He could smell the hormones raging in Paul when he was near her. What’s more, Amber obviously wasn’t turned off by the man.
But she was also interested in him. That was equally apparent. When it came right down to it, no woman could resist his charms, but he still wanted her to love him, not just be under his spell. Perhaps late in the night he would pay her a little visit.
Seven:
Grady sat at the kitchen table; chair leaned back against the wall, while he sipped on a tall glass of iced tea and read through the borrowed book. He looked up when Samantha walked in and asked, “Is that really a book on vampires you’re reading?” She had a bowl of popcorn in her hand and placed it on the table in front of him.
“Kind of looks that way, doesn’t it?” he replied, eyeing her over his tea.
Curiosity peeked, she sat down beside him. “Ugh! Those illustrations couldn’t be bloodier! Why on earth are you reading something like that?”
He didn’t really want to tell her that vampires might be a real possibility. That was something he wanted to keep from most of the folk around. So far, only his fellow rangers, the sheriff department, the coroner, along with a couple of doctors, and Paul were the only ones who knew. And at this point, he was afraid that even that might be too many.
“Grady, I asked you a question,” his wife said.
He leaned forward and set his chair straight. “Reading it because there’s some nut out there who thinks he’s a vampire.”
“Oh…Are you talking about what happened to Sally?”
“Yeah…” he replied, hoping that would suffice. But he quickly realized that it wouldn’t.
“Does it have anything to do with what happened to Shelia and that poor young hiker they found?”
He snapped the book shut, placed it on the table and stood, stretching. “Not sure those are connected, Sammie. Think they believe that was a cougar.” He looked off, knowing full well she was scrutinizing him.
Sometimes she just could read him too well. And though he loved her dearly, she had a mouth on her that wouldn’t quit. He’d learned a long time ago that there were just some things you couldn’t tell her.
“You wouldn’t be putting me off, would you?”
“Course not,” he said, grabbing up a handful of popcorn and stuffing it in his mouth as he walked off to the bathroom. He didn’t really need to relieve himself, but he hoped to stay in there long enough that she would forget and focus on something else. He sat in the bathroom for several minutes, and after a bit he heard her scoot her chair back and walk off into the living room and turn on the television. He went ahead and used the bathroom then, as the iced tea had made its way through. He flushed the toilet and went to watch television with her in the living room. As he’d hoped, she’d lost her thoughts in the game show she was watching. He sighed with relief. She didn’t seem to notice. He picked up the bowl of popcorn that was now beside her and sat down.
He needed to be up extra early in the morning, as he was meeting with Sheriff Brooks over the unusual situation. Soon as Samantha’s show was over, he relinquished the rest of the bowl of popcorn over to her and said that he was calling it a night, knowing there was another program coming on she wanted to see. She leaned over and kissed him quickly and he moseyed off to bed.
Dorian took his raven form and settled down on a side railing of Amber’s front porch. And though he was there as a bird, Star would not bother him, now that he was under his spell. The dog would only see him as a bird and nothing more.
Amber was watching television but she kept peeking out the window behind her sofa. Obviously, she was looking for someone. Dorian knew it had to be Paul. Sure enough, the headlights of the Dodge Ram came into view as it came around the bend. Dorian flew up to the roof, not wanting Paul to see him. Paul had a bouquet of red roses when he got out of the truck.
Shit! Dorian thought.
Paul stepped up on the porch and barely knocked before Amber had the door open.
“Roses!” Amber squealed with delight when Paul handed her the bouquet.
Shit! Dorian thought again. Not good!
Paul went on into the house and Dorian returned to the porch where he could see inside the living room, and into the right of the kitchen.
Amber got a vase from beneath her sink, filled it with water, poured in the ingredients from the packet that came with the roses and set the roses in the vase. She then centered the flowers on the table. Finished, she turned to Paul and kissed him.
Damn! Dorian watched the couple intently, hoping they’d break the embrace soon. Finally she pulled away from Paul, but she had that willing look in her eyes. The one Dorian wanted only for himself. Shit! Then she thanked him for the flowers and kissed him again. This time, getting a little too heated. Shit! Shit! Shit! Dorian had to do something. He focused his powers on the elements, causing a strong wind to blow up and the screen blew open, banging against the wall. It worked, as it had the last time he’d done it. She came to the door and looked out. She saw him, but merely thought he was a bird.
“Weird,” she said, looking back at Paul who was standing right behind her. “That’s what happened the night the book was left on my porch. The screen banged open like this. And I could have sworn I’d latched it…both times.”
Paul glanced out. “I thought you did, too…This time, anyway. Over there…on the railing…That’s really a big bird!” he noted, seeing Dorian. “Looks like a raven!”
Sounding surprised, “A raven? I wasn’t sure if that’s what it was or not. I’ve seen it hanging around here a lot.”
“Oh…yeah. Not as plentiful as crows…but you see them sometimes. Strange how it’s just sitting there staring at us. But it doesn’t seem to be bothering Star,” he said looking at the dog standing on his other side. Star seemed only mildly interested.
“Yeah…Still, it is kind of creepy. Maybe we should just go in?”
“You’re right,” Paul said. And they stepped back inside and latched the screen and closed the door.
Dorian chuckled the best he could in his raven form, sounded more like a frog. He had succeeded for the moment, but he knew the night was only just beginning. He moved to the windowsill in front of the love seat, as Amber and Paul had settled there now. Paul had his arm around her. Shit! Dorian knew he might need to get really creative tonight. There was no way he was going to let Paul make love to his female! No way! Not tonight!
The couple sat there watching television for a few minutes, but it wasn’t long and Paul was pulling her close and they were kissing again. It wasn’t any time and they were getting hot and heavy. Paul’s fingers traveled their way down her blouse and he was soon unbuttoning it.
No way! Ain’t gonna happen!
Paul and Amber both jumped with a start when something heavy crashed on the front porch. “What the hell was that?” Amber exclaimed.
“Sounded like a friggin’ tree!” Paul got up and opened the door. “It’s not a tree, but it’s a really big limb off the bigger tree to the right of your porch. Wonder what made it come down?”
“And there’s that raven sitting on it!” She said, pointing to the bird.
“Yeah…If I didn’t know better, I’d say it was laughing at us.”
Dorian croaked at them then and took flight, settling on the rooftop.
“I don’t believe this!” Paul said, turning to her, half smiling, but obviously perplexed. “Guess I’d better move it.” He went over and with some effort managed to lift it up and shove it off the porch.
“I don’t believe any of this either.”
“Come on! Let’s have a beer.”
“Sounds good to me.” They both went inside. Much to Dorian’s delight, he’d managed to thwart their love-making a little longer.
Amber opened a bottle of beer for Paul and one for herself. They sat down to the table.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“For what?”
“I don’t know…for things getting so weird.”<
br />
“Not your fault.”
“I know…but I still am sorry.”
He smiled warmly. “No more than I…But,” he said, taking a quick sip of his beer and setting the bottle down, “I don’t discourage that easily…especially when I consider the possible rewards in persistence.”
She responded with an equally warm grin.
The next thing they knew there was a bright flash and a loud crack that shook the cabin, knocking them both off their seats.
“Holy Mother of God!” Paul yelled, getting up and helping Amber off the floor. “I’ve never in my entire life known for lightning to hit so close here!”
“Yeah…That was too close! I wonder what it hit?”
He went over to the back door window. “Looks like it split that small spruce back at the end of your property. Even so, that’s really close.”
She looked out too. There was a small fire burning at the bottom of what was left of the tree. “This is one weird evening! Not gonna ask what’s gonna happen next. Afraid we might find out.”
“You know…as much as I hate to say it, Amber…Maybe we should forget trying to…”
“Trying to what?” She grinned teasingly.
He shrugged. “You know…take it to the next level…tonight. Seems like it’s just not in the cards.”
Yes! Dorian thought, looking in through the living room window.
“Maybe you’re right, Paul.”
“I don’t know why…but it’s almost as though that something or someone is behind all this. Although I know it sounds crazy.”
She frowned judiciously.
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