Tyler's Story (Tales of Quelondain) (17 page)

A man walked by them, close enough to Heidi that she
took a step backward. John noticed another man making his way
toward them.

“It looks like Gerald is on his way to say hello,
Heidi.”

She looked toward the path and saw the six foot tall
black haired Maj John was talking about. His light blue eyes met
hers and he smiled. Her heart dropped then jumped as Tyler touched
her shoulder and pulled her back against him. She leaned back into
his chest, noticing how solid he felt and how strong his arms were
as they wrapped loosely around her shoulders.

“No worries.”

Heidi jumped at the sound of his voice beside her
ear. It wasn’t that she was scared of Gerald. He was a nice enough
man. He’d asked her out for drinks a couple of times and had taken
the news well when she’d told him she wasn’t interested. The only
thing that made her uneasy was the fact that he still insisted on
hanging around and showing up at Trista’s to see her. She wasn’t
sure if he was still interested, or just a nice guy.

Tyler rested his chin on the top of her head. “Good
evening, Gerald.”

Gerald took a second to take in the scene before him
then smiled a genuine smile. “Good evening, Tyler, Heidi.” He
nodded to them and to John and Trista. “It’s going to be a
beautiful evening, I think.”

Tyler smiled and straightened, but kept his arms
around Heidi. “It does look that way.” He glanced at the cloud free
sky and noticed the Burries gathering. “Heidi, look up.”

She gazed up in awe as six Burries flew back and
forth over the lines that hung from the poles, dropping handfuls of
sparkling dust from the pouches on their belts. In unison, they
flew to the center pole and flew straight up into the air. Heidi
could hear them chanting in a language she didn’t understand. They
all grabbed one last handful of dust and let it drop toward the
watching spectators. The instant the dust touched the lines, they
started to glow and the beach lit up.

“Oh my god, that’s unbelievable!” Heidi looked back
at Tyler and grinned. He smiled.

“It is.”

She turned back around and leaned into him, her hands
on his arms. John gave them a small shake of his head, took
Trista’s hand and headed for the booths.

“Drinks?” he asked them.

Tyler nodded. “Please.”

Gerald excused himself to go find his brother. The
band started up and soon the beach under the glowing strings was
covered in dancers. Heidi tapped her foot to the beat. John
reappeared with the drinks and everyone sipped and watched as the
colourful dresses swirled around. The song ended and the beat
picked up.

Heidi glanced back at Tyler, trying not to notice how
solid he felt against her back. “Can you teach me the steps?”

Tyler’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “I’d love
to, but I don’t know them.”

“You don’t dance at all?”

“I’ve never had to learn how.”

Gerald had made his way back to their side. “Would
you mind if I showed her?”

“Not at all.” He took her drink and watched as they
made their way to the dance area. Heidi’s light blue dress swayed
with the movement of her hips as she let Gerald lead her expertly
through the crowd. Gerald said something to her and she laughed.
Her dress moved with her, flowing with her movements. The soft glow
of the lines lightened the color of her hair, made her skin
pale.

Trista watched him watching her, saw the usually hard
look in his eyes soften and noticed his mouth curl up slightly. The
moment was so personal, Trista felt as though she was intruding.
She pulled on John’s hand and he smiled down at her.

“Do you want to dance, Love?”

She grinned and the two of them joined the rest of
the dancers. The song ended, a new one started, and Heidi smiled
and nodded as another man asked her to dance. She glanced in
Tyler’s direction and he smiled. Her grin widened then was lost
from sight as the blond man turned her in a different direction. He
took a sip of his sloan, content to stay apart from the crowd. Two
songs later, she finally made her way back to him, her chest
heaving from the fast beat of the last one. He handed over her
sloan and watched as she finished it in three long swallows. She
looked up at him, her face flush. He tucked her hair behind her ear
and placed his lips softly on her forehead.

“Would you like another drink?”

“I’d hold off on the drinks if I were you, Tyler.”
John was frowning as he made his way back, Trista looking back over
her shoulder worriedly.

“What happened?” Heidi looked toward the dance
floor.

John shook his head. “The last man you danced with,”
he looked to Trista for his name.

“Blair.”

“Blair. He was talking with his friends afterward.
Just as we were walking past, he said something along the lines
that he was sure the two of you were putting on an act and he was
going to call you on it.”

Tyler growled low in his throat and all of the
darkness returned to his eyes.

“Why does he care?” Heidi glared in the man’s
direction.

John shrugged. “Jealous? I don’t know.”

Tyler met Blair’s gaze. His jaw clenched and Heidi
put a hand on his arm.

“Tyler!” Heidi tried to stop him as he motioned with
his head to the other man. “You don’t have to do anything!” He
looked down at her and her heart jumped in her chest.

He took a few deep breaths. “Heidi.” He cupped her
face and ran his thumb over cheek. “I’m just going to talk to him.
He wants to know if we’re mated, I’ll tell him we are, and all will
be fine.”

She wasn’t sure if it was the drinks, she was sure
she hadn’t had that much to drink, but she leaned her face into his
touch and closed her eyes.

“It doesn’t matter.” She forced her eyes open and
looked into his deep brown ones.

“Of course, it does. He’s questioning your honour,
and mine.” By the moons, he had to stop touching her. How many
drinks had he had?

“It still doesn’t matter. We’ll be gone tomorrow.
Good god, Tyler, do you really want to go fight over something
that’s the truth? We are lying about being together.”

He searched her grey green eyes and what he saw in
them shocked him. It wasn’t the heat that surprised him; the moons
knew he was feeling it too. It was the fear. She was scared. He
blinked and straightened. He glanced around and saw that they were
alone. He frowned, taking a step back, his head cocked to the
side.

“You’re scared of me.” It wasn’t a question.

Heidi almost stumbled as the feel of his hands left
her face. “I…” She swallowed hard. “No… yes… I mean… I…” Her heart
sank as he turned and headed up the trail that led back to Harring;
the same trail Blair had taken. She hiked her dress up and ran
after him. She watched as he took his jacket off.

“Tyler!”

If he heard her, he ignored her. She made it to the
top of the hill in time to see Blair turn toward Tyler. Tyler never
slowed. He closed the distance between them with four long strides.
Blair’s eyes widened with surprise and he had no time to react as
Tyler’s fist connected with his face. Heidi watched as Tyler
continued toward town without missing a beat. She stopped by Blair
who was lying on the ground, his nose spurting blood.

“Are you happy now?” she screamed at him before
running after Tyler. She slowed to a walk at the sight of him
throwing his jacket onto a large rock before shifting into his
wolf. He turned off the trail and disappeared into the woods.

She swallowed hard and brushed the tears from her
cheeks. What had just happened? Stupid Blair! This was all his
fault. A sob shook her frame. No, it wasn’t. This would have
happened regardless, probably sooner than later. She couldn’t help
herself. Anytime she was around Tyler, all she wanted was to touch
him. She’d wait impatiently for the feel of his hand on her arm; of
his arms around her when he’d hug her. Ugh! What was wrong with
her? She had a boyfriend! She loved Blake! And yet, it was Tyler
she dreamed of; his touch she craved.

She went to her room, swore when she couldn’t reach
the laces on the back of her dress, and stared at the bed. Her gaze
wandered to the window and she looked up at the two moons before
scanning the woods. Maybe he’d beat her home. She made her way to
his room, but wasn’t really surprised to find it empty. She lay on
his bed and started to cry.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tyler walked into his room and stopped short. Heidi
lay on her side, her face partially hidden by her hair, her dress
spread out over his blankets. He leaned against the door frame and
took a deep breath. By the moons, the woman was confusing. If she
was scared of him then what in the world was she doing in his bed?
The hurt he’d felt when he’d realized how she felt returned. How
could she be scared of him? After everything they’d been through
together… The throbbing in his head intensified. He let his belt
drop to the ground, pulled his tunic over his head and lay with his
back to her, the headache he’d been hoping would stay away erupting
full force. He groaned and held his head. He jumped at the feel of
Heidi’s fingers pushing his out of the way. She ran them through
his hair and massaged his temple. Not getting the angle she needed
to do both sides of his head, she sat up and rearranged herself so
that his head lay on her lap.

A growl rose up his throat as the pain intensified
and tears managed to make their way out of his eyes even though
they were squeezed shut.

“What can I do? What do you need?” Heidi whispered
the questions for fear of making the pain worse.

“Nothing.” The word was hard to understand as he
pushed it out past clenched teeth. She brushed the hair out of his
eyes and he flinched.

She let her hands fall to her sides, simply letting
the headache run its course. He let out a sound somewhere between a
growl and a sob before turning so that his face was buried in her
lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist, his tears soaking into
her dress.

When the headache finally passed, the only thing he
could manage was to loosen his hold on her. Heidi felt him relax
and slipped out of his arms, replacing her legs with a pillow. She
tried to reach the laces on the back of her dress with the same
results as the first attempt. With an exasperated sigh, she lay
back down. Tyler’s hand trailed up her back and she shivered.

He opened one eye to make sure he had the right lace,
pulled open the bow, and proceeded to loosen the lacing all the way
down her back.

“There’s a clean tunic on the floor on your side of
the bed.”

She started to wiggle free of the dress and was
forced to stop. “Tyler?”

“I’m not looking.”

“That’s not it. I… it’s not loose enough.” She felt
the bed move as he got up with a groan and knelt behind her.

He started from the top once again, this time pulling
the back of the dress wide apart. The sight of her bare back
through the dark blue satin lacing was enough to force a deeper
groan out of him.

“Are you ok? Is it your head?”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s my head.” He lay back down and
closed his eyes. He heard her pull the dress off, felt her move to
put on his tunic, then put his arm around her without thinking
about it as she lay back down. She reached back and ran her hand
through his hair.

“Is your head ok?”

“It is.” He pressed his lips to her hair.
“Heidi…”

“Tyler, stop. You need to let me finish explaining.
You ran off before I could.” She turned and couldn’t help but trace
the scar on his chest. His hand caught hers and placed it on his
hip. “You’re right, Tyler. I am scared of you. I am scared of you
on so many levels I’m not sure I can explain it.” She looked up
into his deep brown eyes and her throat tightened at the hurt she
had caused.

“I know I don’t know much about you, but I know
you’ve lost a great deal. I can tell you’re angry about that.
Sometimes, you get this look in your eyes… like you’re seconds away
from killing something. It scares me. At first I thought it might
be a wolf thing, but it isn’t. I’ve been around this pack long
enough to see this is you.”

He let go of her hand and placed his on her
waist.

“You scare me because you almost died for me. You
barely know me and yet you keep risking yourself for me. You were
in a coma for two months and now you get these horrible headaches
and it’s all because of me.” She put her finger on his lips so he
wouldn’t interrupt. She closed her eyes at the feel of his fingers
running through her hair.

“You scare me because of what you do to me.” She ran
her thumb over his stubbled jaw. “You touch me and I don’t want you
to stop. I go to bed at night and wonder what you’d do if I knocked
on your door and came to your bed. I wonder how it would feel if…”
She shivered as his fingers left her hair, trailed down her back
and along her thigh before moving back up again. “God, Tyler, I
want you so badly it makes me want to forget about my life over
there; makes me want to stay here with you.”

Tyler groaned and pulled her close. “By the moons,
Heidi…” He ran his lips lightly over her face.

“I need to know if you feel the same way.”

His lips stopped on her shoulder where he kissed her
lightly. “I do. If you only knew how much I do.”

“But…” Her hand ran over his stomach and up his
chest.

“But I can’t ask you to give up your life for me. You
belong there, Heidi.” He pulled back and cupped her face lightly in
his hands. “You need to go back.” He wiped fresh tears from her
cheeks with his thumbs. He licked his lips and swallowed hard. “For
as happy as it would make me, I can’t ask you to stay.” He kissed
her forehead and hugged her close.

Heidi buried her face in his chest and wrapped her
arms around him. He was right, wasn’t he?

Chapter Seven