffee he held in his hand. “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve seen you drink coffee,” she said with a laugh. “And come to think of it, I haven’t had a cup of coffee in a long time.”

  Levi offered her a sip. “Try it first; Harrison tends to make it stronger than most would like.”

  She did, and she shivered at the bitter flavor. Levi laughed softly as he raised the coffee mug to his lips.

  “How in the world can you drink that?”

  “I’m used to it,” he answered with a grin.

  Levi’s expression changed unexpectedly, and the humor left his face. He stared somberly into the dark coffee and sighed.

  “Levi?” Reece ran her hand across his back encouragingly. “Is everything okay?”

  He exhaled. “Everything will be fine; however, we are being forced to return to Pemdas today. As of now, we remain unaware of all the details. Samuel contacted me late last night, and it appears that Armedias has formed an army outside of the vortex that connects Armedias to Pemdas.”