The Silver Guardian Bk. 01 Ch. 02

Book 1

A big thank you to my amazing editor Tex Beethoven who once again worked magic and made this a much better chapter and read, thank you Tex!

Chapter 2

It was late afternoon and Dante was about 45 minutes or so north of Whitefish, Montana, winding his way through some mountains. He had the windows down so the cool air was blowing through his deep black hair, occasionally sweeping it past his eyes and tickling his ears.

The sensation he had been feeling the past day or so was now a constant pulse in his subconscious, one he could barely detect but that was leading him; leading him where he didn't know, but he kept going with it.

Dusk would arrive in the next hour or two and he was peering through the windshield at a sharp hairpin just ahead, when he saw a large blue truck emerge around the turn.

Without warning a deer came bounding out of the foliage right in front of the truck! The truck lurched and swerved, but the back tire hit a patch of sand on the shoulder of the road, and the sudden evasive maneuver in addition to the grit toppled it sideways and the truck rolled downslope off the road, slamming into a large pine in the small ravine on the side of the road! The deer bounded safely away, but left devastation in her wake.

"Fuck!" barked Dante as he slammed on the brakes and turned off the engine , pulling to the side of the road, pulling the parking brake before he bolted from the Chevelle. He made a quick assessment. The cab of the truck was mostly intact, though damaged severely. The smell of gas filled his nose and he could see heat rolling off the overturned truck.

Knowing that a fire or perhaps even an explosion was a very real likelihood, he raced to the truck and struggled to open the door, but it had been partially caved in and wouldn't budge even with him pulling on it as hard as he could. Through the broken window he could see a long mane of hair trailing down from a woman hanging limply upside down from her seatbelt. Blood was slowly dripping to the roof of the interior.

Dante knew he had but a small window of time to get the woman and himself away from the truck before it caught fire or exploded. He grabbed the door with both hands and planted his right foot against the truck body and pulled with all his might! "Come onnnnnn, open goddammit!" Dante roared.

The door groaned and the metal started to shriek, and for the first time since Mosul, that familiar heat and strength invaded his body and he ripped the door from the truck right off its hinges! He and the door tumbled onto the mountain slope, but fortunately not far.

Stumbling, he righted himself, grabbed his pocket knife and urgently cut the seatbelt away from the young woman and eased her gently out of the truck's cab. Flames had already begun and were soon licking all around the truck as he grabbed her and held her tight to his chest as he sprinted as fast as his trick knee allow, up the steep slope and away from the truck.

Moments before he crested the ridge, a tremendous explosion rocked the ravine and forced Dante to his knees as he grunted and tried to stop himself from landing atop the woman and perhaps injure her further. He felt a burning sensation across his side and flanks before a sharp pain erupted on the back of his head, sending a flash through his vision before everything went dark...

***

Lily came to, slowly and groggily. Everything hurt and her head was spinning and she couldn't see anything. As her senses began to clear she realized she was lying on a roadbed, pinned beneath something hard and quite warm.

She moved her hand and started to push away whatever was on top of her only to realize it was an unconscious man! Her head mostly clear, she smelled acrid smoke and felt heat coming from nearby. She groaned and gently shifted the man slightly off her, enough to leave him laying on his side as she sat up.

"What the hell happened..." she trailed off as she remembered coming around the hairpin and seeing the deer jump right in front of her just before her world turned upside down before going black.

Lily looked around to get her bearings and a dozen feet or so down from the slight roadside embankment saw what was left of her truck, a bent and twisted, boiling mass of fire and thick black smoke. As Lily's eyes drifted towards the man next to her she gasped: he was huge! She could smell the blood and quickly got to her knees and started to examine the mysterious stranger. He had deep bloody lacerations on his flanks and up his back, and the back of his head had a nasty gash in it that was also weeping blood.

Trying to collect her racing mind, she analyzed where they were and what needed to be done. She knew it would be a good hour-long drive to get to the hospital in Whitefish, her truck wasn't a truck anymore and this man needed help now! She stood up and looked around, locking eyes on the black muscle car parked a little way down the road. She made a snap decision, understanding this was the unconscious man's car, and decided to wrestle him into the car and drive the 10 minutes to her cabin, which is where she was heading in her truck anyway.

Lily had first aid supplies in her home and decided she could help him, clean him up and learn his story. Looking at the man more closely, she saw that he was well over 6 feet, and if she had to guess she would say somewhere around 6'8" or maybe even taller. He had thick, amazingly defined muscles all across his frame. Dark black hair hung messily around his face, falling past his shoulders and running along his strong jawline and cheeks.

Lily's face heated up as she stared at the man, chastising herself for staring like a star-struck teenager. "This is not the time for that, and for Goddess sake he just saved your life and is bleeding his life out! Get a grip, you foolish girl!" she hissed to herself.

She rolled the man over onto his back and he let out a quiet groan of pain. "Sorry, I have to do this to be able to pick you up and move you to the car," she said to no one in particular, but felt bad for the pain he must be in.

Lily leaned down and in a move that would have left anyone watching gasping in amazement, lifted him partway onto her shoulders and started to carry/drag him towards the black muscle car. Lily may have only been 5'4" tall and slender, but the curves she did have hid a deceptive strength greater than any normal man.

"Come on, let's go." she ground out as she started to hobble and drag the stranger to the passenger side of his car.

She may have been extremely strong for her size and appearance, but he was still heavier than she could have imagined, and she was struggling with his size and weight as she angled towards the car.

He's got to be at least 300 lbs if he's even a pound! thought Lily with a smirk.

Shaking her head to clear it, she made it to the door and was able to unlock it through the open window and as gingerly as she could, poured him into the passenger seat. She buckled him in as best she could and closed the door, racing around the front and climbing into the driver's seat. She sent up a silent prayer of thanks that the keys were in the ignition. She turned the Chevelle over and the engine roared to life in a loud bark and throaty rumble. Tires spinning against the loose gravel, she spun a quick one eighty and headed for her cabin...

***

A flash of blood red, that was all Dante remembered and saw in his mind's eye; he was floating in his subconscious and the wild presence that had always called to him was nearer than it had ever been in his life. Dante felt that he could reach out and touch it, but once again he couldn't see what the presence was and couldn't get any closer.

He felt as if he were drifting up to the surface of a still body of water, but at the same time felt his body getting heavier and beginning to ache very seriously. In his mind he began swimming upwards instead of just drifting and as his head breached the surface, he woke up.

"Fuckkkkkkkkkkk..." Dante groaned as he regained his senses.

"That about sums it up perfectly," replied a sweet melodic voice with a touch of humor to it.

Dante froze and tried to take stock of the situation, realizing he was lying face down on a bed he didn't recognize. He rolled carefully onto his back and sat up. As he opened his eyes he stared into the face of the single most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in any part of the world!

She had blood red hair draping well past her shoulders, but because she was sitting down, he didn't know how long it really was. She had a sculpted oval face with a delicate nose, high cheekbones, cream-like perfect skin and full, pink, pouty lips.

As he slowly worked his way up her face he froze once again as their eyes met. Emerald green pools with streaks of liquid gold pulled him in and he felt like he was plunging into their depths.

He startled and pulled himself back into himself. "I'm sorry for staring like that, you startled me, and I wasn't fully present yet." said Dante quietly.

Lily's eyes were wide and glued to Dante's face. Like him, she was frozen and with her eyes locked on his. She had never seen eyes like his before, they were bright liquid silver, looking like sterling silver had been melted down and was almost glowing. Dante's black hair was partially shielding his face, but he brought a hand up and brushed it out of his face and smoothed it down the back of his head.

A blush spread across Lily's features as she stared into his eyes and felt his words as a deep rumble, rolling across her skin and heating it up.

"I'm sorry for startling you Dante, I didn't mean to, but I'm glad you're awake and seem to be doing better." replied Lily just as gently.

Dante's eyes narrowed slightly, "How do you know my name?" he asked after a moment.

Lily smiled and with a hint of sheepishness picked up his wallet from an end table near the head of the bed. "I didn't know who you were, so I checked your wallet and found your license and military ID to find out. Sorry."

Dante smiled slightly and let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "It's quite alright ma'am, I'd want to find out who someone in my home was as well. I can tell you've been taking care of me and watching over me, but I don't know who you are or where I am."

Lily gasped and blushed (she seemed to be doing that a lot lately), "I'm so sorry, my name is Lily O'Connor and you're in the bedroom in my cabin. It's only about 10 minutes or so up the road from where you pulled me from my truck. And I want to say thank you for saving my life!"

Dante smiled again, "It's nice to meet you Lily, and thank you for taking care of me. My name is Dante Silvrash, and there's nothing to thank me for: your truck tipped over right in front of me, and I'm just glad I was there and able to help! I am sorry however, that you then had to take care of me yourself. How did we get to your cabin?"

Lily explained, "I woke up with you lying on top of me, having apparently shielded me from the shrapnel of the exploding truck! When I regained my senses and took stock, I saw you were injured and bleeding from your back and flank and the back of your head. I knew we were too far from Whitefish to get you to professional help in time, so I got you into the passenger seat of your car and drove us both to my cabin.

"Oh! And don't worry about your car, I could tell a lot of time and love was put into it, so once I had you inside and cleaned up some, I rushed back to clean up the blood from the passenger seat, so there's no damage to it. But what about the deer?"

"Safe."

"Good! I had to lose a truck to save her, so I'm glad she got away."

Dante looked up at her, "Thank you Lily, not only for helping me and everything, but for taking care of my car as well! It's one of only a few possessions I have that I truly care about in this life, and it means the world to me. Thank you for being so thoughtful and taking care of the blood. Not many people would have been so thoughtful!"

Dante went to stand up and as he got off the bed, the sheet slipped from his torso. He saw Lily's gaze running up and down his body, so he looked down. He blushed a deep crimson as he realized he was basically naked, standing there in just his boxer briefs.

He quickly turned around. "I'm so sorry! I should have been more aware and figured out I wasn't dressed sooner!"

Lily had stood and slowly approached him, laying a hand gently on his ribs on the right side. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about Dante, you saved my life and I was happy to help you and care for your wounds. I had to remove your clothing to clean up the blood and clean out the wounds and bandage them, so I've already seen plenty of you. I'm not embarrassed, and I don't want you to be either; we're both adults here, and it's perfectly normal, given the situation."

Dante relaxed a bit and slowly turned around to face her. He saw a gentle smile on her face, but more significantly his sixth sense was detecting a deep calm coming from her. "Thank you, Lily, you're very kind. I'm not used to being around others, so I got a little anxious there for a moment. Plus, you're a truly beautiful woman and I didn't wish to make you uncomfortable, looking at something nobody wants to see." Dante was referring to the scars dominating his back, chest and body.

Lily paused and frowned a bit, "As I said, you haven't embarrassed me, but I don't get your reference to something 'nobody wants to see'; have you looked in a mirror recently?"

Dante's confusion was apparent as his brow furrowed. "Lily, that's a poor jest: my body is a roadmap of pain and suffering and quite disfigured. No one wants to see that, and believe me, enough people have told me that enough times. People see this and most of them either gasp in horror, or are repulsed by all the damage. Either way, it makes them uncomfortable and they always look at me differently afterwards.

"So you don't have to say things that aren't true to try to make me feel better: I'm used to my state and made my peace with it long ago."

Lily stepped forward and gently pushed him backwards until the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed and he sat down. Lily looked into his liquid silver eyes, her bright red hair framing her face.

She looked almost angry as she lectured sternly and in rising crescendo, "You listen closely to me Dante Silvrash, there is nothing wrong with you and you are certainly not disfigured! I may be giving away more than I should, but I can say you are all man, and one of the finest I've ever laid eyes on, and any woman would be lucky to have you!" she finished with passion. "Now, I want you to lay back down and let me have a look under these bandages and see how we're doing. I'm sure they need to be changed again."

Dante hesitantly laid back down and rolled onto his stomach, so she could check the bandages, her nonsensical words racing through his head. He didn't know how to make sense of them! No woman had ever said something like that to him, let alone a stranger and one as beautiful as Lily. Lily's hands gently ran across his back and peeled away the bandages to see how the recent damage was healing.

She gasped! Dante looked over his shoulder to see her eyes wide and mouth open.

"That's not possible..." Lily whispered, her hands gently running down his back.

Dante waited a full minute as Lily just stared before he finally asked, "What's wrong, is everything ok?"

Lily looked up and into his eyes, then back down to his flank and gently peeled the bandages away from his entire back before once again stopping and staring at the uncovered flesh.

"Lily... Lily! What's wrong?" Dante asked with growing impatience. If some new tragedy had happened to him, he wanted to know!

Lily finally spoke, her voice quiet and hesitant. "Dante, you're almost totally healed. Instead of the raw, open wounds I treated an hour ago, ragged flesh oozing blood, now there are just angry red lines that look days or perhaps a week old, not hours!"

Dante hesitated before finally acknowledging in a whisper, "Oh... that. Yeah, uhmm it's alright, that's normal for me, though it normally isn't quite this fast... and..." Dante trailed off.

"What do you mean normal for you? People don't heal this way and certainly not this quickly. Those wounds badly needed stitching together, I didn't have the tools or the skill to do that, but now your back is a smooth as a baby's... umm... back!" she finished in a whisper as something impossible started to tug at the back of her mind. She pushed it aside.

"It's ok Lily, it's always been this way for me, I don't know why, but I've always healed way more quickly than everyone else. More than one Navy doctor and medic have taken a look, and no one could explain it, so I eventually just got used to it and moved on. Sorry if it frightened you." explained Dante without really explaining anything.

Lily relaxed some but couldn't hide her suspicions from herself as she stood back from the bed to give Dante some space to get back up.

"No, it's fine, really. Just surprised is all." She paused, then, "Well, now that you're awake and we've gotten some of the initial awkwardness out of the way, I'm sure you'd like some space so you can get cleaned up and feeling better.

"There's a shower through that door right over there," she pointed to the door in the corner of the room, "and other facilities in there you're welcome to use. I brought in your duffel from the car, so you can change and have access to your things. I'll head out to the kitchen and make us some food, then we can talk a bit more and get to know each other a bit better."

Dante nodded and grabbed his bag before pausing and looking back at Lily. "Thank you, Lily, for everything. I'll be out shortly, and we can talk some more then." Dante turned and headed into the bathroom while Lily slipped out of the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen.

***