Keeper of the Golden Dragon's Heart (The Cedar River Series) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three- Bowie

Waking up with Ana in my bed was the second most amazing experience I’ve had with her. We made love five times last night and each time was as new as the first time. There was a bond formed that I couldn’t explain. She dug her claws into my heart and wasn’t letting go. She’d dug her claws into a few other places last night, too, but I wasn’t complaining. At one point, she’d bit me on my shoulder hard enough to draw blood. She licked it, then looked at me and simply said, “Mine.”

My little wildcat had marked me, but, again, I’m not going to complain about it. My phone was ringing, but I really didn’t want to leave her. I dug through the piles of clothes on the floor to find my cell phone. It was my mom.

“Shit,” I said as I hit the answer button.

“Good morning, Mama.”

“Good morning, my darling son. Do you happen to know where our favorite kitten is? She never came home last night,” my mom said with a hint of laughter in her voice.

“I
may
know where she is,” I replied.

“Really? And where would that be, Bowie?”

“In my bed, sound asleep,” I said with pride.

Mama began to laugh. “Will you two be here for breakfast?”

“Nope, I’m going to go feed my mate, then I’ll bring her back to you.”

“I’ll expect to see you later then. I love you, son.”

“Bye, Mama.”

Ana opened her eyes and stretched, “Did I hear something about breakfast?”

I kissed her, “Are you hungry?”

“I’m famished,” she replied.

“How does steak and eggs sound?”

 “And pancakes,” she demanded.

“Anything you want, my sexy kitten.”

I heard the shower start as I began the pancake batter. I could hear her singing in the shower, a little off-key, but what a way to wake up! When the shower turned off, I put the eggs in the frying pan. I heard her coming down the stairs as I slid the eggs onto a plate. I turned around to smile at her and I dropped the hot frying pan on my foot. She stood in my kitchen wearing nothing, but a smile. And what a beautiful smile it was.

“Breakfast smells so good, baby. How’s your foot?” she asked smugly.

My mouth was dry, “Umm, fine. How was your shower?”

“It could have been better. But you were busy making breakfast.”

What the hell had I unleashed last night? I couldn’t believe this was Ana, my dearest friend in the world, now my lover and mate. I bent over to pick up the pan.

“Well, I still have to shower before I go to work,” I said, sliding her a glance.

“Hmm, we’ll see if we can make your shower better than mine was.”

I gripped the edge of the counter to keep from tossing her onto the table and having my way with her. I refused to look at her as I put her pancakes in front of her. Insatiable! That’s what she was! And I loved it!

I turned back to the stove to make my eggs and I heard, “Oops, Bowie. I spilled some syrup. Do you have a paper towel?”

I grabbed a paper towel and turned around. She had “spilled” alright. Maple syrup over her breasts and it was running south. I pulled the plates off the table and laid her down on it.

“Gods, sweetheart. You’re going to kill me,” I said, as I licked the sweet, sticky syrup off of each nipple. Her husky laugh was music to my ears as I licked lower. I was so glad my dad made sturdy things otherwise the table would have been nothing but splinters by the time we were finished.

I raised up over top of her and laughed, “I don’t think Dad made this table for this purpose.”

She kissed me and smiled. “Maybe not, but it’s something to tuck aside for those times when we get bored in the bedroom.” I didn’t think that would ever happen.

We shared a not so quick shower. Washing one another led from the shower to the bathroom counter to the bedroom. That had to be the greatest shower ever! This woman was like a drug to me. I couldn’t get enough of her. How we managed to get dressed and out the door, I will never know. I couldn’t keep my hands off her on the way home.

“You’d better be careful, Sheriff. What would the community say if you were caught parking on some side road? The sheriff and the hellraiser,” she giggled.

“If they were smart, they’d say that I’m the luckiest sonofabitch in Cedar River,” I replied as I slid my hand over her thigh.

We raced each other up the front porch steps of my parents’ house. She made it to the door before me, breathless and laughing.

Papa was sitting at the kitchen table when we closed the door, “Where have you been, young lady?” he said in his stern voice. He was fighting hard to keep a straight face.

I looked at him and said, “Well, see we fell asleep watching a movie and, uhm…”

Dad started laughing, “I’ve heard that one before, son. Don’t you have a better excuse than that?”

“Well, see I was being the good law abiding citizen when I saw Ana here out trying to get into some trouble. In order to avoid going to jail, she seduced me.”

Ana looked at me in mock horror.

Papa laughed at that one, too. “I’m glad she’s a better liar than you are, son.”

Ana kissed my dad and said, “Good morning, Papa.”

“Morning, angel.”

Mama came in from the laundry room, “Nice to see you two were able to get out of bed.”

Ana began to blush. Mama winked at her, “Good morning. Did you get a good breakfast?”

Ana’s blush just got worse, “I’m going to go up and change my clothes.”

Mama watched Ana walk away, “What did I say?”

I shook my head, laughing.

Mama said, “Son, can you come to my room for a minute or two?”

I took the laundry basket from her and carried it to the bedroom. Mama opened the wall safe. The one spot Mama put the things that mattered to her most.

“Fourteen years ago, Anastasia’s mom gave me this. She had just had a premonition that made her believe she wouldn’t be here to see Ana grow up. Anyway, she wanted me to hold onto it until Ana found the right man. Your father and I talked about it last night. While there’s no hurry, we felt that you should know it’s here when you’re ready.”

I opened the green velvet jeweler’s box. Inside lay a sterling silver wedding band and a matching engagement ring with a ruby in it. It was stunning. It wasn’t hard to envision it on Ana’s finger.

“Hang onto it for me, please. It’s exactly what I’d want for her.”

Mama hugged me and wiped a tear from her eye. “That’s the best news you could give me, Bowie.”

 I went upstairs in search of my mate. She had changed into clean clothes and was sitting on her bed, reading. I stood in the doorway for the longest time watching her. She took my breath away.

Chapter Twenty-Four-Ana

I smelled Bowie before he got to my room, but I was finishing the chapter I was on. Without lifting my eyes from the page, I asked, “Did you need something?”

His reply was “Do you really need to ask that question?”

He walked over to the bed and lay down beside me, his fingers swirling over the skin on my lower back. “I’ve got to head to town. I’ve got to talk to the bank, then I want to see what’s going on at the station. I shouldn’t be gone long. Do you want to ride along or do you want to stay here?”

I looked at him, trying to make sense of what he was doing. “I’ll stay here. Why the bank?”

Bowie said, “Because I’m thinking about building a cottage by the lake. A beautiful cottage with a couple of bedrooms for a family.”

My mouth fell open.

“No pressure though right?” He smiled, “There’s no hurry. I just thought that the day may come when we decide to make this a permanent arrangement and have a family.  I’d like to have a house for us if and when we do decide we’re ready.”

“You’re about twenty moves ahead of me, Bowie. I mean, forever with you sounds like an incredible place to spend my life, but I’m not ready yet.”

“I know, kitten. And I’m not going to push you. I promise you.” He kissed me goodbye and promised to pick up a couple of movies for us to watch tonight.

I watched him leave, thoughts racing around my head. A future with Bowie? Not too hard to imagine. A pretty little lakeside cottage with hardwood floors and a witch’s garden in the backyard. I could even see our kids, two girls and three boys. It was such an incredible dream. One I hadn’t planned on, but my heart was pounding with anticipation. Crawling into bed with Bowie every night for the rest of our lives after spending our days taking care of our family and community, loving each other. Gods, what is too much to hope for? I fell asleep with those images running through my mind.

Chapter Twenty-Five-Bowie

The twenty fourth of December dawned bright. Of course, it may have been that Ana was curled up in my arms after a thorough loving. I watched her sleeping, the sunlight spilling across her skin. When the sunshine hit her face, she stretched in that lazy way a cat does and sprawled across my chest.

“Good morning, kitten,” I said.

She opened those big green eyes to look at me, “Mornin’, flyboy.”

“I’ve got to go to work today. What’s up in your world?” I asked her.

“I thought I’d take a walk down to the cabin today. You know how I always have to visit it this time of year.”

She was going to visit the place where her mother had died;  the very spot where I had found her when she was twelve. She had sat outside all night crying as her home had burned. She hadn’t run to our place, she’d been so little and scared. We had smelled smoke in the morning when we got up. Papa took us to the woods to make sure we didn’t have a forest fire started. That’s how we’d stumbled on the Plum’s cabin. Or what was left of it. It was a burned out shell. I had bundled up the daughter of our closest neighbors and friends. I’d carried her home to Mama. Little Ana had been Colin and Callum’s playmate for as long as we’d remembered. Tagging along behind Brady and me as we did whatever it was we were doing. Now, we had this new female in our midst who wouldn’t quit crying. I remember she had clung to me for the longest time. That day, I had made a vow to protect her with everything I had no matter what the cost.

We’d tried to tear down what was left of the cabin years ago, but Ana had begged us not to. So, Papa had reinforced the walls so they wouldn’t cave in on her when she visited. She made a point to visit it a few times a year…that we knew of.

“Take Colin or Callum with you when you go, please,” I begged her.

“Okay,” she conceded. There was a pounding on the front door that had me up and pulling my pants on. People just weren’t that rude around this area unless it was an emergency.

“Stay here until I come back for you,” I said as I grabbed my gun and ran down the stairs.

Papa was pulling on his robe when I hit the bottom step.

“Stay there. I’ll see who’s here first.”

At the front door stood a small redhead woman, crying. I opened the door cautiously, “Can I help you?” I asked as I looked around to be sure she didn’t have someone else with her. When I was positive she was alone, I let her inside.

“Are you Bernard Golden? I was told I could find him here.”

“What do you need with Bernard Golden?” I asked.

She began to cry, “My name is Meredith Garnett. I was a member of the Red Clan in Boston, but when I married my husband, a human, my nest disowned me. He never knew that I was a dragon, until just recently. He followed me one night when I went to the nearby woods to shift. He is a human who now believes that I am the spawn of Satan. He has been threatening to kill me, so I left him. Nests I’ve sought refuge with have told me to find Bernard Golden and he could help me.”

I couldn’t smell a lie in that story. Dad stepped out into the kitchen. “I’m Bernard Golden. This is my son, Bowie. He’s the sheriff for Cedar River.” Turning to me, he said, “Could you ask your mother to get Meredith here some clean clothes? I’m assuming Ana is not in her room?”

I nodded.

“Ask her to move her things into your room, please. Meredith can use Ana’s room for the time being.”

I left to do as he asked. Mama was already up and dressed with a bundle of clothes in her arms when I knocked on the door. “Why does he even bother asking me to do these things?” I asked with a smile.

Ana was cleaning stuff out of her room and moving it into my room. In a house of shifters, nothing should surprise me.

“Do you believe her story?” Ana asked, as she tossed her underwear into a drawer with mine. Okay, that was a sight that brought a smile to my face.

“I couldn’t smell a lie on her.” That seemed to satisfy my mate’s curiosity.

Callum was already on the porch going through the suitcase Meredith had brought with her when I went back downstairs. He shook his head at me. Apparently, nothing looked fishy there either. With the problems we had had just lately, we had to take every precaution. Strangers on our doorsteps were a rarity, and it was my job to protect my town, my family and my mate.

Mama was working on breakfast while Dad was getting any information he could from Meredith.

I went back upstairs to get dressed. Callum was just climbing back through Ana’s bedroom window. “She’s got ID saying she’s Meredith Garnett Rush. I’m guessing Rush is the husband’s last name and since she left him she’s dropped it. Dad will get in touch with the Red Clan. Oh, and because I’m such a good brother and deputy, here.” He handed me a paper with a driver’s license number, social security number and home address on it.

I had to smile. “Good job.”

Ana was dressed and waiting in the center of my already made bed. “Can I go help with breakfast or is she too big of a threat?”

“I don’t think she’s a threat, but just keep an eye on her, will you? I just have one of those feelings that this situation isn’t over. Be careful. I know you want to go to the cabin today, but, baby, I’d rather you wait. Do whatever ceremony you want here, but I really don’t want you in the woods today. Call it intuition or whatever you want, but my gut says trouble is coming.”

Her eyes grew wide, but I knew she trusted me enough to not leave the property.