Tall, Dark & Lonely (Pyte/Sentinel #1)(17)

The girls in her class, the ones who dressed to impress the male population, hated her on sight. They snickered and whispered when one of the more popular males made eyes at her. It was annoying to say the least. She ended up assigning a paper just to get control of the room. Now she was feared, that was good.

To her horror the students were not the only males with wandering eyes. The teacher’s lounge ended up being worse. The men spoke to her and asked questions, but their eyes remained fixed on her br**sts. This was insane. Halfway through her break she excused herself and returned to her room to eat in silence.

What was wrong with men? She didn’t have this problem in New Mexico. There all the men knew her. She spent most of her free time on the Reservation with her friends. It was her safe haven since she was ten. They all knew her and treated her like family. It’s not that she didn’t have the occasional admirer there. She did date several men from the tribe. It’s just they were more respectful. They were her friends as well as her family. They taught her everything about life and her culture.

The men from school were a little bit more obvious about their attentions towards her. Back home if she caught a man staring he usually had the good sense to look guilty and mutter an apology. Not here, oh no, here she seemed to be eye candy. The men started with her face and she could see the appreciation in their eyes as they would run down her body hungrily.

Finally she resigned herself to this situation. After a few weeks this would end. They would be used to her and treat her with more respect. She just had to hang in there. There was one man who didn’t look at her like that, Nick. He was in her department and seemed nice. It didn't hurt that he was g*y. At least she could count on one man behaving himself.

The rest of the day seemed to go downhill. Jill, her little sister, decided she was going to make a splash. She changed her clothes sometime between breakfast and first bell. Her bra was overstuffed, her thong was high, her clothes too tight and she wore too much make-up. She flirted with every boy in class, in her class. It was like watching a horror flick. Madison of course gave her detention for a week. She hid her smile. That felt good. Jill scowled at her for the remainder of the class, but didn’t say another word, smart girl.

She decided to run home and change before looking at cars. Halfway there her car started to sputter. It seemed like she was getting a break when her car died in front of Earl’s Garage. That had been a tease she was sure of it now. Someone was laughing at her no doubt about it.

“So, there’s no hope?”

Earl twirled a toothpick in his mouth. “Not a one. I’m surprised it lasted this long.”

She sighed, “Me too.”

Earl walked around the car muttering to himself. “Earl?”

“Yes?”

“Do you want the car? You can take it apart and sell it for parts or whatever.”

He nodded slowly. “How much?”

She shook her head. “Just take it. It’s yours.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” He gave her a tobacco stained grin.

Madison grabbed a few items and stuffed them into her backpack. After signing over the title and saying goodbye to the car she decided a walk for the last three miles was in order. She needed to clear her head.

She took her heels off and walked along the road. It didn’t matter that it was cold out. The only things that mattered were the sound of the birds, the feel of grass beneath her feet and fresh air in her lungs. She loved to walk. She spent hours at home walking. It cleared her head and relaxed her.

*******

“That’s enough of that.” Ephraim turned the radio off making the purr of his car louder. Silence was golden. He missed the days of true silence where birds, children's laughter and the sounds of horses filled the air.

That's why three years ago he moved to New Hampshire. He needed peace and quiet. He was sick of the loud noises in the city. He wanted to spend his days quietly so he took this job. He was on duty five days a week with the two days off. It was perfect.

With the radio shut off he could think. This weekend would be perfect for some fishing. He could rent his usual cabin and relax. There would be no tomboy to tempt him. What was it about her blood? Was it because she was a virgin? He didn’t think so. The virgins he used to feed off didn’t make him insane with hunger. There was something off about this Madison woman and finding out what that was, was not an option.

She was too tempting. She was plain as far as he could tell, but that was just the package. What lay inside was driving him insane. All night he tossed and turned, trying to fight the urge to go back to her room and have a taste. Finally in the morning he couldn’t take anymore and took a long cold shower, trying to wake up.

Now he just had to go home and avoid the woman. It shouldn’t be too hard. He never ate meals and didn’t go into the main house. He would relax in his room and file his reports for the day online. Then he could catch up on some sleep.

His eyes narrowed on something two miles down the road, a woman. His eyesight was perfect. He smiled. That was a good thing in this case. This woman was perfection. “Holy shit,” he mumbled softly as he slowed down so that he could take his time appreciating this beauty.

Her hair shimmered in the sun. It was beautiful and black. Generous h*ps swayed gently beneath a short skirt. Her backside was perfectly curved as well as her legs. She had a beautiful golden tan. Damn, this woman was hot. He was willing to bet the front would be just as inviting.