Page 10 of Earth-Bound

“Does it have to be?”

“Yes. He said he likes surprises.”

Poor Broadmire. I could feel the determination radiating from him. He was going to give Randall a surprise if it killed him.

“Why don’t you bring him up here for an evening picnic and tell him you want him to move in with you. You can give him the key if he says yes.”

“Won’t it be cold in the evening?”

“You can wear a coat. If you’re going to pick holes in every idea…”

“No, wait. I’m not. So I just make a picnic? How is that romantic?”

“Make a nice one?”

“What makes it nice?”

“Hmm.”

He was asking very difficult questions. I wasn’t actually an expert on romance. I’d never had the practice. Mutually satisfying sex was the most I’d ever had. This was way out of my experience and I was afraid Broadmire was giving me more credit than I deserved. I was just trying to come up with a few workable ideas here, what more did he want from me?

He and I looked at each other for a long moment, each trying to work out what to say. Then Broadmire asked, “Are you saying that asking him to move in with me is the surprise?”

“Yes!”

I was going to cling to that idea before we could go off topic again. Planning a romantic gesture was much harder than I’d thought.

“Alright,” he said. “I can do that.”

I was glad. It would be nice for Randall to get a romantic surprise and it had distracted me nicely from the weirdness that was starting to creep in at the edges of my world.

Chapter 6: Terrund

Ididn’t yet have the strength to leave my tree for long periods of time, but I was gradually learning the feel of the earth again. Slowly, my power came back to me. And, with my power, came the animals.

The old vixen was the first. After that first night, most of the creatures didn’t bother to visit me again. They had things to do. The vixen, though, came to curl up by my tree and, to my surprise, stayed there even after the sun rose.

Then I realised why. Joe came to visit my tree. Well, he didn’t know it was my tree but he still came. I felt him nearby and I got the same shimmer of energy that I’d felt before. There was something special about this man and his steady footsteps. I wanted to slip out of my tree and look but I’d been out all night and I was tired, not to mention I might frighten him by appearing suddenly.

The vixen stirred as he approached and his tread became lighter, softer. He was walking more carefully, slowing down so as not to frighten her.

“Hey there, little darlin’. What are you doing out here at this time, huh?”

She watched him for a long time and then I felt her swift little footsteps along the earth as she padded over to meet him. That surprised me. She was wily and wary, that vixen. She didn’t trust anyone. Except earth spirits. And now Joe.

I leaned out towards the edge of my tree, almost breaking through the bark so I could see him.

“Your tree’s doing well, I see.”

I shimmied up the tree towards the branches above his head and crawled along them, twisting myself through the solid trunk in my spirit form. It meant I could look down on him without the risk of being seen. I didn’t want to frighten him and people popping up out of trees would do that.

My first glimpse of him was him crouching down, his blonde head lowered over the vixen and his head scratching behind her ears. She stayed still for him, leaning into his touch. I’d never have thought she would. It was proof. There reallywassomething special about this man.

Slowly, I eased myself further out so I could get a better look. I studied his broad shoulders and strong back, the tight curve of his ass as he squatted. His feet were solid upon the ground but his hand was gentle as he petted the vixen. I felt the desire unfurl inside me to feel this man’s hands upon my own skin.

He continued to speak to the vixen in a low, even tone and she and I were both lulled into a sort of stupor by the sound. The vixen laid down and closed her eyes, and I felt her breath even out, her body go limp against the earth as she slept. As for me, I was leaning half-out of my tree before I realised it. I’d actuallyeased myself out and was leaning down, drawn to the sound of this man’s voice.

When he stood, moving carefully so as not to wake the vixen, I realised what I was doing and I withdrew, pressing myself right inside my tree and closing my eyes. That had been close. And what would have happened if he’d seen a head poking out of a tree trunk? The poor man would have been frightened to death.

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