Sea Haven 02 - Spirit Bound

side, making him feel like a king. He felt her burst of happiness spread over and into him, amplifying his own mood and he allowed it, letting down his armor just enough to absorb her spirit deeper into him.
    “I noticed a lot of fire equipment. Do you have to worry about forest fires?”
    The farm was surrounded by acres of forest, a vast variety of tall trees, very healthy-looking, almost guardians circling the large farm, protecting it from outsiders. The flutter of wings was constant with the birds perching in the higher branches and then taking flight to circle above the farm, only to land again.
    “Not really, but we like to be prepared for anything. We bought this farm together, my sisters and I, and we hope to stay here.”
    There was a tiny catch in her voice. He glanced at her as they walked along a small winding path through her enormous flower garden. Her expression was a little sad again and he felt her spirit take a dive, dread filling her and consequently him. There was trouble here, more than he’d brought with him.
    “Why wouldn’t you stay?”
    She swept her hair back over her shoulder in that feminine way women had. The gesture suddenly seemed sexy, a call to pure temptation. He found himself looking at her neck, her profile, those long lashes and sensual mouth.
    Judith broke into a smile. “Stop it. This time it’s you, not me.”
    He grinned at her, amazed at the genuine emotions rushing through him along with the heat. “Sorry. You’re damned beautiful, Judith. I’m really trying to be good now.”
    “Try harder,” she admonished. “You’re supposed to be helping me.”
    “Believe me, honey, I am helping. If I had my way . . .” He let the sentence travel off, watching the slow blush rise beneath her skin, giving her an alluring glow. “Distract me. Tell me why you think you might move from this little paradise you and your sisters have put together, because if I lived here, nothing would move me out.”
    Several crows called out loud, the distinctive caw-caw almost a reprimand. Tiny hummingbirds moved from flower to flower, small wings fanning the air so fast he could hear their sound as they buzzed around his head, dangerously close to his face. His shoulder brushed hers and he drew her a little closer, under the shelter of his shoulder. She was tall, but he was taller and it was natural enough to want to protect her from the darting birds.
    She was silent for a long time as they wound their way through the flowers and shrubbery leading to the outer gardens. He noted that the various species of flowers were planted in thick rows of color, making up spectacular rainbows and rippling fields of vivid, brilliant color. The shorter stalks gave way to larger bushes, fields of rhododendrons of every hue. They grew tall and wide, providing a shield around her inner gardens. Great trumpet trees of pink, white, red and gold provided another layer protecting the house. Butterflies were everywhere right along with the hummingbirds, vying for the sweet sticky nectar of the beckoning flowers.
    He tightened his hand around hers, stopping her in the midst of the towering fountains of bursting color. “You don’t have to tell me, but I can feel how upset you are. Maybe I can help.”
    Shoulders stiff, she stood in front of him, shaking her head, a small unreal smile on her face as she refused to look up at him. “We just met, Thomas. It’s not like I know you well enough to dump my problems on you.”
    “You know me well enough. I see you, Judith, even the parts of you that you hide from the rest of the world, that you hide from your family. I recognize that you’re a spirit element.” He took a breath, stopped her on the path through the jungle of trumpet trees. “Was it a man who hurt you? You guard yourself so carefully, Judith. You let me hold you, I know you’d let me have sex with you, but you’d never let me make love to you. You don’t want love. Was it another man?”
    She blinked rapidly and his heart stood still. Tears were close, clogging her throat and burning behind her eyes. He felt them as surely as if he were about to weep. Her ghosts were very close, standing between them, holding him off, forcing him back away from her, silent wraiths making it impossible for him to have her.
    Stefan was not afraid of ghosts, he had too many in his past to ever worry about the unseen apparitions that tried to haunt him, but they’d taken a tight grip on Judith and were refusing