The Goat Farmer’s Guardian

by Charlie Richards

  Into the Paranormal World: Sometimes getting a crash course in things unknown doesn’t always end in disaster.

  Zander Wheeler knows they’re out there: shape shifters, vampires, and other things.

  Having lost his wife over a year ago, Zander finds himself seduced by a married man. Ashamed, Zander asks his friend Logan McByrne to help him sever ties. Logan agrees, and in doing so, reveals a whole new world to him. Zander learns that his lover is a vampire, which is why he’d become so enamored with him. Then, Logan hooks up with a wolf shifter, and to top it off, a massive winged creature—the gargoyle Geoffrey, according to Logan—is claiming he and Zander are mates.

  When Zander demands they all leave him alone, save for Logan, they agree. Still, some sixth sense tells Zander he hasn’t seen the last of Geoffrey. He’s right. When one of his billy goats becomes aggressive, Geoffrey swoops in and saves him. With Geoffrey keeping to the shadows, they begin a dialogue. The more they talk, the more Zander realizes they may not be all that different after all. Except, he’s already been played by one paranormal. Can he open his heart to another?

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The Goat Farmer’s Guardian

  Copyright © 2014 Charlie Richards

  ISBN: 978-1-4874-0121-4

  Cover art by Scott Carpenter

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by eXtasy Books Inc

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  The Goat Farmer’s Guardian

  A Paranormal’s Love: Book Ten

  By

  Charlie Richards

  Dedication

  To walking in the rain… There’s just something magical about it.

  Chapter One

  “I know you’re out there,” Zander Wheeler whispered, staring out the window. “I can feel you watching.”

  If anyone heard him, Zander knew they’d think him crazy. Hell, sometimes he thought he was crazy. Vampires, shape shifters, gargoyles, really? Who would believe in those things? Except, Zander did. He had to. He’d been entranced by a vampire for months, completely unaware that he’d been feeding the creature his blood while he’d allowed the man to fuck him.

  Zander felt goose bumps break out on his arms at the thought.

  Gripping the windowsill, Zander swallowed hard. His body shuddered as he watched the light wane. It’d been about this time of night, on a quiet evening just like this one, that Zander’s life had turned upside down.

  He’d been feeling guilty for months, carrying on an affair with a man who he knew was married. At his request, his friend, Logan McByrne, had driven up from Durango, Colorado. They’d been out hunting coyotes that had been attacking his goats when Zander had run across a sight that had changed his life. A wolf turning into a man.

  Zander had run, trying to get Logan to run, too, but the creature had caught up with them. Trying to protect them, Zander had pointed the gun at the wolf-man thing. He’d only intended to scare it. He’d never meant to fire. Logan must not have realized that, for he’d tried to take away the gun. They’d struggled. The gun had gone off and the bullet had hit the wolf-man.

  That day, everything had changed. He’d learned that the creatures called themselves shifters. They were what most would call paranormals, and there were all manner of other paranormals living side by side with humans. They’d even scented a paranormal on him…and Zander had learned that Juarez was a vampire. At least, knowing the man put him under some kind of trance-like shit so he could take his blood made him feel a little better about getting involved with a married man.

  When Zander had finally agreed to keep silent—hell, he’d realized he didn’t want anything to do with them—they’d allowed him to go home.

  Then, a couple of days later, Juarez had called. Zander had heard the man’s voice over the phone and had been unable to tell him no when he’d asked to come over and see him. As soon as he’d hung up the phone, Zander had realized what he’d done and called Logan.

  Logan had assured him that he was on his way over, but he was over thirty minutes out. In the meantime, he was sending a shifter to check on him. Zander had hidden in the bathroom and had turned the water on, too afraid he’d hear Juarez’s voice and do anything the man—vampire—wanted.

  Before long, Zander had thought he’d heard something, so he’d called Logan again. Logan had told him he was sending another friend, Geoffrey, but that Geoffrey was a gargoyle, with claws and a tail and everything. He’d told Zander to choose the beast, for he would keep him safe.

  Zander had tried. Except, when he’d heard a pair of men arguing outside the bathroom door and he’d cracked it open, he hadn’t been able to go through with it. One glance at the massive, blue-hided creature outside the door, coupled with the angry snarl focused on Juarez and black wings and claws, and Zander had panicked. He’d slammed the door shut, placed his back to the door, and struggled just to continue taking one breath after another.

  He hadn’t managed to get his shit together until he’d heard the sound of Abbott Tamang’s voice. It’d only been the realization that he was no longer alone with a vampire and a gargoyle that’d given him the courage to open the door. Not his finest moment, he knew, but wrapping his mind around the existence of paranormals wasn’t easy for him. He’d never enjoyed science fiction or fantasy. Zander was a history buff, and no historical report he’d ever read had mentioned anything but humans.

  The bleating of Zander’s goats caught his attention. He returned his focus to the window and peered out at the dozens of brown, white, and tan goats in their pens. Many of them stood at the fence, looking toward the house. He smiled, knowing they were calling to him, calling for their supper.

  Zander turned and headed toward the back door. In the foyer, he shoved his feet into his muck boots and pulled on a jacket. He headed outside, pausing on the porch to glance around the twilight covered pens as he zipped up his jacket. The goats began bleating in earnest, jostling each other, vying for position closest to where they thought he’d throw the hay.

  Except, now that they’d entered the rainy season, Zander moved the feeding spots around to try to minimize the loss of hay being trampled in the mud. He loaded half a bale of hay into his utility wheelbarrow, then tossed a couple of flakes over the fence, several feet apart to distract the goats.

  Once most of the animals had crowded around the two flakes, Zander opened the gate and pushed the wheelbarrow through. He quickly closed the gate, then trudged through the soft earth, grunting at the effort to move the load through the mud. Even with the more heavy duty, two-wheeled style wheelbarrow, Zander could still feel the strain on his sore knee.

  A couple of weeks before, Zander hadn’t paid enough attention while in the pen of one of his more aggressive billy goats. He hadn’t unloaded the
hay quickly enough for the bugger and the goat had butted his knee…hard. Between coyote hunting and chores, it was slow to heal.

  One nice perk of having a gargoyle stalk him was that Zander no longer had to try to keep watch at night. Geoffrey’s presence seemed to do a fantastic job of keeping away the coyotes that had been harassing Zander’s herd.

  As Zander continued to feed, going from one pen to another, he carefully focused on where to place each step. While he loved the rain, most of the time, he hated dealing with the mud it created. He’d much prefer to be lounging on his back deck, drinking a cold one.

  “Soon,” Zander muttered under his breath.

  A goat brayed at him.

  Zander chuckled, shaking his head at himself. “Great. Talking to the goats now,” he murmured, smirking at the brown animal that stared up at him quizzically. “You don’t know how easy you got it, Backstrap. Play, eat, sleep, and fuck until I’m ready for your meat.” He tossed a flake of hay. “Better enjoy it.”

  The goat bleated again, then turned and focused on the hay.

  Watching the small goat enjoy its meal, Zander smiled. How’d it be to have just those few things to worry about? Unfortunately, along with feed bills, he had a mortgage and hospital debt.

  Zander trudged out of the pen, pushing the wheelbarrow before him. He filled it up for the last time and headed to the final pen. Following the same routine, he tossed out a couple of flakes to distract the animals, then headed in and through the goats. He’d just reached a mud-free section of the pen when movement to his right caught his attention.

  “Son of a bitch,” Zander snarled, stepping left, pivoting the wheelbarrow. He moved just quickly enough to get the barrow between himself and the billy goat. When the goat slammed into the cart, pain exploded through Zander’s wrists and up his arms. “Damn it, goat. I’m done putting up with your shit,” he snarled, righting the barrow before shoving the device at the goat. He smacked the goat’s shoulder, forcing it to back up a couple of steps. “I’m gonna butcher your hide and savor your tasty little ribs.”

  The goat bleated, then lowered its head and charged toward him again.

  Zander tensed his body, readying for the impact of the goat hitting the wheelbarrow. Suddenly, a dark shadow swooped over his head. The goat bleated again, this time in obvious fear as something or someone snatched it from the ground.

  Gaping, Zander stumbled backward. His knee buckled and he landed on his ass. After a few seconds, he registered the feel of the ground’s cold dampness and he rolled awkwardly to his good knee. Listening to the bleating of the goats around him, Zander peered over the top of the wheelbarrow.

  Taking in the sight before him, Zander’s heart hammered in his chest. The silhouette of a massive creature stood a couple of feet away on the other side of his wheelbarrow. The gargoyle spread his wings, blocking out the light of the barn. In the beast’s clawed hand dangled the goat.

  “I’m sorry, Zander,” Geoffrey’s deep voice rumbled. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I just—” The big creature sighed. “I just couldn’t watch you get injured.”

  Slowly, Geoffrey lowered the goat to the ground and released it.

  Zander watched the goat stumble a few steps, then seemed to catch itself. The billy gave a full body shake, then bleated—sounding almost indignant—before trotting toward the nearest pile of hay. As it started eating, Zander realized that Geoffrey hadn’t actually hurt the animal.

  “G-Geoffrey?” Zander whispered. While the logical part of his mind registered that the creature—damn it, gargoyle—had to be Geoffrey, something in him still made him ask. “Is that you?”

  “Yes, Zander,” Geoffrey responded, his voice soft. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”

  Zander swallowed hard, then struggled to his feet. He kept a wary eye on Geoffrey even as he began tossing the remaining hay out of the wheelbarrow into the pen. “Uh, no. I’m just about finished,” he mumbled. Finally registering what Geoffrey had said, Zander asked, “So, uh, what did you mean? You don’t want to see me injured? Why, uh, why do you care?”

  Geoffrey’s wings lowered, wrapping around his shoulders like a cloak. Zander squinted into the sudden increase of light. He heard the large creature sigh.

  “I know you don’t understand, Zander,” Geoffrey responded softly. “But you are my mate. I want to care for you, keep you safe.”

  “What?” Zander blurted the word without thinking.

  “You’re my mate,” Geoffrey repeated. “I—” He sighed. “I know you haven’t had the greatest introduction to paranormals,” he whispered. “I understand that. I just want a chance to-to get to know you. Talk. May we do that?”

  “Uh.” Zander’s mind went blank for a few seconds. He couldn’t come up with a single reason why they shouldn’t talk. It wasn’t as if Geoffrey had ever been aggressive— Wait, would he become aggressive if he said no? “Will you, uh, will you trick me, uh, put me in a trance or something?”

  “No,” Geoffrey instantly responded. “Absolutely not. I’m a gargoyle. I can’t do that.”

  Scowling into the wheelbarrow, Zander realized he’d dumped all the hay. He lifted his head and focused on Geoffrey’s large form. “I don’t understand,” he admitted. Then, drawing on more confidence than he realized he had, he gripped the handles and started pushing the wheelbarrow out of the pen. To do that, he had to walk around the gargoyle.

  Geoffrey watched him, even stepping backward to allow him more room. “Can I help?”

  While Zander’s first impulse was to say no, he suddenly figured…why the hell not? “Uh, sure, yeah.” Might as well save his knee. “Here.” Zander stepped away from the handles and moved around the wheelbarrow.

  As soon as he cleared the side of the conveyance, the billy goat that had given him so much trouble lifted his head and took several steps toward him. In an instant, Geoffrey stood at his side. His wings wrapped around Zander’s torso and a low rumble filled the area.

  The goat splayed his legs, stopping swiftly. After staring at the gargoyle for a few seconds, he bleated, then turned back to his food.

  Zander stood stock-still in the circle of Geoffrey’s wings. The gargoyle didn’t hold him in any other way, probably picking up on his wariness. To Zander’s surprise, he found the hold comforting instead of confining.

  “That goat is a menace,” Geoffrey rumbled gruffly as he eased his wings away from Zander. “If you were serious about butchering him, I know a fantastic recipe for goat ribs. I’d be happy to share it with you.”

  “You cook?”

  Geoffrey actually chuckled softly. “Yes, I cook. Very well, too, if it’s not too boastful to say.”

  Zander didn’t know what surprised him more. The fact that Geoffrey cooked—for some reason, he’d thought gargoyles ate their food raw—or that when Geoffrey released him and stepped away to grab the wheelbarrow, he actually missed the warmth and security he felt. Zander didn’t know how to process that realization.

  “Wow,” Zander decided on, even knowing how inane it sounded. “Uh, I’d like to see that.”

  Shit, had he just said that? Zander realized that he had. Except, seeing the gargoyle cook consisted of inviting him into the house, didn’t it?

  Wait, am I being coerced? Is Geoffrey manipulating me as Juarez had done?

  “You’re lying. You’re manipulating me!” The accusations were out of his mouth before he could help himself. He gripped the gate—and he didn’t even remember when he’d crossed the pen—and opened it on reflex.

  Geoffrey paused before him, the wheelbarrow between them. “I promise that I can’t do that, Zander,” he murmured. “If you’re willing to give me a chance, I’ll explain paranormals to you. Can we sit?” He shifted from foot to foot and sighed. “I’d love something hot to drink. Maybe a cup of coffee? Maybe sit on the porch? Just talk?”

  Zander slowly moved out of the way of the gate, swinging it wide for Geoffrey to push the wheelbarrow t
hrough. He tried to ignore the fact that the gargoyle—who actually looked like a large male for the most part, now that he had his wings wrapped around his shoulders again—was within arm’s reach and Zander didn’t understand his odd desire to reach out and trace his fingertips over Geoffrey’s wings.

  “Yeah. Yeah we can do that.”

  Shit, did I just agree to that?

  Chapter Two

  Geoffrey licked his lower lip slowly. Utilizing the plethora of sensors on his tongue, he scented the wind and Zander. His mate smelled of tension, confusion, disbelief, but most of all, mistrust and fear. Geoffrey desperately wanted to take all that away and replace it with comfort and ease.

  While Geoffrey had known Zander hadn’t taken learning of paranormals well, he still hoped to find some way to gain the wary human’s trust. He knew it’d take time. Zander hadn’t had the best introduction. From his ex-lover and now friend, Logan McByrne, Geoffrey had learned that Zander had gone into shock when he’d learned about shifters. Then, to top it off, Zander’s last lover had turned out to be a vampire manipulating him to get his blood.

  Not a great way to learn about us.

  After watching Zander’s ranch for over a week, Geoffrey finally had an excuse to interact with his mate. He hadn’t hurt the goat, since his big hand had easily wrapped around the little animal’s shoulders, although, the idea of eating the beast did hold a fair amount of appeal. He had been living on squirrels, rabbits, and coyotes he’d roasted over a cook-fire, after all.

  Geoffrey followed Zander’s instructions, putting the wheelbarrow away in the hay barn. When he exited, he noticed his mate already halfway back to his house. Praying the human wasn’t panicking and running away from him, Geoffrey hurried to follow.