Heaven's Loss (Hell Yeah!) Page 4

  “Canyon, how do you make the water stay in the tub? I’ve tried everything.”

  Canyon stared at the beautiful woman. Yes, woman. She might not think of herself as a girl, but that’s exactly what she was – gloriously female. An exquisitely formed female. She was delicately made and perfectly proportioned. His eyes went on a sightseeing tour of the places he’d most like to visit. Two mounds of creamy flesh topped by succulent pink nipples and a hint of the paradise between her legs drew his immediate and intense interest. Unbidden his hand raised, he would die if he didn’t touch. When he lightly caressed the velvet soft skin at the upper swell of her breasts, he groaned at the satiny smoothness beneath his fingertips.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked him, concerned, shivering at his feathery touch. “Are you hurting?”

  Canyon groaned again. Was he hurting? “Yea. Aching.” His cock was so hard, so big, and throbbing painfully with each beat of his heart.

  “I’m sorry. Can I help?” She reached for him, but before her hand landed on his arm, he jerked away.

  “Cover yourself.” He stalked to the tub, bent, and twisted the top of the drain stopper, halting the outflow of water.

  His snarled words sent an unfamiliar blast of embarrassed heat over her body. Instinctively, she realized she was naked and was ashamed. Lifting her arm, she covered her breasts, her other hand went to her mound. “I’m sorry. I’ve seen you unclothed so many times, I forgot it was wrong. Forgive me.”

  “Fuck!”

  Canyon barreled out of the door, slamming it so hard, the noise echoed through the house. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” It was a wonder the damn door didn’t come off its hinges. He took a step or two and leaned against the wall, shaking with pure desire. “She was sent here just to torment me, I guess,” he muttered weakly.

  From inside the bathroom, Seren bowed her head, hearing his lament. She stood still, a thoughtful frown on her face. She felt at odds with everything. Nothing made sense anymore. She was feeling things she’d never felt before. Canyon wasn’t even the same, he seemed angry and ill at ease.

  Because of her.

  A twinge of regret burned in her breast. What was she to do? “I’d disappear if I could, but I don’t know how.” She closed her eyes and concentrated, willing herself to fade into nothingness.

  After a few moments of intense wishing, she scoffed and gave up. No luck. She sighed. “I’m still here.”

  A sudden splash of water on her foot made Seren jump. “Oh, my goodness!” She scrambled to turn off the water before the tub overflowed. “You are such a screw-up, Seren.”

  After cutting off the taps, she hesitated to reward herself with the bath.

  But…it looked so inviting.

  “Maybe a good soak will help me think.” Lifting up her leg, she slowly lowered one foot into the water, letting the silky liquid envelop her. “Oh, my saints,” she breathed, “this is heavenly.”

  …Yea, he was still in the hall. “So, sue me.” This was his house. If he wanted to torture himself by listening at the sweet sounds coming from the mouth of his sexy interloper – that was his business.

  What was he going to do with her? He considered calling the county human resources folks to try and find her some help – for about half a minute. But…he had no idea what they’d do to her or where she’d end up. She was so small and helpless. And beautiful.

  And she’d saved his life.

  “Ah, dammit to hell.” What choice did he have? He’d get to the bottom of this, find out where she’d come from, and make sure she got back there safely.

  A soft splash and a softer giggle emanating from the confines of the bath made him smile. She sounded like she was having such a good time. He’d give his left nut and five years of his life to see the scene unfolding in his bathroom up close and personal.

  …Completely captivated, Seren held a handful of water up and laughed as it flowed back down her arms. She laid back and dunked her head, then swiveled on her tummy like a small otter at play. When she raised up out of the water, she pushed her hair out of her eyes and giggled again. “I may never get out of here,” she whispered in awe.

  However, hearing herself speak reminded Seren of her problem. Taking care of Canyon was her responsibility even if he didn’t want her around. Sitting up and wiping herself with the cloth, she pondered her predicament.

  Maybe…she was about to be replaced.

  The thought sent despair spearing through her. No one could take better care of Canyon than she could. No one!

  Or…maybe this was a new way of doing things and she’d missed her training session. Yes, she procrastinated about checking her inbox. Being away from Canyon even for a moment to take care of divine business wasn’t something she allowed herself very often.

  Still, her presence upset him. This truth made her very sad.

  Reaching into the water, she twisted the knob the way she’d seen Canyon do and smiled sadly when the water began to form a small whirlpool as it flowed down the drain and away. Placing her hands on the side, she pushed up and grabbed the towel to dry herself. Again, she took little notice of her body. Seren was intent upon making herself respectably presentable for Canyon. She knew they needed to talk – and there was no time like the present.

  …Sitting on the edge of his seat, forearms on his thighs, Canyon stared into the flames of the fire. When he heard the sound of water beginning to drain from the tub, he stood up and raked his hand through his hair. Swallowing, he cleared his throat. “All right, get it together, man,” he chided himself. “Tell her what you’ve decided and do the best you can.”

  Hearing the pad of soft feet on the hall carpet, he watched the place where she’d first appear when rounding the corner. Without even realizing it, he held his breath – not gasping for a mouthful of oxygen until she came into view and their eyes met. The sight of her made his blood run hot, his old Longhorn T-shirt had never looked so good. “Enjoy your bath?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She pointed to the kitchen. “I hate to ask, but I fear I’m hungry. Could I have a slice of white bread and a dab of ketchup?” These were foods she knew were in the pantry. How they tasted, she didn’t know – but she felt shaky and a little disoriented. Perhaps, if she ate, she’d feel better. Having no access to her normal fare necessitated prevailing upon Canyon for aid. “I forgot to pack provisions,” she teased weakly.

  “Dammit.” He hadn’t even thought about offering her something to eat. “Sorry, I’m a terrible host.” He motioned for her to follow him.

  “Oh, don’t apologize. I know I’m not a welcome guest.” She moved along behind him. “You don’t have to serve me. I know where everything is.”

  Why didn’t this surprise him? “Do you?” He opened the refrigerator door. “Well, I thought I might could do a bit better than ketchup and bread. How about grilled cheese?”

  “And tomato soup? I think you have a can.” This suggestion was made with a great deal of enthusiasm. “You used to love those two things together when you were younger. Why, I remember how you used to eat them at your grandmother’s house when you would spend summers there as a teenager.” She laughed at the memory. “Her fat Corgi would sit at your feet and you’d slip him crusts of bread. What was his name?”

  As Canyon placed the cheese and butter on the cutting board, he felt the hair rise up on his neck.

  “Walter,” they stated at the same time.

  “Yea, that was it, Walter!” Seren smiled and sat down at the table, totally missing the look of bafflement Canyon was giving her. “He’s such a good dog.”

  “Was such a good dog. I’m sure he’s been dead for twenty years or more.”

  “All dogs go to heaven, Canyon.” Seren gave him a dazzling smile. “All cats too. And horses. And…”

  “I thought that was just a movie. And you know this for a fact?” he asked patiently as he carefully sliced the cheese and buttered the bread.

  “Sure, it’s common knowledge.” She stood and went to the
pantry and found the can of tomato soup.

  “Can opener’s in that drawer.” He pointed to the one to the right of the sink. “The pot…”

  “I know. I know.” She knelt and pulled out a sauce pan deep enough to hold the two-serving can of soup. After finding the right pot, she opened the drawer to bring out the can opener. “Hmmm.” She stared at the contraption, placing it to the side of the can the way she’d seen Canyon do.

  Surreptitiously, Canyon watched her fiddle with the opener, trying to attach it to the can in a number of ways – none of them correct. “Oh, give the damn thing here.” He took it from her grasp. “You don’t have to pretend to be stupid, you know.”

  A wave of unfamiliar anger flashed over her. For a second, she didn’t know what she was feeling. Her chest tightened, her cheeks flushed, and her muscles went tight. “What does that mean?”

  Canyon used a spatula to turn the grilled cheese on the heated grill, then he deftly opened the can, dumping the contents in the sauce pan with such force, a drop splashed out on his shirt Seren wore. “It means you don’t have to pretend to be dumb to further your outlandish claim. Everyone who has half a brain knows how to use a stupid can opener.” With a little more force than necessary, he slammed the utensil down on the table next to her hand.

  Letting out a breath, she pressed her lips together and picked up the opener. “Let me tell you something, mister! I’m not stupid!”

  Canyon was listening. He was also watching the fire dance in her beautiful blue eyes. The one thing he wasn’t doing was responding – because he couldn’t get a word in edgewise.

  Seren was letting him have it.

  “I am not dumb, I’m just inexperienced. I watched you use things, but my focus was always on you, not the trappings of a life I couldn’t lead. I have existed for one purpose and one purpose only.” She leaned toward him, narrowing her gaze. “To take care of you!” She picked up the plastic and steel utensil and wagged it in his face. “Like a can opener with one function – although I can’t personally prove this tool has a function – I too was used for one purpose. I mastered that purpose and knew no other!”

  “Easy, angel.” He took the could-be weapon from her and placed it on the table. “I didn’t mean to ruffle your feathers.”

  “I’m sorry.” She sank to her chair. “I don’t feel right.”

  “Do you need to go to the doctor?” he asked, becoming completely serious.

  “No.” She shook her head. “I think I’m just hungry.”

  “Eat the sandwich and I’ll heat the soup.” He placed a plate in front of her, becoming completely serious. “When was the last time you ate?”

  She gazed at the food as if unsure what to do with it. “I don’t know. It’s been awhile. A month or two, I guess. We don’t have to eat to survive, being immortal and all.”

  Canyon refrained from making a crack about his disbelief. Instead, he poured her a glass of milk and fixed his own plate. “Come on, eat up and you’ll feel better.”

  She picked up the sandwich and took a bite, mostly crust. The butter melted in her mouth and the taste exploded on her tongue. “Oh, my.” Seren almost swooned. “This is ambrosia.”

  “Glad you like it.” He cut his eyes toward her and smiled at the expression of ecstasy on her face. Picking up the saucepan, he moved the soup

  back and forth in it, trying to spread the heat to the liquid quicker. “So, you’ve always been my caretaker?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I replaced a watcher named Javan who was sent away on a special mission.”

  “I lost my guardian to a special mission? What kind of special mission?” He didn’t know why he was humoring her, but he was. Truthfully, he enjoyed talking to her. Seren shrugged and his large T-shirt fell off one delicate, creamy shoulder, drawing his eye. God, he loved to look at her.

  “I’m not sure,” she said after swallowing another bite of sandwich. “I don’t warrant much information compared to others. I think it had something to do with accompanying one of the higher-ups to a distant planet, an envoy of sorts.”

  As Canyon filled two bowls with tomato soup, he responded, “Oh, so there’s life on other planets?”

  “Sure. With at least a hundred billion stars in a galaxy and there’s approximately ten trillion galaxies in the universe, that adds up to about a septillion of stars, as in a 1 with twenty-four zeros behind it. With a universe that big, did you actually think Earth was the only inhabited planet?”

  Canyon joined her at the table, placing the soup next to the sandwich plate, giving Seren what was basically a blank stare. “Have you ever seen an alien?”

  “Well, no,” she conceded gracefully, “but I don’t get out much.” She winked at him. “I’m stuck with you.”

  “Good answer.” He laughed and took a big bite of sandwich. “Tell me about your family.”

  “Don’t have one,” she stated calmly, taking a sip of soup from a spoon. “Other than you.”

  “Huh,” he grunted, not sure what to say to that little tidbit of information. “How’s the food?”

  “Very good.” She smiled at him. “I don’t know what’s happening to me. Or why.” She opened her hand and stared at it. “I have lines in my palm, I’ve never had those before. I can feel temperature and hunger. I’m acquiring human characteristics.”

  Canyon opened his mouth to make a condescending remark about how absurd she sounded – but her next observation knocked the thought right out of his mind.

  “I can’t seem to stop noticing how handsome you are, that’s just not right.”

  “I’m handsome?” Canyon hadn’t heard those words come out of a woman’s mouth in a long, long time.

  Seren waved her spoon. “Of course, you are. You always have been. Sometimes just looking at your face takes my breath away.” She dabbed her mouth with a paper towel. “You’re so strong, I’ve always loved to watch you work without a shirt. The heat from the forge makes your muscles glisten. Actually, you’re sexy as he…” With a wide-eyed startled look, she met his gaze, her fingers coming up to cover her mouth. “Uh. Oh.”

  Uh-oh was right. Canyon’s hand slid down to cover his burgeoning package. “What’s wrong?” Suddenly, everything seemed pretty right to him.

  “I’m not supposed to feel things like this. It’s forbidden.” She put down the remainder of her sandwich and took an uneasy drink of milk, the glass shaking in her hand. “I think I might be sick.”

  “Do watchers get sick?” He felt odd himself.

  “Not as far as I know, but…” Seren chewed on her lower lip. “Things have gotten weird.” She looked into his face. “Canyon, I know this is awkward for you, having me visibly here. I wish I could fade back into the woodwork. I’m sure I will soon. Until then, if you’d just let me do my job, I’ll be as unobtrusive as possible.” She gave him a playful grin. “After all, you’re high maintenance. You can’t afford to be without a watcher. You take too many risks and you get so preoccupied with your work, you don’t pay attention to what’s going on around you. Remember what happened with Jacob’s new bull?”

  Yes, he did remember. “He was a bit aggressive. I didn’t know he was wandering loose.” He started to ask how she knew about the incident, but he knew what her answer would be. “I think that huge animal is part Billy goat.”

  “Well, you were all bent over shoeing that horse with a red bandanna hanging out of your back pocket. I guess your upturned backside was just too big of a temptation to resist.”

  “So, my backside is too big?”

  Seren laughed. “No, it’s just the right size. Big. Like the rest of you.”

  Canyon groaned softly. One part of him was getting bigger by the second. Canyon had to bite his tongue to keep from asking if he tempted her enough to give him a kiss. Instead, he drained his glass of water, trying to cool the heat rising in his body. “Good thing all he did was stand and paw at the dirt. He could’ve butted me into the middle of next week.”

  “Th
e only reason he didn’t was because I stood between the two of you. I looked that bull in the eye and told him how the cow at the cabbage.” She nodded her head as if emphatically making a point. “If he was going to get to you, he was going to have to go through me.”

  For some reason, this didn’t make Canyon feel any better. Picturing this delicate creature facing off Jacob’s big bovine like some bullfighting gladiator made his heart dip in his chest. “Well, don’t do that. I can take care of myself.”

  Seren scoffed. “Humanity is a paradox. So durable. So resourceful. Yet, immensely fragile. A flesh and blood creation can be hurt or destroyed so easily.” After muttering the words, she held up her hand and stared at the tiny veins beneath the skin. She placed a finger to her wrist and felt a faint pulse. “This is a complication I didn’t foresee. I can’t afford to be destructible.”

  “What do you mean?” Canyon asked as he finished the last of his sandwich.

  Seren pushed her plate away, unable to finish. “I’m not sure. All I know is that I have a responsibility and I have to figure out how to take care of you…even in this strange state I find myself in.”

  “You quit worrying about me and just take care of yourself.”

  “Impossible.”

  In light of his previous decision, Canyon tapped the table. “I’ve been thinking about what to do with you. Honestly, I considered alerting the authorities to try and get you some help.”

  Seren understood what he meant. “You mean mental help. You think I’m crazy, I know.”

  He couldn’t deny the truth. Even though he wanted to believe her – hell, he was unbelievably attracted to her – the logical, skeptical side of him couldn’t latch onto her incredible claim. “I don’t suppose you could offer me any proof of what you are. How about letting me see your wings?”

  With a delightful giggle, Seren propped her elbow on the table and cupped her chin in the palm of her hand. “Like John Travolta in Michael? I wish I could. They don’t seem to translate to this dimension. Although…” She felt on the back of her shoulder blade. “I think you can feel where they attach right here.”