Micah's Mate (Dark Sky)
Read Micah's Mate (Dark Sky) Online
Authors: Beverly Leahy
Micah’s
Mate
By:
Beverly Leahy
For Wes, for always encouraging my hair brained ideas, for always having a shoulder I could cry on and for never having any doubt I could make it through whatever crisis was currently happening. Your patience, kind words and naughty sense of humor has brought me out of my funk and made me laugh through my tears on numerous occasions. You are the best friend a girl could have.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
"What the hell?" Katlyn hit the brakes and felt the vehicle fishtail slightly as she tried to divide her view between the dark curvy road and the lights coming out of the sky. There were six in total; one that was very close and five more in the far distance that could barely be seen. These lights were oval shaped and slightly green in color with a hot pink tint toward the edges that turned to a blazing red outline. Squinting slightly she could see the closest one was a few miles in the air and dropping quickly. It was just above the thick line of pine trees up ahead but at the rate it was dropping it would soon fall out of site and hit the ground.
Finally, feeling the SUV shudder to a complete stop,
she quickly climbed out and searched the cloudless sky for the strange light again. Nothing; it was gone. Sighing, she stood there on the road a few minutes looking up at the black night and scanning the vastness for the now familiar green glow. She didn’t see what she was looking for but she found something else she had never seen; not a star could be seen. This far from town with no street lights to obscure the view there should have been a million twinkling lights in the sky above her but there was nothing; just a long empty blackness.
Katlyn hesitated; c
ome to think of it there was no noise either. Listening intently to the woods around her she realized that there were no crickets, no frogs, no night sounds of any kind; absolute silence. Take that with the blackness above and her surroundings had become very, very creepy. With an inward feeling of wrongness she just couldn't shake, Katlyn slowly climbed back into the SUV and headed for the secluded cabin.
The last five minutes of the quiet drive were spent glancing distractedly up at the sky and through the rear-view mirror for any sign that she wasn't losing her ever love'n mind. Coming to the cabin's dark driveway she pulled in and focused on the unused bumpy road. Whatever had been up there was now out of sight.
Katlyn p
ulled in front of the two story wooden cabin and jumped out grabbing her groceries as she went. She would feel better once she got in the house and locked the doors. A false sense of security never hurt.
Carrying the
two bags, she headed for the door and was almost immediately knocked down by the sudden tilting of the earth below her feet. Looking around for what could have caused the shudder from below she found nothing out of the ordinary. It must have been the massive object dropping through the sky; that was one huge impact. Gaining her balance she headed for the door twenty feet away without looking back, there would be others looking for what had caused that blast and she didn’t want to become part of it. Looking for little green men was not in her plans for the evening.
Her evening was going to be spent with a nice cold glass of red wine, a hot bubble bath, some music and a lot of relaxation. This was her first vacation in three years and darn it she was going to enjoy the next two weeks, not spend them chasing after E.T.
“2:00 am. Who the hel
l knocks on your door at 2am?” Katlyn muttered grumpily as she stumbled down the wooden stairs in an oversized button up shirt. She pushed her long curly brown hair over her shoulder in aggravation. “People are insane to be coming around at this time of night.” Yanking open the front door ready to give whoever was there a piece of her mind she paused as she found herself facing one very good looking man.
Every bit of 6' and solid he towered over
her 5' 6 frame. He had thick dark hair that needed a trim and sun darkened skin; but it was his eyes that held her captivated. They were a deep moss green and showed an age older than his years. What caught her attention was that his eyes were also very distant, very cold, and completely shielded. Immediately, the image of a shark came to mind; cold, distant, and deadly.
“Sorry to disturb you this late ma'am. We had a little disturbance earlier this evening and I thought it might be a good idea to check on the folks out this way.” Feeling his eyes scan her from head to toe she felt goose bumps rise up on her arms as if something just crawled over her grave. Defensively, she crossed her arms over her chest and took a step back. The way he was looking at her was boarding on offensive and Katlyn immediately became weary of him; uniform or no uniform.
“What kind of disturbance officer?” Katlyn leaned against the door jamb fighting off her anxiety and looked up into his cold eyes. Why in the world would he be going house to house six hours after the noise? It just didn't make any sense, there had to be more to this. Maybe they found one of those things or someone else may have seen it fall.
“Someone lighting explosives probably; surely you felt the vibration?” His eyes narrow slightly watching Katlyn intently. She realized he was wondering what she had seen and what she knew. For some reason telling him about the lights seemed like a very bad idea.
“I haven't seen anyone but I did feel the ground move earlier. That was around eight o'clock though, is there a reason you’re still going house to house? Was there something else that happened?” Katlyn looked at him guardedly; there was no way in this world she was going to explain to him that she saw an object fall from the sky. That would cause one of two reactions. One: he would think she was a nut case and call the men in the little white coats or two: he was digging for information on what had fallen and she would be a witness. Finding herself in either of those scenarios’s didn’t sound very good to her. She would either me on med’s by the end of the night or she would be someone’s science experiment.
Ignoring
her questions he continued, “If you do see anyone you don't know lurking around could you please give me a call? Here is my card, I'm Steven Carver.”
Katlyn
took the card he was handing her when what he said clicked. So, it was a person he was looking for. “I’ll do that officer.”
“And Miss.?” Steve looked at the pretty woman in front of him; she was a looker with legs that went on forever despite her small stature. What he wouldn’t give to get a hold of her for the night.
“Brooks; Katlyn Brooks” Katlyn looked up into those cold emotionless eyes one more time.
“Miss. Brooks; you may want to look before you open the door next time, not everyone will be one of the good guys.” He tipped his hat slightly with the tip of his finger and turned to go back down the steps. Katlyn watched him go and backed into the living room shutting the door. He may look like one of the good guys and dress like one of the good guys but for some reason she had the distinct impression that he was not what he appeared.
Setting his card on a side table she headed back up the stairs to bed yawning. Halfway up she hesitated; something else wasn't right. There was a feeling in the air as if it were charged with electricity and there was a distinct smell of ozone; as if it had rained heavily and the air had been cleansed.
Slowly,
Katlyn moved back down the stairs and began turning lights on as she moved toward the kitchen at the back of the house. The lights illuminated her path and made it a little less intimidating to continue through the house. The closer she got to the kitchen the more the hair on her arms was standing on end; it almost felt like a static charge was covering her skin. Rubbing her arms she continued forward through the house checking in the closets and bathroom as she went.
Finally making it to the back of the house she reached for the light nearest to the kitchen counter, this was the last one downstairs to turn on. If there wasn’t anything here she was going to feel mighty foolish over her bout of nerves.
S
he jumped back at the deep smoky voice that whispered next to her ear. “Don't.”
Katlyn squeaked in surprise as she felt arms as hard as steel fold around her from behind. “Let me go!” Kicking her legs to no avail considering she was now a foot off of the ground with her arms pinned to her side. Whoever this was he had just effectively trapped her against his chest.
“I will not harm you, stop.” The voice was like smooth whiskey and Katlyn felt an instant calmness come over her like a blanket. It was an eerie kind of calmness; one that she was not in control of. She knew that this wasn't right, that she should be anything but calm. But it was as if she had lost control over herself, over her reactions. Try as she might she couldn’t fight it, couldn’t get through it.
The man spoke softly
and calmly to her as she ceased to struggle against him, “That is good, relax yourself; I will not hurt you.” Micah felt her resistance against his mental hold and smiled. She was strong and obviously was not very receptive to what he was doing.
Katlyn felt herself being lowered gently and carefully to the ground. Turning, she looked up and found herself once again staring at a very tall, very good looking man. His long blonde hair was slightly past his shoulders, not something she usually liked, but on him it was down right sexy. He had a squared jaw that bespoke of stubbornness, high cheek bones, full lips and the deepest grey eyes she had ever seen. His eyes, like the policeman from earlier, were old beyond his years; what her grandmother would call an old soul. But in his there was an openness and a concerned kindness that had been lacking from Officer Carver's. He was also big; really big. He must have been over 6' 4’; trim with broad shoulders a narrow waist. He was the type of man any woman would look twice at if he were walking down the road.
“Are you unharmed?” His voice was still whiskey smooth but soft with concern.
Katlyn shivered and rubbed her arms, trying to free herself from the static feel. “I am fine. Who are you?”
“I am Micah. I am very sorry to disturb you here. I, however, will need to stay until the men in the forest leave. I vow, I will not harm you.” he glanced out the window at the retreating tail lights just viewable from the corner window. The man that had tracked him was leaving; how long he would stay gone was any ones guess. This area had seemed pretty remote from what he had seen as he landed; there couldn’t be very many placing for the man to search.
Turning back to the small woman in front of him he wondered what he was safe in saying. She was a tiny thing, exceptionally beautiful with long brown hair, big brown eyes and full, pouty lips.
Most importantly he could sense her emotions. Surely the Gods had not blessed him with what he was searching for so quickly. When had he ever been so lucky?
“Micah, who are you? How are you doing this to me?” Katlyn asked quietly. She still had the absolute calm feeling running through her but a thousand thoughts were running through her mind. Somehow she knew this calmness was coming from him, it had a false quality to it as if it were being projected over her instead of coming from her. It was as if she was feeling everything through a foggy haze and she wanted it gone.
Micah could feel her gently pushing against the mental hold he had on her; feeling with her mind trying to find a break or a weakness in it. He smiled to himself; she was turning out to be a real surprise. She might be calm on the outside but she was still fighting his control and doing a good job of it.
“I am sorry for this, but I cannot have you panic. I also cannot have that man find me here.” Micah hoped she would understand. “Having him come back would not only risk myself but you also, and I will not put you in any more danger than you are already in.”
“I don't panic, trust me.” Katlyn looked back at him, “Please? Okay, think about it rationally; what could I possibly do to you?” Katlyn mentally kicked herself at the look of amusement on his face. Okay, bad idea to call attention to the fact that he probably outweighed her by a hundred and fifty pounds and that he toward over her.
Great idea Kat, call attention to the fact that you are pretty much at his mercy.
She thought watching him carefully. For some reason he didn’t feel dangerous to her; well not physically anyway. She chuckled to herself, and how many women had thought that before they were murdered?
Sensing his hesitation Katlyn was surprised when she felt the invisible binds loosen their control.
“Thank you, Micah. Please sit; would you like something to drink?” Katlyn reached out and touched his arm trying to assure him that she meant him no harm.
Slowly, almost wearily, he perched on one of the stools at the kitchen island gave Katlyn an assessing look. She was very different than what he had expected. Anyone in their right mind would have bolted by now but she was calmly assessing him. She was a tough little thing and didn’t appear to be frightened.
Katlyn
lifted an eyebrow at the appraising look he gave her as he chuckled under his breath. That one defiant glance showed him that she had backbone. She, unlike the women of his land, would stand up to him and question his actions. He found he liked that thought. The women of his world had never held much appeal; always mild tempered, always agreeable. What man in his right mind would want someone that agreed to his every whim? This little thing in front of him had a hidden fire in her that even he could see.