The Child

Chapter 4

I stand there, watching her come closer. She is even more beautiful than I remember. Her platinum blond hair was in high ponytail, swaying as she walked. Her delicious lips glistened a little, and her cheeks had a slight blush to them. Her shorts showed off her tan legs again, I pictured them wrapped around me. She can’t be much taller than 5’5, and I have thing for short women. I tried to calm my thoughts, putting my A-game on. She slowly made her way to me, it was a painful wait. Brutus appeared to get annoyed and pulled her to me, speeding up the process. He sits down in front of me, waiting for me to make my move. She looks down at Brutus as well, and I take a step closer, letting her scent invade my nostrils. I take a deep breath to calm myself. “Beautiful dog, what’s his name?” I ask, trying to sound smooth. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes and gives me a smile that makes my heart skip a beat.

“Uh, thank you. His name is Brutus. For some reason he seems to like you. He usually doesn’t like men,” she explains. I move slightly closer, “I am good with animals,” and give her a wink. Her cheeks get flush in an adorable way. “By the way, I’m Joey.” I stick my hand out to introduce myself. Her small delicate hand grabs mine and I feel tingles shoot through my body. I resist the urge to grab her and kiss her. My beast was pacing in my head, muttering, “mine,” repeatedly. I cut off the link because I couldn’t deal with him right now. I am confused though because she doesn’t seem to sense the mate bond the way I do. But why?

“I’m Marie. It’s nice to meet you.” Her heavenly voice soothes my nerves. Marie. A perfect name, for a perfect mate.

“You must be new here. I haven’t seen you around.”

“Yeah, I just moved here, trying to get away from city life,” she explains, letting out a heavenly laugh.

“Well this is definitely the place for that. Who’s the little guy?” My curiosity got the best of me and I look down at the stroller. The little toddler looks up at me with big blue eyes, a couple shades darker than his mother’s. He has chubby cheeks and full lips like Marie. He also has the same platinum blond hair. In truth, he is a little miniature version of her.

“This is Oliver, he is 18 months.” She looks down at him lovingly. I bend down to get to his level.

“Hi, Oliver, I’m Joey. Nice to meet you.” I give him a smile, and he gives me a shy wave, then reaches for Brutus. Brutus looks up at us, he seems to be enjoying the interaction.

“Well Joey, it was nice to meet you. Maybe I’ll see you around.” She starts walking, pulling Brutus with her.

“Wait,” I say, not wanting to let her go. She stops and stares at me. I take a couple of steps closer. “If you ever need someone to show you around town, just let me know. I have lived here my whole life and know the best spots.” She smiles and tills her head like she is thinking about it.

“That would be wonderful. How about we meet up here tomorrow at 11 and you can fill me in about the town. I sadly have to take Ollie back for lunch.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I give her a small smile.

“Ok, we will see you then.”

I watch her make it to the car and load up Oliver and Brutus. She throws the stroller in the trunk, then gets in the car and drives off. I can’t believe I have a date with her tomorrow. I walk back to the office with silly smile on my face.

“It looks like your talk with her went well,” Andrew walks up to me, trying not to laugh. “It went went better than well, we have a date tomorrow at 11 so I can show her around town,” I start grinning. Andrew shakes his head.

“Now that you have a date, can we get back to work, please?” He raises his eyebrow and throws some files at me. “Fine,” I groan. Tomorrow is going to be so much better, I hate reading files.

Marie

We make it home and I get Ollie’s lunch ready. I put Ollie in his high chair and pile on the food. I go back to the kitchen and grab a bowl of fruit and sit down at the kitchen table. I can’t believe I agreed to let Joey take me around town. Or was it a date? Oh God! Does bring Ollie with me really count as a date?

I get lost in my thoughts, before I know it, Ollie is ready to get out of his high chair. I take him out and let him teeter about the living room. “Watch Ollie, I am going to get his toys out of the bedroom, Bru.” I grab as many toy as I can to keep Oliver busy. I drop them in front of him and he claps. Guess someone was ready to play. I go grab a note pad that is in the kitchen to write down things I need while I am in town. I hope Joey doesn’t mind me shopping while we hang out. I doubt he will, he seems pretty easy going and he can show me exactly where to get what I need.

I finish my list about a half an hour later. I look over at Ollie who lets out a big yawn. Nap time. I change his diaper and take him to his pack and play in his bedroom. I lay him down, “I love you, Ollie. Sleep tight.” I walk out the door and shut it. Perfect time for me to take a nap too. I stretch out on the couch and let my mind drift to Joey. Before I know it, darkness takes over…

~

“I found you, you little b***h! How dare you steal my son from me,” I open my eyes, trying to adjust to the face inches from me. Damion is yelling in my face. How did he find us?! The man I tried to run away from is in my cabin, holding me down so I can’t move. He gives me a wicked grin, that can’t mean anything good.

“Where is he? Where is my child?” He gets off me, walking to the closed door. “No!” I scream, tears streaming down my face.

“He isn’t here! I left him in Ohio with my dad,” I lie. He comes to me and smacks me across the face. “Liar,” he roars in my face as blood drips down my chin. “Give me my son, and I’ll let you live.” He pulls out a knife from somewhere and holds it to my neck, digging it deep into the flesh.

“He is coming with me, and so are you!” I try to summon my fire, but it’s not working. Oh no! He takes away the knife and walks to the door again, kicking it open with his foot. Ollie starts screaming. “There you are. You are mine now,” Damion says with a wicked smile. Where is Brutus?! He walks back to me and grabs my throat, lifting me up, choking me. “You think you could hide from me?! I will always find you. Remember that Marie, you will never be free of me,” he spits in my face, crushing my windpipe. Before I know it everything is black.

~

I wake up coughing. Ollie is screaming in the other room. Brutus is standing in the doorway, defending the bedroom. I frantically look around and see no one is here. I lift my hand to my throat. It was a dream, but it felt so real. Damion isn’t going to find us, I reassure myself. I slowly get up and grab Ollie out of his room. I sink to the ground hugging him. “We are safe, we are going to be ok,” I say through the tears. I rock Ollie back and forth, trying to calm my nerves. After a while I pull myself together and go to the living room. I set Ollie down in front of his toys, he eagerly grabs his firetruck and pushes it back and forth, giggling. It’s time for some tea. I turn on the kettle and wait for it to whistle.

I let Brutus out to go run off some energy in the woods. Before I know it the kettle is whistling. I prepare my tea and sit on the couch, trying desperately to shake the awful feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I finish my tea, sit down next to Ollie and play. After a while we move onto reading a couple books. Ollie crawls on my lap, he loves a good book. I read several books for him while he looks at the pictures. After our fourth book, there is a knock at the door.

Ollie looks just as surprised as me. Who would be knocking at the door? I set Oliver down and open the door. My jaw drops. There is Joey, with a leash in his hand. Attached to the leash is Brutus, wagging his tail happily. “Hello again,” Joey says in his smooth deep voice.