Read Ominous Love Online

Authors: Patricia Puddle

Ominous Love (8 page)

“Sure, babe.”

I smile. He called me babe again. I turn to
face him, but he's busy poking the alarm button. Humming
Justin Bieber’s
song,
As Long
As You Love Me,
I toss the burnt loaf in the garbage and throw some
spaghetti into a pot of boiling water.

The beeping stops and Seal leans the broom
against the wall. “Anything else I can help you with, Miss Elle?”

“Oh, I'm Miss Elle now?”

He raises a brow. “Well, you asked me to call
you Elle.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “You're not funny.”

Smiling, he holds his arms out. “Aw, come
here, Eloise.”

I don't need to be asked twice. I'm there in
a heartbeat, and as I wrap my arms around his waist, he leans over and kisses
me gently on the mouth. I'm floating on air, he's so deliciously dreamy. His
hands are in my hair, twisting my curls,
then
he presses
me against the wall and kisses me harder, his tongue seeking mine. The heat
from his thighs is burning through his jeans, making my pulse race faster. I’m
overheating. I want to tear his clothes off and run my hands over his bare
skin. I want more of him, all of him, though I wouldn’t know what to do.

He suddenly lifts me into his arms and
carries me towards my bedroom. I lean against his shoulders and gaze up at him.
His lids are heavy, his eyes smouldering, and his lips are luscious and swollen.
As he lays me on the bed, he puts his hand on my forehead. “Eloise, are you
okay? You're burning up. Is your head hurting?”

Looking into his beautiful, but serious eyes,
I gulp. Oh, I thought he was going to make passionate love to me. “I'm fine,
Seal, but I’m burning for you. Make love to m.…”

BBOOOOMMM!

I jerk with fright as a deafening roar of
thunder cracks above the roof.

Seal glances at the window. “That sounds
ominous. The storm's getting worse. I'd better bring the wood in and check
around the house like I was going to.” He smiles at me. “You’re such a
delicious distraction, babe.”

My shoulders slump with disappointment. I
didn't even get to tell him how much I love him. Just as well because I would
have let him make passionate love to me. Jeez. What was I thinking? I’m only
sixteen. And what if I fell pregnant? My parents would be mortified. I blow out
a big breath and jump off the bed. “While you're getting the wood, I'll dish
dinner out. You must be starving.”

He kisses my cheek.
“Only
for you, Eloise.”

I stare up at him.
“Promise?”

Smiling, he pulls away from me and dashes out
of the bedroom. “Lock the back door after me,” he hollers from the hallway.

I jump off the bed and
pad
down
the hall to the sunroom. Lock it? I feel like locking him out for
the night. I slam the door and turn the key. Why does he have to tease me? I
never know where I stand with him. I peek out the curtains and watch as he
loads logs into a bucket. Why didn't he say promise? I pout. He knew I was
going to ask him to make love to me. He's not deaf. The big tease didn't say
anything back though. I scowl. I bet he's still wondering if he has a wife or
girlfriend. I hope not because he said I made him love me. I don’t want to
make
him love me. What sort of love is
that? I want him to love me unconditionally, like I love him. It’s a good job I
didn’t sleep with him. I won’t until he says those words and means them. Men
are weird sometimes. I don’t think I’ll ever understand them.

I head back to my room and grab my iPad, and
as I carry it to the kitchen, I tap on my favourite shuffle of songs to
distract me from brooding about Seal.

Singing
along with Reece Mastin singing, ‘
Shut Up
and
 
Kiss
Me’
,
I dish the food onto two plates and
place them in the oven to keep warm.
Now, to set the table.
After throwing a lace tablecloth over the dining table, I place some candles in
the middle and set out the cutlery and two crystal glasses. Perfect. Tapping my
lips, I wonder if I should go into the cellar and grab a bottle of Dad's wine.
I
giggle. Maybe that's
not a good idea, not with my teenage head going crazy already, and who knows
what Seal would do. We’re both bad enough sober. Instead, I pour chilled sparkling
cranberry juice into two crystal glasses. I smile. All I need now is for Seal
to come in.

But where is he? I march to the sunroom and
look out the window. I can't see him, but a flash of lightning illuminates the
garden, making me jump and reminding me of when Seal and I were struck on the
beach. I remember the pain and how it knocked me unconscious. Jeez, what if
Seal gets struck again. I shiver at the thought and run to the living room at
the front of the house. As I peer into the garden, a loud thunderclap rumbles
above the house, rattling the windows again, but I can't see Seal anywhere. My
stomach turns. What if he's left me because I asked him to make a promise?
Holy crap.
No! I dash into my bedroom and stare outside.
Though it's dark and starting to rain, I can just make out a figure under the
large gum tree. Surely it must be Seal. It has to be him. No one else could
look that good in jeans. But why is he standing in the rain? There's plenty of
chopped wood in the shed, and if he doesn't come in soon, he'll get wet, or
worse. He could get struck by lightning again. I open the window and lean out
to call him,
then
I freeze. He's pounding his fists on
the trunk of the tree and yelling up at the sky. Whoa. Please don't tell me
he's got his memory back and found out he's married? My world falls from under
me and I hold my face with dread.

A blaze of lightning hits the tree and opens
up the sky. My eyes pop wide open, then I blink. Did I just see a silhouette of
a man up in the clouds? I look again, but it's not there. As a tremendous
thunderbolt cracks above the shed, my eyes dart back to Seal.
Holy cow
.
He's on
his knees with his head in his hands, and he looks so distressed. My heart sinks
and I hold my chest. What's wrong with him? I want to go outside and comfort him,
but I can't seem to move, and when I open my mouth to call his name, no sound
comes out. I seem to be paralysed, and frozen in time. All I can do is watch
through the window, like an old black-and-white movie that's set in slow motion.

As James Morrison song,
I Won't Let You Go
,
blasts
from my iPad, I'm mesmerised by the brightest lightning I've ever seen as it dances
and flashes in the black clouds. A few seconds later, an ear-splitting
thunderbolt reverberates above the trees. Though it's beautiful to see, I look
at Seal and tremble with impending doom. He's sitting on his heels on the grass
with his face in his hands. He suddenly looks up at the flashing sky and
shouts, "NOOOOO!"

His voice is so loud, it echoes through the
trees and across the valley.

 

 

Chapter Ten

 

The sight of Seal in pain tugs at my heartstrings.
What’s the matter with him? Has he got his memory back? Is his loved one dead?
I can't bear to see him like this. I have to comfort him, but as I'm about to
go out, he gets to his feet and runs off into the woods across the street.

My stomach twists into knots, and as I peer
out the open window, I holler, “Seal, come back!” But he doesn't answer me.
Twirling a curl around my finger, I wonder where he'll go. He has no money or
even a jacket, and he's bound to get a chill. My heart is breaking for him. I want
to cry, but what good will
that do
? I have to go out and
look for him. What kind of person would I be if I didn't?

After grabbing an umbrella and a flashlight,
I shrug into my jacket and dash down the hall to the front door. As I unlock it,
the phone rings and I run back to answer it. My heart is thumping against my
ribs, and though I pray that it's Seal, I doubt it's him. He doesn't even know
my number. Breathless, I pick up the receiver. “Hello.”

“Hi, Elle, you sound out of breath. Is
everything okay?”

Frigging hell, it's Tom.

“Elle?
You there?”

“I …I can't talk right now, Tom,” I say into
the phone, trying not to scream my head off.

“But I miss you, babe, and there's a great
party going on at Richie's place tonight. Can I pick you up? I promise I won’t
try anything.”

“Sorry, I can't make it.”

“Why not, Elle, and why haven't you answered
any of my emails or sms messages? Is it 'cause your naked cousin is still
there?”

“Tom, I have to go.” I have no time for his
bullshit and I hang up. I run back down the hall, but as I reach the open door,
I smack into Seal.

I look up at him, relieved that he's back.
But he just stands there, dripping wet. His hair is plastered to his forehead
and his arms are dangling at his sides. He's looks so pale and forlorn and I
want to hug him, but he's staring at me with such an intense look of terror,
he's scaring me.

My chest hitches and as I try to speak, my
voice chokes with repressed tears. “W … what's wrong, Seal?”

Still staring at me, he raises his brows, his
eyes widening, then he parts his lips and breathes heavily through his mouth,
but he doesn't answer me.

I move towards him and wrap my arms around
his waist, but instead of hugging me, he closes his eyes and inhales, his chest
expanding and contracting. I lay my head next to his heart and listen to it
beating, but he goes all rigid and clenches his fists. He obviously doesn't
want me to comfort him, so I drop my arms and gaze up at him. “What's the
matter, Seal? You’re scaring me.”

After kicking the front door shut and locking
it, he grabs my shoulders and glares at me. “I'm not Seal. Don't call me that.
I can't be Seal anymore. And stop looking at me that way.”

Trembling, I back away from him, my lip
quivering. I bite it hard to stop myself from crying. “Did you get your memory
back?”

He throws his head back and sighs. “Yes, but
I don't want to talk about it.”

I swallow a lump in my throat. “You have
someone else, don't you?”

He strokes my cheek, his eyes softer. “You're
so young and beautiful, Eloise. You can have any guy you choose, and I would
choose you if I could, but I can't, not ever. I'm so sorry, but I have
commitments.”

Uncontrollable tears trickle down my checks
and I angrily swipe them away. “Are you going home tonight?”

He shrugs. “I don't think that's possible. I
live a long way from here and I have no money. I'm not sure what I'm going to
do, but I'll have to get a job.”

“You can stay here until you find work. No
strings attached, I promise.” I'm mad at him, but I can't leave him out in the
cold. I care for him too much. I touch his hand, and as usual, tingles run up
my arm and into my heart.

“Thanks,” he says. “I appreciate it. And I'll
still take care of you while your folks are away.”

Blinking away a tear, I suck in a deep breath
and ask the dreaded question. “Are you married?”

He shakes his head. “I can't talk about it
right now.”

I pout. “Who is she? I bet she's beautiful.”

He closes his eyes for a moment. “Oh, she's
beautiful, Eloise.”

My blood boils. How can he be so cruel? He
could have lied and ignored me. Pressing my lips together, I glare at him. “Why
did you have to say my name just then? Now, I know why you wouldn’t make that
promise. You knew you had someone else, didn’t you?”

His lips twitch with amusement. “Fiery little
thing, aren’t you.”

My jaw drops. “Fiery? You make think this is
all a joke, but I don't. How long have you known who you are?”

His face drops and he looks sad again. “Since
tonight's storm—it brought my memory back.” He sighs. “There was a storm when I
lost it.”

I hold my hands out. “But where were you? I
found you on the beach stark naked …. Crap. Who were you with? Her?”

The smirk returns to his face. “I'm not discussing
my love life with you.”

That's it. I stamp on his foot. “No? But, you
didn't mind letting me fall in love with you, did you?”

He closes his eyes for a moment. “Please
don’t say that, Eloise.”

I squint at him. “Okay, I take it back. I hate
you. And stop calling me Eloise.” Turning on my heels, I run down the hall to
my bedroom and slam the door. And to think I was so happy an hour ago. Now, I
just want to die. I throw myself on my bed and punch my pillow as hard as I
can. Beautiful is she? Well, I don't believe he's married. He's much too young.
It's probably some bimbo that will break his heart anyway. I bolt upright.
Well, I'm not giving up without a fight. He may have met her first, but I know
he loves me, too. Though tears fall onto my cheeks, I giggle into my hand. And
I have a good weapon. I grab my cell phone and dial Tom's number. He doesn't
answer so I leave a message. “Hi, Tom, it's Eloise. I've changed my mind and
I'd love to go to the party with you. Pick me up in a couple of hours. Bye.”

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