Druid Dreams

by M F Adele

  His request made me chortle, because I had a few good ones. I rubbed my fingers along the edges of my jaw and looked down at the floor with squinted eyes while I thought it through. I could tell him about last night. It still made me smile to think about the looks on those shifters faces when I told them to strip.

  “Last night, Jack and I went to this small shifter bar. It was gross.” I shuddered as I spoke, and he laughed under his breath. “Anyway, after getting a little tipsy I decided I was in a bit of a betting mood. So, I picked out a group of the biggest males I could find and bet them a hundred dollars each that I could beat them in darts. I let them win the first round, and then I won the next few rounds. By the time they figured out that I was hustling them they couldn’t pay up on their debt, so I made them strip down naked in the middle of the bar and I took their clothes. I left their shoes though, I’m not an awful person. Then I threw the clothes out the window on the way home.” I ended my short story with a sly smile and a nod of my head.

  Vaughn stared at me for a few seconds in disbelief and then laughed. The sound of his laughter brought a bigger smile to my face and made me squeeze my thighs together. That pull in my chest grew a little stronger too. I didn’t know how I felt about it, other than not hating it. I still wasn't quite sure what it was exactly. And I’m not going there tonight either.

  “I have a few friends that I’d love to see you hustle,” he told me after he calmed down.

  “We can arrange that. Just tell me where and when to be there.” I winked at him. We’d been flirting all night. It was a dangerous little dance between my mind and my body. I had originally tried to keep distance between us, but every time we passed by each other we touched. We were sitting so close that I could feel his body heat. My legs were tucked under me. My knees brushed against his right leg while he sat with his back against the arm of the couch to face me better. I’m like three accidental brushes away from lunging at him.

  Jack knocked on the door moments after the thought of lunging at Vaughn crossed my mind. It was 5:30am, and he came to tell us the club employees were ready to go home. Perfect timing. I really didn’t want to do something stupid and regret it next week when I had to see him at work. I sighed and put the darts away. Grabbing my long ago ditched shoes after shoving the envelope from my Father into my purse, I headed to the door with Vaughn. Jack escorted us down stairs and I gave my thanks to the bartender, Simon, and Courtney for staying late. I slid into Simon’s mind and told him to put Vaughn’s tab on mine. That bottle of tequila was expensive. I didn’t know what Simon was thinking when he handed it over, but I was happy that he did.

  Once we made it outside, Vaughn walked me to the SUV waiting for me at the curb. He lifted my left hand to his mouth and placed a soft kiss across my palm before saying, “Until another night Ms. King,” in that sexy, low whispered voice that has had me needing dry panties for hours. Then, he stepped away like a proper fucking gentleman. That pull snapped tighter the further he went. I rubbed at the center of my chest, right above the junction of my breasts, like that might ease the ache. It didn’t though. I had a feeling that sensation would be too hard to avoid. I don’t think I want to avoid it either.

  Jack was glaring at me from the doorway. He was so disappointed that my morning didn’t include a naked fae in my bed, and I almost agreed. Almost. I didn’t want Vaughn to be a one night stand. That was not something I liked to admit. I didn’t like to feel those feelings. That was why I didn’t get close to people. My life was complicated, and having feelings just brought in more complications than I was ready for.

  I’ve experienced those feelings before. They led to something stronger than I was ready for at the time. They nearly broke me when it all came crashing down too. Would it be any different this time? Could it be any different? I wanted to ponder the situation more, but I also wanted to get to know him better. It seemed counterproductive to turn new feelings into something more than they were. Was it a chance encounter or an accidental first date? I didn’t know if he saw it as either, since I couldn’t read his mind. I didn’t want to be the person catching lopsided feelings for someone when they had no intentions of reciprocating them. I could add “terrified of commitments” to the short list of things that scared me.

  Everything always circled back to what happened when I was dating the Druid. I fell in love with him, hard and fast, without a care or reservation in sight. It all felt right with him. He taught me so much about who I was as a person, both when we were together and when he left. Heartbreak was a numb depression that left me feeling like I was in a dark cave on my own. It swallowed me whole and spit me out in nothing but fragments of who I once was. I had to learn how to breathe again. I had to learn how to laugh and smile again. I found myself in those fragments and pulled my life back together bit by microscopic bit until the tiny pieces were big enough to glue back together. My heart looked like a shattered vase, missing small details that I’d never get back. All because I trusted the wrong male to keep a slice of my soul for himself.

  After all that I’d put myself through in the past, how could I sacrifice any more of my soul to someone who wasn’t my mate? How could I have faith in myself to make the right decision? How did I keep these feelings at bay until I could sort out my problems? Would it be fair to consider a relationship with Vaughn knowing that my heart still ached for another? Mate. That’s a word I haven’t thought about in many years.

  The thoughts whirled around in my head. Coaxing me further and further down that dreary path. The path that led to the inviting darkness of the cave that allowed me to be secluded from trivial things like feelings and uncertainty. One thought kept whizzing by, the speed of it bringing light to the oppression of my mind.

  Why didn't he kiss me?

  Vaughn

  Saturday Early Morning

  What was I thinking!?

  I should have kissed her. I wanted to kiss her so fucking bad. No. I wanted to devour her mouth and skim my hands along her thighs, over her hips, and up her sides. Then, I wanted to shove my hand in her hair to hold her where I wanted her while I deepened that kiss and rocked her world in a clash of tongues and teeth. I wanted to taste her until we were both breathless and then I wanted to stretch her over the edge of that pool table and fuck her until her knees were too weak to hold her body up. I didn’t do any of it though. I should have. Fuck. I just want when she’s around. Plain and simple.

  Would it have been too soon? I just met her today. Yesterday. “Fuck,” I groaned out as I rubbed my hand up my face and pulled at my hair. Man, I am so confused. I’d never felt this way about anyone before. “What the fuck is going on?” And what was this gods fucking awful pulling sensation, and when was it going to stop?

  Spending time with Sloane was amazing, but I didn’t miss Taylor Caplin lurking in the nightclub. He was obsessing over her every move like the problem I knew he’d become. I hoped that it didn’t escalate from creeping to flat out stalking. He was the reason why I decided to put her favorite bottle of tequila on my tab and approach her. The way Taylor was watching Sloane made me uncomfortable. I felt an overbearing need to protect her from him. There was something off about him. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but he'd always rubbed me the wrong way. I could call it male intuition, or blame it on the fact that I had three younger sisters at home. This wouldn’t be the first time that I’d had to run off a nutter. I was thankful when she took me upstairs so we could get away from his prying eyes.

  I spotted him lurking again outside of the club when we left. It was 5:30 in the morning, and he was still there waiting for her, which made my anger surface. If he touched her I would kill him. Those thoughts spun out of control temporarily. I had to wrangle them in to focus on my last few moments with her.

  After I bid her goodnight, I quickly brought it to her driver’s attention before he got in the car. The old Vampire could hear every whispered word that left my lips without me making a show of acknowledging him. I didn’t want t
o show Taylor I was worried about her safety. When the car pulled away from the curb he was gone, but I also mentioned it to Jack, the security guard who’d been following us around all night. I didn’t miss the fact that they had a telepathic bond. I tried not to look too deep into that observation because I knew he could warn her better than I could. That was the important takeaway.

  He seemed like a stand up kind of guy until he looked at me in irritation and inquired, “Why didn’t you kiss her? Are you fucking stupid?” He threw his hands up and started pacing as he informed me of a different situation. “She never brings anyone into her VIP booth, let alone spends hours with them talking and playing stupid fucking games. Do you know how private she is? She. Never. Fucking. Does. That.”

  The longer he ranted the more his voice rose, until the last few words were a yelled sort of growl. I could only stare at him with my jaw slack. Was he reprimanding me? I hadn’t felt like I was in trouble in years. Not since I left the royal court of the Winter Realm anyway. He clearly didn’t know who I was. No. No one does.

  “Seriously man, are you listening to me? I’ve known Sloane for years!” He visibly tried to calm himself, meticulously running his hands over his suit jacket and resting them on his hips as he stared at me like I was the biggest problem on hand. Not the creep waiting for her, but me. I was the problem. “You should’ve kissed her, asked her to breakfast, and then took her home and fucked her senseless.” He was so matter-of-fact about his plan, until he screamed, “Maybe not even in that order. Fucking moron!”

  Still I said nothing. I wasn’t sure what to say honestly. This shifter had balls of steel. I could kill him with a well placed ice shard, but I wouldn't. I did have self control. Instead, I smiled at him. “Why don’t you send her my number?” I asked, and the question only served to piss him off more. I chuckled darkly when he glared at me open mouthed.

  “Send her your number?” He growled out deeply. “Oh my gods, you are stupid.” His sudden change from growl to squeal has me fighting not to flinch. How could one jump so many octaves within seconds? “I’ll give you her number, but don’t call or text her until Sunday evening.” He stopped my nonexistent protest with a raised index finger. “No, no. That’s for me. That will give her time to calm the hell down because she’s going to be so fucking mad that I butted my ass in this. We’ll have brunch in a few hours and I’ll tell her what I’ve done. She has dinner with her parents every Sunday evening and she’ll be in a great mood, so text her at like 8 that night. Okay? Do you understand me?”

  He uttered the last sentence very slowly, in a way that showed that he really thought I was stupid. Shit. Maybe I am. I knew I should’ve kissed her. “Okay.” I replied slowly, mostly to piss him off, and only partially because I was running through the entire night trying to decide if I missed more than that one opportunity. I did. It was blatantly clear that I overlooked quite a few chances.

  He snatched a piece of paper off a clipboard at the door, aggressively grabbed at a pen, and then quickly scrawled something down before holding the paper out for me to take. In the neatest handwriting I think I’d ever seen from a male was her phone number. “Thanks,” I replied, still speaking slowly as I folded the paper up and tucked it into my pocket.

  He grunted a “you’re welcome” and walked away shaking his head.

  Casually strolling back to my car with my hands sunk in my pockets, I fingered the paper as I replayed the night’s conversations in my head. She had three dads, that was a little strange. I couldn’t really understand how that worked, but okay. One of them was a demon. I guess that was where the fire in her eyes came from. I wondered what the other two men were. I suspected she may have been a shifter or a vampire, but I didn’t have anything solid to go on. What was her mother? She couldn’t be a full blooded demon. I’d have scented that right away. Every demon I’d ever encountered had a spicy, cinnamon sort of scent to them. She smelled like safety and home and power. A strange combination of pine trees, crisp snow, and charcoal. I’d never met a hybrid before, so again, I didn’t have enough information to go on there either.

  I could call Palmer. He would know. The male knew everything, but he was in Northern Ireland and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday. Damn it. I didn’t want to call him while he was busy. I had no idea what he was actually doing there. This could just be a lust thing. Something told me that was wrong though.

  I could call Briggs, but the insufferable asshole had been camping, as he calls it, for weeks now. Ever since that she-wolf broke his fucking heart. He could probably tell me what this pulling in my chest was. Then he’d probably rant about how women were terrible and he was swearing off love. If he didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve then maybe he wouldn’t get it broken so much. I wouldn’t tell him that. The last time I did we ended up with a broken dinner table and both of us had black eyes. Lesson learned.

  Still lost in my thoughts, I finally made my way to my car. The sun hadn’t started to rise yet but the night was light. The street lamps on the sidewalks illuminated the area, but didn’t quite make it to where I had parked. I could just make out the silhouette of a man standing on the passenger side of my classic car. My pride and joy, my white 1976 Stingray.

  As I got closer I realized that it was none other than Taylor Caplin. You have got to be kidding me right now. It’s almost 6am. “Vaughn.” He acknowledged like he’d just noticed me for the first time in his entire fucking life, while he was leaning his greasy ass against MY car. I need to stay calm or I’m going to kill him. I had to find out what he wanted first.

  “Taylor.” I responded, laying the sarcasm on thick. I really wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit and seeing as how he was not my boss anymore, I’m sure I could solve this quickly. Not with murder, Vaughn, chill out. I’d have to continue to talk myself down if he didn’t leave soon. He’d pissed me off too many times and talking to myself would only work for so long. “What do you want?” I questioned him with hostility.

  “Oh, nothing much,” he side-eyed me while turning his head to inspect my car, “I was just wondering what you were doing with Sloane.”

  “Ms. King,” I bit out with anger in my voice before I could take a deep breath to calm myself, “And I are none of your business.”

  “I see,” he sneered at me, “So there’s nothing going on between you two.” He nodded his hollow skull at me as he pretended to think about his next words, “It sure seemed like you were gone for an awfully long time, but nothing happened. What a pity. A fine woman like that needs someone who can seal the deal, if you know what I mean.” His cheeky grin set me off. This dirty dick fucking bastard.

  Oh, I knew what he meant, and I was seeing red. My jaw muscle ticked as I rolled my neck to the right and then the left to stretch my tense muscles. I let loose an inhuman growl, fully intending on knocking his ass into next week, but not killing him yet. It was swallowed up by a guttural whinny sort of sound just as a big ass black horse came from out of literally nowhere and kicked him square in the chest. Taylor sailed through the air and slammed into a light post. What was that? Twenty? Thirty feet away?

  Where the fuck did the horse come from? The shadows? I must have been seeing things.

  I looked over at the horse, wide eyed, but didn’t dare move another muscle. Yep, it’s a huge godsdamn horse. I heard Taylor moan painfully, sadly confirming he was still alive despite how badly I wanted to kill him with my bare hands. Thick, black smoke began to morph around the horse until Jack stood before me, in his dress pants and nothing else. If I thought it was funny when he was pissed earlier then maybe he’s right and I am a bit dim witted.

  Jack is livid now. He was breathing heavily through his anger and walking barefoot across the gravel lot, with what I could only call a determined gait, towards Taylor. “Jack.” I softly called out, trying to steady the raging beast. He didn’t stop or say a word until he made it to Taylor. With all the menace pouring from the male, I started to think this motherfucker might die today. I hated
the man, but Jack, he looked like he was ready to tear his spleen out through his throat. It truly wouldn’t have surprised me if he did. It certainly wouldn’t hurt my feelings, and I’d definitely help him hide the body.

  He dragged Taylor up off the ground by the collar of his thousand dollar dress shirt and brought him to eye level. Taylor’s feet dangled nearly a foot off the ground as Jack held him so close their noses almost touched. Jack stared at him for a solid minute. I could hear Taylor swallow from where I stood. He was terrified. I was so fucking ecstatic about it that I wanted to cheer Jack on. I was also a little jealous that it wasn’t me doing the terrifying. I still had to lay low around the people who thought I was human. That means not scaring the dipshit with my powers.

  Slowly and calmly, oh so fucking calmly, Jack whispered “If you value your life you will keep Sloane King’s name out of your mouth. You will not come near her, or her friends, again. The next time I see you, or hear that you have uttered her name, I will personally hunt you down. When I find you I will rip your still beating heart from your chest so quickly that your last vision will be of me taking a bite out of it. Do you understand me?”

  Holy fuck. I was quite frightened myself, but I almost laughed as Taylor’s face went completely white and he started to piss himself. Jack’s nostrils flared as he gave Taylor a good once-over, and then he tossed the man twenty feet in the opposite direction. He took a visible breath, trying to even his anger out, before turning to me. “So, that’s the creep you were talking about, yeah? If Sloane catches him stalking her then she’ll kill him herself.” He grinned a little too big for comfort as his long strides ate up the distance between us. “No need to worry about that bitch. She’s way more bite than bark. You’d be surprised to know how many ways she can kill a man with something as simple as a spoon.”