by Ruby Raine
She grabbed a sweater, just in case she had the sudden urge to cover up. Ugh. Half naked is kind of the point. A tease for Riley.
She looked at the sweater. Security blanket much? What are you, six years old?
“Whatever, it might get cold,” she argued aloud.
Melinda rushed to brush her teeth, running a comb through the tangled mess she called hair, locking her bangs behind her ears. At the last minute, she decided to try on a little mascara; another item Emily had talked her into buying. She fiddled with the packaging, finally tearing it open. She applied it and gawked at the hideous clumps now lining her lashes.
“Ugh. Terrible!” She snatched a washcloth and rubbed it off. “I’m going to need Emily to show me how to wear this stuff.”
She grabbed the sweater, slipped on her flip-flops and rushed out of the mansion to meet Riley. She stopped on the front porch when she noticed Charlie perched on a stool like he was keeping guard of the house.
“Hey, Kiddo.” He noticed how she was dressed. “New, I take it?”
“Yes. Emily picked it out for me. Not sure I’m digging it yet, but last night I went through my closet and let's just say there's now a very large bag of clothing to donate to the thrift store.”
“It looks nice, Sis. Very... summery. Emily made a good pick.”
“Thanks.”
He really wanted to ask if it had to be so very short. But it wasn’t his choice, and she wasn’t a kid. Most importantly, she was leaving the house, looking excited to do so. His sister could leave dressed in anything as long as she was eager to leave.
However, he knew what thoughts swirled around guy’s heads and just what they’d be thinking if they got a good look at her walking around in that dress. He grimaced, holding his tongue. She’s not a kid, he reminded himself.
She showed him her sweater. “I’m prepared if it gets chilly.” Yup. Keep telling yourself it’s not a security blanket. “What are you doing out here anyway? You know that staring at the Deane Manor will not solve anything, right?”
Charlie shrugged. “Just feel a little out of sorts at the moment. The Deanes are back and we have no idea what their motives are for being here. I am free to live a normal life, whatever that is. However, at this very moment, I am actually thinking about Dad.”
“Oh, okay. What about?”
“Just an idea I want to pass by William, maybe a way to track what direction the blackness monster headed after it took Dad.”
“Blackness monster?”
“No idea what else to call it,” he chuckled. “But if I’m right, we might at least be able to find out what direction it headed when it left the Isle. It’s a long shot though, and a direction doesn’t give us a heck of a lot to go by.”
“It would be more than we have to go on now. Do you need my help?” she asked, hoping he would say no. Instantly, she was guilt ridden. She should be willing to give up a thousand dates to help find her father.
“No. Not right now anyway. Even if my idea works, it will take some time. Just go. Have some fun. You’re obviously headed somewhere.”
“But if you need my help, I can stay.”
“To be honest, it’s nice to see you eager to leave,” he admitted, carefully.
“I did promise to try to get a life.” She stepped down the stairs.
“You got your phone, right?”
She tapped her handbag and nodded. Charlie waved as she disappeared down the street. One bright spot in all the gloom. His sister was leaving the house, voluntarily. And seemed happy about it. He was so thrilled he didn’t think to ask where she was headed.
A few minutes later, he assumed William had returned home as there was a commotion coming from the back of the mansion. His eyes narrowed. William doesn’t make commotions...
When Charlie stepped into the back he froze, eyes wide with amused delight. It was definitely not the vampire. Rather two beautiful young women with eyes and hair the color of the ocean dancing in the garden, completely bare ass naked. They had knocked over and broken a clay pot the brothers had been planning to use in the garden.
“My dear merladies,” called out Charlie, recognizing their true form at once. “What brings you out of the ocean?”
He approached cautiously. The local mermaids were not typically hostile, but one could never be too careful, as they did have severe tempers known to flare at a moment's notice.
They saw him, squealed, and came bouncing over. Each grabbing an arm, hanging off his sides. Charlie averted his eyes but there was nowhere to look, or feel, that wasn’t naked woman. Well put together women with mesmerizing curves.
“You are Howard, yes?” one asked in a wispy, bashful voice.
“Yes, a Howard?” the other emulated similarly.
“Yes. I’m Charlie Howard,” he confirmed. Silky fingers slid across his chest. Good lord...
“Please to help,” one begged.
“Our sister.”
“Needs help.”
“Yes. We go now.”
“Must hurry.” They tugged at him, begging him to follow.
“Only have to sunset.”
“To get back in water.”
Charlie sucked in a breath and kept his ground, forcing them to let go. Attractive or not, he needed to know more before tromping off with the merladies to who knows where, getting into who knows what, kind of trouble.
He held up his arms. “Hold up just a second, ladies. What kind of trouble is this sister in?”
The merladies echoed each other as if speaking with one mind.
“Caught.”
“Cannot get free.”
“Must get back into water.”
“Before sunset.”
“Please.”
“Not much time.”
“We must go.”
One of the merladies grabbed his hand, but before tugging him away lifted his fingers to peer at the black ring on his finger, admiring it closely.
“So pretty. Shiny.”
And so easily distractible, noted Charlie, pulling his ring finger out of her grasp. “Sister,” he reminded with a chuckle.
“Oh, yes! Sister.”
“Come, we save now.” They nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, I’ll help you,” decided Charlie, grateful for something to keep his mind off the Deanes. Before he asked where they were heading, the merladies squealed again, wrapping themselves around him. He sucked in a lust filled breath, unable to ignore the two shapely women currently adorning his body. His hands automatically went to their waists, his fingers soaking in their delicious curves.
Het let out a groan. Why did they have to have such tempting full-figured frames? If they’d been little skinny mermaids, he’d barely have cared. Okay, naked is naked, but my GOD! What did they do? Send the two they knew would drive me mad?
“Huh...” he stared down at the buxom beauties. And wondered. His wolf senses tingled, warning distrust. But they were just innocent mermaids in need of his help. This was part of his job as protector of The Demon Isle.
Still, he did have a bit of a reputation in the supernatural community. It was a well-known fact Charlie Howard preferred curvy gals.
But would they actually use this against him? Was this some kind of trick? A distraction? It would be a pleasant one.
Shit.
Shake This. The hell. Off.
Stupid ass paranoid wolf needs to shut up and let me help these lasses free their sister. It kind of sucked that the ring didn’t rein in the wolf paranoia. He still had so much to learn about the limitations of his new gift.
He shook himself to get back in the moment. “Okay, ladies, if we are going to be traipsing around the Isle in broad daylight, I am afraid we’re going to have to find you some clothes.”
They stepped back looking down at their bodies and back up at Charlie.
“Don’t like clothes,” one of them pouted.
“No. Don’t like,” the other echoed.
“Hard to wear,” they ch
imed together.
“Scratchy. Pully. Tight,” the second scowled.
The first one shook her head in agreement.
I can’t believe I’m arguing with mermaids to put clothes on. “Like them or not, ladies, humans wear clothing. So you’re just going to have to, for today. Give me a minute and I’ll find something from my sister's closet for you. Just wait right here.” He ran inside the house.
When he came back out a few minutes later, he stopped, gawking wordlessly; the merladies were frolicking through a sprinkler that had just turned on in the garden. His head did a momentary line of bounces, watching them bob up and down in playful delight. “Yeah,” he groaned in strained tones. “This is like my own personal heaven, and hell.” Since there was no salt in the water, their human legs remained. Only saltwater from the ocean transformed their legs into flippers.
Charlie could not deny the merladies were built just to his liking. To a dangerously distracting degree. His eyes pinched in suspicion again. The wolf would not relent. It twitched just under his skin as if trying to warn him something was off.
And just because it was a known fact he preferred curvy women, didn’t mean they’d use this against him. Watching them bounce around, he couldn’t imagine why any woman would suffer and starve themselves in an attempt to be skin and bones.
“Stupid media,” he blamed vaguely. “Ruins far too many perfectly beautiful women.” On this subject, he and his wolf agreed.
He shook off the nagging apprehension and approached, holding up a couple of dresses. “Ladies,” he called out, regaining their attention. “My sister won’t mind if you borrow these, she was getting rid of them anyway.”
They danced forward, grabbing the dresses. Charlie averted his gaze, but couldn’t suppress a laugh while listening to them attempting to dress themselves.
“Please to help?” one of them requested a minute later.
“Oh, um. Yeah. Turn around. Just needs to be zipped up.” His hand brushed against her skin as he finished. She twisted around, grasping it in her own, stroking it seductively.
“Such strong hands.” She licked her lips. “Good for saving sister.” Her long blue locks shifted in the breeze, enthralling Charlie. “What a shiny ring,” she cooed softly, attention again on the Guardian ring on his finger.
“Yes, shiny,” repeated Charlie, absentmindedly. She lifted his hand, kissing it gently. It left a pleasant sort of numbness that crept up his arm.
The sister mermaid skipped over to them, bringing them both back into reality.
“We go now, to sister,” she spoke.
Charlie squinted his eyes, the strange haze lifting.
He suppressed a laugh when he saw the mermaid’s dress was on backwards as well as inside out. “Good enough I guess. Yes, let’s go save your sister now. Please, ladies, you lead the way.”
MELINDA TRIED TO PACE herself as she edged closer to the Wicked Muddy Café where she was to meet Riley. She did not want to appear too eager, but when he came into view, her grin would not obey her, widening happily. He was parking his motorcycle down the street from the café.
He came! He really came. She realized she’d been afraid he might not. She had worried that somehow he would find out that the locals thought of her as the town freak, and decide to dump her before they’d even had a real date.
“Hi,” Riley called out, as she approached. “I hope you don’t mind, but I changed our plans.” His eyes danced with mysterious anticipation.
“Okay,” was all Melinda managed to reply. She had completely lost her breath upon seeing him. He leaned in a stole a quick kiss, pulling away much faster than Melinda would have preferred. He winked, seeing the pout on her face.
“I’m saving the good stuff for later.”
How Melinda had questioned if he was right for her, or let her feelings for William make her doubt, she had no idea.
He nodded to the back of his motorcycle. There was a picnic basket tied down to the top of the saddlebag. “I found the perfect spot,” he claimed. “I can’t wait to show it to you.”
Melinda was not hungry, at least not for food. She tugged at her lip and looked down at her dress. “Didn’t prepare for a motorcycle ride. I wasn’t even thinking when I got dressed.” Yeah, this dress was the worst choice, ever!
“No, it’s perfect. You look...” his gaze shouted scrumptious, but aloud he said, “gorgeous. Even more beautiful than I remembered you in my mind.”
“You were thinking about me?”
“Pretty much nonstop. You’re sort of hard not to think about.” He grinned, his eyes dancing to her reaction to this news.
It was all she could do to stop herself from running her hands all over him.
“Okay. Let’s go. I want to see this perfect spot you found.” She straddled the bike and tucked the dress under her thighs to keep it from blowing up and revealing everything underneath to any passerby.
Melinda caught the eye of an elderly local man who frequented Grace’s cafe driving by, staring at her. His eyes cried out a mixture of hatred and betrayal, rather than the usual, there’s that weird Howard girl. “What’s his problem?” she mumbled under her breath.
“What’s that?” asked Riley.
“Nothing.”
She wrapped her arms around him, body pressed against his making her feel safe and content. But he was wearing far too much leather, and she wanted skin. She daringly ran her hands underneath the edge of his jacket, finding his shirt and wrapped her hands together across his stomach.
Melinda heard him let out a frustrated moan and made to release her hands. He stopped her, turning his head with a look of delight in his eyes. “You have no idea how much I love that.”
Any doubt Melinda felt, vanished completely.
Riley was the perfect man for her.
MICHAEL PULLED THE jeep into the Jordan’s driveway. After parking, he hopped out and raced to open the passenger door for Emily, assisting her out of the jeep. He felt a sense of warmth emanating from her over this simple act. He pretended not to, for her sake.
She knew he did and just rolled her eyes. But holding back was impossible. She loved him. Her emotions would show this. And she didn’t want to rein it in. Still, it was sort of unfair that he always knew. And yet they’d always managed before now.
“You read me like an open book,” Michael surprised her by saying.
“Can you read minds now, too?” she jested.
He shook his head. “I just know you as well as you know me. And you’ve always known what I was feeling without the need for a magical ability. I think that’s part of the reason I love you so much.”
She stole a quick kiss. One neither wanted to end so quickly. But they heard the slamming of a screen door and looked to see Anthony Jordan just outside the front of his house.
“I’m so gonna finish that kiss later.” His tone held sinful promises.
The emotion Emily sank into, almost gave Michael no choice but to cancel lunch, and steal her away.
She chuckled. “Maybe this can be more fun than I thought.”
“Tease.” He spanked her ass playfully as she stepped by him.
She gave a little gasp and spun around.
“Will you promise a little more of that later, too?” She didn’t wait to see his response.
Michael held his breath, afraid to let it out. This was his Emily, right? He’d never seen this side of her. He stepped around the jeep, catching up.
Eva’s father met them at the bottom of his steps. His hair was stark white, same as his daughter's, except for a few silver whiskers across his chin.
“Michael Howard, I presume,” Anthony spoke vigorously. He held out his hand to shake Michael’s. “Pleasure indeed to meet a witch. Pleasure indeed!”
“Yes, nice to meet you as well,” returned Michael, taking his hand. “Hope you don’t mind, this is my girlfriend, Emily. She runs, Harboring the Book.” He kept secret that she was also a spirit vessel, capable of allowing ghosts to
inhabit her body.
“Nice to meet you,” greeted Emily.
Mr. Jordan took hold of Emily’s hand and raised it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand elegantly. “Delighted, my dear, delighted.”
Emily's face went slightly flush as Mr. Jordan gently dropped her hand.
“We are to have a lovely lunch out on the pier.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Emily offered.
Anthony smiled and said no. “My Eva set up everything before she departed this morning.”
“So she’s not here?” Emily confirmed.
“Off on some day hike in the park,” he answered.
“That’s too bad. I was hoping to meet her. Oh well, next time.”
“We have all summer,” noted Mr. Jordan, his voice hopeful that they would meet again. “Follow me if you will.” He led them across the road, down a short path, which opened up to a private pier and beach. Near the end of the pier was a round table with four chairs. He pulled back a chair for Emily.
“Thank you,” she replied, taking a seat. Michael sat next to her with Mr. Jordan across from them.
After helping themselves to iced tea and finger sandwiches, as well as a few minutes taking in the spacious view, Michael started the conversation.
“I have to tell you, Mr. Jordan, that I have read your book cover to cover.”
“Really? Well then, my young sir, it is an honor to have a witch, especially one of your caliber and notoriety, read my work. Let me ask, has the information in the book ever proven useful?”
“Actually, yes. On numerous occasions. The information in your book is quite thorough.”
“Splendid!” he retorted. “What a delight. To know my research has helped in some way.”
“If it's not too much to ask, Mr. Jordan, how did you discover the existence of the supernatural and the paranormal? From what I understand, you’re not descended from a magical line.”
“Ah, yes, it is a simple story really. And you’re right, no magical blood ties whatsoever. My family, we’re just regular humans.” He winked and continued. “When I was a young boy, we lived in a very old house and there were a few extra residents, if you get my drift.”