A Little Taste of Miss Dare

As usual I was scanning the crowd for Asher. I knew he would have to be there. I felt so extremely lonely without him. It was like the people of the tribe had distanced themselves from me since Asher, Hyde, and I had started hanging out. I mean they were nice and all, but something was different.
Just as I was starting to feel sorry for myself, I felt two hands come over my eyes and I knew instantly it was Asher.
“Guess who?” He said in his quiet voice.
“Hmmm. I don’t know.”
“Happy Birthday!” He said as he removed his hands from over my eyes.
“Thank you.” I said with little to no enthusiasm.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as he sat down on the boulder beside me.
“I don’t know. It’s like things are getting weird here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since I’ve had Hyde, everyone has been avoiding me.”
“Ella, some people may be intimidated by a 160 pound wild animal.”
“I guess.”
“Do you want me to take him back?” He asked.
“No!” I yelled. “I’m way too attached and anyway I think it’s more than just Hyde.” I paused and stared off to notice everyone staring at Asher, Hyde, and I.
“It’s like since I’ve been talking to you, people have been treating me differently.”
“How do you mean?”
“Asher, look at them staring at us. No one really even talks to me anymore.”
“Ella, they are staring at me. They watch everything I do.” He added.
“Asher, what’s going on?”
“The only explanation I can give you right now is that I am somewhat an investment of theirs.”
“I wish you weren’t such a mystery. It kind of drives me insane.”
“I’m sorry.” He laughed.
“Just promise me that you won’t leave me here alone.”
“I promise you, you will never be alone.” He said as he brushed the hair away from my face.
I couldn’t help but smile and blush. When I looked into Asher’s eyes, something told me everything was going to be alright. I knew he had a power, something greater than I would ever know. He was more than just the man I had a huge crush on. I wanted to spend every moment with him to find out exactly what he was.
“I need to get going.” He said.
“You always have to leave. You’re breaking your promise already.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not breaking my promise. You have Hyde so you will never be alone.” He smiled. “Anyway, I have a surprise for you tomorrow. Kind of like a birthday present.”
“I’m not good with surprises.” I smiled.
“Here is a hint. Bring your suit and meet me at the entrance to the woods at sunrise.”
“It’s a date?” I asked.
“It’s a date.” He said with a smile. He then leaned over to kiss my cheek and walked away into the woods.
After Asher left I went to sit by the fire with Hyde. Again, everyone avoided me, even my Grandparents wanted to sit by me. I was forced to sit by myself watching the tribesmen perform a dance. It was actually extremely cool. The percussion was pounding and the dance was somewhat hypnotic. I found the Native American culture to be extremely interesting. Living within this tribe had also made me come to the conclusion of how mysterious these people are. At first they welcomed me with open arms and accepted me as one of their own, now I’m treated like an outsider just because of the company I chose to keep. The odd thing was that Asher was a very important member of the tribe for reasons I didn’t know, but they still seem to keep their distance from him. It was like he was a part of the tribe but not. I wasn’t sure if they feared him or just left him alone to appease him. The more I thought about the situation, the more it drove me crazy trying to understand. At that point I decided to focus on Asher and I and not so much anyone else.
The next morning I woke up bright and early at 5 am and hopped in the shower. I did my hair and make up for the first time since I arrived on the reservation. I put on my pink and white stripped bikini, a green tank top, and cut off shorts. When I looked into the mirror I saw the old Ella for the first time in a long time. I had put on some weight and I actually looked pretty. Maybe the way I looked today would spark some interest in Asher.
I tried to sneak out of the house, but Sarah and Sam were extremely early risers.
“Good morning, Ella.” Sam said from the living room and startled me.
“Oh. Good morning Sam.” I said. He sat up and walked over to me. He looked really odd. Usually Sam was a pretty healthy looking older man, but today he looked sick. His face was pale and extremely thin.
“You are in a hurry. Where are you going?” He asked.
“Well, I’m not sure. It’s a surprise.”
“A surprise?”
“Yeah, Asher is taking me somewhere. Kind of like a birthday outing.” I smiled.
“You and Asher have been hanging out a lot lately.” Sam pointed out.
“He is a nice person and hanging out with him makes everything suck a little less.”
“I’m glad you are making friends and all, but I don’t think Asher is someone you want to become close to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ella, I know Asher is probably very attractive to you, but you have to know that you will never be able to have a relationship with him. He’s not for you.”
“What do you mean not for me?”
“It’s inconsequential. There are a lot of nice young men on the reservation that would be happy to court you.”
“I know that you are watching out for me, but Asher and I are just friends right now. If something happens between us then it happens. He makes me happy and that is exactly what I need.” I stopped to look at him right in the eyes. As I tried to maintain my anger, I heard the gurgling sound and almost immediately the coffee pot caught on fire. There was no doubt in my mind that I did it. After we both looked at the fire, we locked stares again. Sam looked worse that before. It was like he aged 10 years in seconds.
“I’ll get it!” He yelled as he ran to the fire extinguisher and put out the fire. As furious as I was I still felt bad for getting upset, but I did have a huge thing for Asher. It was like he was a magnet and I was a piece of metal being drawn to him. This wasn’t like it was between Jace and I, this felt right.
“I’m sorry Sam.” I said as I went over to him and touched his shoulder. He didn’t answer me and just stood there motionless. “Sam?” I asked with no response. “Are you okay? You don’t seem well.”
Suddenly, he perked up. I moved my hand from his shoulder as he turned around.
“I’m perfect. Go have fun.” He said with absolutely no emotion. The even more disturbing thing was that he looked completely different. His face that not even 2 minutes ago looked pallid and emaciated. Now his face was plumb and youthful. It was as if somehow something had granted him more life.
As I walked out of the house and towards the woods, I couldn’t help but relive the moments I had in the kitchen with Sam this morning. He clearly looked almost dead, like a zombie and he didn’t want me to associate with Asher. Then out of nowhere my powers, that I thought were gone, came back again. The fact that they were emotionally linked answered a lot of questions that I had in the past. But how Sam went from looking as he did to looking younger that I had ever seen him still makes me think. Did I have something to do with it?
When I got to the lining of where the reservation met the woods, I turned to look at the reservation. I had often wondered where all the generators and sources of power were that gave us light and heat. This place was such a mystery.
Just as I was going to overanalyze the situation, I knew that Asher was near because Hyde perked right up. Before I knew it he had his hands over my eyes again.
“I know it’s you. It’s getting old.” I laughed.
“I’m sorry. Just for once wanted to surprise you.”
I turned to look at him.
“Asher, I hate to tell you, but I can feel you before you are even near me. Whatever it is that you are gives me a feeling.”
“A good feeling I hope.” He smiled.
“An amazing feeling.”
He grabbed my hand and we started walking.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Come on just let me surprise you.”
“Okay.”
I stopped talking and began to think about everything that was going on in the Tribe. It was driving me insane not knowing why things were as they were.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as he was cutting a path out of brush that was in the way of our path.
“Nothing.”
“Ella, you are very quiet. I’m the only one that can play that game.”
“That’s not fair.”
“You can tell me anything.” He said.
“I know. I just don’t want to spoil the day with my stupid paranoia.”
He stopped and turned to grab my shoulders.
“Did something happen to you? Did they do something to hurt you?”
“What? No.” I said.
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I know you know about me and what I am. Right?”
“Yes.” He answered.
“This morning, Sam confronted me about spending time with you.”
“What did he say?”
“He said that we just should hang out and it made me mad. So mad in fact I accidentally set the coffee pot on fire.”
“Ella, you need to tell me exactly what happened to you? Every interaction you had with Sam today.” Asher said with a look of extreme worry on his face.
“When I walked out of my room this morning he kind of snuck up on me. He looked very sick and like a lot older. He asked me where I was going and that’s when I got upset and the whole coffee pot thing happened. Then he ran and put out the fire. I started to feel bad so I went over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.”
“You touched him after you set the coffee pot on fire?”
“Yes. He said nothing for what seemed like awhile, then he turned around and he looked completely fine. He looked younger than he did before.”
“Did he do or say anything after that?”
“Just to go and have fun. What is going on Asher?”
“Look at me.” He said seriously. “Promise me you will do exactly what I say and not question me from now on. Okay?”
“Yes, I will.”
“I’m not joking, Ella. You must go on being ignorant to this stuff. Act as normal as possible and do not ask any more questions.”
“Now I’m scared.” I said as I felt the tears well up.
“Trust me, I will never let anything hurt you, but you need to forget about this stuff. Forget about your powers. Try to control them and never ever use them around the Tribe.”
“Okay.” I said as I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks.
“I don’t want this day to be ruined. Don’t cry.” He said as he wiped my tears away. “Come on. It’s only a few more miles.”
The rest of the walk I distracted myself from the disturbing discussion that we just had, and concentrated on Asher. Walking behind him I had a perfect view of his back in his tight gray tank top. He looked like he was chiseled from granite. His body was something that if you saw it, you couldn’t believe it was real. I found myself hypnotized once again and wanted more than anything to touch him.
“Now, can you please humor me and let me cover your eyes? I really want this to be a surprise.”
“Okay.” I said as he put his hands snuggly over my eyes.
“Can you see anything?” He said. “Be truthful.”
“No. I can see absolutely nothing.”
We went on to walk a few hundred feet and I immediately heard the waves crashing and smelled the air.
“Surprise!” He said as he removed his hands from my eyes.
It was the most beautiful beach I had ever seen. The sand was surprisingly white and the water blue for the area we were in.
“Oh my God! It’s perfect.” I said.
“I’m glad you like it.” He said as he walked ahead of me. “I come here a lot to be alone and think.”
“Is this where you are always running off to?” I asked. He just laughed and didn’t answer.
“I don’t always run off.”
“You are always taking off on me.”
“Just because I’m out of site, doesn’t mean I’m not with you.”
“Enough of the little riddles of your existence.”
He smiled.
“How about we set up shop here?” He said pointing at a spot near a large rock.
As we put down the picnic basket and blanket that I had brought, both of us couldn’t look away from one another. I sat down on the blanket and he followed and lay on his side beside me holding his head with his hand. We both gazed into the ocean.
“I love the ocean. It makes me feel so small. Like not so much rests on my shoulders and there is so much more out there than just me and what I have been given.” He said.
“Yet another riddle.”
“Sorry.” He said as he looked up to me with those amazing eyes.
“Hyde seems to enjoy just chilling on the beach as much as you do.”
“Yeah. He feels the same way I do.”
“It reminds me how big the world is and how much there is to do and see. It’s kind of bittersweet for me.”
“Why is that?” He asked.
“I know I can’t leave here.”
“You want to leave?” He asked.
“When I’m not with you.” I said as I shyly looked away from him. “Anyway.” I said trying to ignore any unfavorable reaction from him.
“Let’s go swimming.” He said as he stood up and took off his shirt. As soon as the shirt dropped onto the sand, my heart started pounding and I felt my whole body increase like twenty degrees. I literally felt like someone could fry and egg on me. This happened to me before when Jace got me hot and bothered. I remember the smoke that started to come off my body. I knew that if it happened it would be a dead giveaway of how much I wanted Asher if it were to happen again. Thank God there was a large body of water not more than 7 feet from me to put me out. I pulled off my shirt and shorts and ran in the water after Asher. We both were like kids diving into each wave as if we were trying to conquer them. Hyde was right beside us joining in the fun. It was like I was taking all of my anger, lust, and frustration out on the most powerful body of water in existence.
When we all became tired from playing with the ocean, we walked up to the edge of the surf. As we were walking, I looked back at Asher, and saw him checking me out. For the first time in a long time, I turned on the sex appeal and used everything I had to make him feel as I felt for him. I tossed my wet hair and turned around to bend over as if I were washing the sand off my hands. A strong wave came up and knocked me over. Asher rushed over to try to pull me up; instead I pulled him down on top of me.
“I’m sorry.” He said as our faces were inches from each other. He instantly got off of me and sat next to me. Disappointed in my efforts, I got up and walked back to the blanket where Hyde was passed out. I grabbed my towel and started dabbing off my face, when I felt his hands on my waist.
“I do want you, Ella.” He whispered into my ear which made my stomach flip and goose bumps to form everywhere on my body. He then kissed the back of my head.
“Then what’s wrong?” I asked still too afraid to look at his face for the fact that I knew I couldn’t control myself.
“Look at me.” He said as he turned me to face him. I still didn’t look at him. “Ella, look at me.” He demanded.
“I can’t look at you. I can’t keep denying these feelings. It hurts entirely too much to hold back. I need to know if you feel the same way or if I am just being a little girl with a crush.”
“You have no clue how strongly I feel about you, but there is so much more here than just us.”
“I don’t care about anything else. I just want us.” I said as I ran my fingers through his wet hair. “Forget about all the other stuff, and let there just be us.”
His head didn’t hesitate from the grasp my hand had on it moving his head closer towards mine. The heat from our breath was intoxicating. Breathing Asher in was like heaven right here on earth. Our lips met. His were trembling in nervousness like we were two adolescents giving our first kiss. His mouth followed my lead. Our tongues intertwined very gently. His hands finally moved onto my upper back and slowly moved down to the top of the bottoms of my suit. His hands were now moving down lower and caressing my back side. They started to wildly move with the emotion of our kiss. I wanted more. I pulled him back down to the sand. The water rushed over us as we continued to kiss each other. My hands found their way around his perfect chest and arms. This was the moment I had longed for since I first laid eyes on him. My lips moved to his ear then to his neck. I wanted nothing more in the world than to make love to him, but it all ended abruptly.
He pushed me gently away from him.
“Ella, I’m sorry, but I think this is moving too fast.”
I backed off. The fact that he stopped me was a huge blow to the ego. Thoughts ran through my head if he even wanted this. It was possible I forced him into it without even knowing. My over analysis of things took over my mind.
“Maybe.” I said.
“I better get you home.” He said.
The walk home from the beach was a quiet one. My ego had a huge gash in it. Why didn’t he want me? It occurred to me that maybe he wasn’t like the way I was used to. I knew for a fact that Asher didn’t have a lot of experience with women. The reassurance was working. I felt how much he wanted me in the kiss. You just can’t fake that connection.
Asher walked me and Hyde to the edge of the woods. Without saying another word, he pulled me towards him and gently kissed my forehead and placed a necklace around my neck.
“What is this?”
“It is so you will never be without me again.”
The necklace was a silver chain with a cross on it. It was a familiar cross to me because it was the cross that was on the front of Elyoner’s journal. It was the Maltese Cross. In the middle of the cross was a beautiful blue stone.
“Asher, it’s beautiful.”
“If you are ever afraid or in danger, I will know and I will be here for you.” He smiled. “I will see you in a few days.”
“A few days?” I said as if a few days without him would kill me.
“I have to take care of some things. Just remember your promises.” He said as he grabbed my hand.
“Yes. I know.” I said.
He then gently kissed my lips and walked off into the woods.
Asher was something special to this world as was I. Our paths were meant to cross and no one could keep me from him. If that meant playing stupid to the weird things going on around me than be that as it must. Nothing is going to make me stay away from him.

J.L. Gregg- Writer's Blog

Welcome to my Blog. I don't really like the word Blog because it sounds so Blah.

I am going to use this page to post my writing and keep everyone up to date with me and my awesome writing buddies.

About Me

I am a 28 year old SAHM from Pittsburgh, PA. I started writing after I was laid off from my job in October 2008. I have had published articles in a small Pittsburgh magazine that were far from the genre I chose to write now.

My poison is Historical Fiction, Sci Fi, Horror, and a little Romance. I have three specific novels in the works, one is 1/3 of a series entitled Mortal Legacy. Other books I am writing are: Miss Dare, To the Wolves, and Abandoned. I have an infinite amount of ideas for novels, but very little time to write. With these ideas, I should be busy for the next 5 or 6 years.

If you want to know more check out my website.... www.jamileighgregg.com