The Legacy series: The Love series, the Wrapped series, and the Burning Souls series.

by Mj Fields

  Tessa cleaned up after her and realized this is not something either of them was used too. At home, Leia would go to the wooded property edge, not attached to a leash. ���Lots of changes ahead girl, but we���ll adjust together. We mean, bitter, bitches.��� Tessa opened the back of the jeep and put Leia in and opened a bottle of water pouring it carefully into her dish so that it wouldn���t spill.

  She walked into the building and towards the restroom. Tessa hated public toilets, probably because her Grandmother���s always wiped down and lined them and talked about all the germs and diseases she could get if her backside touched the seat even for a second. As she stood above the toilet, she was envious of Leia, this would be easier if I were on four legs. She flushed the toilet with her foot and grabbed some paper towels, putting them under her arm so she could wash her hands, dry them off, shut off the water and open the door without getting nasty germs on them.

  ���Love you Grandma Mary and Grandma Martha, you taught me well!��� she whispered as she left the restroom and deposited the paper towels in the garbage outside.

  It was nearing seven PM, Leia and Tessa had just about had enough of the road trip. The GPS spoke the directions, and Tessa listened intently. About 30 miles from MA 25E and then about half an hour from their destination. Traffic wasn���t that busy and Tessa was glad she had timed it so that she would avoid rush hour and her planning was impeccable for a Thursday arrival.

  She decided to phone Kendall to let her know she was almost there.

  ���Hey, we are about 30 miles from Ann���s place on the Cape,��� Tessa sang to her younger sister.

  ���When did you leave?���

  Kendall was a feisty blonde, as were all of her siblings. She had crystal blue eyes and lived life to its fullest. Kendall loved to travel. She planned to take yearly trips to some pretty amazing places. Australia was her first.

  Tessa���s family had inherited the Cape House when Ann had passed away. They loved the beach and planned to visit when they had long weekends. Tessa traveled too much with Lucas to have the time to come with her family. This was the first time she had been to the Cape since her beloved Ann died. Her family rented the house and made enough to pay the property taxes and maintain it so that people would want to continue renting, year after year.

  ���I left about 7 hours ago, decided to not sit around and wait until Monday, which I planned perfectly since the traffic is great right now. I was wondering if you could text me the security code.���

  Kendall sent the code to Tessa���s cell, and they chatted making plans for Kendall to come and hang out for a weekend. She missed her family; although she had been living home since the breakup, she worked too much to really enjoy them enough. Ever since she could remember, she���d been on Lucas���s schedule. He was not blatantly controlling, but his mood worsened when he was asked to do family things instead of hanging with his teammates or friends. Unless of course he felt he was losing her. Tessa hoped they would all come up soon, it would be nice to be with them.

  She found the house wasn���t exactly as she remembered; each time someone visited they made some sort of improvement. Tessa pulled into the parking area in front of the houses. The parking lot was shared with the neighboring homes. Leia jumped out. They walked to the door with a couple bags in arm and walked into the back porch. It was the entire length of the house, about 50 feet and all screened in. They opened the door, and Tessa knew immediately that this would be a perfect place for Leia to lounge when she needed to run out and do errands.

  ���Wow Leia, look at this, we won���t need to put you in a cage when I need to give you some big girl time,��� Leia wagged her tail and sniffed around. She seemed pretty happy.

  Tessa punched in the code she laughed as she did knowing where this combination of letters and numbers must have come from. They entered and saw how much the place had changed since Ann had passed away. She immediately knew things were going to be fine, it still felt good being here.

  The floors were tiled in the huge kitchen to the left, to the right a study and a bathroom. The study used to be Ann���s room. The entire floor plan had been opened up. The kitchen was stainless with white cabinets and granite countertops that looked like slate. There was a large island with a stove top and small sink, opposite them was seating for five people which opened up to the dining room, which opened to the enormous living room with a beautiful fireplace. Tessa looked past the living room and saw the most amazing scene. Off of the Living room, there was a patio area that was about thirty feet deep. It had been just a small deck before. Off of the black concrete stamped patio, a yard that was about thirty feet in size was all fenced in with a white picket fence. A small gate lead to the beach, this was new as well, Tessa thought.

  ���Let’s go Miss Leia; you���re going to love this!���

  They walked out and saw the outdoor kitchen with beautiful Adirondack furniture scattered everywhere. There was not a soul on the beach, very private, and as beautiful as ever. Tessa opened the gate, and they walked to the water. The sun was going down, and she stood in awe of this beautiful, peaceful scene. What a blessing this place is, and always had been, a perfect place to heal.

  Tessa yelled ���Jump in, girl!���

  Leia was off like a light, she ran to the water and splashed around she seemed SO happy to be here. All the splashing reminded her that she needed to use the bathroom. They walked to the yard, and Leia shook off and began sniffing around. Tessa latched the gate and walked up the yard to the patio. As she entered the house, she realized that the center of the second floor had been opened and had a balcony. There were four other good size rooms and, of course, the center room which was the master bedroom. The master bedroom balcony faced an entire wall of windows that looked out over the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. To the left, a lighthouse on a peninsula of rock not far from here.

  Tessa entered the master bathroom and looked in the mirror. Her hair was all pulled back into a very sloppy bun held together with a large black clip. Her makeup was worn, and a bit smudged. She wiped it with her ring finger; she looked down at it and saw the light indentation that she wore like a scar. It���s going to heal she thought it���ll be fine. She released her blonde hair from her clip, and it hung to the middle of her back. She combed it with her fingers, as the long waves relaxed, she felt the tension release from her scalp.

  ���Ok girl��� let’s grab our stuff from the Jeep, I bet you���re hungry, huh?���

  Tessa and Leia walked to the back of the house, and she saw a small black convertible sports car pull in.

  Through the window, she saw they driver hit the steering wheel as if he was angry. Leia barked and distracted her from the man in the car.

  Tessa was throwing on her shoes when she heard a knock at the door, she jumped and her overly protective pal growled and barked. She opened the door and was face to face with the man from the car. They stared at one another for a moment in uncomfortable silence that broke when Tessa could no longer stop herself from smiling, he was beautiful.

  ���May I help you?��� Damn he was cute, brown messy hair shaped his chiseled face and square jaw.

  ���Hello, I���m Collin, and I think you���re in my parking spot, do you drive the navy Jeep?���

  ���I���m so sorry I didn���t realize������

  Collin was clearly uncomfortable. He loosened his tie and cleared his throat stopping Tessa mid-sentence.

  ���Yours is second- row third over,��� he very quickly turned to walk away.

  ���Alright, I was just going out to grab some things, I���ll move it now,��� Tessa talked to his back.

  She wasn���t sure if he���d heard her, and when she glanced at him walking away her eyes froze on his backside, Good Lord.

 
She grabbed her keys as she walked out the door. She patted Leia���s head and told her to stay.

  Collin was in his car and sat back and ran his fingers through his brown hair. Tessa watched him as she pushed the button unlocking the Jeep and got in to move it. Thinking he was attractive was clearly an understatement. He was beautiful, perfect actually. She wondered what his eyes looked like behind the dark aviator glasses he sported. It had been awhile since she had looked at a man other than Lucas and had these thoughts. Must have been the long drive listening to all those high school songs, and remembering the old days. She knew that what she needed was not to fill the hurt with fantasies about the vision in the black sports car. Tessa jumped out and grabbed the rest of her things, and went inside.

  * * *

  Collin walked into his house and wondered how long this one was staying; people had been in and out since the beginning of May. The new owner he had only met once, and she seemed pretty cool, but this revolving door��� was for the birds.

  He threw his keys on his entry table and walked into his sprawling kitchen. He wondered what Joan had left for dinner tonight. Joan was his housekeeper. He traveled a lot for business, and when he was in town she kept the fridge stocked with meals that he could just warm up when he returned home from the hospital, or overseas.

  He was just twenty- seven and had already revolutionized the health care industry. He had invented a drug that helped people with cancer deal better with the side effects from chemotherapy and was now working on security and health for third world countries. He graduated from high school at 17 and completed his bachelor���s in two and a half years. He had just been honorably discharged from the Navy with his MD. His troubled youth and family life made him focus on his studies. He had relationships, but none that lasted any longer than two months. He made it very clear to anyone he���d ever touched that he was going to put his studies and work first, he would see them when he could. Collin loved sex and was damn good at it, he knew this. He could please women and made it his mission to make sure they were satisfied before he finished. When they wanted to stay the night, he reminded them that he needed to study or work and that he was not relationship material. One might think this would drive women away, but it didn���t, they tried even harder to keep up with him.

  Women were easy; they were drawn to him first because of his looks, and second because of the chase. He watched his mother, a drug addict; bring men in and out of their home. It was always the same: she would come home drunk or high with a new guy at least once a month. Those who stayed were there in the morning and would get breakfast and treated as if they were a king. This would last about a week, a month at the most and eventually there would be an argument always involving alcohol or drugs, and he would leave. She would sit on the couch for days, speaking as few words as she could, chain smoking, and crying. The ones who came and left before dawn and didn���t stay for breakfast didn���t have the same effect on her. She could function, and it was usually a tolerable week. Those times when she acted like a real mother and not the woman who stumbled over herself to please a house guest didn���t last long. There were very few that were ever asked to return. As soon as she had received what she was after, be it drugs or money, they were gone.

  Collin���s favorites were flight attendants, women he met away on business, once in awhile the tenants from next door who came and left within a week, and those who wanted no strings. By his second year in med school, he could pretty much figure out who was who before he ever put a finger on them. Tonight it was Amber, a flight attendant that he had been in contact with for about a year, they were good together. She was kinky as shit, dark hair and legs that went on forever. She never stayed, and after several hours of play time, she would leave and let him know when she may be back in town again.

  Tessa wasn���t big on casual drinking. She never really enjoyed alcohol, she used it to let loose. She was on vacation and decided to pop open a bottle of Doobie Blues, and hang out on the patio with her dog tonight. She set her iPod up on the Bose and turned on Pearl Jam. She loved listening to the live version from a concert she had attended. She closed her eyes as she sat reclined in her chair as she hugged her knees and looked out at the water with Leia, lying faithfully at the foot of her chair. She must have been tired because she fell asleep out in the fresh Ocean air.

  Collin couldn���t stop thinking about the new tenant and sort of wished that Amber wasn���t coming in tonight. There was something about the new girl next door. She smiled at him when he was short; she wasn���t rude like the natives and normal tourists that he encountered lately. He even felt at a loss for words, which had never happened before. She was beautiful, that long, blonde, wavy hair and those gorgeous blue eyes that looked like a reflection of the ocean on the calmest, clear, sunny day. As he ate his chicken parmesan, he couldn���t help his thoughts from returning to her. She had a hot body that he had a chance to admire as she walked out to move her Jeep. He stared at her full perky breasts and a round ass that looked like he could bounce a quarter off of. He thought about her as he walked into the bathroom to shower before Amber came over. It had been a week since he���d had sex, and as usual, he wanted to ensure he had enough stamina to keep up with the very hungry Amber. He did his normal routine in the shower and jerked off to the picture in his mind of the tenant with great tits. Now he could outlast Amber, for sure.

  When Amber came into Collin���s, she wore a black coat that hung just above her knees. She had heels and black stockings on. Collin opened the door and let her in. He took her hand and kissed it as she walked in the door. He grabbed her and turned her, so she was facing the wall. He took the coat off of her to reveal the black corset and garter belt that she wore to hold up the stockings. He gently pushed her against the wall and spread her legs with his knee. Amber gasped and knew that she was in for one hell of a night. He rubbed his finger against her and felt that she was already wet.

  He licked his lips and whispered, ���Ready so soon?���

  He turned her back around and pointed down. She slowly went down on her knees and was face to face with what she���d been fantasizing about all day long. He was huge, and his girth was very impressive. She released him from his white linen pajama pants as she licked her lips. She was always so hungry when she arrived. He slowly walked backward as she followed him on her knees pleasuring him. He opened the door to his deck, and they made their way outside. She looked up at him with her mouth full, and he put his finger to his mouth so that she knew it had to be quiet. He knew that this could take forever since he had just released this week���s pent up frustrations in the shower, so he let her go to it. After several minutes he was still not as hard as usual, he looked at the kitchen window next door hoping to see the tenant through it. He pulled and pushed her head in and out as she sucked his massive tool.

  Tessa woke from her slumber and looked up to the lighthouse. She watched as the light moved and shown all around her new neighborhood. It was beautiful. She looked to her left and saw Collin standing on his porch his head tilted back as if he was looking at the sky. He was beautiful: his skin bare, sculpted like a model from the window at Hollister. The rays from the lighthouse moved past him, and she could only see his shadow now. A woman emerged from behind the railing, oh my God, she thought. She felt like a voyeur as she stood trying to quietly sneak into her house. She startled her dog, and Leia barked.

  Crap she thought, ���Shh girl��� let���s go inside it���s alright.���

  It was very dark outside, and she fell as she tripped over the bottle of wine she had left sitting to the side of her chair, making a loud noise in this very silent night. Damn it!

  Her movement caused the motion sensor to kick on the lights on the side of the patio. No way, she thought. She felt her face turn crimson red as she saw his shadow and that of the woman on the deck next door.

 
Unbelievable, his lips curled up into a smile as he pointed to his door, the woman ran inside, she was laughing.

  He turned to Tessa and in a deep husky voice he said, ���Goodnight.���

  Tessa didn���t respond but turned her back to her neighbor and hurried Leia into the house. The audacity of that man! Seriously on the deck with his neighbor 30 feet away!

  Tessa heard a car start and pull out of the parking lot.

  She grabbed a glass of water and chugged it down followed by two more. She didn���t want to wake up in the morning feeling awful, so she took a couple ibuprofen as well. She made her way up the stairs and walked into the master bedroom. She grabbed a tee shirt out of her bag and threw it on. She made a mental note that it was to be given to good will, it was Lucas��� and she no longer wanted it. She patted the bed and Leia happily jumped up and snuggled in next to her. She said her prayers and fell fast asleep.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Tessa and Leia rose early in the morning. In preparation for her wedding, Tessa had lost twenty pounds by simply walking or running every morning. She now looked at this as a release, something she needed to do. She wouldn���t let herself get back to feeling insecure about her body. She looked better than she did in high school, and felt better too. She dug through her bag and grabbed her sports bra and shoved the girls in. They hadn���t changed with her weight, and she could thank her grandmother for that. She threw on a tee, some running shorts and put her wild hair up in a sloppy bun. She brushed her teeth and threw on her running shoes.

  Leia was tap dancing excitedly on the tile floor knowing that she was going for her morning run. They walked out the back door and started down to the beach. As she turned left and began to jog, she saw him coming up from behind. Oh great, she thought as she picked up the pace so she could avoid what she knew would be an entirely awkward moment. Leia was also aware that he was there, and she barked her fool head off. She growled and turned around, slowing Tessa down, damn it, she thought not him, girl ��� let���s go, she turned to tug at the leash and tripped falling over a piece of driftwood. She fell flat on her butt, and as she looked up he was standing over her, his hand was extended offering her help up.