Protecting His Windflower (A Spirit Hunters Series Novel Book 1) by Temperance Dawn (best black authors .txt) 📕

Liam leaned further over the table and lowered his voice to a soft tone. “I’m almost positive that she’s the woman from my dream.”

Trey and Luke sat silent for a heartbeat before saying at the same time, “You mean, the woman?”

“Yeah. It’s her. Only it’s present-day now. But I knew it the moment I saw her. I haven’t wanted to believe it. Told myself it’s just a coincidence. But when I saw her again this morning after I heard her scream, and again right before I left to come here, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s her.”

Luke sat back in his chair. “Wow.”

Liam sat back. Now that he’d gotten that information off his chest, he felt more relaxed. “I barely slept last night, and when I did sleep, I dreamt of her again. I feel this strong pull toward her.” Liam balled his fist and pressed it to the center of his chest. “It’s hard to explain. When I first saw her, it was like something shot through me and anchored into my chest.”

“So you think cupid shot his arrow at you?” Luke chimed in.

Annoyed, but understanding his friend’s sense of humor, Liam replied, “No dipshit. Not cupid. It’s deeper than that.”

“Does she have this same feeling? Did you tell her?” Trey asked.

“Hell no! I haven’t said anything yet. How can I? I don’t want to scare her any more than I know she already is. I’m practically a stranger to her.”

Luke looked at his friend and grinned from ear to ear. “Oh, dude. You’ve got it bad.”

Trey spoke again, “Liam, you’ve gotta tell her. Don’t you think it’s strange that there’s never been any kind of paranormal activity in that house since you’ve been living there? Then, all of a sudden, one day, a woman, who you’ve been dreaming about for over a decade, moves in, and activity starts? That’s not a coincidence. You know that as much as we do. Something is going on that involves the two of you. You need to tell her. You said you feel like she’s not telling you everything. Maybe she’s hiding some detail and is scared to tell you. Maybe she’s dreaming of you too. Talk to her.”

Liam stared down at his empty glass, swirling the leftover ice cubes, watching them mingle with the drops of liquid at the bottom. “Trust me. You’re not telling me anything that I haven’t already thought of. I’m going to talk to her. I already told her that I’m a paranormal investigator. She actually seems intrigued. I’m just not sure how to tell her that I’ve been seeing her in my dreams for the last fifteen years.”

Everyone remained quiet. Liam knew Trey was right. He also knew he was going to stick to his gut instinct and wait for an opportune time to fill Emily in on the details of his dreams.

“She’s pretty freaked out. Quite frankly, so am I. I called Phil to see if he could give me a rundown on the history of the building. But he didn’t answer and hasn’t called me back yet. I thought about waiting until after I talk to him to see if he has any information that could help before we do an investigation. But you know what? Fuck it. We can’t wait. He’s not the one here dealing with whatever this is and seeing shadow figures. Emily and I are.”

The men were silent but nodded their approvals.

“He won’t know the difference. I say we do an investigation and find out what the hell is going on. Are you guys up for it?”

Both men looked at him. “Oh, hell yeah! You know we’re with you, brother,” Trey said.

“Dude, you don’t even have to ask. You know I’m in,” Luke agreed.

Six

Liam returned home with food. He didn’t know if there was anything Emily wouldn’t or couldn’t eat, but he assumed there wasn’t since she hadn’t specified anything when she excepted his offer to bring her something to eat.

Liam wasn’t sure what was going on with his head. All he knew was that the thought of Emily both comforted and made him nervous at the same time, twisting his gut into a ball of anxiety that he wasn’t sure he wanted relief from.

His nerves were wound tight when he arrived back at the house. After grabbing a few tools from his flat upstairs and giving himself a pep talk about being relaxed and composed, he stopped in front of Emily’s door. He lifted his hand to knock but hesitated. Shit! What the hell was wrong with him? Normally, he was pretty calm and confident. But this woman was messing with his mind in ways he never thought possible. It both captivated and scared the shit out of him.

Pulling in a deep breath, he knocked. Moments later, he heard the telltale sound of the lock being unlatched from the other side, and her door opened. “Hey!” he said before being frozen in amazement.

Emily was dressed in the same black leggings she had on when he left, but she had changed her sweatshirt to an oversized sweater. It was a dusty pink color and fell slightly off one shoulder, revealing the delicate bones under her neck. Although the sweater looked too big on her, it draped over her perfectly, revealing a hint of her curves. Her golden-brown hair was no longer in a bun on top of her head. It was now down and fell in loose waves around her face and shoulders. She wore just the slightest bit of makeup that accented her whiskey brown eyes and a hint of color on her high cheekbones. And her full lips were tinted in a soft pink with the slightest touch of gloss. His mouth watered at the sight of them.

Liam felt the need to walk toward her, lean in, and taste what flavor of gloss she had on. The thought of crashing his mouth on hers overtook his imagination, and he found