Bad Moon Rising - Paranormal Romance (18 page)

When she was near Mesa Verde, Mya stopped at the same gas station she’d stopped at on her first trip. This time instead of going in, she sat in her car and surveyed the surrounding area. Truthfully, it all looked the same to her- miles of endless desert and jutting cliffs.

With nothing much to go on Mya decided to use the satellite feature on her phone to search for nearby villages. Her Internet connection was slow because of poor reception, but eventually she was able to pull up her satellite app. First she zoomed into her current location, and then began to search out from there. There were several dirt roads in the area, but they all seemed to lead nowhere. She couldn’t even find random mobile homes dotting the landscape, which Mya thought unusual. Everywhere else she’d been on the reservation, there were trailers and mobile homes all over.

Mya was almost ready to give up when she spotted a few specs against the landscape at the end of one of the roads. Zooming in, she saw that there were a number of mobile homes and adobe buildings nestled between two massive cliffs. If she hadn’t have been searching specifically for trailers, she would have easily missed them.

According to the GPS, the turn off to the village was about two miles north of the gas station. Mya stared at the highway, a feeling of uncertainty taking hold of her. She wanted to see David again, but what was she going to say to him?

Oh hey! Can you tell me what you know about demons impregnating young girls?

Even Mya thought it sounded totally ludicrous. She sure wasn’t going to come right out and ask David about it. But when he asked her why she’d come looking for him again, what was she going to say?

Angry that he hadn’t bothered to contact her for over a week now, she’d already decided that she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of chasing after him. Now here she was, doing exactly that.

Mya let out a deep sigh and pulled onto the highway. On the bright side, at least she would get to see him again. Not seeing him was torture, though she hated to admit it, even to herself. Being in his company was like a breath of fresh air. When she was with David, she could almost forget all of the ugliness in the world.

She made it far enough that she could see the outskirts of the
Sinapu
village when she found the road blocked by two Harleys. Mya recognized the men as two of David’s riding buddies. They sat on their bikes, staring at her with cold - emotionless eyes.

She could still hear Donny telling her that the
Sinapu
wanted her out of the way. Coming out here was stupid and risky, but necessary. This was something she was sure of.

Maybe she should have been frightened, but what she really felt was irritated. Hitting the horn a couple of times, she waited for them to move.

They didn’t budge.

Of course not! That would have been too easy.

Rolling down the window, Mya stuck her head out. “Hey! Do you mind moving out of my way?”

One of the men got off his bike and slowly walked toward the car. He had a slight build and was much shorter than David, but Mya couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a guy that could get very mean. Maybe it was because his features were so hawk like, or the way his headband almost hid his cold - inky black eyes. Whatever it was Mya was sensing, there was no denying that the man struck a chord of fear in her heart that she’d never felt in David’s presence.

He let out a sadistic laugh. “Well this skinwalker bitch has some fire … could be all of that
Tchin'dih
blood running through her veins,” he hissed.

“You’re insane!” Mya revved the engine to let him know she wasn’t bluffing.

He crouched down so that he was level with her. The look in his eyes sent a shiver down her back. She was staring right into the eyes of death.

There was a loud crack when he slammed his fist against the side of her car. “Wait!” he yelled. “We’ll take you to him, but then you leave here and never come back.”

Mya said nothing. She had no intention of doing as he said, but right now he was willing to take her to David so she wasn’t about to argue with him either.

He angrily stalked back to his bike. A moment later she was following the two men into the
Sinapu
village. Mya was driving slow enough that she had time to take in her surroundings.

There was nothing particularly unique about the village. It looked the same as the dozens of other little settlements scattered across the reservation. Most of the houses and trailers appeared to be in bad need of repair. But what she did notice was that the closer they got to the cliffs, the better the housing was.

It had to be some kind of class system, she concluded. The higher a person’s station within the clan, the better their living conditions.

When they had reached the base of the cliff, the two bikers stopped. They were in front of a large - elaborate adobe house. While it blended well with the desert surroundings, it seemed out of place among the other homes nearby. The brownish - red adobe exterior was very southwest. At the front of the house was a large porch furnished with a swing. For some reason she just couldn’t imagine David Bray sitting in that swing, serenely gazing out over the valley below.

This time it was the other biker that came to her car. “Come with me,” he told her. He didn’t strike Mya as being as much of a jerk as the first guy, but she still wasn’t going to let her guard down. He was a husky guy. Instead of a headband, he wore his long black hair in braids. This made it easier to see his eyes. He stared at her with something akin to caution, but not the obvious hate she’d seen in the other biker.

Mya followed him up a short dirt trail before they reached the log stairs leading to the front porch. He had no sooner knocked and the heavy wooden door swung open. A young woman with large - chocolate brown eyes stared out at them. As soon as she saw the biker, she stepped aside.

He led her into a living room that was nothing like what Mya had been expecting. Indian blankets were draped over beautiful log furniture. A rock fireplace took up one wall, and the wooden floors were polished to a high shine. At the back of the room there were large windows and a sliding glass door that led out to a massive deck.

No, this wasn’t what she had been expecting at all. It seemed so unfair that someone should live in such luxury, when only yards away, others were living in poverty. Something about this just didn’t fit.

Aside from the girl that had answered the door, there were two other women in the house. One of the women sat on the couch, busily mending a shirt by hand, while the other stood near a hall, glaring at her.

“What is she doing here?” The young woman’s eyes were cutting Mya to shreds.

“Where’s David?” he asked, without bothering to answer the woman’s question.

She nodded her head toward the hall, her long black hair moving in waves as she did. Mya silently followed him down the hall and into a large bedroom. The curtains were drawn, making it difficult to see until her eyes adjusted to the dark. That’s when she saw him lying on his back in the large - oversized bed.

Her lips parted as she tried to put words to her feelings, but there was no rational explanation for what she felt. All she knew was that her entire life had been leading her to David Bray and if something happened to him, an integral part of her would wither away and die.

“Well Cole …” Mya swallowed hard. “He was there when I needed him. He pulled me out of a mangled car. I know I need to be with him right now,” she added in a soft whisper.

Mya softly kissed his lips. It was the only way she knew of to let him know how she was feeling inside. Words didn’t seem right; even if he stayed awake long enough to hear them.

* * *

David opened his eyes. The fog cleared from his head and he became aware of the warm body lying next to him. It still hurt to move, but not as badly as it had earlier in the day. One of the blessings of being a
Sinapu
was having the ability to heal quickly. Wounds that might take days to heal for others, only took hours for them.

Rolling onto his side, he raised himself up on one elbow. He could see in the dark as well as he could the light, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Even in the dark her gentle beauty shone like a beacon from heaven. The urge to reach out and run his fingers through her silky flaxen hair was almost overwhelming. Though she slept now, the image of her brilliant sapphire eyes had already been burned into his memory.

How could someone so beautiful carry with her the blood of demons?

Twice now they’d slept together, but they hadn’t consummated their relationship. If she’d been anyone else, he would have devoured her by now. Just the thought of feeding his hunger with her luscious body sent his hormones into overdrive.

David reached out to gently brush away the hair that had fallen in her face as she slept. She stirred but didn’t wake.

Was his unbearable need for her due to some enchanting spell?

In the end it would make no difference. He could not love her - he could not even entertain the idea. When the time came, he would mate with this own kind, and then he would retreat into that world known only to the priests - a world of moonlight and the hunt.

But if he could have just one night with this dark angel! Maybe just one night would last him a lifetime.

David banished the idea from his thoughts. Even if it did last him a lifetime, it wasn’t fair to her.

* * *

His nearness - his touch penetrated her dreams. She could feel his lips on her neck - sharp teeth biting into her flesh like razors. The pain was tantalizing, even beautiful. His hands slid between her legs and fire erupted at her core, spreading throughout her body.

Mya’s eyes flew open. Her dream had been so real she would have sworn he was making love to her while she slept, but he wasn’t - not physically. His hands were not on her, but his fiery eyes of moonlight caressed her as surely as if he were reaching out and touching her.

She wanted to tell him how much better he looked, but she couldn’t make her voice work. His eyes were drawing her in - devouring her until she felt as if she couldn’t breathe. In that instant she was filled with an unfathomable hunger that threatened to sear right through to her soul.

It was impossible to resist. She had to touch him. Mya reached out and softly ran her fingers across the skin of his bare chest. She felt him inhale sharply.

“That’s not a good idea,” he whispered.

Mya barely heard his protest. She was too caught up in the sensation of feeling his hard muscle rippling beneath his smooth skin.