Chapter 3

Leaning back against the windowsill, his mother continued to give her number one lecture on the other end of the phone. Does she remember I’m a grown man and not eight years old? Devin wondered, often. Inhaling deeply, he knew, without looking out the window, that a storm wasn’t far off. With a lot of effort, he wrestled his focus back to Mother.

“...you really need to socialize more, Devin, to find someone. Your Father won’t push you, but you know you’re the last in our family line and we...”

Expect you to take over and rule one day. Or something very similar. He knew his obligations all too well. He inhaled as the wind picked up, the dampness of the impending rain filling his system. Summer storms were one of his favorite things.

“...your sister married outside so we’ll...” she sighed loudly. “You won’t find someone hiding there alone.”

Hiding? I am not hiding. My mother, the very definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “I am aware of all of this, Mother.” Pushing at his hair to keep it out of his eyes, Devin tried to stay calm. “You’re talking as if I’m too old. I’m only thirty, barely thirty, there’s time. I just need my space...”

“You’ve had space for five years, Devin! So, you lost control a few times when you were younger, everyone does...”

That cued her to start on lecture number two of the maternal lecture series. A gust of wind blew through the window just as the sky opened up and water pelted the earth in heavy raindrops. He took the scent into his system and found something he was not expecting—the smell of car exhaust. Impossible. No one ventured this far when dark was falling, and definitely not when a storm was brewing. Those facts settled, why did he smell exhaust and something else...gardenias? Why do I smell a flower that isn’t on my land? “I’ll call soon, Mother. Give Father my best.” He hung up without waiting for a response.

Tossing the phone over to the chair, he shrugged off the feelings of guilt from hanging up on his own Mother and leaned over the window ledge. He inhaled once more. It was gardenias and another faint scent he couldn’t quite define in the rain. Someone was on his land, and unless his nose was wrong, they were female. The phone rang as he headed for the door. Knowing better, he didn’t answer it. Letting his Mother cool off before he apologized for being rude always went better than trying to soothe her when her teeth were bared.

Stepping out into the night, he stopped and stood in the rain that was now coming down so hard it almost hurt. The storm clouds completely covered the sky, black and unforgiving. This storm was staying for the night. Inhaling a few more times as he turned his head, he was able to locate a direction. The scent hung in the rain, not moving. After three steps toward the intruder, he picked up the pace and blindly ran into the densest area of the bush. Someone having car trouble was the only answer his mind could generate for a person to stop here. No one came without an invitation, and those were few and very far between.

The darkness wasn’t a problem, his sight was better in the low light than in the daylight most days. Devin knew each tree and rock on this land, could have run through unscathed, with his eyes closed. The rain was a steady downpour now and hard enough to still land on him despite the thick stands of trees. Without pause, he dodged around a small cluster of trees and knew, without looking to jump—now, or he would stumble over the decaying tree lying on the ground. Landing without a sound he slowed and took the smell of the wild, his wild, inside of him.

How can my mother expect me to give this up? Freedom to be who he was, without any outside interference was what these hundred acres meant to him. There was no part of him that wished to go back to the city where the streetlights blanked out the stars and moon. No, he was staying here for good. Someday soon he had to find the best way to tell his parents that he would pass on the honor of being next in line to the family legacy.

Stopping, Devin turned his face towards the sky, his breath steady despite the run. The rain that the leaves and branches couldn’t catch hit him in the face gently, the touch of each drop recharging him, a gift he desperately needed. Pausing, he turned his head towards the back road, the rain was echoing off something normally not here, something not part of his territory. The scent of gardenias was coming from there as well. Turning, he took off running in that direction. Whoever it was, they had better have a damn good reason for trespassing.

Within moments Devin was at the edge of the bush, peering out while staying hidden to assess the intruder. A small white car was parked beside one of the single cabin units. A light was on inside the car and someone was moving around in there. Making sure to stay in the shadows, he circled around until he was closer. He couldn’t smell the gardenias over the other wet scents that assaulted him, but he knew the source of the gardenias was inside the car. If he was hearing correctly through the rain she was upset and—talking to herself. Do I reveal my presence and offer assistance? Clearly, she was lost and distraught. Why that mattered to him, he didn’t know. Cautiously moving closer, Devin watched the movements through the fogging windows. The small car shifted slightly with whatever she was doing in there. If he wasn’t going to help, what else was he supposed to do? Stepping out from the trees he moved towards the vehicle. Scaring her any further wasn’t going to accomplish anything. He would just have an upset, hysterical and lost female on his property. That he didn’t need.

The interior light went out but there were more sounds as she moved around. He should leave until morning and check to make sure she found her way out of here. So why was he moving closer to the car? He wasn’t sure, but kept going. The headlights came on, momentarily blinding him. When his eyes adjusted, he could see the long blonde hair as the lights on the dash reflected off her. His stomach tightened as he studied her. A blonde that smelled of gardenias was not what he needed in his life right now. Turning, he took a few steps toward the tree line, his head was telling him to keep going and never look back, yet he turned and looked once more. Huffing out a breath that sounded more like a growl, he forced his legs to run back into the shelter of the trees. He was going back to his house and pretend she wasn’t there. Throwing his head back, he called to the night.

It didn’t answer, not that he had expected it to.

Devin shook his head as he walked back into the house, sending water scattering across the kitchen. It hadn’t taken him long to get back, aggravation had goaded him into a full run. She had until daylight to be off his land. No later.

Dropping the wet jeans and shirt that he grabbed off the step, he stomped over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of old sweatpants. The calm he normally felt during a storm had fled, leaving him raging inside with as much intensity as the storm outside. Only one thing was going to help him settle down now.

Anger coursed through Devin as he stomped towards the studio, flinging the doors open. It took only three strides to cross the room and grab a blank canvas from the stack. With practised movements, it was up onto the easel. By the time it was prepped he would know what he needed to paint.

Devin’s stomach still clenched and he paused in mid-stroke, brush in hand. Why am I reacting this way? I haven’t spoken to her, hell I was barely able to see her. Maybe I have been holed up here a little too long. Usually he forced himself to go out in public and associate every few weeks. Being alone all the time suited him perfectly, but to maintain a basic level of humanity, he admitted, he needed people around him from time to time.

That made him snort out loud, disgusted with his own behavior. Whereas my mother was the wolf in the sheep’s clothing, I am the prototype of a lone wolf, and plan to stay that way.

Hands on hips, Devin glared at the canvas. Hours had passed since it was a brilliant empty white and now the image on it caused his throat to clench. I didn’t set out to paint this! Where did this come from? An overactive imagination? Not likely. The only thing he could blame this on was being celibate for far too long, it was finally affecting his creative thought process.

Swatting the hair back from his eyes, he studied what the brushes had created, and let out a long sigh. The forest was dark, as it had been tonight. The wet and rain on the canvas—he understood where that had come from. It was the ethereal woman standing just far enough outside the tree line, with some unseen light source glowing off her light, smooth complexion that he didn’t understand. It was the woman that smelled of gardenias. She was beautiful with long straight blonde hair, which fell almost to her waist, she had the perfect body of petite femininity, with curves that begged to be explored.

The hair color had stemmed from, the truth of what he’d seen and even the sexy body wasn’t too hard to picture, he was male after all. It was her eyes that disturbed him the most, causing his stomach to tauten in a pulsing manner. They were light blue, to his artist’s eye the truest hue he’d ever glimpsed. In his mind, warning shots were going off, that hue meant something he didn’t want to think about. Overall, the painting was extraordinary and pride should be his only feeling with the result. Then why do I feel like I should rinse the whole damn canvas with paint thinner and then burn it?

Rolling his shoulders, trying to ease the tension, Devin let out a few calming breaths, he wasn’t going to make any decisions right at this moment. Sleeping on it and deciding in the morning sounded reasonable. He looked out the window, the storm seemed to have almost exhausted itself and only drizzle fell sporadically now. Walking from the studio, flicking off every light switch he passed, he just wanted to go to sleep and forget tonight happened.

He thought about taking a shower and rinsing some of the paint off, he always wore what was aimed at the canvas, but he didn’t have the energy to bother. Dropping down onto the bed, he looked out the window. Had she calmed down? In the darkness, his face tensed into a scowl, this concern was a very new emotion. Closing his eyes tightly Devin attempted to breathe it away.

Less than a minute later that he was out of the bed, flinging the covers to the floor in frustration. How am I supposed to sleep with an uninvited stranger on my land? I can’t. Whether she had calmed down wasn’t the issue, at least he was trying to convince himself of that. It was the fact that she was here that disturbed him enough to need to check on her. Again.

As Devin headed through the trees for the second time in one night, cursing inside his head with almost each step, he tried to rationalize why. She could do something crazy, like run her car and die from carbon monoxide poisoning—or something... it’s my duty to check on her, after all I don’t need a dead blonde woman that smells like gardenias on my hands, or my land. The internal argument had his brain so distracted, he stumbled over the same trees he’d flawlessly cleared earlier. Anger flared as he rolled his lip back in a snarl for the rest of the distance.

Stopping in the same spot in the trees, he watched the white car. It wasn’t lit or running. Was she all right? Inhaling deeply, the smell of gardenias filled his nostrils and his stomach spasmed at the exact moment the fragrance hit him. Why can I smell gardenias now, with her inside the car? Had she gotten out? This scent was feminine and enticing in a way he didn’t recognize. Moving closer cautiously, the scent got stronger. Devin inhaled warmth and had to stop to just absorb the feeling for a few moments.

A foot from the driver’s door he noticed she had rolled the window down an inch, no more. That explained how he could smell her so vividly—but didn’t she understand how damp she was going to get with the cool night air filtering into the vehicle? More importantly, why did he care? He came to make sure she wasn’t doing something brainless, and she wasn’t, so he should just go home and back to bed, now.

A sound in the trees had him turning and immediately alert. Inhaling the night air, Devin tried to detect what had caused it. No threatening scent, wild or otherwise came back to him. Probably just something shifting and settling from the heavy rain. The trees on this land weren’t tamed and manicured, but left it to be what they were meant to be. He moved to the front of the car and listened. There was nothing out there that felt alarming, just the forest, being a forest.

Turning back to the car, he took the floral fragrance into his body once more, not sure why he felt compelled to. His stomach constricted so hard this time he wasn’t even sure he was going to be able to go back to the house. Maybe I should just stay here awhile and keep watch while she rested...

He shook his head angrily as soon as the thought went through his mind. What is wrong with me? She was leaving in the morning, he would make sure of it, so why did it matter that she rest safely tonight? Looking towards the sky, he wished for the rain again. The clouds were rolling away with no more in sight. A small sliver of the moon was visible, it made him long for the full moon, when the forest and lake were alive with life—anything to distract him would be welcome.

Devin turned so he wouldn’t look back and ordered his body to follow his nose and go back toward the trees. He’d go get some sleep and when he woke, chances were, she would be gone.

Several steps later he realized he was not heading towards the lake and was not going in the direction of his bed. He moved faster, maybe the long way home would tire him and he’d be able to sleep.

A slight breeze started to blow over his hair and ruffle it, even though it should be impossible at this speed, he could still smell gardenias. It had to be in his head, not real at all, so he was going to pick up the pace and exhaust it right out of there.