Elena let the robe slide off her shoulders and she crawled naked into the bed, Damien grabbed the corner of the covers and pulled them up to her chin. He then crawled onto the bed and settled himself in next to her.Elena was dreaming of growling monsters when she slowly came awake realizing that there was something growling next to her. She opened her eyes to see what Damien was growling about when she noticed that he was still asleep and it was his stomach making that awful sound. She giggled and remembered that they hadn't eaten that much the night before and that with his size and energy level, he must need something more than a simple energy bar. He was going to need several pounds of raw meat.She winced when she moved her legs, sore from last nights coupling. That was something she was going to have to get used to. Get used to, hmm, I just rolled that one out and didn't even feel guilty about thinking it. Everything that she had been raised with said it was a horrible thing to
He pushed his nose up to hers and rubbed it back and forth. Forgiven. She smiled and hugged him."Come on, I'll finish making breakfast the old fashioned way."She took the still frozen bacon out of the microwave and peeled it out of the plastic. She put it onto a baking sheet and put it into the oven, setting it on low. She went over to the table and sat down."Want to listen to the stereo while we wait for the bacon to thaw out?"He gave her a quizzical look. She laughed."Oh, yeah. You wouldn't know about stereos."She reached over to the counter and flipped on the small clock radio.'I'll keep you by my side with my superhuman might--Kryptonite' started blaring from the speakers. She smiled at the irony of the song and who her lover was. Yep, Three Doors Down nailed it with that one. She hummed and sang along with the song. She looked over at Damien for his reaction to the radio. He wasn't even looking at it; he was watching her. His ears were standing straight up and his head was
Damien felt the same way. This was a strange feeling for him. He'd had other loves in his life before her, but none of them even came close to what she meant to him. They were hollow shells of humanity, a small flicker of flame compared to the raging fire that was Elena. He felt that she deserved to know what he was feeling, that no matter how his voice sounded in her ears, she needed to hear his true voice. He knew she was ready for it this time. He opened that connection again, softly this time, knowing just where to push and slip into her mind.Yes, My Love. I feel the same way. You make me whole. You are my reason for living now. You are everything to me. Thank you for loving me.Elena jumped when the deep bass of his voice entered her mind. It sent chills down her spine, making her break out in goose bumps all over her body. She leaned back to look into his eyes, to see if she was imagining this. He met her gaze and grinned, shaking his head."You? I'm not imagining things? You c
She went into the kitchen and started making breakfast. She pulled the thawed bacon out of the oven and peeled off several slices and put them in the larger skillet. The sizzling slices gave off the wonderful aroma of hickory-smoked bacon that always made her think of the mornings with her father. She missed him and she wondered for a moment what he would have thought about Damien. Perhaps it was best that her parents weren't alive to see her this morning. She poked and flipped the slices while she thought about what had happened over the past few days.Damien wanted to give her some space; to let her think things out without him sitting there, watching her, making her paranoid that he might be listening in on her thoughts. He purposefully shut out her presence, completely blocking out any feelings and thoughts that she might inadvertently send his way. He walked over to the spot that she had danced in and found the sweet spot for the sound pouring out of the system. He sat down and l
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. Damn him! Why did he have to give me that particular detail of our time together? Why couldn't I have been left blissfully unaware so this horrible feeling of dread wouldn't be happening this morning?I need to know what he did and why before I judge him too harshly. I love him too much to not give him the benefit of the doubt. She finished flipping the last piece of bacon and put the heaping platter inside the oven to keep warm. She noticed the tears when she bent over to open the oven door, and they hissed dully on its surface. She wiped her face with the dishtowel, and then thought she should just wash her face, to try to get rid of her red eyes. Once she was convinced that all traces of her crying were gone, she called to Damien to come into the kitchen.He heard the tone in her voice. It was emotionally detached, distant. He felt real fear then, right to his heart. ugh! Why did I have to tell her? No, he knew why, she deserved
"I need to know, Damien. That first time; when you showed me your pain. I know it was an accident, but I have to know. Did you make me fall in love with you?"You cut me to the bone, my lady. But I can't blame you for thinking this. No, I didn't make you fall in love with me. I allowed you into my mind that time. You saw the real me inside that quick glimpse. Yes, there is a lot of pain and suffering I carry with me, but since I have fallen in love with you, it has gone away. We saw into each other's souls in that brief moment, and I believe that is why we fell in love."I see your point. You're right, I saw your soul and I knew we were meant to be together from that moment on. Okay, I'm not mad at you anymore. I love you too much to stay mad at you. Friends forever?"I am your servant, my lady. I love you with all my heart and soul. I only ask one small favor. I am going to give you a phrase to say, and you must repeat it exactly as I give it to you. Will you do that?She furrowed her
Elena smiled and felt a wash of contentment. He liked her cooking. Then the enormity of the comment hit her. Best breakfast in two hundred years; there isn't a woman in the world that has ever had that compliment paid to her. She smiled even bigger and rubbed him behind his ears, right where he liked it the best. She cooked her two eggs the same way, and only had three slices of bacon. She couldn't eat like this every morning; but once in a while, she liked to splurge and go all out with an artery hardening delicious breakfast.By the time she was sitting down to eat her breakfast, Damien was licking his plate clean. He sat back and let loose a gigantic rumbling belch. He managed to look embarrassed, but he was grinning, showing all his teeth.That was better than fresh liver right from the belly of a cow! Thank you again, my love. That was great.She laughed, thinking how strange it was to have that particular 'meal' compared with her cooking. Well, he liked it and that's what counte
"Good morning, Deputy Lock. Yes, I decided to do this. I have to do something, and I guess this is the best way to get him to stop.""I know it's not perfect, but it's the best I can do for you right now."He seemed to want to say something more. He looked around to see if there was anyone within hearing distance, and he started to look uncomfortable."Miss Elena, uhhh, I want to ask you something, but I'm not sure where to begin."Elena was used to men getting nervous around her, she knew she was good looking, but she never let it go to her head. Watching guys get tongue tied around her was nothing new. Grinning, thinking she knew what he was going to ask next, she nodded."What is it, Deputy Lockhardt?""Well, uhhmmm, oh, damn. I feel so embarrassed about this, but, well..."He was turning red, blushing, and he couldn't quite meet her gaze. He was shifting his weight back and forth on his feet, and his hands were twitching nervously. She watched this display, having seen it before,
"I forgot to eat dinner last night and camping always gives me a huge appetite. I'll burn it all off before the day is over. Well, maybe. You have brought some horses but when I go camping, I'm always on foot. So I normally hike ten miles in one day when I go out.""Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd eat that much too if I was going to hike ten miles."Gab just sat there and grinned as he sipped his coffee. Marcy and Elena finished their breakfasts almost simultaneously. They washed their plates and cleaned out the skillets. Gab doused the fire while Elena and Marcy drank their coffee. She watched Gab as he saddled the horses. She was still nervous about this exercise. She didn't know if the horse they would try to get her on would stand still enough for her to do so. She went through her calming exercises in her head, trying to still her nervousness. She figured that if she didn't feel nervous, the horse would be calm as well.They finished their coffee and went over to where Gab was waiting for th
This was the truth, so she knew her voice wouldn't detract from her excuse. They both stared at her a few seconds; and then at each other, they shared a look together before they turned back to her. Marcy was the first to break the silence."I'm sorry to hear that. Again, I didn't mean to embarrass you."Gab was looking at her, and she could see that he was mulling something over in his mind; finally he shrugged and grinned."Well, I guess if you're willing to forgive our lapse in manners, then I'm willing to forget about it and just enjoy the weekend with a new friend."Elena smiled and let out a big sigh of relief."Thank you. I'm sorry too, I should have warned you, but it slipped my mind in all the excitement and rush to get out here."They all smiled their relief at the averted social faux paux. They started chatting about the next day's plans and Gab reassured Elena that she would be just fine around the horses. Eventually they all yawned, Marcy first and then the other two in s
Elena blushed again and she saw Marcy shoot a look at Gab that was a mixture of surprise and annoyance. Goob just grinned and shook his head. He had wanted to surprise his wife with his new friend, and it had worked."I surprise a lot of people, Marcy. So don't feel embarrassed about it, you should have seen Goob's face when I shot that rifle for the first time and just grinned at him like a kid at Christmas. He didn't know what to say or do for a minute there."Marcy laughed and nodded, immediately taking to Elena's easy-going personality and humor."Yeah, I've managed to do that to him a couple times myself. Let me just get the rest of the food into the cooler and then we can hit the road."Marcy went back into her kitchen and Elena waited with Goob."Okay, Elena, we're heading for a friend's ranch and the roads are almost non-existent once we get into the higher elevations. Here's a radio for you to use so we can stay in contact if we get separated. It's got a 12-mile range out on
Damn, but at least with this one I can clean the outer shell of any accidental blood stains and re-proof it with a can of repellant. Hopefully it will pay off in the long run. If I go out every month and ruin a cheaper bag, I'd be spending more than this in four months time.The next morning she was happy when she went to work. Yes, I'm leaving but Rhoda won't be there to ruin my mood anymore. Charlenne proved herself to be as smart as Elena thought she could be. She had no trouble getting her acquainted with the software, but she needed to find some inspiration with the graphics layout. That's where natural talent comes in, you are either inspired or you are not. It's an artist part of the job, and this was where Charlenne had the most difficulty."Honestly, Elena, I've never thought about art or graphics. Can I take a class or something?""Well, yeah, you can. However, this is where you need to let your imagination flow and try to feel for the client. Find out what they are looking
"It's got a custom ladder sight and the wood has been reworked and reinforced to take the recoil of that brutal cartridge, they hand rubbed five coats of Tung oil into it."She really didn't know about the wood finish, but the ladder sight was neat."Okay, sold."He smiled and nodded. He got out the paperwork for her to fill out and he called in her ID and information and the NCIC check came back clear. He put the sling kit on the rifle and slipped it into the carry case and handed it to her."I do have one more favor to ask, if you don't mind?""Miss Brandt, anything for the lady who can shoot a Rossi .454 Casull and smile."Elena laughed."I need to find somebody who can teach me how to hunt and skin the animals. I want to go hunting so I can fill my freezer with good meat. I want to be able to do that myself.""Miss. you just went up three notches on my respect scale. I would gladly teach you how to do that. My wife goes hunting with me and I know she would love to have another wom
He smiled at her confident response. Well, what the hell? Why not?"Okay, so you won't need a scope or at least a big one.""No, no scope. My eyesight is perfect.""Okay. Any preference on caliber or action?""Nope, that's where I need your expertise. I've never hunted before, but I really want to learn.""Okay, great. Well, in that case, um, have you ever shot a rifle before?""No, but I'm an expert with a H&K Tactical .45 ACP."His eyes widened again and he started laughing."Okay, I had that coming, sorry. Well, if you don't have any preference on action or caliber, I'm not sure where to start. How about I show you a couple of standard hunting rigs and you tell me if it's something you might be comfortable with, okay?""Yeah, that'd be great."He reached back on the rack behind him and pulled off a bolt-action rifle with standard iron sights. He handed it to her with the bolt open. She hefted it and put it to her shoulder. She looked at the bolt and then slid it forward and down, l
"There you go mark, all your troubles are answered. It's my resignation. I quit."Elena turned, went to her desk and gathered up her things before heading for the door. Rhoda had just heard her announcement and she was pissed. She had wanted to get Elena into trouble and here she was walking out before that could happen. She had hoped to get her fired, but by quitting, Elena still held the high ground."Elena, wait a minute. Why?""Well, mark, I have had it with that little bitch over there. I was in a perfectly happy mood when I came to work today. But when she jumped me three seconds after walking in and implied that I was trying to get her fired because I wouldn't let her finish the interview, which by the way, lasted over two hours yesterday. Then she had the gall to grab me physically, which I told her was a really bad idea and to not ever do it again. Since I was planning on it anyway, that just put the icing on the cake and instead of in two weeks, I'm out of here today.""She
"Me moving in with you, silly. I still want to keep this house. It's paid for, thanks to dad's life insurance policy. So all I have to pay for is the taxes and homeowners insurance. I will need it for the down time after my monthly trip into the woods.""Heh, the way you keep saying it like that, you make it sound like you have a bad case of the monthly cramps, not, well, you know.""See, even you can't say it out loud. It's like if we don't say it, it won't be true. Yes, Marie, once a month my PMS goes all to hell and I turn into a werewolf.""Yeah, okay. I guess maybe because I haven't seen you like that, it really hasn't sunk in.""Trust me,. Until Damien teaches me to control the shift, to become aware inside myself when I've shifted, you don't want to be anywhere near me. I killed and ate someone who was near me last time.""I'm sorry, Elena, I didn't mean to bring that up.""No, that's okay. If I keep these thoughts inside, it'll make it worse. I do know how you can make it up t
Elena nodded that she had and took it out of the fridge for her. She finished cooking her bacon and eggs. She then smothered honey-butter on her toast. Marie watched her in awe and still wondered how she could eat so much. When she wiped up the last of the egg yolk with her toast she popped it into her mouth and hummed contentedly. She sipped her coffee and felt the rush of caffeine hit her system. Marie sipped hers and smiled, Elena had been right, it was very dark and very rich but it wasn't bitter at all."Well, now that I don't have the raving urge to fill my mouth with eggs and bacon, we can talk. I saw that look, and I'll eat that for dessert, now hush. I want to run an idea past you, but I don't want you to feel pressured in any way. I'm thinking of quitting at the Acantha and trying to find something in Helena."Marie beamed and snickered."You're trying to see if I want you to move in with me, aren't you? Well, the answer is YES! I would love it if you would move in with me."