Lynn Thompson's Blog, page 41

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 17:3

I left Max downstairs, went back to my office, pulled out my notes, and searched over them for anything I might have missed. After I scanned over them one last time I stuffed them into a drawer and locked it.

Could it be that some weird strain of Chameleon or other animal was injected into a human?

I began researching cloning on the Internet and soaked up the information like a sponge.

Cloning animals continued to be the next big thing in our generation. And now scientists are experimenting with stem cells. Many things are genetically modified with a special set of technologies that alter the genetic makeup of organisms, such as animals and plants.

Could this have been a every day experiment that went wrong?

According to Max this thing was highly dangerous.

Could he be an experiment the government or some other organization made for war?

We already used guns, knives, bombs, weapons of mass destruction, and much more. Not including biological warfare.

Didn’t we have enough ways to kill without creating new technology?

My mind wandered into conspiracy theory mode as I started to think about the secrets the government has covered up over the years. Not to mention the organizations that don’t really exist.

I chuckled under my breath, a major cover up would be in order if the psycho/thing decided to do some massive damage while  on the run.

The more I considered this new information I discovered, the less it surprised me. Most likely this creature was an experimental “Soldier.” It made sense; he was quick, deadly, not easily seen, and animals couldn’t sense him. What a scary theory. But then, I might be way off base, my imagination might be getting the better of me. The only way to find out would be to track it down myself.

I stepped into my closet and picked out some warm clothes. I stashed a knife and some extra bullets in the pockets of my jeans and hung everything up by some scarves. I wanted to be ready. I needed to be quick, quiet, and sneaky. Max wasn’t invited on this outing. I chuckled lightly, Max wouldn’t let me out of the house if he knew what I had planned.

I searched for my cell phone. Once I found it, I made sure it was fully charged. I placed it on the dresser and made a mental note not to forget it. I wasn’t sure if I’d have a signal where I was going. Hell, I wasn’t sure exactly where I was going, but it would be better to have it on me.

I rechecked everything before heading back downstairs for some food.

“Chase called. He’s on his way over with some Ruben Sandwiches from Bear’s grill and Killer.”

Drool formed in my mouth from the thought of Ruben’s. “Sounds good. Is he staying?”

“No, he doesn’t want the girls to disturb you and they’re wiped out.”

“Oh, okay,” this needed to end soon, “anything on getting a cure for me?”

Max’s glare made me wince.

“No, they’re giving me the run around, but I’m not going to stop trying.”

“I bet it’s an experimental drug and there’s no cure.”

“I hope your wrong.”

“Chase is here. Do you mind getting the door?”

Chase’s disappointment when Max opened the door unsettled me. Max scooped up the food and murmured something to Chase before closing the door again.

“Trina and Alexis are leaving in the morning and would like to cook breakfast for us as a thank you. Are you up for that?” Max asked, as he set our food down.

“I’ll have to be.” Their timing was perfect.

We sat down at the kitchen table and dug in.

“You seem to be a million miles away. What are you thinking about?” Max stuffed the last bite of the Ruben in his mouth and picked up the trash.

I slowly lifted my head trying to conceal the light blush on my cheeks and looked into his eyes.

“Ah, I’ve thought about that a few times too.”

“And that’s all it will ever be,” I sighed; especially if what I had planned worked, Max would hate me.

The heat from Max’s gaze bore through me, making my body sizzle. His steel gray eyes were silver at this moment. I could get lost in those eyes. I chuckled and grabbed my jacket and smokes. I’d probably heat up like this regardless of that awful shot. The longer I stayed around him the more attracted to him I became.

He followed me outside. “Anything?”

“No.”

“So you’re not going to deny it then?”

“Deny what?”

“That he’s the reason you keep coming out here.”

I shrugged my shoulders, keeping my back to him.

He closed the distance between us and wrapped his arms around me. It’s a good thing I hadn’t gotten around to putting my jacket on. I put up a mental shield, bracing myself for an on slot of emotions that never came. Max or I or both of us together were getting better at staying in control.

He bent down and whispered in my ear. “My next question is very important Montana. If he was even close to your property would you tell me?”

That was a question I wasn’t sure how to answer. I wouldn’t tell him, no, but I didn’t want him to know that. So instead I turned around in his arms and lightly kissed his lips, breaking his self control. He kissed me back deeply and thoroughly, sending a blast of electrical currents through every nerve ending in my body. I started to sweat, then whimpered. Too much fire raged between us. Max must have realized it also. He kept his hands on my arms to steady me and he pulled back. We stared at each other for a moment, taking in big gulps of air as our hearts slowed down to a semi-normal beat.

“I’m not going to tell you I’m sorry Montana, because I’m not.” His hands tightened into the flesh of my arms. “I want you and I will get a cure for you if I have to beat it out of them.”

I swallowed hard, removed myself from his death grip, leaned back against the railing, and searched around for my smokes. I lit one and handed them to Max, he unclenched his fists, taking them from me. After tomorrow night he would feel different. All I had to do was stay focused until then.

“You never answered my question. Would you tell me?”

“Maybe Max. He wants to kill you.”

“He won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He didn’t answer; instead he surveyed my property.

“He really isn’t here, maybe he moved on to bigger, better pastures?”

“One could only hope,” Max brushed the back of his hand over my cheek. “At least you would be safe.”

“Does that mean you’ll be leaving soon?”

“I’ll be here for a few more days. I want to make sure he’s not coming back. I need you to tell me if he returns.”

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 17:2

The constant battle with my lack of self control around Max was driving me crazy, and now I had Alexis and Trina to worry about. What was I thinking taking this on? I was worth a ton of money. I could buy a new house and go to the best doctors for a cure. Of course, the doctors might think I was crazy too, but still, I didn’t have to put myself through this. I pondered Rose, maybe she’d let me buy her a new house closer to Bear. And Chase, I’d really miss him, but he’d understand. I needed to keep my sanity. Max, well, I wasn’t ready for whatever chemistry ricocheted between us anyway.

“Montana,” Max said, gently touching my arm. “We can stay home if you want.”

I shook the doubts from my mind. I had to do this for me, I wouldn’t runaway. I also didn’t miss the fact Max called my house, home.

“No, I need some fresh air. Let me grab my stuff.”

We walked down to the barn in silence, passing a huge snowman dressed in a blond wig with blue eyes, black eyeliner, rosy cheeks, and red lips. Either Alexis, Trina or Chase sprayed gold buttons down the center of the snowman and thrown a purple scarf around its thick neck. Snow angel indentations surrounded the snowman. At least they were having fun, I thought, dispiritedly.

The girls had been busy. A wooden plaque with the name Hershey’s Kiss written in bold silver letters was mounted proudly in front of Chase’s horses stall. A slight grin touched my lips at the name, but quickly faded.

“Where do you want to ride?” Max asked, bringing his horse up next to mine.

“We’ll stick to the meadow today.”

He stayed close as we rode, watching me intently.

“What are you trying to accomplish?”

To use myself as bait. I didn’t tell Max that. It/he was out there somewhere. I could sense him, just barely. I hoped to draw him out of hiding by placing myself out in the open. He wasn’t biting. At least not today.

“Nothing Max, the outdoors helps center me more than anything else I’ve done so far.” I replied in a half truth.

“We should get you out a little more often then.”

After we returned to my house I went upstairs, changed clothes, and found a kick-boxing DVD. I stretched, ignoring Max, who sat on the couch watching me, and programmed the DVD for an hour workout.

By the time I finished exercising I knew what I needed to do next. Still ignoring Max, who hadn’t moved from his spot, I headed upstairs for my computer, time to pull out my notes and do some more research. A shower tempted me, but hopefully if I smelled bad enough Max wouldn’t come near me.

I marched back downstairs to find Max working out. Good, he wouldn’t be bothering me for a little while, anyway. I detoured to the kitchen, grabbed a pot holder, the pot of coffee, some cream, and a coffee cup, before heading back upstairs. Settling on my bed with my coffee, laptop, and notes I got to work.

I slid out the hand-print pictures from its folder. A shiver rolled through my blood from glancing at them and the memories from that morning came flooding back. With shaky hands I laid them down on the bed, flipping them over so I couldn’t see them anymore. Rubbing the goose bumps off my flesh I steadied myself and typed molting, quick, and blends into the background into the search engine on my laptop, coming up with a few hits. Mostly on birds and insects.

I thought about what the girls had said, they saw green skin, nothing about feathers. Birds and insects didn’t seem right. I widened my search, typing in molting only. Birds, insects, crabs, tarantula’s, snakes, lizards, turtles… The list was definitely larger.

I stood up to stretch, while debating between tarantulas and lizards. Nothing else fit. Narrowing my search I typed in reptiles, molting, and camouflage, coming up with much more information than I cared to read about. I scanned through some of the sites before hitting on chameleons.

They weren’t indigenous to the mountains, but they had a lot of similarities to the he/thing out there. They were normally found in trees and bushes, which might explain the lack of tracks around the area. They were uniquely adapted for climbing and visual hunting. They mainly ate insects, but the bigger ones also ate birds. This would explain the nests full of dead insects and birds that were placed on my deck. They also shed their skin and changed colors to blend into the background.

I started to get excited. What if that was what it was doing right now? What color would it become? It would have to be a pale color or maybe white to blend in with the snow. How big was it? Did it have a more human form than chameleon form or vise versa?

I scrolled back up through the article and reread the description of the Chameleon, concentrating on the information about its feet, then slowly went through the images until I found a couple of good quality prints. I picked up my pictures and examined them side by side.

My face turned pale, they weren’t exactly the same, mine were a lot bigger, but they were too similar to each other to deny.

In the process of puzzling out the information I sensed Max coming up the stairs. I quickly shoved my notes under the bed and closed out the web pages, except my email. I bent over my computer, looking busy when he plopped down next to me. He glanced over my shoulder.

“I’ve been catching up on work,” I mumbled, hoping he would go away.

“You stole the coffee.”

“There’s an espresso machine in the kitchen.”

He shrugged.

Ugh, what did it take to get rid of this man? I touched the coffee pot. “It’s cold; I could go for a latte.”

“How about you come downstairs with me and I’ll make some for both of us.”

“Okay.” I closed out my e-mail. This would give me an excuse to get outside.

Even though I itched to get outside and see if the psycho-creature had moved in closer to my house, I was also interested in how to make a good latte. Chase and I still hadn’t gotten it down. I watched closely as Max made the lattes. What can I say, I was spoiled and now that I had an espresso machine I needed to know how to use it.

Whipping the milk was all about the position of the wand to make perfect froth, plus a touch of vanilla and cinnamon. Who knew? Chase and I stuck the wand straight down into the milk, causing our lattes to be continually flat. I took a sip and decided that it was the best latte I’ve ever had.

“I’m going outside for some fresh air before I get back to work.” I told Max as I put on my jacket and picked up my cup.

“I’ll go with you.” Max grabbed his jacket. “I thought you were on vacation, what’s up with all of this work you’ve got going?”

“Bear, Tree, Alexis and Trina, what can I say, things happen.”

“I knew about Bear and Tree’s plans. I didn’t know Alexis and Trina needed an investor.”

“I’m looking into a product they have.”

He laid his hand lightly on my back. “Why don’t you leave for a week or two Montana? Chase would understand and I’m sure we could come up with a good excuse for everyone else.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I gave him my best smile.

“Yes, I am,” he replied bluntly.

“I’ve considered it, but I’m not leaving. This is my house, my property. I’m not going to be chased away. Besides if I leave this thing will too. I’m almost positive I’m the only reason he’s stayed here for this long.” At least it seemed that way to me. “You want to catch it and I want it caught. I’m staying.”

He gazed at me intently. “I can’t make you leave and I wish you’d reconsider, but I think you may be right. As long as you stay, he’ll stay. It was worth a try.” He lightly kissed my cheek. “Hell, I can’t blame him.”

Introducing–>>J.H. Coates

 

As this weeks Featured Author

 

J.H. Coates currently lives in Barrie, Ontario with his wife, kids and cat, Senor Meow Meow. An avid writer all through school J.H. Coates turned to film. After attending Film school and a bunch of indie projects, including one unsuccessful network show, he became very sick and put all ambitions on hold and concentrated on getting better. Years later, a bunch of wrong diagnosis’ that finally led to open heart surgery he began writing again. Perhaps it was realizing life was short or the sheer boredom of living in a hospital? he picked up where he left off and finished My Boyfriend is a Monster. He is currently writing the sequel, cleverly titled, My Boyfriend is a Monster 2.

website
http://www.myboyfriendisamonster.blogspot.com

twitter username AuthorJHCoates

genre Fantasy, Romance, Horror

 

 

 

Her ex-boyfriend beat on her.

The new guy might literally eat her.

Boy can Lily pick them.

After fleeing her abusive boyfriend, Lily tries to salvage what’s left of her hopes by attempting to create the life she has always dreamed of. With the help of her friends she starts to put the pieces of her old self back together. However, she still can’t shake the feeling that a “Monster” is out there. But the people we label today as Monsters are nothing compared to what is in store for Lily. Because she is right, there is something out there with the makings of childhood nightmares. Question is does it want her for love, or does it want her for dinner?

 

 

Re-Blogged- International Authors’ Day

This sounds like loads of fun!

To sign up

Website http://www.b00kr3vi3ws.in/p/international-authors-day.html

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/933305?si=true&utm_content=A&utm_medium=email&utm_source=event_invite

International Authors’ Day

This is a request to join in and celebrate the people who provide us with hours of entertainment!



I was shocked to realize that there’s isn’t an International Authors’ Day that we can all celebrate to show our appreciation for the hours of hard work that  authors put into their  books… So I decided to do something about it!



I am going to celebrate ‘International Authors’ Day’ on 18th July. Will you join me?



I will be organizing a Blog hop that will go on from 14th to 18th July. Join in and write post on your favourite Books & Authors, or about how you got into reading, or why you love reading, or …. you get my drift. Let’s show these folks that we love and cherish them!

If you have a Blog or Website where you can make a post then enter your details in the google form below to Sign Up for this Blog Hop!

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 17

I dug my fingernails into the palms of my hands to keep myself from touching Max. What I really wanted to do was brush my fingers down that glorious chest of his, nibble on his neck, and forget my problems. My temperature began to rise along with my heartbeat. I closed my eyes, rolled over, and silently crept out of bed. I unclenched my hands, blood formed in small crescent shaped moons on my palms from the bite of my nails.

I turned on the shower and stood under cold water. I needed to focus on that thing out there, not Max. After convincing myself I needed to ignore Max I toweled off, applied some makeup, dressed warmly, and snuck downstairs for coffee. Chase and Killer were nowhere to be found, more than likely they were at Roses house with the girls. Smiling I threw a few more things into my backpack, thinking now might be the perfect time to leave.

I sipped my coffee. No. I wouldn’t get much of a head start and I’d be found, quartered, and probably duck taped to the wall. I debated checking on the horses, but didn’t want to get Max’s back up. But seriously, this was my house, my property, and my horse. I should be able to do what I want, not sit and wait for him.

I sighed, feeling like a prisoner in my own home. I needed some air. I stepped outside and shoveled the rest of the snow off the deck, making sure to make as much noise as possible for Max’s benefit. With that accomplished I went inside for a refill of coffee, then out to the back deck for a smoke.

My sixth sense kicked in the moment Max woke up and found my side of the bed empty. His eyes started to burn a hole in my back. I swiveled and waved up at the top window. I turned back around when he acknowledged me and stared out at my property.

“Do you sense anything?” Max asked from the back door.

“No, its all clear.”

I turned around to face him, trying not to notice he was in his sweatpants only, again, to no avail. He was doing it on purpose. My resolve melted away as my eyes roamed over his body. He hadn’t shaved yet, and the day old stubble on his face was oh so sexy. My eyes skipped down to his rock hard stomach and trailed the line of black hair that stopped where his sweats rode low on his hips.

I licked my lips and forced my eyes to stop there. I glanced back up; his strong arms were crossed over his well defined, muscular chest. Heat radiated off him, tempting me to snuggle into his embrace. He cleared his throat. My eyes darted back up to his. He gazed at me so fiercely I started to blush. I darted around him and back inside before both of us fried my circuits, and busied myself starting a fire. Damn he was hot. I was thoroughly disgusted with myself. I had Max on the brain again. He wandered back inside a few minutes later. He watched me build the fire, then followed me into the kitchen.

“We should go out riding today.” I said, pulling a protein drink out of the fridge.

“I don’t want you leaving the house.”

I yanked the tab open on the drink. “It’s either going to be you or Chase that goes with me. Take your pick, because I’m not going to take no for an answer.” I had a plan and I couldn’t continue to get distracted, or let him get in the way.

“Fine, but I need some fuel first,” he shook his head at my drink. “You should probably eat too.”

“I’m not hungry, but if you go get dressed I‘ll cook up some breakfast.”

He raised an eyebrow.

I couldn’t focus on what I needed to do with him standing in my kitchen half naked, to top it off he was contemplating my cooking ability.

“Don’t worry; I won’t burn the food.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Yeah, but you were thinking it.”

I stuck my head in the fridge and began to unloaded the breakfast items. When I closed the refrigerator door he was gone. I started the bacon frying and was whipping up some eggs when my internal radar picked up three more starving people and a dog hiking up to the house. Just what I needed, the universe was definitely working against me. I put more bacon in the frying pan, toast in the toaster, and began to make some spinach and cheese omelets.

“Oh man, it smells good in here,” Trina said as they all piled through my front door.

Chase sidled up behind me and glanced over my shoulder. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I can. I just don’t like to.

“I’ll set the table.”

“You might as well add two more, I hear the snowplow. Bear and Tree can join us.”

I added more bacon and eggs, took a deep breath, then braced myself for the noise and chaos that was going to invade my space, and the possible mental breakdown that would follow.

Chase laid a hand on my shoulder, his calmness balanced me out, until Max came in. His jealousy was strong enough to break through, the noise rushed back at me.

“Here Max, you can take this out to the table,” I said, clinching my teeth. I handed him the bacon, instead of chucking it at him. I have amazing self control when I want to.

“I’m sorry.” Max said as he came back into the kitchen and picked up the plate of omelets. “It bothers me that he can help you and I can’t.”

I reached up and slide my fingers down his cheek, the fire emanating off his skin ran down my fingertips and up my arm. Okay maybe I had absolutely no self control. I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Its because there isn’t any heat between me and Chase, Max.”

Max lifted my fingers to his lips and kissed them one at a time, leaving a burning sensation on each one.

“We need to take out the food, everyone’s starving,” I whispered, breathless.

Max left the kitchen, leaving me to collect myself, yet again, before joining them.

I sat down at the table with Chase on one side of me, and Max on the other. Chase kept his hand on my leg throughout breakfast, when no one was looking, to help keep me calm. Max avoided touching me altogether. Bear and Tree were explaining their business investment to Alexis and Trina, while Killer waited patiently at the end of the table for his share. I gave Killer the toast I never touched, after refilling my coffee.

Boo:( #StateFarm

Like a good neighbor State Farm is there! I hear this jingle all of the time, but in my case, sooo not true.

If anyone’s read some of my recent blog posts you’d know I’ve had more problems and spent too much time, (which I have little of), and energy staying on top of State Farm. I’m not sure if its my representative or State Farm in general? But I really need to get this off my chest and move on. I’m in the process of looking for another insurance company right now.

2 years ago I had several roofers out to look at my roof due to hail. Hail Damage! Hail Damage! Hail Damage! Okay, that was expected. We’d had some serious storms in the last couple of years, plus my roof is pretty old.

I’ve had State Farm as my insurance company for longer than I can remember and have never had a claim with them- they opened a claim for me and sent out one of their guys to look at the roof. I’m not sure if this guy was trained to do his job, because he quoted “I have at least 10 more years on my roof.” Okay, fine. Over the next year roofers were flooding my town. A lot of houses were getting new roofs due to hail damage. Hmm, after a few more random visits from roofers, letting me know I had a good amount of damage to my roof, I headed back up to State Farm.

Of course, they, (State Farm) refused to open another claim for me and send out a different inspector.

“You need to wait until your roof leaks before we will send anyone else out to your house, we’d rather not pay out any claims if we don’t have to??”

This is one of the reasons I have insurance, right? I’m not the type of person to put in a claim if I don’t have to (I try to keep my life as simple as possible.) Frustrating!!! Hopefully my roof wont fall in while I’m waiting to get a leak! Monsoon season hits and we get hammered. And, guess what? Bedroom ceiling opens up with a leak. Back up to State Farm. They open a second claim and have an inspector come down. This new inspector shakes his head at me and asks… Why didn’t State Farm  fix your roof with the first claim? I shrugged my shoulders, “My roof wasn’t leaking?” The new inspector opens my first claim… so now I need to find a roofer…

Holy Cow!! Half the roofers don’t call me back; the ones I talked to before set appointments, but don’t keep them. What a mess. Then I find out roofers are about 4 months out with work in this area. After about a month and a half I finally find a roofer, (more expensive than the others to do the job) the only problem is he can’t get to my roof for another 4 months. He can however fix some of the leaks. When I talk to him after he’s patched what he can he tells me that I’m very lucky my skylight didn’t fall in from the hail damage. Thank goodness, I think. I don’t need two holes in my ceiling, even though the sky light leak is visible on my living room ceiling.

Hmm.. At that point it would have been cheaper to have gotten my roof fixed before the leaks, State Farm didn’t agree with me.

So we’ve got rain, snow, and some nice air conditioning coming into the bedroom during this last winter. I mean we can’t fix the hole in the ceiling until the roof is no longer leaking. Now the roof has been fixed, and moving onto replacing the drywall, making sure no mold has grown up there, checking the skeleton of the attic to make sure none of the wood is rotted out, installation, etc… and waiting on painting. For some reason my lights are no longer working, need to check the wiring. All because State Farm didn’t want to pay out! I’ve been paying them for years!! And now their paying out more than they would have before! Yep, makes perfect business sense.

Their jingle is so untrue. it should be against the law:)

I’ve heard rumors that there are other insurance companies out there that actually give a damn:)

During this time I also had go into State Farm several times before work (gotta stay on top of them) to get different quotes on the insurance of the house. I’ve been paying more the last few years than I need to. With the economy crashing, my house is just not worth what it used to be. So with about 3 months of pressuring them, they finally dropped my payments to a more reasonable amount. I’m still paying a good amount more than my houses actually worth, but that’s all right with me.

I understand the need for insurance companies to rope you in, take your money, and spend it unwisely. I get it! That’s the way of the world now-a-days. Shows you how much we’ve fallen as a society, but still… are there any Corporations out there that looks past greed? How about good costumer service? Costumer service is a rare commodity these days.

I’ve also been told more horror stories these last years on how State Farm treats their costumers and refuses legitimate claims on a regular basis, but those stories are not for this post.

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 16:2

I watched Max closely. He had secrets he wasn’t willing to share with me. I knew for certain, I was being used. Was he the one using me? Was it only his employers? Or both? I didn’t like being used. I wanted to be done with this mess.

“I know where it/he is or where he was last night. I want to go take care of this today.”

Max raised his eyebrows then glanced behind my shoulder. Chase was attempting to pull Killer out the door. I hadn’t even realized Chase opened the door, I’d been concentrating that hard on Max.

Killer wore his elf outfit and stood like a rock, on dry ground, not giving an inch. Chase repositioned himself, gave Killer a good yank, while talking nicely to him at the same time, and lost his footing. Sliding into Killer he landed flat on his back in the snow. Killer apparently thought Chase was playing a game, he wagged his tail and pounced on Chase’s chest, licked Chase’s face and sank them deeper into the snow.

I slid by Max, tugged on Killer, convinced him to get off of Chase, then began to dig Chase out as Trina and Alexis strode up to the deck laughing. I offered Chase my hand, planted my boots on the tips of his and pulled him up, out of the snow.

“Oh Killer, you look so adorable,” Alexis crooned. “Come here boy.”

Killer wagged his tail, but stood his ground.

“He doesn’t like snow much,” Chase said grinning. He brushed off his cloths. “What’s the plan?” He asked no one in particular.

“I’ll be here for the duration,” Max replied, eying me. “Shovel, then you can go do what you need to do.”

“We’ll help,” Trina said, both her and Alexis clomped up the stairs with their cell phones out, “pictures first though.”

If Killer could blush he’d be a dark red color.

The girls posed beside Killer for pictures, knelt down, and proceeded to hug, kiss, and rub his face until he finally decided to brave the snow and wandered off the deck. Once the deck was clear Chase took off with the girls while Max and I stood at the railing watching the snow continue to fall. I sighed staring up at the clouds, not a hint of blue sky showed.

“Come on,” Max said laying his hand on my back, pushing me toward the door.

I jerked his hand off me. “Stop touching me Max.” It had been frustrating enough dealing with the girls’ high energy. His made my blood boil, literally. “It’s time for you to find someone else to pick on.”

“Ah, but I like you.”

“Too much,” I spun around, looking him square in the eyes. “Your going to make me spontaneously combust with all the heat you carry around.”

He frowned. “Maybe there’s a cure.”

Yeah, right, if only I’d be that lucky. “Don’t talk to those people about me ever again Max. I mean it! Cure or not.”

“So what are you going do? Become an old spinster?”

“Or find the most boring guy on the planet.” I glared at him. “I’m hoping it will wear off, eventually.”

Max threw his arms around me, pulling me into his embrace before I had a chance to step back. He picked me up off my feet and kissed me fiercely, then set me down again.

“Not if I can help it,” he growled.

My ears rang. My heart seemed like it was trying to escape out of my chest. I plopped down on the couch and lit a smoke with shaking hands. Max plucked the cigarette out of my fingers and paced back and forth, brushing his hand through his hair. His agitation didn’t help my overwrought nerves.

Was he using me? Or did he really care? I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to trust him and definitely wasn’t going to delve into his closed off emotions with this new gift of mine. Even though, I had a feeling I could if I really wanted to. I watched him pace until I was ready to scream. Instead of screaming, I settled for making us some espresso’s and prayed he’d wear himself out before I returned. He stood in front of the fireplace when I handed him his coffee.

“Tell me where he is,” Max said.

“Tell me what he is,” I countered.

“Chase told me about the note you received. I’ve decided that I don’t want you involved in this. Tell me where he is and I‘ll find him and take care of it.”

I laughed ruefully. “I’m already involved, no thanks to your people. Besides your stuck here until it stops snowing, he might be long gone by then. You need me Max.”

“I’m not going to change my mind Montana, you are staying here.”

“Then how will you protect me?”

“I’ll figure something out.”

He was being pig headed. I pushed him aside, stomped into the solarium, and sat by the window, watching the snow continue to fall. I did inventory in my mind on what I’d already placed in my backpack and what I still needed if I was to sneak out. After I made my mental list I snuggled into a ball and took a nap. I didn’t need Max or Chase to take care of me. I was a big girl, I could take care of myself. When I woke it had stopped snowing and I was snuggled in bed with Max sleeping next to me.

Introducing–>>Andrew Lamb

As this weeks Featured Author

By day, Andrew Lamb is a Yorkshire born Crashworthiness engineer in the Automotive sector. By night, he becomes an Imaginaut and writes Supernatural thrillers. His works include Dispatchers and the upcoming De Cavalieri series. His love for the Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected inspired him to write numerous short stories, Doc Andy’s Sinister Shorts.

Andy is a walking-talking Science Fiction and Horror encyclopaedia. He began writing short stories whilst researching his Engineering Doctorate before going on to write his first novel, Dispatchers – Vengeance of the Dark.

Today, Andy lives with his wife Donna in Derbyshire, UK. In his spare time, he works on the Dispatcher series and other projects.

url https://www.goodreads.com/Doc_andy

twitter username doc_lamb

genre Paranormal, Science Fiction, Fantasy

 

 

“Vengeance is best left to those who have nothing left to lose!”

Marcus Townsend is a seemingly ordinary college student with an overactive imagination and a lack of drive. All that changes in one night when his parents are attacked and three brutal murders are committed in London by an assassin who defies the laws of physics. The only link between the victims is a strange red and black rose. Marcus must uncover the truth behind the victims if he is to evade their fate. But he soon learns that the stakes are far greater than just his life.

Set in modern day London, Dispatchers puts a dark new twist on Astral Projection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 16

When I stirred the next morning it was to total silence. I rolled over and spotted Max sleeping in a chair next to me. I watched him, remembering the love he emanated the night before. Did I really pick up those emotions from him? I couldn’t be certain, last night was too hazy. It may have just been a dream.

I sighed, pushing the memory aside to dwell on later and glanced at the clock, still early, good. I wanted to get out of the house and up to the springs as soon as I could. I snuck out of bed and into my closet, put on several layers of clothes, and packed my backpack. Sleep had such amazing healing properties, I felt refreshed. I was on a mission. I peeked at Max to make sure he was still sleeping, then silently descended the stairs.

Chase and Killer were also asleep by the fireplace. I tiptoed by them and started the drip coffee machine, no need to wake them with the espresso machine. I slipped by them again, into the solarium, and glanced out the windows. Snow flurries, fog, and dark gray clouds lined the horizon. We were snowed in. So much for my mission, I grumbled. I remained stuck in the house with Max.

Sighing heavily I went back into the kitchen and stashed my backpack. I poured some coffee into a mug and proceeded quietly to the back door with my boots, jacket, and other paraphernalia. I lightly tugged on the door, opening it without making any noise, and managed to get out without creating a landslide of snow. My feet sunk into the light fluffy stuff and disappeared. I stepped back, up against the wall, lit a smoke, and drank my coffee.

If I couldn’t get out of my own house maybe the psycho-man thing couldn’t get out of the cave. I thought about Max’s snowmobiles and wondered how he got here. Most likely on Ace, but I walked to the front deck anyway to make sure. I’d definitely get out of here on one of those. No snowmobile in sight, and I might as well re-enter the house from the front door, Max was awake and getting more upset by the minute.

Bracing myself, I stomped my feet as I opened the door. “Good morning,” I said, trying to remove some anxiety from the room before I stepped fully into the house.

The tension left the room faster than I thought it would, Max smiled at me.

“Told you,” Chase said, yawning.

Chase raised his arms and arched his back, his phone started to ring. He grunted in mid stretch before hitting the speaker on his phone, “Yeah.”

“We’re snowed in,” Alexis chirped. “You should get dressed and come down here; we’ll build a snowman and make snow angels. I’ll even brew you up some hot chocolate mixed with coffee and make you breakfast.”

Chase winked at me. They wanted me to be alone with Max, and weren’t being subtle about it.

“Let me call you back when I’m awake, then I’ll stop by.”

I shook my head no behind Max’s back as he turned around grinning at me. Oh boy, I knew where his thoughts were. He was standing there, wearing just his black sweats, looking totally sexy, and staring at me like I was breakfast.

“I’m going back outside to shovel the deck,” I said, picking up a snow shovel. It took every bit of strength I had not to check out his half naked, gorgeous body.

“Wait until I get dressed,” Max coaxed, “I’ll help you.”

“I’d rather not.”

The heat radiating from him started to envelope me or maybe it was the heat from me. I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I needed to get outside and cool off quick. I turned toward the door; he grabbed my wrist, sending a volt of intense hot lightning licking through my body. Before Max or Chase could stop it I dropped to the floor.

“Let go of her now.” Chase’s words echoed around me.

Max squatted beside me, attempting to collect me into his arms, when a blurry Chase pushed him away, picked me up, and put me on the couch.

“Get a cool wet cloth from the kitchen,” Chase growled the order at Max

“Christ!” Max exclaimed, he hurried to kitchen and back, handing Chase a damp towel.

Chase pointed to the upstairs, motioning Max to leave while patting my face. I swatted his hand away, rested my head on his shoulder, and closed my eyes. Wow! And I thought Max was intense before. It was nothing compared to now.

“You’re burning up Montana.”

“It will pass.” I thought about Max upstairs. Blowing out a breath I opened my eyes and spied him standing in the hallway watching us.

“Get dressed Chase and help us dig out, so you can go play with Alexis and Trina.” I mumbled standing, still off balance.

“I’m not sure if I want to leave you here alone with him,” he whispered in my ear, glancing in Max’s direction.

“It’s too late for that.” I whispered back.

“Take care of her.” Chase told Max as he went to change.

Max strode up to me lifting his hand, as if to touch me. I stepped back. Max stopped short, dropping his hand back to his side. I could still feel little electrical pulses fluttering under my skin.

“Let’s get to it,” Max said, handing me a shovel. He took a step closer to me, brushed his lips across mine before realizing what he was doing, and stepped back. “I never meant for any of this to happen.” His voice was rough.

Ignoring him I stepped outside. The snow should have melted by now, I thought, with all of the heat pouring off me. At least I wished my body heat would melt the snow, because it was piling up higher than before, and we hadn’t even started shoveling yet.

Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel Ch. 15:2

I continued to walk backwards, staring at the front door when Max burst in. How he kept getting through my locked doors I had no idea.

He eyed me and Chase, and marched over to us, hands in fists, anger radiating out of his eyes. I stumbled, Chase caught me. I yanked out of his grasp and ran out the back door. I leaned on the deck railing and gulped some air. Chase stepped in front Max with his hands held up. I couldn’t/ wouldn’t take anymore of this tonight. My nerves were already wound up too tight because of Alexis and Trina.

“You have to calm down Max.”

“Calm down,” Max growled. “I’ve been trying to reach you since I got your message. Where the hell have you been?”

Max was pissed. His anger vibrated through me like a chainsaw, making my head throb and my stomach hurt. I stood frozen, watching them with tears streaming down my cheeks.

Max glared at Chase. “I need to talk to Montana. Let me through.”

“No. Not until you calm down!” Chase spat.

Max pushed Chase aside and strode toward me. Chase swiveled, caught his balance, grabbed Max’s arm, and spun him around.

“I’m not letting you near her until you get yourself under control.”

Chase was getting extremely angry now. I wanted to help Chase, I really did. I wanted to step in and calm them both down, but my head felt like it was going to explode from the intense energy they were emanating.

I stumbled off the deck and threw up. When my stomach protested its emptiness I rose, wobbled down to the barn on rubbery legs, and crawled in-between some bales of hay. Holding my head, I cried until I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew Chase was picking me up and carrying me back to the house. He set me down by the fire and began to peel off my wet cloths.

“How do you feel?”

Mentally and physically exhausted. “Extremely hung over,” I started to cry again.

He wrapped me in a blanket and held me until my tears dried up.

“So where is the big bully?”

He laughed. “Only you could bounce back that quickly. He’s at Roses with the girls. As soon as he realized they were listening to everything he calmed down. We stepped outside and I explained what’s been happening here. He went from mad, to surprisingly pale, to extremely worried, cursing the whole time.” Chase laughed again. “It would have made your head spin if you were here. We agreed he would get the girls settled while I found you and brought you home.”

“I hate drama.” I said, willing my strength back, so I could deal with Max.

“Max said he tried to get in touch with us. Where’s your cell?”

“In my jacket pocket, but I haven’t heard it ring at all.”

He stood up to retrieve my phone. “It’s dead,” he laughed, “So is mine. We forgot to charge them with the excitement going on.”

I giggled with him, it must be the stress.

“How’s Alexis and Trina holding up? They must feel uncomfortable now.”

“Nah, we just let them believe it was a lover’s quarrel, they’re rooting for Max winning the prize.”

I laughed. My body solidified into lead weight and my brain was beginning to misfire from the stress.

I leaned heavily onto the couch. “I have to get some sleep Chase. I’ll deal with Max in the morning, if I can handle it.”

“He promised me he would stay centered around you.”

“Thanks for everything.” I laid my head on my arms. I was on the verge of shutting down.

“I’ll take you upstairs.”

“No I will,” Max said as he entered the living room.

Max pulled me into his arms and carried me upstairs. His heart beat against my chest and love surrounded me as he laid me down on the bed, pulling the covers over me.