Healing Fire (4 page)

He glanced at it curiously. "You
can call me Melor. I must ask what these little things are."

"Fruit Loops." She speared her spoon into the
milk and bits, shoveling them into her mouth, chewing happily. "You've
never had Fruit Loops?" she asked, before licking the thin line of milk
from her upper lip.

"Nay little one, but I have been
learning about earth food." Following her lead, he picked up the spoon and
scooped the floating bits into his mouth. The sweet fruity taste surprised him.

"Good, hey?" Blossom
grinned.

"Aye, little lady." Melor
quickly finished off his bowl and requested another.

A
giggling Blossom handed him the box. "Help yourself."

He finished the rest of the contents. "I
hope your mother will not wish for these Fruit Loops."

"Nah, Mom doesn't eat these. Says
they have too much sugar and it would be healthier to eat the box than the
cereal. But she buys them for me anyway."

"I do not see how consuming a box
would be better for your health." He frowned, glancing over the brightly
painted box the breakfast had been housed in.

Blossom giggled again, her face alight
with amusement.

He
found he very much enjoyed making Blossom smile. Melor, being the polite guest,
took his bowl to the sink and rinsed it out then placed it on the draining
board.

"Where are you from?"
Blossom asked between mouthfuls of cereal.

"A land called Kell. It is far,
far away from here."

"So how did you end up in the
middle of the forest road? Mom said you must be some hiker up from some big
city."

"I was heading home, but instead
it seems I was transported here."

Blossom finished her breakfast then
picked up the bowl and drank the remaining milk.

His mind
was a mass of questions, but he knew he must be careful when dealing with
humans, even pretty little ones. "Tell me little Blossom, where is your
father?"

Chapter
Three

"The problem is he could be
anywhere." Tuthal, sorcerer of Kell, had been fetched when Melor had not
arrived home.

"Anywhere as on earth or anywhere
out in the galaxy on any strange planet?" Jane's voice rose on the verge
of panic.

"Melor is a strong warrior. He
has fought by my side many times, my love. No matter where he may have ended
up, he will survive." Drystan placed his hand on Jane's shoulder; he did
not like seeing her so distressed. She turned into his arms.

"The disturbance of the earth
affects the portal. This city is vast and has brought many ladies to the
Kingdom; perhaps it is time to move the location to a calmer place."

"It was my idea to come here,
right over a fault line. What if it hadn't been Melor but a lady?"

"Jane," he cupped her face
in his hands, forcing her to look up at him. "No one works as tirelessly
as you do for the Kingdom. This is not your fault, do you hear me?"

She nodded and softened as he held her
tightly against him. Drystan glanced past her at Tuthal, who shook his head.
Drystan understood it was a slim chance to none finding Melor again, but it did
not mean they could give up.

"I will put all my power into
finding him, Jane," Tuthal added helpfully.

"We'll close the agency for now
and wait. Melor is out there somewhere, and I know he'll be trying to find his
way home."

Jane sighed. "I don't want to
leave until I know he's okay, but I don't want to leave Joy here either. She's
safe on Kell."

"You know your sister would love
the chance to care for Joy." Tuthal gave them a small smile.

"So would many of the other
ladies," added Drystan. Their daughter was currently the only infant on
Kell, but soon there would be many more.

"Alright."

He was relieved to see a small smile
on her face.

"We'll
take her to Kell then come back and wait."

~ * ~

Agony gripped Summer as she jolted
awake, whimpering in pain. She glanced over at her bedside clock. It was ten in
the morning. She'd been without her medication for over ten hours. Tossing off
the blanket, she sat up. Her clothes were crumpled from sleeping in them. It
wasn't like her to fall asleep fully clothed. It was hard to think clearly with
the pain clouding her mind.

Man, car accident, Blossom
. It all came flooding back. But she
was in her bedroom. How? She gritted her teeth and placed both feet on the
floor before placing her weight on them. Her knee screamed in pain. It shot
through her leg. She gripped the bed post to stop herself from falling to the
floor.

She needed her pills, but more importantly,
she needed to check on Blossom and their guest.

Doc Mableton had been right about her
needing something stronger today. Hobbling to the door, she snatched up her
cane, which only slightly eased the pressure on her leg as she walked.

In the hallway she noticed Blossom's
door open and knew she wouldn't be in there. With measured breaths she made it
to the guest bedroom only to find it empty.

Panic swelled, making her heart thump
faster. Where was he? And where was Blossom?

"Baby!" she called into the
house, but getting no reply fear shot through her as she tried to push back the
pain. She limped through the house looking for any sign of them. Had the
stranger taken her daughter?

All sorts of horrid imaginings flashed
through Summer's mind as she searched, glancing through the front window where
there was nothing but her truck parked out front. She struggled down the steps,
sweat breaking out over her body, a mix of pain and fear.

A loud
WHAWP!
echoing through
the serene forest around them made her jump. A loud cracking followed. She
moved as quickly as she could up and around the side of the house towards the
back shed.

Her heart in her throat she came to a
jolting standstill as the huge, tall man, still with no shirt, stood with an axe
in his hand. His dark hair, tied back with one of Blossom's hair ties, sparkled
in the sunlight.

"Wow, do that again. You're way
better than Mr. Rickshaw who comes once a week to help with the chores."

Blossom
picked the splinters of split logs and placed them on a pile while the stranger
picked up another log and set it on the chopping block.

Summer stood transfixed, watching the
display of muscles ripple along his back as he swung the axe with relative
ease, delivering such a blow to the log that it split the timber easily in
half.

Summer eased her stance and relief
flooded through her system. The shot of adrenaline that had made her pain take
a back seat in her mind now shot forward. Summer panted, trying to hold back an
agonizing whimper.

The man paused, turning his head, and
she got a first glimpse of his dark and mesmerizing eyes as he studied her, a
scowl over his gorgeous features.

"Oh, hey Mom."

Summer
waved. As she spotted her, Blossom's bright face fell. Summer realized she must
have looked as bad as she felt.

The giant of a man set aside the axe
as Blossom ran towards her.

"Is the pain bad today?"

Summer nodded, but her eyes were fixed
on the man as he took long powerful strides towards her. She felt herself
shaking with a mixture of awe and pain.

"Mom, this is Melor, he's the
coolest… "

Summer could barely hear her daughter
over the pounding in her head.

"Mr. Melor, I'm sorry I hit you…"

"My lady, Summer."

His deep rich voice held an edge of
roughness to it. The kind she would normally appreciate, but her mind was too
clouded with pain. "No apologies are necessary; it is I who humbly thank
you for taking care of me."

"She needs her pills,"
Blossom blurted out, making Summer glare at her daughter. What other secrets
had she been telling this tall, dark, sexy… Um, Melor?

What kind of name was that anyway? My
lady? Was he some sort of historical actor from L.A?

She couldn't think.

"You are in pain. I will help you
inside."

Before she could even think what he
meant, he stepped right into her personal space, Summer's world tilting
slightly as he picked her up into his arms as easily as lifting a sofa cushion.

The power and strength it took to lift
her heavy weight left her stupefied along with the smell of masculine spice,
leather and something deeper, darker she couldn't identify.

Blossom ran ahead to open the back
door while
Mr. Huge and Muscle Bound
carried her inside. Summer couldn't
tear her gaze away from his dark, almost black eyes. In no way did they appear
evil, but exotic and enthralling.

"Your lovely daughter has been
kindly showing me your home. I hope you do not mind, I took liberties with your
bath chamber and Blossom gave me most flavorsome food."

"I, um, it's okay. I'm glad to
see you're alright and Blossom has fed you."

"He likes Fruit Loops, Mom,"
Blossom chimed in from behind them.

Melor set her down on one of her
over-stuffed couches and took a step back as Blossom handed her some pills and
a bottle of water.

With shaky hands, she downed the pills
and water.

"Sorry, I'm not usually this bad,
I…"

"Your daughter has explained many
things, and your over-exerted state for helping me last eve."

She glanced at Blossom, her grin reached
from ear to ear.

"If you permit me?" he
asked, lowering his large frame and kneeling by the chair. His large hands
hovered just above her painful right leg.

She nodded her consent, not knowing
what he was going to do. There was nothing he or any doctor could do to ever
stop the pain. It was something she had to live with.

Taking painkillers for the rest of her
life was nothing less than she deserved--a constant reminder of the mirrored
pain in her heart after losing the man she loved.

He laid the palm of his hand over her
leg. His heat scorched her even through the layer of fabric, making her gasp.
Despite the pain, she felt her nipples harden in response to his closeness and
touch. Her body rode the fine line between arousal and pain. Her mind warred
with her body as he gently slid his hand from her upper leg along over her
knee, feeling, gently squeezing. He lifted it and, with a cushion he snatched,
propped up the offending limb.