Alexander Ranch

by Marla Josephs

  When we came to the doorway, I released my hands, grabbed him by the waist and kicked my legs out to each side hitting either side of the doorframe making him jerk backwards. My left leg caught him around the throat as I kicked out to hit the doorframe. Then, I brought my legs together lifting them to do a flip off of his back like a diver starting from a handstand position, only I had him around the waist. In the process my leg connected with his face again and I felt a searing pain for my troubles where I’d connected with his nose. My only consolation was that I also heard and felt a satisfying crunch and he immediately released me staggering back and holding his face. I fell and rolled barely avoiding his boots as he staggered and cursed. While he was grabbing his face, I delivered a knee strike and a swipe and he was on his ass yowling. Then, I ran.

  I could hear people running inside, coming to investigate the commotion I’d caused. There was a searing pain in my leg where I connected with his face, but I ignored it and ran on as fast as I could. I had to get to the trees. If I could get to the trees I might be able to get away. I hit the trees at a dead sprint and kept going.

  I didn’t know how far or how long I had run, but I was panting now and out of breath. I slowed, stopped and ducked behind a tree, trying to catch my breath. I didn’t hear anyone, but I was breathing so loudly and the blood was thundering so deafeningly through my ears, I couldn’t hear much of anything. I tried to take in deep, slow breaths through my nose, letting them out just as slowly. As I worked on slowing my breathing, I fumbled with the gag. The driver probably would have noticed my lack of a gag. Luckily it wasn’t tied very tight and after ripping some of my hair out as I fought with the knot, I was able to just yank it down. Removing the gag made breathing considerably easier. After a few moments my breathing calmed.

  I sagged against the tree and looked around trying to figure out which way to go when my senses began to prickle and fear flittered down my neck. I could sense someone. I was still being pursued. I had known they would be looking for me, but someone was close. I opened my senses and was almost knocked down by the feeling of excitement from my pursuer. This was no regular human. It was him, Kevin, the same man who’d attacked me before. I was at once paralyzed with fear. I was completely immobilized by my terror. The knowledge that this man’s hearing was so acute he could probably hear me breath did nothing to alleviate my horror. The survival side of me fought through the swirling, debilitating haze of fear to get me to move but, so far, I was unable to budge. I stood there like a deer in headlights.

  The sound of a twig being smashed underfoot provoked my body into an automatic reaction of flight even as my mind was still paralyzed with fear at the knowledge that running was futile.

  “That’s it. Run for me love. Make it fun,” came a voice close behind me. Though I knew I couldn’t possibly outrun him, my legs took flight of their own accord and continued moving without the command or consent of my brain. I was running through the trees, branches were biting into my face and arms as the underbrush tried to trip me up. I was crying now, sobbing, but I couldn’t stop moving.

  Help me, please! I yelled desperately in my head. Jordan, then Daisy, Ethan, Logan and Grace flashed through my mind before something hurled into me from behind sending me sprawling to the ground face first. My head bounced off of the leaves and debris before I was rapidly flipped over and a shape was leaning over me with a menacing gleam visible from his teeth. I tried to struggle, my body jerking and flailing in an uncoordinated hysteria, but he had me pinned.

  “That’s it, fight!” He whispered in my ear and then took my ear lobe in his mouth and nipped it. I flinched and swallowed my cry of disgust and outrage as hot searing pain exploded in my head. This time I knew what is happening. He was attempting to drain my life force.

  “I was going to make it easy for you in the barn that day. You’d have died in the throes of ecstasy. But, you’ve been a bad girl,” He chided lightly as if we were having an easy conversation about the weather or something.

  I locked down my senses trying to stay alert. I could not allow this man’s palpable excitement, nor the pain blowing up in my head, to paralyze me. And, I realized I could not cease struggling or I would surely die. I stared at him saying nothing gathering my wits. I must fight! I may lose but I will fight to the end. Miraculously my tears had stopped. He bent down and licked my neck and I couldn’t help the whimper of fear that escaped. I could feel him grinning against my neck as he nuzzled. I squeezed my eyes tight to fight back the scream of terror trying to escape from me. My breathing was beyond control.

  “Scream,” he commanded in my ear. When I did not respond he grabbed a handful of my hair and slammed my head on the ground. “Scream!”

  I squeezed my eyes shut again, this time at the pain that exploded in my head and unexpectedly his weight abruptly left my body. He was off of me and I was yanked up by the shoulders. I swung out with all of my strength in a feeble attempt to escape.

  “Hey!” came a surprised female voice. I froze momentarily as someone grabbed me tightly, pinning my arms to my sides in a bear hug. The voice was familiar. Even as realization dawned, in my wild panic I squirmed and fought. I was swiftly pinned to a tree and realized the familiar voice at my ear was Daisy’s. She was shielding my body with hers.

  “Lela! It’s me, Daisy. You’re safe. Stop fighting me.”

  My whole body stiffened and then sagged with relief as my brain finally registered that it was indeed Daisy, and my legs gave out. Daisy’s arms were the only thing holding me up. The sounds of struggle could be heard nearby and I realized Jordan was probably fighting with the monster who attacked me. My body stiffened again.

  “Lela, are you ok?” I heard the deep concern in Daisy’s voice and realized this wasn’t the first time she’d asked this question. She was still holding me up and her warm fingers running over me, assessing my physical wounds. I became aware that there were other people around, people I didn’t recognize but, they are just as fast as Jordan and Kevin. My eyes were wide, trying to see in the dark when Ethan’s face came into view.

  “Get her out of here!” Ethan snarled at Daisy. And, just like that, I was whisked away at a dizzying speed. My head was spinning. I felt weak and nauseous.

  Chapter 26

  “Lela?” Someone is calling me. Who is calling me? “Lela, can you hear me?”

  I recognize Grace’s voice and become aware of the feel of peppermint heat from her touch.

  “I have never seen this before,” she says in a low, awed voice.

  “What do you mean you’ve never seen this before?” demanded Jordan, his voice full of dread and fear, “Seen what?”

  “He slammed her head pretty hard on the ground so she has a mild concussion but, there’s something else also going on in there that allowed her to resist his attempts at draining her. That’s why she loses consciousness. It’s like her resistance overloads the part of the brain that controls consciousness,” Grace answered calmly.

  What were they saying? I was unconscious? How could that be when I could hear them talking? How long had they been talking?

  “I feel it too. I wonder if it has something to do with her being a telepath,” Daisy mused aloud with a mixture of concern and awe.

  “What does that mean?” Jordan was gritting his teeth again. “Is she going to be ok?”

  “It means, other than sending her more of a soothing vibration very slowly, I’m not sure what else to do,” Grace explained. “I can’t send her an actual healing vibration because it doesn’t feel like an actual wound to me and I’m not sure what kind of effect that would have.”

  “You have different types of healing vibrations?” Jordan asked sounding taken aback.

  “Of course we do!” Daisy snapped. She was not as calm as Grace. “I keep telling you Grace is a better healer because she practices and has honed her talent.”

  “I just thought there were degrees of strength. You know, like Grace just had stronger healing properties, or whatever,
than you,” Jordan replied momentarily distracted.

  “Daisy, focus on her actual scrapes. I want to focus just on her head,” Grace ordered.

  Someone, Grace I assumed, put both hands gently on each side of my head and I felt my whole body relax. The pain that was throbbing in my head as I returned to consciousness lessened considerably.

  “What’s happening? What’s wrong with her?” Jordan’s urgent voice rang out with undisguised panic.

  “Relax, Jordan, her body is just relaxing. I think the soothing energy is easing the pain and she relaxed,” Grace’s low voice reassured him.

  “You think?” He practically yelled.

  “Yes, Jordan! Damnit!” She hissed. “Look, Jordan, I have to remain calm if I am going to give her calming energy. Do you see how she’s tensed back up?”

  There was a pause, and I never heard a response, but Daisy continued.

  “That’s because you broke my concentration with you incessant worrying. Now, I can’t worry about you right now. Lela is my only concern. So either you sit back and shut up or get the hell out of here!”

  The pain was coming back and my body was definitely tensing back up. But, it didn’t stop me from being surprised at Grace’s use of curse words and her anger. I vaguely thought that I didn’t want to cross her. As sweet as she was, she could get riled. Jordan did not reply, and I felt the energy touching my head change and the pain receded.

  I wanted to open my eyes but, until now, the pain had been too great. The pain was a dull ache now and, after a few more minutes, my eyes fluttered open of their own accord. The first thing I saw was Grace. She smiled a tender smile at me and but didn’t say anything. My eyes rolled to take in the room and I saw Jordan’s eager face and Daisy’s concerned one.

  “Where is everyone?” I thought to Daisy. She gasped.

  “Grace kicked everyone else but Jordan out so that we could work on you. We would have had to have Logan and Ethan drag Jordan out, so we let him stay,” came her reply and I winced at the pain it caused.

  “What is it, Lela?” Jordan asked anxiously taking my hand.

  “Nothing,” My voice came out in a whisper. “Relax Jordan. I’m fine and feeling better by the moment.”

  “I’m going to remove my hands now. Tell me if the pain becomes worse,” Grace instructed. She gingerly removed one hand and then the other.

  “No, it’s just an ache now,” I croaked.

  “Good. You need to rest now. I’m going to come in and check on you every half hour or so and see how you’re doing,” Grace announced. “I think we should take this slowly and let your body do most of the work. Daisy and I have taken care of your bruises and scrapes but, I’m reluctant to deal with your brain.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “It’s hard to explain. You had a mild concussion, but that was from the blow to your head. I sensed, however, another pain that seems to be coming from your brain. It’s like it was inflamed in one area. And, I believe it has something to do with your telepathic ability. Somehow, I think you are able to use it to resist drainers. But, it uses a lot of mental energy and makes you weak. As I told Jordan, I think this is why you passed out after each of these encounters.”

  I had never thought of this. I understood the words, but I had no reaction. While a part of me was definitely interested in her theory, I was too tired to react. She must have known because her face softened.

  “We can discuss all of this later. Right now I want you to get as much rest as possible,” Grace said squeezing my hand and signaling for everyone to leave the room. Daisy, patted my shoulder gently and headed for the door with Grace. Jordan, however, did not move. He was sitting in a chair beside the bed and was holding my hand.

  “I’m not leaving, Grace,” his eyes did not leave mine as he spoke the words in a firm voice. Grace hesitated and looked at him from the doorway. She looked at me and I tried for a smile.

  “It’s fine,” I thought. She gasped, smiled and nodded.

  “Ok, Jordan, but please let her rest. She needs all she can get,” Grace instructed. She and Daisy exited and I turned to Jordan. His face was rigid and grim.

  “I am so sorry, Lela,” he began. The anguish in his voice tore at me.

  “Sorry for what?” I asked, my voice even more of a whisper now.

  “That is the second time that bastard got to you on my watch! The second time you were almost killed because of me!” he growled, the raw fury and self-loathing evident in every word.

  “Jordan, no! You can’t blame yourself – ”

  “The hell I can’t,” he roared cutting me off, “I have one simple job – protecting you. And, I’ve failed miserably at it twice.”

  “Jordan, please!” I thought frantically at him. It hurt too much to talk.

  He put his head down on my arm and squeezed my hand. I caressed his head and ran my fingers through his beautiful dark locks trying to sooth him. After a few moments, he let out a deep breath and looked at me.

  “Just please tell me you forgive me, even if I can’t forgive myself,” he pleaded. “I promise it will never happen again.”

  “There’s nothing to forgive. Please, Jordan, don’t do this.” Now it was my turn to plead.

  He raised my hand to his lips and gently kissed the back of it. He spoke the next words on an exhaled sigh, “Ok, but, I’ll stay with you if you don’t mind.”

  “I don’t mind,” I said with relief. “Will you do something else for me?”

  “Anything,” he said reaching up to brush my hair from my forehead.

  “Will you…,” I could feel the tears welling up and I couldn’t continue. I hated crying. Even more important, I didn’t want him to see me cry, but I just wanted to crawl into Blake’s lap like I did when I was a kid and have him hold me and tell me that everything would be alright. But, Blake wasn’t here. Jordan was.

  “Lela, honey, what? What do you need?” he asked in alarm.

  “I just want you to hold me,” I said and the overwhelming events of the day washed over me as tears began to fall. Jordan climbed onto the bed and gently pulled me into his arms. He didn’t say a word but just let me silently soak his shirt. However, my roiling emotions were quickly overcome by fatigue and I fell asleep wrapped in the feeling of safety in Jordan’s arms.

  Chapter 27

  When next I awoke, I opened my eyes to see Jordan propped up on one elbow peering down at me. His face was serene and he smiled at me.

  “Hey,” he greeted me.

  “Hey,”

  “How are you feeling?” he asked watching me closely. I was under the impression he was watching every tiny facial movement.

  I paused for a moment, taking inventory. Surprisingly, I felt great. I stretched experimentally and smiled slowly. He lifted an eyebrow.

  “I feel great actually,” I admitted in sleepy surprise. I didn’t seem to have an ache anywhere.

  “What about your head?” Jordan asked.

  “My head feels fine.”

  “Grace said you would probably feel fine when you woke up. I’m going to have to do something really nice for her.”

  “Grace?” I asked confused. “Did she come back and check on me?”

  He nodded, “She did a few times but you didn’t wake up. She said, however, that you seemed fine and you likely wouldn’t even have a headache when you woke.”

  I moved my head around experimentally and sat up. “Well, she’s right. I feel fine if not just a wee bit tired.”

  Jordan gently tugged me back down and leaned over me, “You’re sure?”

  “I’m fine, really,” I assured him.

  “Good,” he said, giving me a soft peck on the lips. Then his eyes met mine and he tentatively touched his lips to mine. The kiss started out hesitant and gentle, and I responded automatically to the heartbreaking sweetness of it. His fear for me and frustration were mingled with desire and need. I could feel the depth of his alarm and yearning for me. His need became my need. His internal
turmoil both terrified me and drew me to him like a moth to a flame.

  Deep down I knew that I should put a stop to this. Getting involved with this super human of a man would undoubtedly be much more than I could handle and possibly result in my demise. But, all of my protests died a silent death as his hand slowly made its way down my body. He reached my hip and gently but urgently pulled me closer and pressed me into the soft mattress as he deepened the kiss. My every thought was pulled under and drowned in his sensual undertow. I could do nothing but cling to him and return his kiss as he expertly invaded my mouth with his tongue. My response seemed to fuel him and he massaged and squeezed my body as he pulled me even closer.

  Jordan tore his mouth from mine at the sound of a light knock on the door. The sound of harsh breathing and gasping seemed loud to me now, knowing that someone was just on the other side of the door and could hear it too without the exceptional hearing the Alexanders’ possessed. Jordan growled in frustration before barking out, “What!”

  “It’s me,” came Logan’s neutral voice. Though I was certain he could hear what was going on his voice gave nothing away. I flushed wondering how long he’d been there as he continued, “I was wondering how Lela was this morning, and if I could have a word with her.”