Read The Keeping Online

Authors: Nicky Charles

Tags: #romance, #suspense, #paranormal, #supernatural, #werewolves, #sequel

The Keeping (9 page)

BOOK: The Keeping
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Chapter 6

Mel opened her
eyes and blinked, momentarily confused. Where was she? Her dumpy,
little apartment in Chicago? No, that was last week. This week she
was in Canada, looking for that photographer. She’d driven to Stump
River and rented a cabin and then... Oh damn! She sat up quickly
and immediately regretted it, clutching her head as it throbbed in
protest.

“I wouldn’t move
that fast if I were you.” A deep, sexy voice spoke to her right and
she turned her head to see who owned it.

“Ow!” Her head
protested again and she grasped it in her hands, propping her
elbows on her knees. It seemed too much of an effort to hold her
head up unsupported. The recent events, which had resulted in her
present pain, came rushing back to her, sending a jolt of fear
through her system. A quick inventory revealed that her head
appeared to be the only area of damage and her body slumped in
relief.

“See? I told you
not to do that.” The voice laughed dryly and she was immediately
annoyed that this person, whoever he was, found her pain amusing.
Squinting, she stared across the room trying to get a good look at
the fellow. Unfortunately, the angle of the bright light entering
through the window cast him in a shadow and she only could see his
outline.

“Sorry. I don’t
usually take advice from complete strangers.” Mel replied
sarcastically, thinking the man must be a total jerk. She had just
survived an animal attack and was suffering from a head injury, for
heaven’s sake! Where was the sympathy she deserved?

“You don’t talk to
strangers? Aww... What a good little girl you are.” He mockingly
praised her using a tone of voice most often associated with young
children. Then, without warning, he switched to a harder, more
accusing, form of speech. “Too bad you don’t follow the rules when
it comes to wandering onto someone’s land, completely ignoring the
‘No Trespassing’ signs.”

She didn’t respond
for a moment, recalling how she’d removed the sign so that she
could claim ignorance of its existence. Well, in for a penny, in
for a pound; she’d try to bluff her way through this. “I didn’t see
any sign. Where was it?”

“Right on the gate
that blocked the driveway you walked down.”

“Really? Hmm... I
didn’t notice it. Maybe it fell off.” She concentrated on brushing
some dust from her pants to avoid looking his direction.

“And maybe it had
some help from you.”

Mel gave a
non-committal shrug and kept silent. He continued on in the nasty,
mocking tone he seemed to favour.

“And of course,
the six foot high
locked
gate, didn’t give you any clue that
you should stay out?”

“Not really.” She
cast a saccharine sweet smile in his direction. “Though, of course,
if there’d been a sign stating that there were vicious dogs roaming
free, I would have been more cautious.”

“Dogs? Those
weren’t dogs. They were wolves and you’re lucky they didn’t rip you
to shreds.” He sounded quite pleased to deliver that piece of
news.

Mel swallowed
hard. She’d had a sneaking suspicion they weren’t dogs, but thought
she’d throw the idea out, just in case. If the man owned dogs that
were out of control, she could always threaten to sue him, if he
got nasty about her trespassing. Now, with that gone, she had to
acknowledge how much danger she really had been in. Guilt and a ton
of regret for her impulsive actions also came into the mix. She
knew she should have gone back to town and tried to make a proper
appointment with Taylor, rather than sneaking up on him. Her
college instructors would berate her over this stunt, if they ever
heard about it.

Sitting up a bit
straighter, Mel faced the mystery man head on, thinking she should
try to smooth things over a bit, for the sake of the interview she
hoped to get. Before she could even open her mouth, everything got
a bit dark and her vision blurred. Feeling the blood drain from her
face, she clutched the cushion she sat on and closed her eyes until
her equilibrium settled. Damn, but this wasn’t going at all the way
she planned. Like many of her ideas, it had seemed like a good one
at the time. She was supposed to be confidently walking up to Ryne
Taylor’s house, knocking on his door, and coolly requesting an
interview. Taylor's surprise at her unexpected presence would have
had him immediately agreeing to her request.

Instead, she
knocked herself out and wound up talking to this ill mannered
person, whoever he was. At least he wasn’t Taylor. From the way
everyone spoke, the photographer was a bit of a lady’s man and
likely had smooth banter down to a science. Unlike someone else,
she added, glaring towards the chair housing her tormentor.

He must be one of
the people who lived with Taylor. Good lord, how did the
photographer put up with this fellow’s sarcastic attitude? She’d
only known him for less than five minutes and already wanted to
smack him. True, she shouldn’t have trespassed, but he needn’t be
so nasty about it.

“Hey, are you all
right?” The man leaned forward, possibly concerned over her sudden
pallor.

“Yeah—” Mel
flicked a glance his way and stiffened in shock. His change in
position had brought his face out of the shadows and he was visible
for the first time. Mel was sure her eyes were playing tricks on
her. Before her sat one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever seen.
Messy black hair hung across his forehead, while a day’s worth of
stubble darkened his jaw line. Deep blue eyes, a straight nose, and
a firm mouth completed the picture. Sexy and dangerous were the two
words that immediately sprang into her mind as she gazed at
him.

A second reason
for her surprise was that he was almost a carbon copy of Kane, the
husband of the waitress at the Grey Goose. Mel had only seen Kane
briefly, but he’d left a definite impression on her. The man before
her had different coloured eyes and his voice was different, but
otherwise the two men were very similar; they had to be brothers or
at least first cousins. Narrowing her eyes, Mel began to connect
the dots and an unnerving thought came to mind. Was this man that
she was verbally sparring with, Ryne Taylor? No, he couldn’t be.
Elise’s name tag had declared her surname was Sinclair and she
seemed like the type to assume her husband’s surname; Kane
Sinclair’s brother would be a Sinclair as well, wouldn’t he? But
then again, there was always the possibility... She sighed heavily
and decided she’d best find out. Starting the introductions, she
stated her name.

“I’m Melody
Greene.”

He ignored the
implicit social norm that would have him supplying his name in
return and glowered at her. “And why, Melody Greene, were you
traipsing all over this property?”

“I wasn’t
traipsing all over, just walking down the driveway. And I’m here
because I want to talk to Ryne Taylor.”

A nod was the only
response she got. Not even an eyelash flickered.

Under her breath,
she cursed him. Was he, or wasn’t he, Ryne Taylor? His reaction
certainly gave no clue either way.

“Why do you want
to talk to him?”

Mel noted the use
of the word ‘him.’ Ah-ha! So this person wasn’t Taylor. She
considered answering his question truthfully, but decided that, no
matter how sexy he might be, she didn’t want to share anything with
the man. He was just too damn annoying. If he wasn’t willing to
even provide his name, then she wasn’t going to give away any extra
information either. For all she knew, he even might try to sabotage
her attempts to talk to the photographer out of pure spite. “That’s
between the two of us.” She added a bit of a mysterious smile and
watched with satisfaction as the man’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
Make what you want of that, she thought to herself.

Abruptly the man
stood and switched topics. “It’s time for you to go.”

“Pardon?” The
sudden change left her feeling confused.

“You need to
leave. I trust you can make it back to your car by yourself?”

“Well, yes.
But...”

He merely extended
his arm towards the doorway.

A wave of temper,
at his cavalier dismissal, washed over her and she knew her cheeks
were flushing. “Fine.” She snapped the word out. Spying her purse
lying near her feet, she snatched it and jumped up, only to stagger
as her head once again protested the sudden change in
elevation.

A gusty sigh
filled the room as the man reluctantly caught her and steadied her
on her feet. “Obviously, you’re in no shape to operate a vehicle. I
suppose I’ll have to drive you home.” With that, he scooped her up
in his arms without even so much as a ‘by your leave’ and walked
out of the house.

Mel knew her mouth
was opening and closing like a fish gasping for air, but she
couldn’t begin to formulate the words needed to express
sufficiently both her surprise and indignation. Finally, choosing
the direct route, she issued a succinct command. “Put me down!”

“No.” He didn’t
even look at her and continue to stride down the driveway, his long
legs covering the ground at an astonishing pace.

“Let me go!” She
struggled, pushing against his chest. He merely tightened his grip.
Doubling her efforts, she began bucking and kicking her legs. It
made her head throb, but at least he took notice and stopped
walking. “Thank you. Now put me down.”

“You aren’t steady
enough on your feet to walk the length of the driveway at the speed
I want you to go. Nor are your boots suitable for walking on
gravel. Now be still, before I throw you over my shoulder. Hanging
upside down won’t do your head any good, but if that’s what it
takes...” He began to shift his grip on her and Mel had no doubt
he’d make good on his threat.

“Fine.” Crossing
her arms, she pointedly stared straight ahead, gritting her teeth
when she felt his chest quiver against her body. He was laughing at
her!

The rest of the
journey passed silently. It was strange how quickly he covered the
distance, the scenery seeming to fly by her. Probably, it was an
after effect of hitting her head. Her visual perception was likely
a bit off.

They finally
arrived at the gate and he set her down. Reaching into his pocket,
he pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the gate, relocking it
after they’d passed through. He looked at her rental car and then
at her. His hand extended, implicitly asking for the keys. Mel
rolled her eyes, but dug them out and handed them over, quite sure
that he would have no compunction about taking her purse and
rifling through it, if she refused.

Stalking over to
the car, she got into the passenger side, put on her seatbelt, and
folded her hands in her lap. The annoying man followed at a much
slower pace, climbing in, adjusting the seat and mirror, before
finally putting the key in the ignition.

“Where are you
staying?”

“At the Kennedys’.
I’ve rented a cabin from them. If you turn left—”

“I know where they
live.” He answered shortly, his lips pressed together, forming a
tight line.

After that, the
rest of the ride passed by in an uncomfortable silence. When they
finally arrived at her temporary home, Mel barely waited to get the
keys from him, before jumping out of the vehicle, eager to be away
from the exasperating man. She grabbed the bag of groceries from
the back seat of the car and hurried towards the cabin, but a
sudden thought had her stopping and reluctantly turning around. He
was leaning against the car watching her, an enigmatic expression
on his face.

“Umm... How are
you getting home?”

“Don’t worry about
it. I can get a ride if I need one.”

“Oh...” As much as
it irked her to do it, her mother had raised her with manners.
“Thanks for driving me home.”

“It was the
easiest way to get rid of you.”

The smirk on his
face washed away all her good intentions and she snapped out an
angry retort. “You have to be the rudest man I have ever
encountered.”

He grinned and
dipped his head in acknowledgement. “Thanks. I try my best.”

“And you certainly
succeed! I’m eternally grateful that this is the last time I’ll
have to see you.”

“Really? After
tearing down that sign, climbing the gate, walking almost half a
mile, and facing a pair of wolves, you’re giving up on me?”

“What?” She had a
sinking feeling in her stomach.

“I’m Ryne Taylor,
Melody Greene.”

Mel felt her mouth
drop open then she snapped it shut and quickly turned away fighting
for composure. Why did these things always happen to her? Yes, the
man was being purposely aggravating but she still needed to work
with him. She slowly shook her head in despair, completely at a
loss as to how she’d repair the damage. Pasting a conciliatory look
on her face, she turned around and opened her mouth to begin to
say...something, though she didn’t know what....only to gasp. He
was gone!

Looking up and
down the road, she couldn’t see a single trace of him. What the...?
Turning in a circle, she scanned the area. Nothing was in sight,
except what appeared to be a large black dog...or maybe another
wolf...running through the woods behind the cabin.

All too wary of
canines due to her recent encounter, Mel wasted no time hurrying
into the cabin. As she slammed the door shut, she was thankful that
she’d changed her plans earlier on and bought groceries before
going to Taylor’s. There was no way she was going outside again.
She’d had enough encounters with animals for one day, thank you
very much. Taylor, wherever he was, was on his own!

*****

Ryne headed for
home, loping through the woods and enjoying the chance for a run.
The exercise was clearing the alcohol residue from his body and the
cobwebs from his brain, though there weren’t too many of those left
after his encounter with Ms. Melody Greene. She was an impudent
little thing; trespassing on his property and then insinuating that
he had vicious animals on his land, trying to twist events around
so it became his fault she ran into a tree. No doubt, she’d
probably try to threaten him with a law suit.

BOOK: The Keeping
3.2Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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