The Seven: Four tales of passion, danger and love (47 page)

Chapter Five

Grace jerked awake. What met her eyes had fear spiking. Where was she? A soft knitted throw covered her naked body and the sofa she lay on was deeply padded and comfortable, a warm brown microfiber material.

The room was not big, and not overpopulated with furniture, but arranged in a pleasing manner. Decorated with abstract art in varying earth tones, the room blended into a harmonious whole that spelled warmth. Home.

She wrapped the throw around her as she rose and wandered to the door. It opened up onto a fair-sized front porch that appeared to run the length of the house.

A framed opening on the wall adjacent to the front door displayed the kitchen. Grace made her way to the sink and looked out the back window at the small back yard. Tall oaks provided shade and a fence circled the yard.

Grace looked around, spotted the coffee pot and noticed that a note was propped in front of a cup.

Gone to get my truck. Be back soon. There are clothes on the dryer you can wear. Help yourself to coffee. Walker.

And thanks for the mind-blowing, burn down the house sex.
She thought with a whiff of annoyance, but brushed it aside and went in search of the clothes mentioned in the note.

She expected to find a woman’s clothes on the dryer. Instead was a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt. She hurriedly dressed, rolling the waistband of the shorts over four times to keep them from slipping off.

Grace poured herself a cup of coffee and wandered out back onto the deck. There were two wicker chairs with cushions and a small metal table between. She took a seat and sipped at the coffee.

Last night was off the charts crazy. Almost unbelievable. Just thinking about what she’d done with Walker had heat rising in her body and her dragon twitching. God almighty, that was beyond anything she ever imagined. She wasn’t a novice to orgasms, but what she’d experienced with him was something in a class by itself.

And he could transform. Completely. From man to dragon. God, did that mean she could? She’d spouted wings for crying at loud. The thought made goosebumps rise on her flesh, excitement battling fear and disbelief.

What if she really could become a dragon? What if she could truly fly?

A sound from one of the oaks had her looking up. It took her a second before she spotted it—an enormous golden eagle was perched in the upper branches. It gave another call and she looked in the direction its head turned.

Next door a small black puppy dug frantically at the dirt along the base of the chain-link fence that separated the yards. It was well on its way to having an escape route. Grace watched it for a few seconds. At the rate it was going, it would dig its way free before long.

The sound of a man’s voice had her gaze moving to the back of the neighboring house. “Phobos! Here. Phobos!”

Rather than heed the call of the man, the puppy dug more frantically. Grace chuckled as the puppy flattened out and started squeezing through the hole.

“Phobos, no!” The man shouted as the puppy made a beeline for Walker’s deck.

Grace got up and walked down the two steps to the grass. The puppy wiggled, barked, and jumped up on her legs. She bent down and scooped it up, laughing as it practically crawled up her chest to lick her face.

She started for the fence, her attention on the puppy more than the man who approached from the neighboring yard. When she reached the fence, she stopped to look at the man.

Her heart nearly stopped.

It was him. The man from that night. The night she met Nyah. The man who kissed her.

“We meet again,” he said with a sensual smile that called to her with uncomfortable power.

Despite the power in his eyes, she held his gaze. “Who are you?”

He ignored the question. “She cannot be trusted, Grace. She’ll destroy you and never blink. Please, it’s not too late. Let me help you.”

Grace clutched the puppy to her chest, its whimpers making her loathe to return it. “You’re crazy.”

He shook his head. “Am I? Is it crazy that I know right now you wonder if perhaps I am telling the truth? Maybe you should have gone with me that night in the storm. Maybe you made the wrong choice. Maybe it’s exciting to be part dragon, but also terrifying. Maybe this man whose dragon nature calls to you fills a need, but maybe he will be your undoing. Maybe the attraction you feel for me right now is as strong as that you have for him. Maybe you fear that if I touched you, you would succumb.”

Grace felt sweat trickle down her back, fear twist her gut. The sudden insistent call of the eagle and a yelp from the puppy added to her panic and had her backing away from the fence. “No, you’re wrong. About all of it. Wrong. Stay away from me.”

“Am I?”

Grace turned and ran as fast as she could.  She bounded up the steps of the deck and through the back door of Walker’s house. After slamming the door,she locked it, then backed away from it, scared that she had been followed.

A minute passed and then another. The puppy was still in her arms as she stood there, watching the door.

Finally, her mind cleared. She whirled around, eyes searching the room. Did Walker have a landline? She’d call Mr. Friendly and get him to come for her. She had just completed a full turn without spotting a phone when the back door opened.

Walker froze. Grace stood in the middle of his kitchen, clutching a Doberman puppy to her chest, her face slick with sweat and her eyes filled with fear.

“What’s wrong?” He wasn’t at all comfortable at the level of concern he felt for Grace. It made him feel a little off-balance. Hell, he’d known her less than twenty-four hours and here he was, his heart beating too fast at the idea that something was wrong.

“What’s your neighbor’s name?”

“Which one?”

“The one that way.” She pointed to her right.

“Mrs. Willis?”

“Is she married?”

Walker had no clue where the strange line of questioning was leading, but it clearly had Grace fired up. She was literally trembling.

“She’s a widow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Her husband died a couple of years ago. They were married for something like fifty years.”

“You’re lying.”

That shocked him into a few seconds of silence. “What’s going on, Grace?”

“Your neighbor. That guy. This is his dog. It dug under the fence to escape him. That man—he’s evil.”

Walker moved to her, wrapped one hand around her upper arms. “Grace, there isn’t any man who lives there and I can guarantee you that isn’t Mrs. Willis’s puppy.”

“You’re lying. I saw him. Talked to him.”

“No.” Walker was starting to wonder just what kind of woman he’d brought into his home. Was she unbalanced? And why did that scare him so much, make him feel as if someone he loved was in danger?

“Yes. I saw him.”

The determination on her face brought a new concern to Walker’s mind. What if something had happened to Mrs. Willis?

“Then let’s go see.”

He released one of her arms but kept a firm grip on the other as he steered her out of the house, down the driveway and to the house next door. Grace didn’t say a word as he knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before an elderly woman answered.

“Why hello, Ellis. What can I do for you, honey?”

Walked gestured toward Grace. “Is this your dog, Mrs. Willis? My friend, Grace, said it dug under the fence from your backyard to mine.”

“Lord, no. You know I’m allergic to dogs, honey.”

“Okay. So you don’t have anyone visiting who has a dog?”

“Why no, honey. I haven’t had anyone stop by since…let’s see, on Wednesday, when Gladys came by.”

“Okay, our mistake. Thanks Mrs. Willis, sorry to bother you.”

“You’re never a bother. And nice to meet you, Grace. I would invite you in but the dog… Like I said, I’m allergic.”

“That’s okay, Mrs. Willis, we need to be going anyway. You have a nice day.”

When Mrs. Willis closed the door, Walker steered Grace back the way they’d come. She stopped dead in her tracks as they reached his truck in the driveway.

“I need to go home.”

He could tell she waans shaken. Hell, she was physically shaking and the dog, affected by her emotions, was whimpering in her arms.

“Okay, fine. I’ll drive you.”

She nodded and headed for the passenger door of the truck. She didn’t speak again until they pulled out of the driveway. “I need to go get my car.”

“Fine. I’ll take you to the club.”

“Thank you.”

The rest of the drive was passed in silence. When they reached the club, the parking lot was empty except for an old blue Toyota.

“Is that yours?”

“Yes.”

Walker parked beside the Toyota and looked at her. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s here. You want to call the manager and see if he’ll come let you in to get your things?”

“I don’t know his number. It’s in my phone. In the club.”

Walker blew out his breath. “Well, then we’ll have to come back later. It’s my day off, so we’ll head back to my house and once the club opens, I’ll run you back over.”

“No. Can I borrow your phone?”

“Sure.”

She accepted the phone he handed her and dialed. After a dozen rings and no answer, she gave up and ended the call.

“So?” Walker asked. “My place?”

“Yes.”

Walker said no more, just put the truck in drive and headed back the way they’d come.

Grace was silent the entire drive, staring out of the side window, stroking the puppy who had quieted in her arms. Walker didn’t bother to talk to her either. He just drove home, parked and got out of the truck to walk to the back door.

She followed but stopped just inside the door. Walker walked over to the counter and busied himself pouring two cups of coffee. “I don’t have cream but I have milk and sugar.”

She shook her head. “Black is fine.”

“Okay, have a seat. Are you hungry? I am. How about some bacon and eggs?”

Whether she was certifiable or not, right now it seemed like a good idea to keep things as normal and mundane as possible. And what was more normal than breakfast?

Grace took a seat at the table, still holding the puppy. “Thanks. That’d be nice.”

“Great.” Walker turned his attention to cooking and, for a few minutes, neither of them spoke.

“Would it be okay to put him down?” Grace asked. “Maybe give him a bowl of water?”

“Sure,” Walker answered over his shoulder. “Grab a plastic bowl out of that cabinet to the bottom right of the sink.”

He turned his attention to scrambling up the eggs and turning the bacon, but was aware of her movements. She located a bowl, filled it with water from the tap, placed it on the floor, then put the puppy down and knelt, rubbing its back as it drank. After a few moments, she stood and went back to the table.

Walker cut a look at her to see her sipping her coffee and watching the dog. “I guess we need to put up a flyer or something."

“About what?”

“Uh, lost puppy?”

The look she gave him told him that she’d never considered that. She was already attached to the little beast and it was clear that the idea of returning him to his owner was upsetting.

“Could belong to a kid,” he commented as he scrambled the eggs.

That seemed to do the trick. She blinked, looked at the dog, and then at him. “You’re right. Do you have a computer and a printer?”

He shook his head without looking at her and scooped the bacon out of the pan to divide it onto two plates. “An iPad but no printer. There’s one at the station. I can do it tomorrow.”

“And what about till then?”

Walker poured the eggs into the frying pan. “I don’t know. I guess I could close him up in the laundry room for the night.”

The small sound of displeasure she made let him know she wasn’t keen on that idea. “Maybe I’ll just take him home with me.”

“He’s liable to make a mess while you’re working.”

Grace turned her eyes toward the puppy. “That’s okay.”

“Whatever you want.” He set a plate of food on the table in front of her, placed his plate across from her, and took a seat.

They ate in silence for a minute before the things he’d been wanting to say got the best of him. “Grace, about last night…”

She looked up at him with such fear that he wanted to reach out and touch her, lend comfort.

“It was…” Words failed him.

“Crazy? Unbelievable? Impossible?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of mind-blowing.”

That prompted a fleeting half-smile. “It was that. But…but we…” She put down her fork and lowered both hands to her lap. “Walker…our dragons—they came alive.”

“Yeah, they did.”

Her eyes moved to lock with his. “Has anything like that ever happened to you before?”