Back Home

By the end of the dinner they all knew a lot more about Michael and his books.

Michael looked at them all. They looked like a big, happy family; like millions of other families in the world, chattering and smiling over their dinner. He found himself wanting this.

***

After dinner, Paul finally convinced the girls to go to bed. Maggie was eager to show Emma her room. Sabrina and Mary followed them.

"I'm so happy to have a roommate, Emma. I want to know everything about your uncle," Maggie was out of herself with excitement.

"Maggie... It's not nice prying into other people's lives," Mary said in a special menacing tone of voice Maggie knew very well.

The girl pouted.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"Talking about sleeping arrangements. Where are you and Michael going to sleep?" Mary's asked her daughter.

"Me and Michael? Mother! We're not a couple. He'll be staying in the guest room, of course." Sabrina corrected her, quickly blushing.

"You could have fooled me, baby," Mary pointed out gently. "The way you look at him, the way you blush every time he looks you straight in the eyes, the way you smile every time he compliments you... Are you sure you are not in love with him?"

"I told you your feelings were written all over your face," Emma said with vindication.

Sabrina merely closed her eyes and wished she was dead.

"You're really special, Sabrina, my uncle was dead inside since he lost his brother." Emma sighed unhappily, and gulped hard. "And I was too since I lost my mom and dad. You changed both of us in just one day."

Silence filled the room for a moment, then Sabrina hugged Emma tightly against her chest.

"Okay, time to sleep." Mary ordered wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Mary tucked Maggie and Sabrina tucked Emma. They both promised there would be no more talk till the next day.

Sabrina followed her mother to the kitchen to help her with the dishes.

"What are you going to do about your feelings?" Mary asked finally, once they were alone.

Sabrina had no idea. She only knew that the longer she spent with Michael, the more she liked him. She wanted to lay her head on his shoulder and melt into him. She wanted to feel his hands move over her body. She wanted...

***

"Would you like to sit on the porch and have something to drink?" Paul asked, as soon as the women disappeared upstairs.

Michael nodded.

"Thank you, that would be nice."

"Beer or coffee?" Paul asked, moving around the counter toward the kitchen half of the room. When Michael hesitated, Paul added, "I'm going to have a beer myself."

"A beer it is then," Michael murmured.

They sat on the porch, watching the stars. The sound of night crickets, calling birds and creaking bugs filled the silence for a while.

"You like my daughter," Paul said cutting straight to the chase.

Michael thought about denying it or giving a diplomatic answer, polite but vague. However he decided to be honest and nodded slowly. "I do like her, Paul."

"She's an amazing girl," Paul said with pride.

"That she is."

Paul tilted his head. "I sense there is a 'but'."

Michael sighed deeply.

"I lost my older brother and my sister-in-law in a car accident a year ago. They were Emma's parents."

"I'm truly sorry to hear that. You have my condolences."

"Thank you. My girlfriend left me around that time. I don't blame her; I didn't handle the whole situation well. Since then I've been a recluse in my own apartment. I don't have a life except for my work. I closed myself off from sharing feelings and emotions unless it was absolutely necessarily. I stayed safely wrapped inside myself. I'm not sure I'm ready to fall in love again." Michael continued.

Paul nodded. "Been there. Well, not exactly the same situation, but I have a pretty good idea of how you're feeling."

Then he proceeded to tell Michael about his cheating wife and his first daughter deserting him. He told him about his state of mind when he arrived in Middletown, the way he met Mary and Sabrina and how he finally opened up to love again.

"It was the best decision I could make, Michael. It's amazing when someone comes into your life and you expect nothing out of it, but suddenly there right in front of you is everything you need."

Michael found himself moving his head up and down slowly.

"I don't want to walk away from what I could have with Sabrina just to be sure I never suffer the pain of a possible loss again."

"Something that may never happen," Paul reminded Michael.

"That's true." Michael admitted. "It's amazing."

"What?" Paul asked sipping his beer.

"How everything can change so swiftly."

Paul nodded in agreement. "Life can change so fast, so unexpectedly. You don't' even realize how fast things can go from what seems good to bad. Everything can change for the better too. Never doubt the power of sudden blessings."

"You're right, Paul. Thank you."

"I can see how much my daughter likes you. Don't let your fears prevent you from accepting the happiness you and Sabrina could have."

"I won't," Michael murmured, and knew it was true. He just couldn't resist the pull of his attraction for Sabrina. Accepting the bottle Paul held out, he murmured, "Thanks for the advice. You're a great guy, Paul."

"You are not bad yourself. Sabrina could have done a lot worse." Paul smiled at Michael and clinked his bottle with Michael's. "You and Emma can stay here as long as you want. I'm sure both of my girls will be thrilled with that, though for different reasons."

CHAPTER 8

The next day Michael woke up late. He did his morning routine and climbed down the stairs.

Emma and Maggie were laughing and giggling, sitting on the kitchen counter. They were braiding Sabrina's hair into long pigtails.

"What do you think, Uncle? Doesn't she look beautiful?" Emma asked Michael.

Sabrina glanced over her shoulder with surprise. Her own eyes widened as she saw Michael standing at the foot of the stairs.

"I think Sabrina always looks beautiful," Michael said solemnly. "But I like this country girl style. It suits her."

Maggie beamed at Michael, and said, "I knew you were an intelligent man the moment I knew you wrote the 'Werewolf Vigilante books'."

Much to Sabrina's amazement, he actually blushed at the compliment, which just seemed to please Maggie more.

"What made you decide to be a writer?" Maggie asked. She was a bottomless pit of questions.

"I remembered back when I was a kid, I was so obsessed with wanting to create characters of my own. I even had imaginary friends at the time. I guess I really do have a big imagination and a creative mind." he explained and then shrugged.

"So, still a child at heart?" Sabrina suggested.

"I'm grown up, but that child is still there," he acknowledged, then tilted his head and asked, "What made you decide to be a vet?"

"I think every girl wants to be a vet and take care of sick and injured animals when she's little. I just never grew out of it. Plus there are a lot of farms around here. I knew I'd never lack work."

"Why did you choose to write about a vigilante?" Maggie asked again.

"That's a tricky question with a rather complicated answer. I think vigilantism is justified when the government fails to enforce the law. The vigilante acts to punish some criminals because the law couldn't punish them. He brings some kind of justice to the victims. He only kills in self-defense, but I admit it's a very grey area," Michael explained with a serious expression on his face.

Chuckling softly, Sabrina said, "We are giving Michael a break now. He answered enough questions last night."

She caught Maggie and Emma each by an arm and began to usher them out of the living room. "It's a sunny day outside. Maggie, why don't you take Emma to 'The Jammed'? I'm sure Tony will love to meet Emma."

"Who's Tony?" asked Emma.

"He's the chef. He's actually very cool." Maggie explained. "He makes a mean cheesecake."

"I love cheesecake." Emma exclaimed.

The two girls said something to each other, giggled and went out of the house giving Michael and Sabrina some privacy.

Sabrina glanced at Michael and shook her head wryly as the door closed behind the duo.

"Where are your parents?"

"At work." Sabrina said. "Do you like white chocolate strawberry cookies?"

"I don't think I've ever had them," Michael murmured.

"Oh, well then, you're in for a real treat. They're delicious. You'll find that I have something of a sweet tooth."

"So do I." Michael said with a grin.

"Oh, that's great!" Sabrina crooned happily. "We are going to get along so well."

"I think so too. I like you."

Sabrina found her breath hitching in surprise and her heart melting a little at the words. It had been exactly the right thing to say. Sabrina walked towards him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. I like you too."

He peered at Sabrina, cleared his throat, and murmured, "Your father suggested Emma and I should stay here for a while."

"I heard," she admitted, then asked quietly, "Is that all right with you?"

He smiled crookedly. "Yes, it is. I think Emma is going to like it here. She gets along really well with Maggie. I don't think I could get those two apart."

"Is that the only reason you want to stay?"

"Well, I would love to spend more time with certain vet I set my eyes on." He grinned at her.

"Sounds good to me. The vet likes big animals." Sabrina grinned back.

She was actually enjoying Michael company. His grumpy, terse persona had turned into a loving, doting man. Actually, lately he has been a pleasure to be with. They sat in the kitchen for quite a while, eating breakfast in silence, shooting glances at each other, as if each of them was waiting for the other to say something. Every time she gazed at the smile flirting on his lips, she wanted to kiss it.

Finally, Michael said, "You're a gorgeous woman, Sabrina Olson."

She found herself smiling in return. She had thought the man was handsome from the first moment she laid eyes on him, but now, with laughter sparkling in his eyes and tilting the corners of his mouth, he was so much more than simply handsome. He was breathtaking.

"You're not bad yourself, Michael Blakesley."

He stood up and came closer to her. She didn't move. She could almost feel his breath against her skin, a warm, moist exhalation.

Snatching her by the wrist, he pulled her up into his arms. She got out one gasp of surprise before his mouth closed over hers.

It was no soft, tentative kiss. Michael had wanted to kiss her so badly that he couldn't have been soft had he wanted to. The kiss was a taking, he ravaged her mouth, forcing her lips open and thrusting his tongue inside, his body clenching at the taste of her. She was as hot and sweet as he had imagined.

And she was as willing. Oh, not at first. For the first moment or two Sabrina was stiff and still in his arms, but then she gave a groan of surrender and melted into him, her body forming itself against his. Her breasts nudged his chest as she slid her free arm around his neck and tilted her head slightly to make it less awkward as she kissed him back. It only served to fan the flame of Michael's desire.

While Sabrina had been kissed many times before, it had never been with the heat and raw desire that had exploded between her and Michael.

He released her wrist and slid his arms around her. Letting his hands slide down over her back to her heart-shaped bottom, he cupped those round curves and lifted her against him until they were groin to groin.

Sabrina was warm sunlight in his hands, arching and writhing against him as she moaned. Her mouth went wider, then sucked at his almost frantically.

"Michael," She gasped his name in protest when he paused to glance around. But Michael wasn't stopping. He had no intention of stopping; he merely wanted to lay her someplace. He wanted to touch more of her. He wanted to take her.

"My room is upstairs." She whispered guessing his thoughts.

He climbed upstairs with her in his arms and stumbled into her room. They were kissing and moaning all the way.

Seeing the bed directly behind Sabrina, he let her fall onto it.

"I can't take you out of my mind...and I want you." He groaned.

"I already knew that, Michael," she pointed out gently. "The question is, are you ready to have a relationship? I'm not a one-night-stand kind of girl."

For one minute, he struggled with the question, reluctant to admit that he was ready for a relationship. It didn't matter what he knew or didn't know about her. The fact was they were good together. She was his future. Michael realized suddenly that all the fears he'd been experiencing were just leftover from what he went through. Life had definitely taken enough from him already. He wasn't letting his fears take Sabrina away from him too.

"Yes," he said finally, his voice firm and his chin rising defiantly. "I'm ready."

Sabrina started to reach for him, but he stopped her with a hand on her chest. "What about you? Are you ready to be my girlfriend, Sabrina? I want an exclusive relationship with you, I'm not a one-night-stand kind of guy"

She giggled.

"I am," she said solemnly.

He pressed his body insistently into hers and lowered his mouth to kiss her again. He whispered, "We hardly know each other."

"That's true," Sabrina murmured, as she pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"I don't know what you like and don't like, what your beliefs are, religiously or politically, or even if you want children." He punctuated each point with another kiss, one to the side of her eye, one to her cheek, and one to her ear.

Sabrina murmured something of an agreement, although it sounded more like a moan to her as her body began to respond to his nearness and touch.

"We should really talk," he murmured, running his lips across her cheek to press a kiss to the side of her mouth. "Get to know each other."

"Yes," she breathed, her hands roving over his back, side and arms.

"We'll talk later," he promised.

"Later," Sabrina agreed, just before his mouth covered hers. His kiss was hot and demanding, and Sabrina moaned as her body came to roaring life.

Her brain seemed to shut down and give itself up to the rush of sensation that suddenly exploded through her.

Michael quickly and methodically stripped off the tank top she wore. Just as she was reaching to remove his own top, he gave her a push that sent her dropping back onto the bed. He then immediately bent and caught the waistband of her joggers to tug them off quickly.

Once he had her naked, Michael paused to look her over, one hand sliding gently along her heated skin, making her eyes droop to half-mast and her body shiver with pleasure. Michael had seen many women in various states of undress, but he didn't think he'd ever seen someone as sexy as Sabrina.

She reached for him, wanting to feel him on top of her, but he withdrew with a chuckle and straightened, leaving her to watch as he stripped off his own clothes.

As she watched first his T-shirt, then his own pants hit the floor, Sabrina traced the outline of his body with hungry eyes and knew it would be a long time before they had that talk... a very long time. Perhaps after their first child... or the second, she thought, as he came down on top of her, his body firm and hard. And then his mouth covered hers and his hands began to move over her and she stopped thinking altogether.

Michael gave her another deep kiss, filling her mouth with his tongue, then withdrawing it in imitation of what was to come. He broke the kiss and nibbled his way down her chin, along her throat.

He let his mouth move on, kissing Sabrina's tender flesh until he reached her soft breasts. He suckled eagerly at one breast, then the other. Sabrina moaned and arched her back, pressing upward into his lips. It was all the urging Michael needed; he shifted lower on her body so that he could bend forward and take one perfect, hardened nipple into his mouth. His eyes closed with pleasure as he suckled the hard tip and felt it stiffen even further with excitement. She allowed him to enjoy her breasts for a bit, then caught his hair and tugged his head demandingly upward.

Their kiss this time was almost violent, a battle of tongues as he ground his hips forward, rubbing his groin against her. Sabrina responded heatedly, rubbing back in return.

"Sabrina." Michael's voice was a rasp of sound.

"I want you inside me," she whispered. "Please, Michael. I want you inside me."

Raising up, Michael silenced her plea with a kiss. He caught her hands in his own and held them on either side of her head as he drove his hard cock into her.

He slowly slid in and out, rubbing his shaft on her warm and wet walls. He pulled back and slid into her again changing the pace just a little, speeding up and lengthening the strokes.

She followed and soon they were making love like they had been doing it for years. Their bodies seemed to read each other, to change motion and pace together.

Michael knew she was getting close, the deep ragged breaths, the open mouth, her fingers digging into his back. He let his own climax rise. He was holding back, waiting while Sabrina moaned and bucked against him. He let his orgasm come, surging up, spasm after spasm as he emptied himself into her. She was clutching at him and moaning as she peaked in her own climax. Sabrina was writhing and sobbing, gasping and straining, and then she was screaming into the pillow as her body bucked with orgasm.

Michael held Sabrina in his arms as her breathing slowed to normal and her eyes opened. She peered at him and said quietly, "That was out of this world."

"I've never experienced anything like this before. Not just because of the mind blowing sex we just had, but because the way I feel when I'm with you." Michael said looking at her.

"You know this is madness, right?" Sabrina asked cheerfully. We've only known each other a handful of hours."

"We can take it slow if you prefer." he suggested and eyed her uncertainly.

Sabrina shook her head. "No, I don't think we could slow down even if we wanted. I want this with you."

She gave him a soft kiss on the lips and said, "We'll keep talking about this later. I think it might be best if we weren't found naked in my bed, if the girls come back home."

CHAPTER 9

The next weeks passed in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

Michael was getting used to the quiet life of a small-town. He and Sabrina took long walks in the forests or by the lake. Sometimes just the two of them, sometimes with Emma and Maggie.

Sabrina took every opportunity to show Michael her favorite places. She showed him her clinic.

"There's an apartment upstairs where I live." She explained. "Of course, I'm at my parents home most of the time."

She showed him a beautiful tall oak tree that stood during the Revolutionary War.

Sabrina loved everything about the lake, especially an old pier. Its wooden planking was uneven and unsure but she liked to sit at the end to watch the sunset.

Finally she took him to her dream house: a two-story log cabin near the lake with a large outside area. The place had been completely redone not long ago.

"It waaaaaaaay out of my reach, but I like to come here and dream that one day I'll live here with my family." She confided to him. Sabrina's enthusiasm was contagious and Michael found himself loving the house too.

Sabrina also introduced Michael to some of the locals. Of course, by the end of the first week everyone knew who Michael was and everyone in Middletown was speculating when Michael and Sabrina were going to get married.

Sabrina and Michael talked a lot and got to know each other's life stories and thoughts pretty well. They discussed every subject they could think of.