Drawn (Moon Claimed) (3 page)

SIX

As soon as she had entered the forest the rest of the world had slipped away with every next step she took. Until there existed nothing else but the fresh air and the mingling scents of earth, wood and water, and that unshakeable feeling of being a tolerated visitor down the rabbit hole. At least that was how Tess perceived it. But to her the forest was also a place of awe and magic, of colors and scents tickling the senses. Whenever she had been exhausted or feeling tired Tess had found that a walk in the woods was all she needed to restore her batteries.

After another look at the map that Nathan had given her, she had decided to
make a detour since the lake was only an hour away even if she took her time. And because she wasn’t quite ready yet to face the truth. She didn’t know what to think if the lake turned out to be the one she had seen in her dreams. As long as she hadn’t seen it, there was a possibility that it wasn’t the same lake. Reason chimed in, telling her that even it was her dream lake, she could have seen it in a documentary and her subconscious had picked it up. Her heart smirked,
Right
.

Pushing those thoughts away, she took a deep breath of clear, woodsy air that helped to clear her head even more and marched on. For nearly an hour she was able to forget her
worries and what brought her here, and simply enjoyed the forest. Magnificent trees rose high into the sky, seemingly touching it, greeting it. A first brush of autumn showed golden sparks here and there. Her heart felt light, no fear, no painful longing or excitement filling it for once, but rather a simple peace. That was what she had needed, what she had been searching for the past month. Peace.

Tess was startled as the trees suddenly parted.
And revealed the lake.

She
stared, a shiver of apprehension causing goose bumps on her skin, but then she relaxed, kicking herself mentally. Unconsciously she must have headed towards it.

Pushing herself forward she walked to the edge of the rocky
lakeshore. The water was a rich blue, sparkling gold and silver where sunbeams tickled.

Even if the light was different
, it was definitely her dream lake.

She hadn’t expected
anything else, just had hoped for it.

Sighing she dropped
to the ground. Tess needed more energy before contemplating the whys and hows. Using another, higher rock beside her as a table, she pulled out the bag Joanne had prepared for her and started laying out the bread and cheese. Grabbing a muffin she leaned back against the rock, her face turned towards the sun, and took a bite. Oh God. It was an explosion of perfectly balanced bitter freshness and juicy sweetness in her mouth. She would have to ask Joanne how she got those done, whether she had a secret ingredient or something. It was magic on her tongue.

The thought of Joanne – and the instant, easy connection to her – brought her back to wondering
whether she could have been to this place before.

Her parents had
died when Erin and she were young, so young in fact that she didn’t remember them – not even the faintest memory of a scent. After that Erin and Tess had been lucky and had stayed together. In their first home the father had loved having two young girls at his mercy. Erin, only one year older than Tess, but taking that very seriously, had quickly showed him her teeth – quite literally. The second time, they were returned to sender much like an unwanted parcel. The third time they went home with a lovely couple and went home for good. Tess didn’t think that their first foster parents had left any marks on her, but in her sister they had. Despite how open, fun and easy-going Erin was, she had trouble trusting others, trouble letting them in. And really, who could blame her? But going back to the matter at hand, Tess was sure that despite the moving around she had never been here before. She had no memory of this place.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a tiny noise and she slowly turned her head to see a squirrel
reaching for a crumb of bread lying on the rock. It froze, with an almost cartoon-like pose and with an Oh-shit expression on his face and Tess had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

“Busted.”

The squirrel looked at the crumb, then back at her.

“Nah, I don’t mind. Go on, have some. There’s enough for the both of us.”
Tess relaxed back against the stone, careful of sudden movements and keeping an eye on the squirrel.

He went for the crumb.

“Do we know each other? ‘Cause I kinda have the feeling I’ve been here before but can’t remember it. Never seen me around? No? Well, nice to meet you, anyway.”

He sniffed the cheese, but suddenly lifted his head. In the blink of an eye he was gone, dashing
past her and back under the cover of trees.

“You’re welcome.”

Then Tess heard a rustle coming from the trees behind her to her left. Her heart started beating faster.

A gray wolf stepped out
of the forest.

“
Oh, shit,” she cursed under her breath while her mind raced. What could she do? Run? No, bad idea. Wolves liked to chase, right? What had Joanne told her?

“
Most animals didn’t want to attack, but were just as startled as you, so stay calm, avoid sudden movements and hope that the animal will pass you by.”

Very slowly s
he moved out of her sitting position into a crouch - just in case she needed to run - but hoped that being lower than the wolf was helping things. That maybe it made her look more submissive, or something.

“You know, you gave that little gray
fella quite a scare.” Tess couldn’t say why she started talking. Having fun while watching the squirrel was one thing, talking to a wolf whose radar she didn’t want to be on was quite another. God, if someone came by they probably thought she was nuts.

The wol
f looked at her. No teeth bared or anything. The opposite actually. He seemed calm, looking at her like a friendly dog would.

Then he looked away and trotted over to the water, dipping his head down to
lap at it, making the water ripple around him.

Her breathing calming
at his non-threatening behavior, she used the moment to take in the sight. God, the wolf was magnificent. He was big, probably reaching as high as her thigh, with white and silvery gray fur gleaming healthy, like silk, and mesmerizing golden eyes. That was when she realized she wasn’t scared anymore but curious. Smiling at the ridiculous thought – apparently she had gone crazy if she wasn’t scared by a wolf – she looked out over the lake, its deep blue contrasting with the forest’s strong green, freckled with gold. The mountains, the endless sky. She felt safe here, in the forest.
With the forest,
Nathan’s word echoed in her mind. Even though only in her head, the deep timbre of his voice caused a pleasant shiver to shoot down her spine aiming the core of her.

That man was
a danger to her senses, slowly taking up more and more of her thoughts. And to think, she only met him this morning. How could he have such an effect on her?

Tess wasn’t quite sure she was strong enough to stay away
from him. Or even whether she wanted to.

She hadn’t noticed the wolf coming closer – and blamed Nathan for claiming all her attention once again, because otherwise she was sure she would have – and was startled as she saw
the animal only a few steps away from her. Surprise, not fear, made her lose her balance and slip on a wet rock so that the side of her head banged sharply against the one she had used for a picnic table.

Stars exploded in front of her eyes.

For a few moments Tess couldn’t see anything but the blinding stars in front of her eyes. But slowly,
as she concentrated on her breathing, her vision returned. The wolf was gone, probably more startled by her reaction than she had been by him.

Carefully scrambling to her feet she reached a hand up to her temple. Her fingertips came away bloody. “Dammit.”

Tess moved closer to the edge of the water and crouched down to wet a tissue before trying to wipe most of the blood and dirt away. She assumed that it looked and felt worse than it probably was. She didn’t feel dizzy or nauseous and so she suspected she was alright. Some disinfectant and a band-aid and she would be as good as new. Nevertheless, it was time to head back. And this time she would take the direct route, the sudden idea of a long, relaxing and hot bath now urging her on.

When she stepped back under the cover of the trees and back into the shadows of the forest her eyes needed a moment to adjust after having been used to the bright sunlight bathing the clearing and glinting off the lake, and so she didn’t
so much see Nathan striding towards her as heard him.

“
Hi there, wanderer. I guess you found your lake.”

Blinking her eyes and grateful she was finally able to see, she smiled at him. “I did.”

His eyes zeroed in on her wound and he frowned, concern immediately filling his eyes as he stepped close to her. “Hey, what happened? You’re bleeding.”

“Oh, that. It’s
not as worse as it looks, I think. I just slipped on a rock, you know by the lake, and bumped my head on another.” She shrugged and waved it off. “No need to worry, Nathan.”

“Let me see.” Standing face to face now, so that she could feel the heat radiating off him,
Nathan gently brushed away her hair and inspected her wound. “The blood makes it look nastier than it is.”

“Told you so.”

“Best thing is to head back to my place to patch it up just in case, though.”

T
ess ignored the spike of interest at the possibility of discovering more about him and frowned instead. “Why your place?”

“It’s
closest.”

After she nodded her agreement they started together on the hike
back, easily falling into step beside each other.

“
So, other than your run-in with the stone, how did it go?” He asked at one time while giving her a hand to help her over a particular rocky patch that would bring them faster to his place.

“I had no trouble at all finding it and it’s such a beautiful place. So peaceful. A squirrel even came along and we had a nice chat.”

“A squirrel?” He looked at her and then laughed. “You’re quite something, Tess.”

Hand on her hips, she bit her lip to stifle her own smile that wanted to spread over her face whenever he was smiling. “You find that weird? Well, what if I tell that I saw the lake in my dreams, that that’s the real reason why I’m here? My dreams.”
Oh shit, she shouldn’t have gotten carried away like that, now he would think she was crazy.

But his eyes were serious on her, not in the least disturbed by her confession. “You dreamed of this place? The lake?”

She nodded, not able to look at him. “And before you ask, no, I haven’t been here before. Not as a child. Never.”

“Well, my mom always says this place is pure magic.
I believe that as well. Maybe you needed some of that.”

Her gaze flew up to meet his soft, silver eyes.
There was nothing malicious in them, just honesty and understanding. They tugged at her heart.

They reached a
wide clearing in the middle of which stood a cabin, similar to hers but so much more fitting as it snuggled close to the edge of the forest like it did.

“The other cabins, including yours, are this way. Another five to ten minutes.” He pointed in the direction before opening the door and inviting her
inside.

The interior showed that this was the home of a man, but not in the sense of the
messy bachelor cliché. It was practical, simple and even rough around the edges sometimes and yet sensual. Contrary to her cabin, the interior was made up of dark wood, which added even more to the masculine and earthy atmosphere. No superficial nonsense or knick-knack except for a few photographs and pencil sketches scattered on a desk. The only soft spots in the living room were a broad couch and a plush rug in front of the fireplace. Fortunately Nathan drew her attention before her imagination could run wild at the last sight.

She followed him into his kitchen, where he pulled open a cupboard to get a first-aid kit.

“How come you were in the forest? Don’t tell me Joanne sent you after me already?”

“No, she didn’
t.” Nathan pulled up a chair and motioned for her to sit down at the table and Tess did. “I was looking for wood.” When she frowned, he elaborated while he sat down as well laying out everything he needed to clean up her wound, “I work with wood. As a simple carpenter or even sculptor, whatever is needed. I was looking for wood or an interesting stump that I could work with.”

That explained
the woodsy scent of him and his callous hands. An image of his warm, strong and large hands caressing her body rose in her mind. Pinching her nipples, cupping the swell of her hip before plunging his long fingers into her. His eyes met hers and saw right to her soul. She sucked in a breath, and then dropped her gaze to the floor. Don’t go there, Tess! You hardly know this man.

Her brain struggled for something to say
especially when his hands fluttered like butterflies softly over her skin to patch up her wound with the greatest care. “Did you find something?” God, Tess hoped her voice wasn’t as breathless and husky as it sounded to her ears.

Something wicked flickered in his eyes. “I hope so.”

Somehow she had the feeling they weren’t talking about wood anymore but tried her best to ignore it.

“
So you’re saying everything in here is basically your work?” After his nod she continued, “The wooden tub in my cabin, you did that as well?”

“Yes.” He cocked an eyebrow, an expression
that was so utterly sexy on him it sent heat right to her core. “Do you like it?”

Knowing that his hands had created the tub in which she had
lain naked, even touched herself this morning, was playing havoc with her mind – and body. “Love it,” she purred before she could stop herself.

The hand that had taken care of her scratch moved into her hair, cradling
her head, and pulled her closer. Her breath caught at the intense heat in his silver eyes, inflaming her, and her heart thundered in her chest. Her gaze dropped to his sensual lips and she licked her own.

With a groan he covered her mouth.
A brush of his tongue and she let him in, eager to taste him. The kiss started out as a mutual exploration but gained on heat and intensity with each discovery, soon turning into something wetter and…primal. She nipped his lip, almost breaking it, and he retaliated by sucking at her tongue in a way that made her believe his mouth was somewhere else on her body. One of his hands tangled in her hair, angling her for deeper access, while the other moved up over her thigh, her hip and under her shirt. His hand was hot on her skin, caressing her rips before cupping her breast and pinching her already pebbled nipple through the lace of her bra - hard. She moaned into his mouth, reveling in the mingling of pleasure and pain that was new to her. He captured the sound, then broke away to trail kisses along her jaw and under her earlobe. Hot shivers ran along her skin and she wanted nothing more than to slid onto the floor and be taken by him. Rough. That unfamiliar thought jolted her from the fevered haze she was in. She had never enjoyed rough sex.

“
Stop,” she breathed. Pulling away, she shook her head as he touched his forehead to hers. “Nathan, stop. I can’t do this.” She stood abruptly, on weak legs, needing some distance between them. “It’s too fast.” Running a trembling hand through her hair, she wondered, “Jesus Christ, what am I doing? I hardly know you.”

Nathan
got up. His eyes, though burning with desire, were calm and serious on hers and therefore even more captivating. “Sometimes in life you meet people and your heart recognizes them. You just
know
them. There’s a connection that goes deeper, and it shouldn’t be suppressed because of some socially imposed delusion that time has anything to do with it.”

The rightness of his words floored
her. Yes, there was something between them that logic couldn’t explain. And it scared the shit out of her. “Delusion? Try safety. Or would you prefer that I tumble right into bed with every guy that rubs me the right way?”

Silver eyes
blazed. “No. Just with me.”

H
er whole body flushed with new heat, pooling between her legs, and she almost moaned with need. But she ran for the door instead.

His deep chuckle followed her and seemed to
reverberate through her, igniting all her good-for-nothing places even more. “When you’ve tortured yourself enough, you know where to find me.”

She s
lammed the door shut behind her, not sure the whisper carried by the wind was imagined or not. “Though there’s nothing like the chase.”