Healing Fire (2 page)

Melor ducked one lightning bolt as it
whizzed by his ear narrowly missing his head and hitting the weapons locker
behind him, blowing it into a million pieces. He dived and rolled to avoid a
flying dagger. He jumped to his feet, right on the edge of the violent portal.
His arms cart-wheeled as the ground continued to shake, but he was too far off
balance; he tumbled backwards into the darkness.

~ * ~

Summer Rose gritted her teeth, breathing
through the pain in her right leg. Just another typical day. She really needed
more painkillers but knew she shouldn't take any for another two hours.

She wanted to curse a blue streak and
rage at the flat tire, instead she stretched her back and wiped the sweat
beading on her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Mom, you okay?"

Summer glanced up at Blossom, and her
sole reason for living. "I'm okay, baby. I'll have it changed soon."

"Is there anything I can do to
help?" She'd been asking that same question for the past hour as Summer
struggled to change the flat tire.

The sun was setting and the Humboldt
Redwood Forest Road could be treacherous at night with wildlife deciding to
cross the road at any given time.

Summer struggled to keep a clear head.
With a final shove, the awkward tire slid into place on the wheel bolts.

"Ha! Take that Mr. Simmons!"

"Who's Mr. Simmons?"

"My high school teacher, baby. He
used to tell us girls were no good as mechanics."

"Mom you
are
no good with
mechanics." Her cheeky seven-year-old daughter grinned.

Summer chuckled, gazing over Blossom's
long soft, sandy brown hair. So much like her father's, but she had Summer's
grey blue eyes. Big and wide with lovely long lashes. From the moment she held her
baby girl in her arms and saw her big eyes, she knew her daughter would grow up
to be a heartbreaker.

She spun the bolts before using the
tire iron to tighten them firmly. Pleased with her success, she pumped the jack
to ease the car back onto the road. She wiped her dirty hands on her jeans and
climbed to her knees, but could no longer ignore the painful throbbing in her
right leg.

"Mom?"

"My pills baby, can you get them
please?" To hell with waiting another two hours, she needed pain relief
now.

Blossom scurried around in the front
seat of their truck.
 

Most days she was good, but when she
over-exerted her leg muscles, the pain deepened. Summer leaned against the car,
drawing in slow breaths of mountain air.

"Here Mom." Blossom placed
the two pills into the palm of Summer's hand. She threw them back, gladly
accepting the bottled water from her daughter, taking several long gulps.

It was days like this Summer wished
she'd listen to her mother and catch the next flight back to Australia.

She shook her head. This was still
Tyler's country, the place of their daughter's birth. She would honor him by
doing what she believed he would want.

"Thanks, baby." Summer
smiled at Blossom.

Blossom leaned in, wrapping her arms
around Summer. She breathed in her daughter's soft fresh scent of the floral
shampoo they used at home.

"C'mon my little Koala, let's
head home."

Blossom helped throw the jack and tire
iron into the trunk before climbing in and buckling up their seatbelts. It wasn't
long before they moved along the well known road towards home. They were five
miles outside of Fortuna, on the outskirts of Humbodt Redwood Forest.

Summer listened to her daughter talk
about the pony one of her girl-guide friends owned.

Summer home-schooled Blossom, but
still went into town three times a week letting her daughter interact and play
with kids her own age.

"White as snow, Mom. I'd love a
pony like that."

Summer
hid her smile at Blossom's pleading tone. She kept her eyes on the road as it
wound round the next bend.

"You know as well I do, we can't
keep a horse or a pony. They require a lot of care, and you know I can't do
much, baby."

Blossom sighed. "I know."

Summer's heart ached, wishing she
could give in to her wants and desires, but Summer was physically limited with
what she could do.

A sudden streak of lightning tore
through the sky making Summer and Blossom glance upwards.

"Wow, Mom. Did you see that?"

"Strange, I didn't see any sign
of a storm earlier. I can still see the stars."

Summer jumped when bright blue and
white lightning sparked from above. Blossom screamed in fright as a large dark
figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the road out of nowhere.

She slammed on the brakes. Wheels
squealed as the car skidded across the road. A loud
thump.
Summer's
stomach pitched as everything came to a standstill. Her whole body shook. Her
hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly her fingers burned in pain. The
pounding of her heart thrummed in her ears, as her memories came back of
herself screaming desperately, trying to get to Tyler's broken body crushed
under six tons of twisted burning metal. The metallic taste of blood in her
mouth, the smoke choking her lungs, for a moment suddenly she was back there
again.

"Mom?"

Summer choked back a sob, turning to
examine her daughter. Trembling, she fumbled with her seat belt before reaching
for Blossom and pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Oh God baby, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom, let go. You're
crushing me," Blossom's voice muffled against her chest. She pulled back
letting her daughter breathe. Summer sucked in air through her nose, letting it
out through her mouth, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I'm okay, but I think we hit
something."

"I know, stay in the car.
Hopefully it's just a deer, or a smaller animal."

From the shadow, Summer could have
sworn it was a person rather than an animal. She prayed she was wrong. Sucking
in a deep breath, she opened her door, easing her feet onto the ground.

Using her car to lean on, she inched
around the truck. The dim light of the vehicle's interior, cast light on the
figure. She limped forward before sinking to her knees beside the huge man who
lay in the middle of the road.

"Good God, Mister. Where the hell
did you come from?" She touched his shoulders gently.

He
let out a pained groan, his eyes fluttered open for just a moment, before
closing again. "Kell," mumbled his deep rich voice. "Must go
home..."

"Mister, you're in Humboldt
Redwood Forest. Were you hiking? Where's your home?"

Carefully she ran her hands over his
large muscular limbs searching for broken bones, ignoring the fact she
encountered what appeared to be a long sword attached to his thick belt. When
she reached his head, in the dim light she could just see the fine angle of his
jaw; sensual looking full lips. Instantly, she wanted to see what he looked
like in full light.

"Mister, I can't find anything
broken, but most definitely you've hit your head. Can you get up?"

Every part of the man's body went limp
as he slumped into unconsciousness. Good God, what was she going to do now? Her
limbs shook in panic, making her whole body ache.

Stay calm, think clearly.
She couldn't leave him here, nor could
she simply wait for someone to happen by. She had no choice but to move him;
she wasn't far from home.

"Mom, is he okay?" Blossom
hovered by the end of the truck.

"I hope so baby. Can you help me?
He's big and heavy. We need to get him home then call Doc Mableton."

Chapter
Two

"He has to be the most unusual
man I've ever examined. The irises of his eyes are very dark. I've never seen
anything like it. Must be some strange genetic anomaly. Damn he's big, six feet
seven's my guess. Whatever his mamma put in his breakfast as a kid made him
grow as big as one of our famous redwoods."

Summer hovered by the bathroom door as
Doctor Richard Mableton washed his hands after tending to the man she'd hit
with her car.

"But, he's going to be okay?"

"A few bruises, scratched from
where he and your car collided. Darn lucky if you ask me. He has a bit of a
bump on the head. I'd say mild concussion. He'll need to be watched carefully.
You want me to call an ambulance and take him to Redwood local?"

"No Doc. I hit him I'll take care
of him, unless you think he needs emergency care?"

Doctor Mableton gave a sharp shake of
his silver-haired head. "Better save on hospital bills. If you want to
watch him, go ahead. Call or bring him into the clinic if you or he have any
more concerns."

"I will. Thank you."

It was on the tip of her tongue to
tell the doctor about the sword and amazing crystal daggers she'd found on him,
now securely locked away in the gun safe. The man was huge and no doubt
dangerous. Still, she and Blossom had hauled him inside, laying him on the bed
in their spare room. She'd seen his face properly for the first time.

Sure there were attractive men in the
world, and California held a fair share of them including her husband. But this
man's raw masculine beauty amazed her. Tyler had been a clean cut American boy.
His big baby blues and dimples melted her heart from the moment she'd met him,
so many years ago.

But this stranger was different. She
couldn't stop staring at his lips, or his long nose. His eyes tilted slightly,
giving him an exotic aura. She ran her hand over his high cheekbone and along
the angle of his jaw, his skin smooth under her fingertips.

As for his body… oh my. She pealed off
his top layer searching for injuries before the doctor arrived. His upper body would
put the so called Hollywood hunks and muscle men to shame. His torso was divinely
sculptured, with a few roped lines. Tanned caramel skin reminded her of sweet
tasty fudge. The rounded muscles on his shoulders told Summer his arms were
strong. She wanted to trace over the dips and hollows of the amazing eight pack
of his lower stomach with her hands then follow up with her tongue.

She dared not venture any lower. If
the rest of him was in proportion to his upper half… She picked up his left
hand examining the small cut on the back. His large hand dwarfed hers. She ran
her fingers over his palm and along his fingers, feeling his rough calluses.
They were the hands of a man who obviously understood hard work.

Summer, startled by her lust-filled
thoughts, lay his hand down and grabbed the blanket to cover him up to his neck
before taking a step back.