Dark Desires

Chapter 1

Leaholand

The night was dark and still. Nothing moved except for the shadows; not even the breeze stirred the leaves on the ground.

There was not a soul on the street at the witching hour, save one. No one around to see the lone figure moving through the darkness.

Gaberiel walked stealthily through the night. He was restless and frustrated. He wouldn't be so irritated if it were not for his family. They had made it clear tonight that he was old enough to be tied down.

His parents expected him to find a wife. Gaberiel felt no need. He was perfectly happy with the way his life was going. He had his friends; he had his flings and didn't understand their constant need to tell him what he was missing.

Gaberiel ran his long elegant fingers through his messy short black hair. His leather jacket creaked from his movements. His piercing blue eyes were staring into the night as he thought over his troubles. How was he suppose to find someone out of the blue? It was not as if he wasn't looking. Gaberiel did not understand how to go about appeasing the people that needed to be. It was not as if someone just fell out of the sky at the drop of a hat. These things took time, and maybe he had taken a little longer than most, but that could not be helped, could it?

Gaberiel continued to walk down the street with no real destination in mind, all of a sudden he smelled apple blossoms and something else he could not determine. It was a heady scent, and it seemed to make every cell in his body fire up and come alive with awareness. Walking quicker, he tried to follow the smell, wanting to find out where it was coming from.

In his haste, he jogged around a corner, trying not to lose it. He had no clue someone was coming around the other side at the same time. All of a sudden, something smacked into his chest hard. The umph sound seemed to come from a bundle on the ground in front of him. Not wanting to lose what he was tracking, he made to move around the object snapping as he went.

"Watch where you are going!" He growled in a gruff voice to the thing on the ground out his feet.

"Me?" Said an incredulous voice from a whole swath of material and fabrics.

Gaberiel's eyes shot downward at the person's reply. He breathed in about to give this person a scathing retort, but the scent from before, the one he was trying to follow, assaulted his nose.

Narrowing his eyes, he tried to take a closer look at the person sprawled out on the ground.

A scarf covered their face, a hat pulled down over their eyes, and their body is covered in a long bulky jacket.

Gaberiel recalled his manners and reached down, grabbing the person around the elbow. He hauled them up to their feet.

A squeak ushered from what he could only assume was their lips at his manhandling. Gaberiel couldn't be bothered to care at the moment, though.

Before he knew what he was about, he was ripping off the person's hat.

A curtain of fiery red spilled out and down their back.

"Hey!" came the angry retort.

Gaberiel ignored the person's protest and gathered up the silky strands in his fist, tugging on it gently he brought them towards himself and inhaled deeply.

"The smell is coming from you!" A deep rumble of pleasure emitted from his chest.

Finally, turning his eyes to focus on the person's face, he was shocked to see a look of affronted rage in deep chocolate brown eyes.

"I would ask that you let go of my hair, sir!" The stranger hissed.

Gaberiel felt his eyes drop down to a pair of the fullest and softest pink lips he had ever seen.

"My apologies, miss...?"

"Linda Townson." Came her curt reply.

Linda was not having a good night. She had been late to work at the book store that currently employed her. Just as her shift got over, Linda had been carrying a stack of papers when she tripped suddenly, all the papers scattered in every direction.

It had taken her two extra hours to collect and re-sort all the pages back in to order.

Now she had to leave work late at night, and then to top it all off, she ran into a weirdo who was talking about her smell and stealing her hat.

"Would you kindly go away and leave me alone please so I can go home and end my horrible day!"

She watched as the good looking stranger took a step closer to her.

Staring deep into her eyes, he moved his face an inch away from hers.

He was so close she could feel the puff of his breath when he spoke.

"Why should I let you? It is not safe for a lovely lady like your self to be out here. You could get hurt by a dangerous person. Allow me to escort you home to keep you from danger."

A shiver ran through her body at his close proximity.

"And how do I know you are not one of those dangerous people." She snapped.

He gave her a feral grin.

"If I were, I would have done something by now, don't you think?" He chuckled."

She issued a resigned sigh — his persistent amazed her.

This guy didn't even know her, but it seemed like he was trying to pick her up.

She had to admit that he was strikingly good looking, with his black hair that was short in back but long in the front. His bangs swept over his forehead and laid straight across. His eyes were a piercing blue that looked like a cracked crystal. His jaw was strong and square, his nose was long, wide, and defined. It was a beautiful face, but there seemed to be something dark about him that she couldn't put her finger on as she gazed up at him.

Linda knew it was foolish of her, but she did not have many other options at the moment. This man was offering to escort her home safely. It is well past midnight. It was not ordinarily smart for a woman to walking alone out here without company. She felt and believed that this man would not cause her problems, also that no one would want to mess with him because he screamed danger. Maybe it was his leather jacket or the fact that he wore all black. She could not say why, but she felt safer with him than on her own.

Coming to a quick decision, she knew she didn't want to walk out here alone. Having company was better then trecking home by her self.

"Alright. You can tag along till we get to my home. But no funny business." She stated in an authoritative voice.

"Scouts honor." He grinned at her putting his hand over his heart.

She tried not to roll her eyes. She didn't say anything, but she very highly doubted he was ever a boy scout. Without saying anything else, she started to walk, heading towards her home, not really expecting him to follow. To a mixture of chagrin and relief, he did begin to walk along beside her.

"So why are you out so late?" He couldn't help but feel curious.

"I had to work late. Can we just walk in silence, please?" She said curtly.

"Well, excuse me for trying to make conversation!" He barked.

They continued down the road in silence for about twenty minutes.

Because of the silence, Gaberiel let his thoughts wander. He knew why he had been pulled to her, but he wasn't sure how he was going to approach her about it.

When they finally reached her house, she abruptly turned to him. "We are here. I made it safely; you may leave now."

All he could do was blink down at her for a second in confusion.

She wanted him to leave already. No, thank you, no invitation for a nightcap. Just, we are here now away!

He couldn't believe this woman's audacity. Most women found him charming and handsome. But this one didn't seem to react to him at all.

He felt the need to shake her to the core.

He watched as she walked up to the door, rifling through her purse to find her key.

He walked silently behind her. Once she got to the door. He put a hand on her elbow, turning her around as gently as he could so not to frighten her.

"Before you go inside and leave me out here on my own for the night, can I at least get a good night kiss?"

She blinked up at him eyes wide in amazement" You want me to kiss you! Why?"

He gave her the most wicked grin he could muster."Isn't it obvious? I gallantly saved you, should you not provide payment to your rescuer. Also, I find you attractive."

He uttered this with his mouth a scant inch from her lips. "I would like very much for you to kiss me with those soft pink lips of yours."

His deep voice sent a shiver through her body. A guy had never made her feel this way before.

She had always thought there was something wrong with her because of it. No one had ever turned her head before. She wasn't sure what to make of it.

Now she had this strange guy standing on her doorstep in the middle of the night pressing himself close and asking for a kiss.

She was sorely tempted to give in to his advances.

"I said no funny business." Came her breathless reply.

"I am not playing anything funny. I am giving you a choice. Either you want to kiss me, or you don't." He stated without moving away or any closer.

Linda decided what the hell.

She grabbed him by his leather jacket and jerked him the rest of the way. Their lips crashed together in a heated tangle of teeth, tongues, and lips.

Gaberiel was in heaven. He never had in his long years wanted a woman as badly as he wanted her. He knew it was a mistake to go any further, though. She was very much an innocent still he could tell by the way she kissed that she was untried.

As much as he wanted to enter the house with her, he knew it would not be a good idea. The urge to claim her was strong, and he could not resist it for long.

"I must leave you here, Linda." I will watch y until you are inside your house, then I have to go. Will you permit me to come back tomorrow and visit?"

Linda gave him a perplexed look. As if to say, why would you want to come back at all? After an uncomfortably long period of silence. Finally, it seemed as if she came to a decision.

"Yes." She stated softly in confirmation.

A warm feeling welled up into Gaberiel's being at hearing her words. He then lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back of it gently.

"Until tomorrow, then fair lady." His deep seductive voice made her want to melt where she stood. Those hypnotic eyes gazed into hers.

As he turned and walked off, once the spell she seemed to be under was broken at his departure, Linda had to wonder if she had done the right thing by saying yes. She felt as if she was the proverbial little pig that just told the big bad wolf he could come inside after all. She could not help wondering as she watched his retreating back move through the darkness if he would, in fact, gobbly her up if she let him. The, more, decisive question was, did she want him too? The answer to that was still undetermined in her mind.

Turning around, she unlocked her door, Linda turned around once to look over her shoulder to see if he was, in fact, watching her as he said. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area's but could not see much.

Linda shrugged her shoulders the turned back to her door and stepped inside. Once she felt she was safe and sound, Linda then headed into the Kitchen, for a stiff drink. It had been a strange night all she wanted to do now was have a drink and curl up with a good romance book for the night.

Linda's mind strayed back to the strange man she met tonight. He was handsome. I will give him that. Everything else, though, was strange. She could not help thinking. What was his name again? It started with am I am sure. Linda thought it over for another minute or so; finally, when she could not remember it still shrugging, she figured it did not matter. She would never see him again.

"He may be cute, but he seemed very strange, talking about my sent and what not. Weird." Shaking it off, Linda figured it might help her forget if she put some soft music on to distract her better. Once she had a drink in hand, Linda made her way to the cd player in her living room. It had been a gift from Tiffany last Christmas. She slid in a cd of classical music. When the melody began to waft through the room, Linda shut her eyes, letting the music wash over her, relaxing and soothing her frayed nerves.

"Nothing like a good piece of music to make you feel better." She murmured right as a large yawn stole over her. "Looks like it's time for me to hit the hay." That, Linda, headed for her room. It was her sanctuary, done in light blues and teals she always loved coming into this space at the end of a hard working day.

Linda got undressed, Linda's mind strayed once more back to the man from tonight. Whoever he was, she knew she found him attractive. It was a first for her. Wait until she told Tiffany that. Linda chuckled to herself silently.

With that, she drifted off to sleep. Dreaming about strange, handsome men with piercing blue eyes and soft black hair that her fingers just itched to run through.

My latest book. Soon to be published. You will be able to find it on Amazon.com or Google Play

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