Ella Awakened (11 page)

She seemed
to be lost in thought a lot lately.  It was probably only natural with everything
that had happened over the past few days, but she knew she needed to get it together
and focus.  She undeniably had feelings for Burke, and she was pretty sure he…
what… loved her?  Well, maybe not love, but she was getting some serious
signals.  Was this really the time to pursue anything though, with some alien
nut job running around town?  Let’s be honest with ourselves here; the Demon
was a serial killer, and according to Burke they were the only two people who
could do anything about it.

Still,
people fell in love in the midst of horrifying tragedy and adversity throughout
history.  She recalled reading several stories about lovers during World War
II
when she had been
working on a paper for a history class.  She wished she and Burke could at
least be honest with each other and open up instead of all this red-faced
stuttering and dancing around.

Ella stopped
and looked around.  She’d gone almost half a mile since she’d seen that broken
branch with the red string.  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  She
wasn’t getting anything of what she’d come to think of as
Burke’s smell -
an
intoxicating mixture of his soap and the plants from the greenhouse.  She knelt
down and looked at the floor of the path.  The earth was still packed tight,
but there was a light dusting of pollen from the trees in this part of the
forest.  It was undisturbed except where she’d been walking.  Fabulous, hadn’t
she just told herself she needed to get it together and focus?

Ella turned
around and headed back the way she had come.  She moved slowly, looking for any
signs that Burke had come this far.  She would watchfully make her way back to
the last sign she had seen of him.  It would be on the right side of the path. 
Thank heavens she had left the red string in the break.  That would make it
easier to find.  She was trying to pay more attention to the sights, sounds,
and smells around her.  She knelt down to examine one of her own footprints
after noticing little songbird prints on top of it.  Wow, she had been here
only fifteen to twenty minutes ago, and already the print had been disturbed. 
She was starting to understand the importance of all the things Burke had told
her about tracking.  It was both an art and a fine science.  She stood and
narrowed her vision, focusing and scanning the flora for the red string.  She
didn’t
think
she’d doubled back far enough yet.  For the love of God,
what if she had passed it?

Ella closed
her eyes and tried to remember the string.  She could picture it in her mind. 
What else was around it?  The string itself had been snagged on a young maple
tree.  There was a small azalea shrub a couple of feet from the tree.  The
shrub wasn’t in bloom, but she recognized the leaves.  She had helped her aunt
plant several at home.  There was also an outcropping of rock a few yards
further down the path.  She had passed it just before originally spotting the
red thread.

Holy Crap. 
Ella bent over, put her hands on her knees, and took a deep breath.  Burke was
right; she was only just beginning to grasp what her mind was capable of.  She
had passed the outcropping of rock – then seen the string.  But when she closed
her eyes and thought about it, she saw the rock
behind
the maple.  She
had never actually turned around and seen it that way, but in her mind’s eye
she saw it as she would if she were heading back towards it. 
She saw it how
she needed to be looking for it now. 
Apparently her brain now recorded
images and played them back however she needed to see them.  She wondered if
she could remember things from before or even during the awakening with as much
detail… like the Demon’s face.

Ella closed
her eyes and thought back to the day she’d run into the Demon in the library. 
She remembered getting up that morning and looking for her anatomy book.  She
had pulled on some jeans and borrowed Sarah’s shoes.  She had gone to the library,
bumped into some guy, met Burke, and crashed out for the rest of the day.  She
couldn’t remember fine details or many details at all for that matter.  She
remembered having a headache.  Okay, so this was something that came after the
awakening.  How far back could she remember?  Was it only the past hour or so? 

Ella closed
her eyes again and thought back to the morning of her birthday.  She had just
come through the awakening.  She remembered Burke grabbing her and kissing
her.  She could still feel the pressure of his fingers on her arms as he’d
pulled her to him.  She remembered them making breakfast together.  She could
see the exact sizes and shapes of the slices of peppers and mushrooms she had
just cut for the omelet.  But then again, that was only yesterday.  It was
crazy.  It seemed like weeks ago.  Only time would tell the extent of her
memory’s reach.  Maybe Burke knew more about it.

Ella rounded
a corner in the path.  A few yards ahead stood the maple tree.  She saw the red
string, the azalea, even the rock just as she’d pictured it in her mind.  Ella
looked around on the ground and noticed the disturbed leaves.  Burke had left
the trail.  He had snapped a branch, pulled a string from his shirt, and left
the thread snagged on the broken limb.  She had seen the clue, but not the
meaning behind it.  She felt like an idiot.  Now that he was off the trail she
would have to be even more alert.

Ella
continued through the woods.  She really needed to pay attention.  He had left
her the full boot print early on to get her going and boost her confidence. 
Then he had left her the red string - which was practically a flashing neon
sign - to tell her he was leaving the trail.  (And she had royally screwed that
up.)  But now he was testing her.  
Just let me find him before he calls to
make sure I’m all right,
she thought.

It gradually
became easier for Ella to see the slight depressions his footsteps made in the
leaves.  She was able to move a little faster as she went from one to the next
like a child connecting dots on paper.  She could also smell him.  The smell
was very faint, but it was there.  Ella hadn’t gone far when she thought she
heard a slight rustling.  She moved quickly.  Soon she realized it wasn’t
something rustling, but swiftly moving water that she had heard.  It must be
part of the same stream that lead to the waterfall she had swam at yesterday. 
Would he cross the water?

Within a few
minutes, Ella came to an embankment.  There was the water, just two feet down. 
She could see where he had jumped.  It was muddy just under the ledge where she
was standing.  If he’d jumped a few feet out he would have landed on the river
rock and it would have been a little harder to see.  She followed the muddy
boot prints downstream.  Before long the mud faded but she could still see
where he had overturned a rock here or there.  It was harder to catch his scent
with the slight breeze coming off the water.  She had to close her eyes and
really concentrate to smell him.  He had been here very recently, or she didn’t
think she would be able to smell him at all.  Too bad he hadn’t headed the
other way, then the breeze would be blowing towards her instead of away from
her.  This brought on the realization that she wasn’t going to be able to sneak
up on him.  He was downwind.  He’d be able to smell her before he saw her.  It
wasn’t a big deal, but if she was tracking prey or the Demon it would matter.

She came to
a slight hill.  As she crested the top she saw him.  He stood at the bottom of
a twenty foot slope where the water gently fell from one rocky pool to the next
before reaching the bed of river rock below.  The stream was about fifteen feet
wide, but shallow at the bottom.  The water was incredibly clear, and you could
see the river rocks as if they were only inches below the surface.  The bank
was lush with ferns and moss.  Burke stood in water just below his knees.  He
wore only his shorts, God help her.  His boots, socks, and t-shirt were in a
haphazard pile a little further downstream where the river rock was dry and ran
a short way up the bank.

Burke looked
up at her and smiled.  “Why hello there,” he said.

“Hello
yourself,” Ella smiled back at him.  She looked at her watch “Ugh,” she said,
“it took me almost two and a half hours to find you!”

Ella agilely
jumped from one rock to another making her way down to Burke.

“Two hours,”
Burke said, “you’re not being fair to yourself if you count my twenty minute
head start.”

I’m not
going to tell him how I screwed up,
she thought.

“You were
worth the wait.” He smiled at her as she reached the bottom.  “Do you want to
go swimming?” he asked.

“Go
swimming?  It’s what, two feet deep?”  Ella laughed nervously.  Lord, he looked
gorgeous standing there all lean and muscular with nothing on but his cargo
shorts. 

“It’s
actually about chest deep right at the base of the falls.” Burke pointed toward
where the water cascaded over the rocks, trying to sound convincing.

Ella just
kept right on smiling at him.

“Okay, it’s
more like get wet than actually swimming,” he said.

His smile
was making her belly do little flips; that smile and him standing in the water
with his shirt off.  Screw it.  Hadn’t she just been thinking that they were
obviously attracted to one another, and they should quit dancing around it? 
Now here we go, getting wet together at this breathtakingly picturesque site…
wonder where that might lead.  Ella walked over to where Burke had left his
shirt and shoes.  She sat down and took off her own shoes and socks, adding
them to the pile.  Peeking at him from the corner of her eye, she confirmed
that he was watching her.  Without a word she stood up and took off her shirt
and shorts.  She walked past him in her light blue lacy bra and matching low
cut boy short panties. 
Whose belly is doing flips now?
She thought to
herself.  She waded past him and went close to the rocks where the falling
water could run over her.

“You’re
right, it is almost chest deep,” she said as she stood to her full height.  The
water splashed an inch or so below her breasts, which were now clearly visible
through the wet lace of her bra.

Ella
mentally urged him to make the next move.  She knew that no matter what he did,
she would remember this very moment of anticipation for the rest of her life,
even if she did live to be six hundred years old.  The sound of the water
cascading over the rocks, the sunlight filtering through the trees; it was
perfect.  Was the chilly water to blame for the goose bumps forming on her
skin, or was it the way he was looking at her?  And then, Burke showed her just
how fast a healer could move.

He was by
her side in what seemed like less than a second.  Her face was in his hands,
and he was kissing her hungrily.  He was both gentle and exquisitely rough at
the same time.  He pulled at her lower lip with his teeth, and then his tongue
found hers.  He kissed her face, her neck, and her shoulder before claiming her
mouth again.  He was frantic with desire.

“Ella…,” he
whispered as he pulled her against him.

With one
hand already behind her shoulders, he reached under the water and caught her
behind the knees.  He picked her up and cradled her against his chest as he
carried her over to the dry rock.  Before laying her down, he grabbed his
t-shirt and placed it under her head.  As he kissed her again, Ella closed her
eyes and became lost in sensations she knew would never have been possible such
a short time ago when she was human.  It was as if every nerve ending had
become ten.  Burke’s lips were so soft against hers, and as his tongue again
found hers she tasted… what was it?  Honeysuckle.  He tasted like warm sweet
honeysuckle on a perfect summer day.

Ella felt
Burke’s hands move across her breasts.  When had he unhooked her bra?  Who
cared?  She was lost, spinning in the most wonderful way.  Wanting to savor
every moment, but becoming lost in her excitement, Ella sat up and pushed Burke
back against the rocks.  She kissed his face, his neck, his chest then down his
stomach.

“Mother of
All, help me,” Burke moaned as he pulled Ella back into his arms and rolled her
beneath him.

He kissed
her mouth again, more slowly this time.  He took both of her hands and held
them above her head.  Taking her breast into his mouth, he first teasingly
licked then sucked and gently pulled at her nipple.  Ella arched her back,
wordlessly begging him not to stop.  Releasing her breast, Burke kissed her
again.  Then he looked her in the eyes, reached down, and slid his hand under
the edge of her wet panties.  Never breaking eye contact and still holding her
hands above her head, he let his fingers lightly trace her soft, warm folds.

“Take them
off,” she whispered to him.  Burke let go of Ella’s wrists and slid her panties
down over her hips and legs.  He gently pushed open her thighs and just sat
there looking at her for a moment.

“You are
truly the most beautiful creature I’ve ever beheld on this world or any other,”
he whispered.

She lay
before him transfixed as he stroked and explored her most intimate secrets. 
She ran her fingers through his hair as he leaned forward to explore with his
tongue where his fingers had been only seconds earlier.  Ella ran her hands
over his shoulders as his mouth pulled and teased.  She could feel herself
swelling with desire and let her hips rise when he slipped his fingers inside
of her.  He was pushing her to the edge, and she became desperate to slow him,
not wanting his objective to be met without taking him with her.