Helios Awakened (The Helios Chronicles #1) (2 page)

Madison hated the dry heat of the desert and she hated living in this little shit town even more. She had only been here for three weeks but it felt like a lifetime. The sun beat down on her skin and the light sheen of sweat on her brow told her that it was easily close to 100 degrees in the summer sun and it wasn't even noon yet. Oh how she wished she could just toss her blouse off and go around in her bikini top and shorts but she knew that wouldn't work. Her grandmother would not allow such frivolous actions to bring shame on the family. It didn't matter that Madison was a grown woman who had given up a good job in the city to come and take care of her. No, Grandma Downing held true to the belief that a woman need not show flesh in public. She nearly had a conniption when she saw the shorts her granddaughter had put on to go to the lake. 

Madison was new to Bakersfield, California but, on a trip to town, she had met a few people who were going to the lake that afternoon. They had asked her to come along, saying that it would be fun. Madison was fully aware that the invitation may not have been sincere but, at this point, she didn’t care. Madison just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere but here. She needed to do something that would get her the hell out of this God forsaken trailer park that she hated with such passion that it was seriously bordering on unhealthy. She adored her Grans but living here had been crushing. The heat, the cramped quarters, the lack of anything interesting or exciting was driving her insane. So, going to the lake sounded like as good a plan as any, until a flat tire had crushed her hope. Her grandmother, who had tired of hearing Madison’s exaggerated sighs and moans about the heat and her thwarted excursion to the lake, had decided to call a friend. She knew that Aaron and Olivia had a nephew living with them that might be able to help out.

Madison hadn’t actually seen the man that was working on her car, as he had arrived while she was inside grabbing the cooler. But when she had come back outside, the car was jacked up and a man in a pair of loose fitting jeans and a holey white t-shirt, practically bare from over wear, was working diligently to change her tire. Madison had been instantly intrigued by him and had decided to lay a blanket down and place one of the cushions from her grandmother's tattered lounge chairs against the hot metal of the trailer so she could watch him. She didn’t know what it was about him but there was some kind of heat emanating from where he knelt. Maybe her brain was starting to fry in the ungodly desert air, but as she watched his shoulders and the muscles on his back move effortlessly each time he turned the tire iron, her heart fluttered and a part deep inside of her was awakened. A part she thought would forever lay dormant.

As he stood up, he stretched his arms above his head and arched his back just slightly. This small action caused the back of his shirt to ride up a little, revealing a sliver of skin and what looked like some sort of tribal tattoo that spanned his lower back. It wrapped around his waist and rib cage and rested, she presumed, somewhere on his abdomen. Madison couldn’t take her eyes off of him as he reached into his back pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. He carefully tapped the bottom of the pack until the desired stick extricated itself. She could see the motion of his heavy breaths as he leaned his head down to light the cigarette. She found herself swallowing reflexively as his long fingers placed the pack back into its rightful place. Madison was unable to focus, she was lost in the way the sun shone around him, making him seem almost ethereal to her, an enchanted being sent to earth. She was finding it very difficult to function in his presence. His head tilted ever so slightly to the left as he blew out a long cloud of smoke into the dry desert air. Madison desperately needed him to turn around; she didn’t just want him to do this, she needed it. She had to see the face that would soon be starring in her dreams. And as if her prayer had been answered he turned slowly and as he did, her mouth parted as air quickly expelled from her lungs. 

“My God! He’s so... beautiful.”

Andrew had heard the trailer door open and close but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around. He had felt her eyes on him and he could sense the desire emanating from her presence. After he changed the tire he knew he would need to talk to her but he lacked the courage to do so. He had lit his cigarette, taking long slow drags, hoping that it would calm his rapidly beating heart. After a few hits, he turned around and was taken aback by her breathtaking beauty. He had wanted to see her up close since he had caught sight of her a few weeks ago but now that he was here he was left spellbound. She was wearing the shortest shorts he had ever seen, paired with some leather boots that made her legs seem to go on for days. His eyes followed up the milky white skin of her thighs to her see-through blouse which was starting to stick to her skin, exposing the dark bikini top she was wearing underneath it. Her long chestnut hair flowed way past her shoulders and as he walked closer to her he could make out the tiny freckles on her cheeks. He was at a loss for words as his body drew nearer to her. He wondered what he could possibly say that would not make him sound like he was some sort of a simpleton living in a trailer park with his aunt and uncle because no one else would take him in, not with his record. Andrew noticed the cooler sitting by her side, the one she was most likely bringing with her to the lake. He nodded in its direction, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

“Can I have a drink?” Andrew asked in a raspy, deep voice that he didn’t recognize as his own.

Madison stared at this perfect specimen of a man before her. As he flicked the ashes from his cigarette she noticed that he had another tattoo, this one on his forearm. It was spectacular, to say the least, and went from his wrist up past the joint where his arm bent. It was not a sleeve though. She didn’t know a lot about tattoos but she knew a sleeve went all the way around and this one didn’t because she hadn’t noticed it when his back was to her. No, she knew this was something else. It appeared to be some form of a bird coming out of flames, a phoenix perhaps. She blinked as she followed the tattoo up his arm and to his face. He had at least a day’s worth of stubble, masking what she could tell was a fantastic jaw line. His eyes were a striking green, with little specks of gold in them. Perhaps it was the light reflecting off the trailer that made them appear this way but, whatever it was, they were hypnotic. They were made even more striking compared to his dark, almost black hair and pale skin. His nose was only slightly crooked, like maybe he had been in a fight or two. His lips were red and moist, and his expressive brows begged for an answer to his earlier question.

Madison reflexively swallowed, trying to contain her mounting desire for this stranger, something that rarely happened with her. She inhaled sharply, gaining momentary control of her senses as she remembered that she was from New York, and not just New York, but Long Island, and LI girls weren’t afraid of anything. Madison mustered up every ounce of East Coast courage she had within her and smirked at him as she slowly removed her glasses in hopes of getting a clearer vision of his stunning masculine beauty.

“What will I get in return?” Madison queried with a flirtatious undertone to her voice.

Andrew was floored by her boldness, causing his lips to twitch into a crooked smile that quickly set Madison’s heart on fire.

“That depends, darlin’,” Andrew replied as he languidly brought his cigarette back to his mouth.

He drew in a couple of long slow drags before finally flicking the butt away from the trailer, stepping on it with the sole of his flip flops. Madison glanced at his feet and wondered why it was that even this man’s feet seemed to be perfect. She lifted her eyes again and watched, entranced by his every move and paying special attention to his mouth. His lips parted and puckered slightly as the smoke exhaled between his lips. Why she was suddenly acting like a 15-year-old school girl, hot for the new guy, she wasn’t sure, but she clearly felt a strong desire to have him.

Andrew himself was feeling a stirring in his body that he hadn’t felt in years. Realizing that his hands were still dirty from changing the tire, he quickly wiped his greasy palms across his denim clad thighs and waited on her response. Madison dropped her gaze and followed his long, greasy fingers as they swiped and gripped his thighs. Her body soon began to pebble at the mere thought of his hands on her. She swallowed, quickly swiping her tongue across her dry lips and hoping that the trembling in her body would soon subside.
This is ridiculous, get a hold of yourself, woman!
She chided herself internally.

The sound of him coughing loudly caused her to break from her spell as she raised her eyes to slowly meet his. It did not go unnoticed by her that his eyes were now a shade darker than she remembered only a few moments ago. She now felt a heat arising from within her that was not being caused by the blistering sun. Madison took another quick breath trying to regain her equilibrium as well as her courage. She playfully patted the soft blanket next to her.

“Would you like to sit?” she asked him, watching as his eyes twinkled in delight.

“Hell yes!” Andrew smiled, pulling his cigarettes out of his back pocket and dropping them beside her. He then hopped onto the blanket, not believing his luck.

She passed him a cold beer from the cooler and watched as he nodded, cracked it open, and lifted it to his lips. Andrew gulped the cooling nectar but all that Madison could see was the bobbing of his Adam’s apple as it moved up and down in a rhythm of its own. Mesmerized by the way his tongue traced across his lips after each swallow, she could feel herself becoming aroused in ways she never expected. She was completely drawn to him, to his lips, and the desire to feel them pressed against hers.

“You're from New York?” Andrew asked, as he swallowed the rest of his beer.

Madison blinked several times, thankful for the change of subject.

“Ummm, yeah, I work for a large accounting firm out there. Well, I did, at least.”

Madison could feel her brows furrow at the thought of what she left behind. What she gave up because her mom hadn’t been willing to give up her own life. Her mind couldn’t help but wander to nearly a month ago and the argument she and her mother had had about her grandmother’s care. It was what had led her to this time and place right now.

Andrew watched as Madison got a faraway look on her face and her brows moved closer together. Without thinking, he placed his finger between them, touching her lightly and making her gasp. He quickly withdrew his hand, shaking his head at his idiocy.

“Thanks for the beer but I should really go,” Andrew said quickly, standing up, anxious to get away before he did anything else.

There was something about her that made him nervous. He didn’t trust himself in her presence. It was as if all the boundaries he had put in place so long ago to protect himself were being pushed away without his consent. She made him feel like a man, like a normal man, with no baggage. He was desperate to leave, to give himself some distance from this bewitching woman. That was his only solution at this point. He quickly reached his hand down to grab the cigarettes that were lying next to her.

“Hey wait!” Madison said, placing her hand on his.

She felt her heart flutter. She wasn’t the type of girl that fell easily. In fact, one could say she never fell at all. She didn’t generally trust people, something she liked to blame her mother for. She kept her relationships, for lack of a better word, void of emotional commitment, so the fact that she was feeling something for this stranger, aside from simply wanting to have sex with him, which of course she strongly desired as well, was throwing her off guard.

“What’s your name?” she stuttered out, trying to gain her composure.

He smirked and looked down slightly, drawing his bottom lip into his mouth. He looked like he was contemplating something as he sat back down and leaned against the trailer. Madison was again captivated by his very presence. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him and internally she knew she needed more from him. After a few moments, Andrew looked over to her and smiled, and from her angle it appeared that she was indeed looking at an angel, or quite possibly the devil disguised as one.

“Andrew,” he said simply.

Madison nodded her head, unsure if she was capable of forming any words at that particular moment in time.

“My name’s Madison,” she finally expelled quickly.

“That’s a… pretty name,” he said softly.

Andrew closed his eyes, slightly flustered. He had always been able to talk to women. It was an art that he had perfected while on the streets, yet here he was stumbling over his words. What was happening to him? He breathed out deeply as she smiled widely at him.

“I was headed to the lake. Would you like to tag along?” she asked with an air of playfulness in her voice.

Madison immediately chided herself internally for being so forward but it was too late now. The cards were already on the table. Andrew stood up completely, breaking their connection and stared at the beauty before him. He wondered if it was a good idea to be so close to her and whether she would even want him to be so close if she really knew him and what he had done, what he had been imprisoned for. Unfortunately for Andrew, his body spoke for him before his brain had a chance to intervene.

“I'd like that,” he heard himself say.

Madison smiled victoriously and pushed herself up and off the ground. “Come on, Andrew. Let’s get the hell out of here!”