Kenton followed me into the house. He was silent as he’d walked with us from the reserve trail to the stable, watched us untack and brush down the horses, and then put them out to pasture. Even so, I could tell that a lecture was hovering just below the surface of his quiet demeanor and that he was itching to give it to me.
The smug look on Amelia’s face as she lazily followed Cindy up the stairs to Cindy’s room made my blood boil to the point I hardly heard Kenton’s request that I join him on the patio. He had to ask me a second time before I responded by leading the way.
He’d barely closed the sliding door behind him before I spoke. “If you’re going to yell at me about riding my horse in the reserve, please don’t. I’m a grown woman and have the right to ride wherever I choose. Today, I chose the reserve.”
“Even if it meant danger for you?”
“We would have been fine if Amelia hadn’t gotten all high and mighty and challenged Michael,” I complained.
I knew that he was aware of the riff between Amelia and me, but I didn’t think he quite understood the intensity or extent of it. Maybe if he could grasp how badly she behaved in general, he’d take pity on me and find a way to send her packing.
“Do you really believe that?” he asked.
I had, until he asked me. The tone in his voice made me rethink how safe Cindy and I really would have been. Even so, I refused to relent and admit that I was wrong.
“I allowed that bitch vampire to join us because I thought she’d make us safer. Instead, she almost created a war. I won’t let her ride with us again.”
Kenton closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Then, I’ll ride with you.”
I looked at him with surprise. “I didn’t know that you rode.”
“I only ride Maximillian,” he said in a firm tone.
“Is that your horse?”
Kenton nodded. “He’s a stallion, which is why I haven’t brought him around.”
“Oh, because of Daisy,” I mused.
“Because of Roger,” he said. When I looked bewildered, he added, “Roger was gelded late, which is part of the reason he’s such a handful. Surely you’ve noticed his heightened aggression when Daisy is in heat.”
“I guess I have,” I admitted, “but I didn’t put the two together. I just thought he was in a mood.”
“It’s never easy to put two stallions together. Since Roger thinks he’s still a stud, I’ve refrained from brining Maximillian around.” He walked up to me and cupped my face in his hands. “I’ve watched you manage Roger under extreme circumstances. I believe that you can handle Roger if he decides not to accept Maximillian.”
My eyes went wide. “What if they fight? I don’t want Roger fighting another stallion. He could get seriously wounded.”
“As could Maximillian,” Kenton sighed, “but I see no other option. If you insist on riding in the woods, I insist on riding with you.”
“Can’t you just ride Peter?” I practically begged.
“Peter wouldn’t appreciate my being on his back. Plus, my sweet, he’s not fast enough, should we have trouble with the wolves and are a distance from the house. Neither is Daisy, for that matter. You were putting Cindy in danger by taking her so deep into the reserve. She’s too young a vampire to understand how to fight like one. She needs time with Amelia to learn. If you insist on riding the reserve with Daisy and Peter, please take into consideration the trails and their relevance to your home so that you can reach the open field quickly. The wolves won’t harm you out in the open. They’re too cowardly for that.”
“I thought that they were fierce,” I mused.
“Anything they can do on a small scale, they do in a way that would allow them to deny it. The open field wouldn’t provide the anonymity they’d desire,” he explained.
“I’m sorry,” I said as the realization of the impact my thoughtlessness could have had on us set in. “I promise not to go so far into the reserve without you again.”
He kissed me long and passionately. It was exactly what I needed to help rebalance me and take away the feeling that something very bad was about to happen.
As I reveled in Kenton’s embrace, I longed for him to take things further. Memories of our first time making love on the patio flitted through my mind. What I wouldn’t have given to have him lower me onto the lounge chair and take me right then. I imagined the feel of the sun’s rays on my bare flesh as he buried his head between the apex of my thighs and bought me to heady heights while he prepared me for his entering. My body ached from the mere thought of it.My imagined sex high came crashing down with rapid speed when his kiss ended and he asked me to sit down so that he could have my full attention while he explained a few things. My head felt light and dizzy from his kiss as I found my way to a lounge chair.I’d been settled in and ready to listen for what seemed like minutes, yet he said nothing.“Are you going to speak?” I finally asked.“I’m waiting,” he rep
My house was rapidly filling up. Even though Godwin’s family lived locally, at my mother’s request, he settled into one of the guest rooms. I could tell that Kenton wasn’t happy about it. I assumed that it was because he’d been forced by the Association to move back to his own home. My mother must have recognized the jealous bug crawling around in him as well because, before she left, she assured my vampire lover that his distant cousin was only going to be with me long enough to develop the magic within me. She also insisted that, after meeting the wicked Amelia, she felt I needed a support team, if not protection, from the she vampire.Kenton could hardly argue that fact. Regrets for bringing Amelia to my home had surfaced more than once in him since her arrival. Not only did she turn out to be a spy for the Association who ratted on his staying with me almost immediately, he worried about me having to deal w
Morning came all too soon. If I hadn’t had the responsibility of tending to the horses, I’d have burrowed deeper into the folds of my bedding for a few more hours. Being the dependable person that I was, I dragged myself out of bed and dressed quickly.The smell of coffee as I trudged down the stairs did wonders for improving my mood. I had no idea who was thoughtful enough to rise early and brew coffee, but I was grateful.I was about to express my thanks to whoever it was when I entered the kitchen, but I stopped short like a mute statue instead. I couldn’t believe my eyes. There, at the stove, stood my mother. She was busy flipping pancakes to add to the rather large stack that was already on a plate in the middle of the table. Not only was she moving with grace and ease, but her scars and deformities were gone.“Mom?” I finally managed to utter as I studied her carefully.Sh
We went into the studio that my grandmother used to do her pottery in. I wasn’t sure if that was the wisest place to start teaching me magic. I could imagine bolts of energy shooting from my hands and pottery flying all about. I mentioned my concern to him. He just chuckled and assured me that there’d be no bolts of energy shooting out of my hands to worry about.To my surprise, wonderment, and amazement, the magic he showed me came from deep within me. I was the source. It required no hocus pocus words or special, overly dramatic movements. No magic wands or symbols drawn in the air or on my body. I simply had to think about what I wanted to have happen.Who would have thought it?I was required to focus my mind harder than I’d ever focused it before. As a result, my brain felt like it was made of oatmeal within fifteen minutes. That’s where the trick lie
“Will you look at this? How touching. A mother – daughter moment,” Amelia said with that nasty, talk-down-to-you- tone that she loved to use whenever she spoke to me as she leaned against the doorframe in that arrogant way of hers.My mother didn’t waste a second before she was up and in Amelia’s face. To my surprise and Amelia’s shock, she had the vampire’s face blending with the fibers of our Persian carpet before we could even grasp what was happening.My mother’s words sounded snarly. “I warned you to watch that bitchy vampire attitude.” She said the word vampire as if it tasted bad. “Just because I’m in human form, don’t think for a second that I’m not being affected by the moon. I’ll tear you to pieces without a second thought if you push me too far.”“Maryanne?” Kenton said as he cautiously stepped into t
“Werewolves aren’t the only creatures who are affected by the full moon. You’ll find that it heightens fairy emotions and strengthens their sex drive,” Godwin said as he popped his head into my bedroom. “I shouldn’t have gone off the deep end like that. Kenton and I have a long history that should have been left at the door.”“I don’t want to talk,” I said as I rolled over on the bed so that my back faced the door he was peeking through.“Please?” Godwin asked.I heaved a sigh and sat up. “I’m sorry that they screwed you over one-hundred and thirty years ago. It sucks, but shouldn’t you be over it by now?”“I thought I was,” he said softly. “My outburst tonight surprised me as much as it did everyone else.” He slowly shook his head. “Repressed memories, I guess.”I wiped
I awoke to find myself alone in my bed. Kenton had slipped away sometime in the night. It wasn’t an unusual thing for him to do, but, for some reason, it bothered me this time. I guess I assumed that, since Amelia was dead, there was no one to report back to the Association about it.I was, admittedly, disappointed to be denied morning sex. In our post mom turned werewolf - pre-Amelia days, he’d started every day out with a vigorous coupling and I’d been looking forward to it, once again.Disappointed and a little annoyed to find myself alone in the bed, I dragged body out of it and quickly showered and dressed for the day before heading downstairs for my morning coffee. Emotions warred within me. On the one hand, Other than pouting over the fact that I’d been denied morning sex, I still felt satiated and had yet to come down from the sex high I always experienced after being with Kenton. On
I slept so deeply that night that I didn’t even realize that Kenton hadn’t come to me until I’d showered and dressed the following morning.Knowing that Cindy and Amelia were gone, and with no sign of my mother, the house felt oddly empty with just Godwin and me. I decided to give Kenton a call. I knew that, if he wasn’t at the house with me, he was patrolling the mountain, but I wanted to fill the emptiness that I felt with his voice.I’d just pulled my cell phone from my pocket when Godwin called to me from the kitchen. “I’m breaking away from bagels this morning. What will it be? Eggs or eggs?”“Eggs sound good, actually,” I said as I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and headed for the kitchen.The rich aroma of freshly brewed Folger’s coffee reached my nostrils long before the rest of me made it to the kitchen. I inhaled as much as I could of its d