Tuesday Tales – Sun

violinThe prompt this week is Sun.

I’m back to the new story this week. It’s tentatively called “Leap”.

Jayde is the FMC, and she’s a “Player” – a type of psychic. A rare type of psychic that sees the worlds fates and can moderately play with them. It can be a dangerous talent to have if you are inclined to evil…

Mag is the MMC, he’s a “Keeper” – a sort of magical FBI agent. Keepers are human, but they are created from humans that have died, and they never remember their first life.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

Before Mag even fully coalesced, he knew Jayde was at the edge of his protective barrier. So when he became fully solid and found her at the edge of the cave, just inches from the brutal intensity of falling water, he wasn’t surprised.

He didn’t ask if she knew he was there, she was too powerful for him to doubt she knew that. Instead, he remained where he was, watching as her fingers danced over the edge of his magical barrier.

The sun beat in through a small gap in the intense flow he’d created with the barrier to allow them light, and set her figure in a gorgeous silhouette. Damn, he wanted her, and she knew it too. She knew more than she should, but he trusted her more than the creature that gave him his marching orders.

“Your constant indecision is really messing with me, Mag.” She broke the silence, but didn’t stop running her fingers along the protective shield.

“You’re not touching me.” He frowned. She’d told him that she had to touch him to get a good vision of their combined future. It was a benefit to being a Keeper that other creatures couldn’t use their gifts against a Keeper, in this case it was a detriment. Someone wanted her dead, someone other than his boss, which they both knew was the case. “So how do you know?”

“Much of you is in your shield. It’s not a perfect resolution to being able to see, but it works when you disappear on me.” She smiled and turned around. Her path toward him carried her in an almost glide, her feet made no noise on the rock surface. “I think you need to see something.”

When her hand settled over his heart again, it began to beat double time. Through the curtain of her lashes he could see her aqua eyes almost spark in delight. He set his hand over hers. “Your magic won’t touch me, remember?”

“If you truly believed that, you wouldn’t worry about me playing you. Now hush and trust me.”

He shouldn’t, not after all he’d been told, but he did. After all, he wasn’t one to listen to the rules. “For now, I’ll trust you.”

“You are such a poor liar. No worries.” She turned around and pressed her back into his chest. Her deliciously curvy ass wiggled against his cock, and he grunted. The giggle she offered in reply resonated like the brightest melody through the cave.

Without her guidance, he set his hands on her hips and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Behave.”

“I’ll be telling you that soon.” She lifted her arms to the sides. “Now close your eyes.”

“What? No.”

“Do it.” This time it was a command, a power in her voice he hadn’t heard before.

His cock twitched in response, and he found himself compelled to follow her orders. He closed his eyes as ordered, but kept his hands firm on her hips. “Now what.”

“Now breathe. Relax. Focus on me for a moment. It won’t take you long to see.”

“See what?”

“Magnar.”

With a big exhale, he tried to curb his curiosity and focus on her. It didn’t take as long as he expected. The heat of her body drew him in, her soft, even breaths a whisper in the air that he almost imagined he could see. An aqua swirl of fireflies swooping out as she breathed.

“That’s it,” She whispered, but it was more than a whisper. It was a song, and it carried the voice of a violin. “See it all.”

As the last note shimmered through the air, a cacophony of sound burst into the quiet. He flinched, almost stepping away, but instinct told him to stay still.

“Focus on me. Focus on me.”

Like a beacon in the noise, her song overrode everything and he followed it. The aqua swirl coalesced into strings, stretched out before him like a guitar. One by one, strings dropped into place around them, but he stayed focused on her, afraid of being blasted by chaos again.

“Interesting.” Her delicate fingers danced along the strings around them, brushing them aside and lifting her own up.

“What’s so interesting?”

“It worked, and as I suspected, you have music in you. You must have carried it over from your life.”

“Why do you say that?”

“These are guitar strings, the strings I always see are violins.”

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*

 

 

Tuesday Tales – Hand

stormThe prompt this week is Hand.

This week you get the start of a new story for me.  It’s definitely going to be a sexy little short, it might be a prequel of a series…This is really rough, but we’ll see where it goes. First drafts are always interesting. 🙂

 

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

Jayde drew the bow across the strings in a long, slow motion. The note resonated low and shivered through her body. It still didn’t match the shift she’d felt in her future hours ago. She set aside the violin and rose, dragging the bow behind her.

Eyes closed, she focused on the magic. Around her the strings of life fell into place, each vibrating with its own ever-changing future. To the untrained Player the chords overwhelmed and clashed into chaotic dissonance, at least that’s what she’d been told.

There hadn’t been a day she could remember that she’d heard anything but the sweet orchestral sounds of life. Playing the chords were trickier. According to the other Player she’d met, each Player saw the future in different ways. Whatever they carried in their soul influenced what they saw.

For her it was strings, infinite beautifully colored strings all around her, each persons set up like the neck and bridge of her favorite instrument. She walked on them, even. It was hard for her to imagine how anyone could get through life not seeing and hearing the beauty of the future.

She frowned, brushing aside the stray thoughts to focus. In her right hand she still held the bow, so she raised it up. Rarely did she use the bow, her hands sufficed, but this was a special case. The next hour would be filled with much confusion and chaos and she would need to be able to find the note of her destiny easily amid the symphony.

With the fingers of her left hand, she strummed the threads of fate until she got to her own. She plucked them several times as she would her violin, the pizzicato overpowering the sounds of all other fates. One last pick of the strings left the music shimmering in the air like a thousand aqua dust motes.

She lifted the bow and in one sinuous movement, began to play her own fate. The familiar notes played easily and she kept the tune lively. Within two bars a new, deep tone joined in with hers. Not willing to let go just yet, she moved quickly into a spiccato run, bouncing the bow rapidly over the strings until she found the one the new tone was tied to.

At that she stopped and grabbed the string, rolling her finger over it until she touched the string tied to hers. In one quick motion, she flipped her own fates fingerboard over to find the one hidden just beneath it.

Unlike her own aqua, this was a dark midnight blue, with flecks of silver mixed in. For reasons she didn’t understand, it made her insides shiver in anticipation. This person would change her life.

Soon.

Her keen ears picked up a note of discord entering her personal song. She didn’t have much time, she had to get to the roof. Without further delay she set her bow down and ran to the door.

A battle would happen soon and she wouldn’t battle in her tiny little apartment. She loved the city for the sheer volume of people and their songs all around her, but it sucked for actual living space.

She tore down the hall and shoved open the door for the stairs. Below her life carried on as normal, the familiar music of her fellow tenants carried on. She chuckled. They’d never be aware of what was about to go down.

With a deep breath, she made one last check to make sure her weapons were in place. Two sonic guns, one sword and three knives.  Yup, she was set.

Up two flights of stairs, the door to the roof already sat open. Her next door neighbor had spent the afternoon sunbathing and failed to close it on her way back down. Jayde could still smell the sunscreen in the air.

The cool dusk air enveloped her with its false promises of peace and quiet. Her feet were silent on the rubber surfacing just installed last month. Horns honked all over the city. People shouted, radios blared, and she could distinctly hear someone in the next building having a wonderfully good time in the bedroom. Some people didn’t bother to close their windows.

None of that was out of the norm, and easy to tune out.

She stopped in the middle of the rooftop, turning a full circle to gauge the oncoming attackers positions. Her fate had yet to show up, but she’d do well enough on her own until then.

At the moment there were seven attackers close enough she had reason for concern. She ran her fingers along the hilt of the dagger at her hip, and took hold of it when the colors around her shifted and dispersed.

One of her attackers was attempting a blocking spell. Jayde laughed and spun toward the root of the spell, releasing the dagger into the dark. Before she could hear the satisfying thunk of its impact, she folded her knees and dropped down straight to the ground.

The hum of the oncoming spell passed right over her belly. She straightened her legs and rolled to the right, then immediately to the left. An enormous man landed on the rooftop where she’d just been so hard the entire roof trembled.

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*

 

 

Tuesday Tales – Picture Prompt

antique shopThe prompt this week is a picture – 1 of 4.  Considering Eve & Jake run an antique shop, I couldn’t resist this picture.

However, this will be the last week we see Jake & Eve in Tuesday Tales…their story will be complete before this post goes live (I hope), so I can submit it and the rest of the Lake Point stories to my publisher. Jake & Eve have surprised me at every turn, making me walk a delicate line of life-long friends not sure how to cross that line.  They are a great, and sometimes very frustrating couple, that I hope I’ll be able to bring to you in time for New Years.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

Eve pulled her coat tighter around her neck. It was Christmas Eve, the shop was closed, but she couldn’t stop herself from stopping on her way to the rehearsal dinner. The bright sun illuminated the front window she’d filled and arranged herself.

She couldn’t remember if she’d told Jake how often the display would need to be changed out to avoid sun damage. Maybe she should send him an email. If she told him tonight, he’d forget before he got into work.

The past two years had been spent in that shop. Her entire life had taken place in this small town. The courthouse square she stood in had been part of her every summer.  The candy shop that used to be on the corner had been a frequent haunt once she and Jake were given free reign with their bikes and allowances.

Of course, that candy shop was now a book store, and it had spent time as a tea room and a metaphysical shop in turns over the years.  Everything changed, but at the same time it all stayed the same. Even Jake, who happened to be approaching, had changed so much, but still was the same boy she’d always known.

“I thought I’d find you here.” Jake smiled as he walked up.

“I was early, so I thought I’d take a last circuit around the square.”

“It’s not going anywhere, you just have to visit.”

“I thought I’d raise my children here.” The familiar gnawing fear and depression tightened its grip on her nervous belly. “I guess I thought I’d have them by now, too.”

“You’re going to be the best mom.” Oddly, his voice cracked.

“At this rate, I don’t know if that will ever happen. I just…I’m struggling to let go.”

“I know the feeling.”

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*

 

 

Tuesday Tales – Shoe

portrait of beautiful plus size curly young blond woman posing on grayThe prompt this week is Shoe.

I’m heading back to Lake Point again.  I’m going to return to Eve’s New Year.  Since the past two weeks have been drama for Eve and Jake – I wanted to show you the silly side of these life-long friends. They make me happy when they are silly. Hope they do the same for you. 🙂

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

Jake let himself into Eve’s apartment without knocking. The pain that streaked his heart at the line of packing boxes against her wall eased when he found her with her head buried deep in a box, her gorgeous ass wiggling with each grunt of displeasure.

She muttered, “Where the hell is it?”

He covered his mouth to keep his laughter silent. It would be far more fun to enjoy the show.

“Damn it. You stupid shoe. Where the hell are you?” One hand grasped the edge of the box, a silver shoe dangling from her finger.  “I specifically didn’t pack you, so why can’t I find you?”

Her rant was reaching whine-levels, but Jake still didn’t speak or move. He thought the veins in his forehead might burst from the laughter he was holding in. The shoes in the box rumbled as she shoved them around.

For his part, Jake was content to keep watching her ass. The past few weeks he’d been trying to figure out why he couldn’t keep his eyes off her lately. Since he knew she was leaving soon, he’d decided to just relax and enjoy it rather than worry.

“Son of a—argh.” The silver shoe dropped to the floor and both hands dove into the box, shoving the shoes aside so forcefully several tumbled out onto the floor.

He shook his head and looked toward her bedroom. If history was any indication, the shoe she was looking for would be in the first place she’d looked.  He let her keep digging and slipped down the hall.

The room, like the rest of her apartment, was almost empty. Evidence of her packing could be seen in the empty shelves he knew to be decorated with pictures that included himself, and knick-knacks from as far back as kindergarten.  Everything that had made the apartment Eve’s was gone.

He sighed and shoved aside the aching hole that had begun to open. Today was supposed to be a good day. There were going to be in a wedding, after all.

Once he’d shaken the melancholy out of his shoulders, he scanned the room. He dropped to his hands and knees. Crawling across the floor he first peeked under the bed and then the dresser. Just before he rose he spotted the toe of a shoe sticking out from behind the planter.

How, in a clean and packed apartment, she’d managed to get a shoe hidden behind a planter was beyond him.  He snatched it up and hopped to his feet. On his way back down the hall he brushed at wrinkles he’d caused in his tux.

Eve still had her head stuck in the box, although there were now more shoes on the floor than in the box. Jake leaned on the wall and dangled the shoe from his finger. He cleared his throat loudly. “Ahem. Looking for this?”

With a shriek, she leaped to her feet. “Jacob Anthony Gardner, you sneaky bastard.”

He lost his train of thought at the sight of her. The plum dress hugged her curves just right, the fabric gathered and pinched at her right side. A plunging neckline revealed just enough of her cleavage to leave him salivating.

Jake. What is your problem? You’ve got no defense?”

He had to physically shake his head to clear it and realize she wore a teasing smirk. She must have been trying to bring him down to size with her words, and by the gleam in her eye he could tell she thought she’d won. He quirked up a corner of his lip. “How in hell can you lose a shoe in an almost bare apartment? The perils of a packrat, maybe?”

“Swine.” She raced toward him. Before he could properly defend himself she was smacking him with both her hand and the heel of her stiletto.

“Ow, ow, damn it.” He laughed and squirmed away. Once he’d ducked under her arm he spun around to catch her around the waist.

She grasped his arms and tried to pull free. The shoes dropped to the carpet as she got a good hold. “Let me go.”

“No, you’ll hit me again.” He tried to capture her hands before she pulled them away.  Before he managed she shoved her ass back into him hard.  He stumbled backward, but didn’t let her go.

Three steps back and he bumped into something. He tumbled, bringing the shrieking Eve with him. A sharp pain hit him when he landed right inside the box Eve had been digging through. “Oh, damn it. Ow.”

Through her laughter she managed to continue smack his arms. “Let me go, you’re going to ruin my dress.”

He obliged, and she scrambled to her feet.  With a groan, he sank back against the side of the box that hadn’t collapsed. “Crap.”

“What?”

“I landed on a damn stiletto.”

“Serves you right, butthead.”

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*

 

 

Tuesday Tales – Train

portrait of beautiful plus size curly young blond woman posing on grayThe prompt this week was Train.

I’m heading back to Lake Point again.  I’m going to return to Eve’s New Year.  Last week you all felt such sympathy for Jake, this week I’m going from Eve’s POV. This event is before last week’s prompt…I like Eve a lot…she’s just struggling to deal with this life-long crush she thinks is un-returned…(what would you think if all your crush did was call you his BFF and give you chaste kisses and hugs).

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

“Who the hell does he think he is?”

“I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s Thomas Strayer, an antiquities dealer—and he’d be right.” Eve inched past Jake’s red-faced bluster to step into her office.

“That isn’t what I mean.” Jake snarled. “I mean he was checking out your ass.”

She wasn’t sure what to make of that statement, or his clear displeasure about it. Rather than stammer or fret as she would have done years ago, she snorted. “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I know when a guy is checking out my ass. On the rare occasions it does happen, I can always hear them mumbling that they like big butts and they can’t lie.” She sat at her desk. The miniature train she’d been holding got set to the side while Jake continued to somehow manage to stare with a combination of anger and shock. “What?”

“I don’t like that.”

“What? Aren’t you the one that always told me not to let them get to me? I’ve learned that the best defense is a good offense. You should know that after all your years of hockey.”

He shook his head. “I don’t like anyone talking about you like that, not even you.”

With a sigh, she leaned her head back against her chair. “The point is, what difference does it make either way? He’s not interested, and if he was, what does it matter to you?”

“He is interested. The guy wasn’t listening to you talk about that stupid train. He asked you to get it down so he could ogle you.”

Eve had to forcibly hold back her snort at the suggestion. No man had gone to lengths like that just to do anything akin to ogling. Most of them managed well enough just with her chest. It was the best thing about her big-boned body, the girls got her lots of attention when she wore her favorite low-cut tops.

“Eve?”

“Hm? Oh, right. Well, I think you’re imagining things.”

“What were you two whispering about?”

She sighed in exasperation. This interrogation was pointless. He was acting like a guard dog, but she was a grown woman. After a lifetime of him giving her the big-brother act, she was just about at the end of her rope. Not once had he bothered to ogle her, what did he care if anyone else did? “We weren’t whispering. We were making plans for dinner, actually.”

“What?”

“Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist. It’s a business dinner.”

“Business.” Jake scoffed. “Right.”

“In case you’ve forgotten. I am trying to establish a relationship with the auction house so we can sell your excess inventory. That is what dinner is about.”

“I don’t want him taking advantage of you.”

Eve groaned and dropped her head into her hands. “Did you ever think that maybe I need a little bit of advantage taken?”

“No.”

She sighed and rose. “I’m not getting any younger, Jake. Unlike you, I haven’t had much of a chance to dive into the dating pool all my life. For the first time ever I’m starting to like myself and I’m damn well going to enjoy myself if I want to.”

“But…”

“I’m a big girl.” She leaned forward. “I can handle myself.”

“You’re my—”

“Best friend. I know.” She knew all too well. It’s all she’d ever been to him, and it was all she’d ever be.  Her friend Ivy was right, it was time to piss or get off the pot. Eve’s fantasy life where she and Jake had a happy ever after was never going to happen. “As my best friend, you should want me to be happy. You’re the one that’s always telling me I need to stop playing it safe.”

“I do want you happy.” He sighed and leaned against the doorframe. A smile curved his adorable lips. Damn it, maybe she wasn’t quite done with the fantasy. “I just get a bad vibe from this guy.”

“You’re being silly.” After all, Thomas was gay, but she wasn’t about to tell Jake that. In Eve’s fantasy’s later Jake’s freak-out would be because he was jealous, not because he was once again riding in on his white horse to protect her from some big bad.

“Call it an old habit.”

“Old habits are hard to break.” Eve sat back down and eyed the train engine she’d set in front of her computer. Thomas did want a business dinner, but not over the auction. It involved a job—in Albany. Far enough away from Lake Point, her life-long crush, and her boring life. She’d never been outside of Lake Point for anything, her whole life was nothing but habit and pipe dreams. “But sometimes it’s what you have to do.”

“What if you don’t want to?”

“You never want to, that’s why it’s a habit.”

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*

 

 

Tuesday Tales – Library

libraryThe prompt this week was Library.

I’m heading back to Lake Point again this week.  This time I’m giving you a sample of Eve’s New Year.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors. :

“What were you thinking?” Eve’s bright smile faded. She opened the next box, and then another.  The boxes laid out throughout her office were each filled with books. “There’s enough here to fill a library.”

“A private one, maybe.” Jake tried not to let his disappointment show. He thought she’d be excited by his purchase.

“No one in this town has a need to stock an entire library. Who’s going to catalog these anyway? I told you, Jake. My last day is in one week. I have enough to do without adding in cataloging a library full of books.”

“You don’t understand.” He took the box lid she held in her hands and slid it back in place on the box.  “These aren’t for the shop.”

“Then what are they doing in my office?”

“I got them for you.”

Her bright blue eyes got wide and the flush of anger faded away. “What?”

“You always gush over the book listings.” He heaved the box off her desk and set it on top of a nearby stack. This was not going the way he’d planned at all. “I know you like old books, I’ve heard you talk about how you dreamed of having a library full.”

“You heard me?”

“Of course I heard you. You’re my best friend.”

“Right.” Her voice cracked again. It had been doing that a lot lately. “Best friend.”

“I hate that you’re leaving. I just wanted to do something for you.”

“God you’re such an ass.”

“What?” He spun around, but she wasn’t facing him. “I was trying to be nice.”

“Well I don’t need you to try so hard anymore.” She kept her back to him. “I don’t need to be your charity case in the name of friendship any longer.”

“Charity case?” Jake couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What the hell?”

“My gallant defender, forcing his good buddies not to pick on the fat girl, the four eyes, the nerd that just happened to live next door to you. I’m a big girl now.” The words remained strong even if her voice was still weak. “And I’m not interested in feeding your need to be a savior.”

“Eve.”

“Just get out. I have work to do if I’m going to be out of here in a week.”

Pain ripped through his heart. “So you aren’t just quitting this job, are you?”

“No. I’m quitting you.”

*~*
Hope you enjoyed it!  Click on the Tuesday Tales badge to see more excellent entries!!

TTBadge

*~*