Second Chances (106 page)

Brian frowned.  “Okay.  Would you like a drink?”

Again Sarah shook her head, slightly more vigorously.

Still puzzled, Brian asked.  “How can I help you?”

Sarah walked into his arms, looked into his eyes and thought,
Take me to bed and hold me all night, Brian.  Keep me safe, and warm, and loved. 
Her eyes closed and she rested her head upon his chest as she finished her thought.  His heart was pounding fiercely.

Really
?  His voice filled her head.

Yes!
  Her heart screamed.

Without saying anything else, Brian scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his bedroom.  He laid her gently upon the unmade bed.  He wanted to rip her clothes off, feast on her, keep her with him forever.  He was shaking slightly from all the emotion surging through his body. 
Slowly. 
She said in his mind.
  We must move slowly.
  And he smiled.  At least they were moving.  He didn’t care how long it took.  They were finally headed in the right direction.

They undressed each other, stopping at the underwear.  This was a huge experience for Sarah.  She wore sexy red cotton thongs.  Brian had on black boxer briefs.  He ran a hand along her side, sending shivers down her spine.  She smiled shyly. 
Will you at least let me kiss you?
 
Just let me taste you, Sarah.
  His words filled her mind, and sped up her heart. 

In response, she put a hand to the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers.  It was a soft kiss at first, gentle, exploratory.  Then as the desire grew, he became more passionate, fiery.  “Stop,” she whimpered.  “We must stop while we can.  I don’t want to ruin it.  I want it to last forever.”  She looked in his eyes as she spoke the final word, curious as to what she would see.  Forever scared most men, but in an instant she saw that her mother was right.

“Yes,” he murmured.  “I want to spend forever with you.”  He didn’t flinch.  He didn’t blink.  He simply crushed her to him.  “Forever, Sarah, starting tonight.”

Their eyes closed then.  They laid in silence, listening to each other’s breathing and the sound of the river rippling against the rocky shore as it moved downstream.  They were so happy in that moment, so filled with love and dreams of the future, that they let their guard down.

Neither one of them felt the danger lurking outside in the black SUV.  Neither one of them paid attention to the impatient squeal of the tires turning around and heading away from the old mill.  Evan had sat and watched in disbelief as Brian had carried Sarah to bed.  He had watched in sick fascination as they undressed.  And it was with great satisfaction and a pair of binoculars that he saw they didn’t have sex.  He chuckled as he drove recklessly away.

There was coffee brewing when Sarah woke up the next morning.  She stretched luxuriously and rolled over to find Brian awake and watching her.  He smiled warmly, kissed her affectionately and murmured happily, “Good morning.” 

She flushed from the emotion his words and touch stirred.  “Umm, about last night,” she began.

He suddenly wore a stricken look on his face.  “Please don’t tell me you’re taking it back.”

Sarah sat up suddenly.  “No,
never.  I meant every word I said.”  She took a deep breath before continuing.  “I want to take it slowly though.  That’s okay, right?”

Brian, who had been holding his breath with a hand laid over his chest, nodded and gathered her in his arms.  “Whew.  You had me scared for a minute.”  She just sat there smiling at him.  “So what did you want to say before I interrupted?”

She flushed again in embarrassment.  Over the last few years, she hadn‘t had many opportunities to reveal any emotion of this nature.  Suddenly she found herself in unfamiliar territory and it showed.   “I just really like spending the night with you.  I’ve missed not having you close every night ever since Myrtle Beach.”

A twinkle came to Brian’s eyes.  Clearly, he was touched by her admission.  And having waited so long for her, he would find detours to any barriers in their relationship. “There is actually a way around that.  There is a way that you can be with me, pop in and check on me whenever you wish.”

She leaned in anxious to know the secret he was about to impart.  “Really?  How?”

He put up a finger.  “First, wait.  You must know it is rather dangerous.  You have to draw a very tight circle for protection.  There are spirits out there that could, well, harm you.”  He shuddered, suddenly having second thoughts.

“How?”  She asked again, her voice rising slightly.

“Have you ever heard of astral projection?”  Brian asked seriously.  Sarah shook her head.  “Well, it is a way for your spirit to leave the body and travel around, see things you might otherwise not see, gain access to places that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to be, that sort of thing.”  She wore a puzzled look on her face.  “For example,” he said, nodding at her, “you aren’t able to have me over right now.”  Sarah opened her mouth to object, remembered that they were now more than friends, and snapped her jaw shut again.   He tried to hide a grin.  “Well, I could astral project sometime during the night so that I could lie with you or spend time with you.”

Sarah tilted her head to one side as she pondered that.  “Would I be able to see you?”

“That depends on how powerfully I am able to project.”  He failed to mention that it was a skill he had yet to employ.  Now that he had an excuse, he was willing to give it a try.  “Sometimes it’s a hazy version of the person, sometimes far less, like a light source.”  He watched her for a reaction.

She was thoughtful for a moment.  “Could you teach me?”

Brian was hesitant.  Astral projection was dangerous for the experienced witch, but for an amateur it could be deadly.  There had been cases where another spirit had taken over the vacant body of a person.  In even worse cases, the body was left behind too long, and it was presumed dead, and either buried or cremated.  None of these scenarios appealed to him.  He felt responsible for Sarah.

“I guess the answer,” he said at last, “is that in theory, yes, you could be taught.”

She studied the look on his face.  “But,” she said.

“I don’t want you to learn.  I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.”

She sighed.  “I’m going to prove myself, Brian.  You’ll see that you don’t have to worry about me so much.  I can take care of myself.”  With those last words, she jumped up from the bed and started a steamy shower.

Sarah was disgusted.  One reason Josh had deserted her was because she was so independent.  He said she never needed him.  That’s why Tessa, her polar opposite, held such appeal.  Now, she was falling for a man who didn’t seem to trust her strength or her abilities.  She would show him.

Maybe it was because of their rift, because Sarah had shut him off emotionally, that he suddenly felt what he hadn’t paid much attention to lately.  The danger still existed.  Sarah, whom he was certain was safe within his walls, was still at risk.  In fact, the threat seemed to loom larger than ever.  And still he had no sense of the source.  He concentrated, but other than the sense of darkness that surrounded Sarah, he could discern nothing.

Immediately he had this urge to beg her stay with him each night, but he knew without asking that she would never agree to do so.  He had no choice.  He would protect her.  He drew his circle, called the keepers of his
watch towers.  He had taken inventory of what he had that might work.  He had consulted his spell books.  He had devised a plan.

Within his circle, Brian charged a piece of rose quartz, a stone of love, with lavender oil and prayed to the goddess Hecate.  “Charged with lavender this stone will be, a symbol of my love for thee, and safe always will you be with the help of Hecate.”  He raised the stone he had coated in lavender oil above his head.  “Hecate to you I pray, keep Sarah safe both night and day.  With assistance from the goddess see, as I wish so mote it be.”  He finished his spell work, stepped from the circle and with the aid of wire and a length of silk cord, he fashioned the stone into a necklace.

For a second he contemplated telling Sarah the intricate charm work involved in this trifle, with the intention that she would never take it off.  He knew, however, that she believed herself capable.  And while she was in so many ways, she was also in need of his love and protection.  Better that he should just request she wear it always, not even removing it to bathe.  She would do that for him.

And so he wove the cord through his fingers and held the stone against his heart.  To finish his plan, he tossed the coffee down the sink.  He blended some soothing chamomile into a tea.  A person could never be too protected, he told himself.  And once he had poured her a travel mug, he felt better.

Sarah exited the bathroom feeling much better.  She had done some serious thinking.  Brian meant well, he just wasn’t used to having a girlfriend.  She giggled when she thought about that term.  Girlfriend.  She hadn’t been a girlfriend in forever.  She had been a wife and a mother, now a professor, but she had imagined her days as a girlfriend long passed. 

As soon as she dressed, she walked into the kitchen, only to find him sitting sheepishly at the counter.  “Here,” he said passing her the mug.  “I made you some chamomile tea.  It should help you relax today.  We didn’t have the best start, huh?”

She moved toward him, smiling.  “Thank you.”  She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I have something else for you,” he added, opening his hand.  The long necklace dangled from his fingers.  It sparkled as it caught the morning light. 

“Wow,” Sarah said enthusiastically.  “It’s beautiful.”

Brian looped it over her neck and released it.  It dangled down and dipped precariously in between her breasts.  He leaned in and kissed her neck.  “Please,” he said gently, “wear it always, even in the shower.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.  She felt safe and warm.  He had such an amazing impact on her moods.  “Always,” she whispered into his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, and sighed into her hair.

For some reason, Evan felt compelled to stay away from Dr. White’s office this day.  He imagined it was because he was running late or due to the searing headache he was battling.  Whatever the reason, he gave her space.  He had much to accomplish in the next week.  It didn’t matter that he didn’t see her just this one day.

Sarah lay in bed that night wondering what Brian might be up to.  They had spoken on the phone late in the afternoon.  He had wondered if she had any special plans over the weekend.  And she had admitted that, regrettably, no, she had no plans.  She would, of course, tend her gardens and play with Chloe.  She might read, and she would definitely practice some magic, but nothing more concrete.

“So, you’ll be home most of the time then?”  He asked with interest.

With a heart full of disappointment, she nodded.  Sarah had hoped that he might try to invite her out or plan an outing with Chloe, but that didn’t seem to be the case.  She was slightly annoyed and a little saddened by the outcome of their discussion.  She was about to roll over once more and close her eyes, when she heard him in her head.

Sarah
, he whispered. 

She looked around the room.  He had never made contact from so far away before.  She couldn’t imagine it was possible.  She was right.  There was a gauzy, scantily clad version of Brian wafting toward her.  She lay back on the pillows fascinated. 
You’re here
.  She breathed. 
You did it.