Val was still reeling from her encounter with Markus earlier. There was something off about him and the way he talked. After he left her, she had taken her bike down to the local library, which was Mrs. Baker’s house. She kept one room lined with bookshelves full of books and had a computer there. When Mrs. Baker died, she requested that her daughter Caroline live in the house but keep her personal library open to the town. Caroline, a few years younger than Val, greeted her when she walked in.

“Hi Val.”

“Caroline, I just came to use the computer.”

“No problem. No one’s come in today so far, but the school is sending the first grade to check out our children’s books. So, you’ll have the place to yourself for a couple of hours.”

“Thank you.” Val sat down in front of the older computer to Google the place he said he was from, Drakonia—nothing. She searched for areas that referred to their soldiers as warriors—nada. She even tried to search for people with golden glowing eyes but came up with zero results. No search findings seemed to fit Markus at all. It made him an even bigger mystery. She liked a good mystery.

Everything about him was just so different. His gold eyes seemed to glow at times, and the rumbling in his chest sounded like a bear growling. He smelled really good, too. When he picked her up to carry her back to her trailer, she couldn’t help but lean her head close to his neck and inhale. At first she thought he had a really nice cologne on, but then as his body rubbed against hers, his scent grew stronger. His scent was a rich, woodsy cedar-like smell and made her imagine making love with him under the stars.

Her whole body responded to him and she even loved the feel of the rumbling. Her nipples hardened and she had to tighten her knees together for fear he would notice that she was getting wet between her thighs. She wanted him, but acting on those desires would lead to nothing but heartache. Markus would be leaving in a few days, leaving her behind like Roger had left her behind. She sighed. It didn’t feel right, comparing him to her ex. Roger had always been selfish and greedy. She chose to ignore the bad stuff because she wanted to be loved.

Maybe her penchant for bad relationships stemmed from the fact that her childhood sucked. Her father left her and her mother when Val was just five years old. Her mother went from one boyfriend to another. Some of the boyfriends didn’t want the responsibility of raising someone else’s kid and would leave, and her mother would blame her for that.

Then there were the creepy boyfriends that paid a little too much attention to Val, especially when she started to develop physically. Her mother would throw them out in fits of jealousy and she blamed Val for their behavior.

By the time she graduated high school, her mother was ready for her to move out. She even had a bag packed for her the day she came home from getting her diploma. Val was okay with that; she had taken on a part time job her senior year and saved up to put a deposit on an apartment. She kissed her mother’s cheek, told her she loved her, and left. She hadn’t been back to see her mother since then, and didn’t think of her much. She’d found out that she was better off in the long run.

After ten years living on her own, she was actually thriving. She’d moved to a new town, had gotten her associates degree online, and was planning to go to nursing school. Everything in her life was going well…except for her love life. She felt what she was missing was having someone to share her life with. It had become kind of lonely. That’s when she met Roger at a friend’s party.

Roger was blond and blue-eyed, and looked like a California surfer. He flirted with her and she responded to the attention he was giving her. They dated six months before he moved in with her. It was wonderful the first three months of living together, then Roger lost his job.

She would leave each morning to work and he would be at the table with the newspaper, planning on going out for interviews. Two weeks of that, then he simply said that he would be fine as a stay-at-home husband and father.

He knew she would think that he was planning to ask her to marry him. It didn’t seem necessary to worry over him getting a job if this was how they would work their household out. She liked working. Unfortunately, Roger wasn’t a very good stay-at-home boyfriend. He was messy and spent her money carelessly. He always redirected her questions and anger by sweet-talking her and telling her how much he wanted to marry her.

Then she came home from work to find that Roger had been selling all her furniture from the apartment. She lost it.

“Roger, what the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

“Remember how we were talking about going to Vegas to get married? Well, I figured we would sell all our stuff and just take a cross-country road trip, see the rest of the United States.”

“I didn’t agree to a cross-country trip. I have a job and responsibilities.”

“You should quit your job. Besides, once we are done traveling, I will get a job and you’ll get to be the stay-at-home mom.”

“I don’t want to quit.”

“Come on, babe, I’ve given up so much for you. You don’t even like that job. Let’s have an adventure we can tell our children about.”

Val stupidly believed everything he told her. She quit her job, pulled out all her money she had saved, and helped Roger load up their few meager possession into her car. They had gone to Vegas but before they could get married, Roger got caught up gambling and lost almost all their money in one night. They argued as they drove across the border from Nevada to Arizona. Her car broke down just outside of Dragoon. It didn’t take long after that for him to leave her.

Looking back now, she could see that she had been lonely and vulnerable when she met Roger. She was looking for someone to fill the empty spaces in her heart and he seemed all too willing. She still felt that emptiness inside, but when she dated JJ she knew that he wasn’t the one for her, either.

Markus was different from them. She should be scared about even thinking of spending more time with him, but she wasn’t. He excited her, and with the way he carried her and handled JJ, she knew instinctively that he would protect her. No one could predict the future and life was just too short to live cautiously all the time. Maybe she should enjoy him while she had him, it would give her plenty of memories to warm her for future lonely nights.