A/N: Enjoy and review, please!!!

CHAPTER 5:

The Flamboyant Cowboy

She had a Gift, at least, that's what her father always told her. It was more or less a curse. A glitch in the genetic make-up that was her family history.

It was a different experience each time she touched someone new. Sometimes she heard their thoughts right away or merely caught fragments of them. Other times, she only felt their emotions. Those were the people she stayed away from. They always had something to hide…

The pain that came with the Gift was something she could never master. Sometimes it came quickly, at others, especially with the females, it was slower. Sometimes it didn't come at all. At least with her Power, she could numb it a little.

"Gift" is definitely not the word she would use to describe her ability…

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"I'm lips kiss."

Caleb's brows knitted together. "I'm sorry. What?"

She let out a nervous laugh and tucked a tendril of hair behind her delicate ear. It was such a feminine move, but Caleb couldn't stop the hard-on that came as a result. "I meant to say Lipschitz." She retracted her hand from his, much to his disappointment. "That is I'm Sheila Lipschitz." She waved her hands dismissively. "I mean Higgins. I'm Sheila Higgins." Her eyes dropped to the box on her hip and the blush that kissed her face spread to the rest of her body. Caleb watched it with hungry eyes.

"Well which one is it, cutie?" Reid said, making Caleb inwardly growl. "Lipschitz or Higgins?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Higgins."

Reid stepped forward, eyeballing her, like a starving cat would a fat, juicy mouse. He licked his lips. "Reid Garwin." He reached for her hand and pressed his grinning lips against her knuckles. 'So damn beautiful...' His eyes landed on her lips. 'I wonder what she tastes like...' Sheila's breath faltered, heat spreading from their contact into her arm. He met her gaze. "Hello..."

Tyler rolled his eyes and stepped between them, their contact breaking. "Don't mind him. His ego is as big as his mouth."

Reid gave him a playful shove. "I thought you liked my mouth, Baby Boy. I know your mom certainly does..."

Tyler threw a pointed look in Reid's direction, then turned back to her, shaking his head. "I'm Tyler." He stretched his hand towards her and she hesitantly accepted. "Tyler Sims." More heat, from his body to hers. Tyler smiled. 'I hope my breath doesn't smell bad...' Sheila fought back a giggle and pulled her hand from his, flustered.

She turned to Pogue with a casual shrug, amusement twinkling in her almond-shaped eyes. "Last, but certainly not least..." She held out her hand. "Pogue Parry, I assume..." For a brief moment, Pogue did nothing but stare at her, a pensive look on his face. He was almost afraid to touch her and his eyes flicked unknowingly to Caleb, who was standing just behind her, watching with his arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows raised at his friend, questioning.

Sheila's smile faltered and her hand slowly retreated back to her side.

Pogue shook himself out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry but, how do you know my name?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt that I'm Kate's new roommate..." She blushed, shifting the small box she was holding to her other hip. "I also saw it in the paper once. Over the summer. You won some kind of competition..."

Pogue beamed, surprised that she would remember his name of all names. "Yeah, a riding competition with motorcycles..."

She nodded. "I love bikes..." She rubbed her hand across her car's navy blue trunk affectionately. "Almost as much as I love my 'stang..."

Caleb coughed. "You ride?"

She turned to him with a mischievous smirk. "I may be in heels and a skirt now, Mr. Danvers-" Her voice grew husky, elegant. "-but I know how to ride..." Her eyes flashed and she flipped her hair over one shoulder. "Make no mistake about that..." The others snickered and Reid waggled his eyebrows at Caleb behind her back, moving his body as if he were riding a horse, his arm in the air, twirling an invisible lasso.

Pogue poked him in the chest to stop him and cleared his throat. Reid and Tyler turned their attention to him, but Sheila remained still, brown eyes fixated on the ground. "So, Sheila, you're a Higgins, huh?"

"It's an adopted name..." She looked up, catching Caleb's eyes. "From the Provost... I'm sure you've all heard the story by now…"

Caleb smiled. "Well, yeah, but in a place like this it's hard to filter rumors from truth." Sheila returned his smile.

The first wave hit her before she could stop it, causing the box she was holding to slip from her hip as her knees buckled. Sheila groaned and Caleb caught the box, staggering. "Are you okay?"

Sheila touched her fingertips to her flushed cheek, her knees grinding into the pavement. "Yeah… yes, I'm fine…" She managed a smile, nodding. "I'm just over exerted, I'm sure. I should probably get all this stuff inside and rest for a while. I had a long drive."

He nodded, catching her petite hand as he pulled her into a standing position, concern darkening his golden eyes. "We'll help you." It was not a question.

She looked at his hand against her flesh. None of his thoughts reached her. She quirked an eyebrow. 'Interesting…' And she suddenly realized that the pain had subsided. 'Very interesting…' She thought.

"Of course…" She said, breathless, and with that, she took the box from his hands and walked towards the dorms, her skirt flirting along her thighs in the wind. Caleb watched her retreating form, her black, waterfall hair swishing in time with her narrow hips. She carried herself almost like a kitten would. Slow, vulnerable, and irresistibly inviting...

She threw a glance over her shoulder, smiling, and Caleb blinked. "You coming?" She asked, pushing through the double doors.

'Almost...' Caleb thought, looking after her. 'What are you getting yourself into, Danvers?' He sighed and followed her path, glancing back at the boys. Reid was grinning like a madman as he did his little cowboy dance again, blowing kisses at a blushing Caleb. Caleb laughed, throwing him the bird and mouthed a polite "Fuck you."

Reid wagged a finger at him. "You know I only put out if you buy me dinner first, Danvers." Shaking his head, Caleb entered the dorm building, still laughing.

Pogue, Tyler, and Reid looked at each other for a beat, then burst into a fit of giggles.. "She's got him…" Reid said, chuckling.

"Oh yeah." Pogue adjusted the waist band of his jeans. Kate would kill him if she saw that… He glanced around the parking lot. Half of Spenser's male population stood gaping at the wooden doors Sheila just walked through. 'Caleb's obviously not the only one she's got under her spell…'

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Chase Collins slid the manila envelope off of his dash and pulled out the photograph. He sighed. It was the same person alright, just like Gorman said it would be. Chase didn't ask questions. That old man gave him the creeps…

He watched them enter the dorm from the driver's seat of his white SUV. The Sons were very intrigued, as well as the rest of the males here. Her profound effect on them was obvious, he thought, sneering, as he adjusted his hard-on. She sent out a light shock wave each time she passed a guy and they immediately blushed, shoving their hands in their pockets, looking away.

"It's as if she's in heat…" Chase laughed in spite of himself, tucking the photo back into the envelope. 'All I have to do is enhance her sexual experience...' He exited the vehicle, slinging a duffel bag onto his shoulder as he followed the Sons inside. 'This should be easy…' He laughed again because for once, Fate had given him something on a silver platter...

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'Use it to your advantage.' That's what her father always told her. 'The day will come when one day you're going to need it to save your very life…' She sighed. She still didn't understand what he meant by that. 'Use the Gift to get what you want. Use it in seduction... No one will be able to say no…'

'Yeah, I guess the being part succubus doesn't hurt either, huh?'

Her dad glared at her. 'This isn't a joke, Sheila. You're a Lady, don't you understand that? In order for our family to survive, you have to do this.'

'No, I don't understand that! And I don't care!' She grew angered. 'Why should I anyway? I didn't ask for this. I don't need or want this Power. This is all your fault, you know that?' She balled her hands into fists. 'Why did you have to make mom leave? Maybe then you could've used her to bear you a proper heir!'

He strode quickly towards her and she took an awkward step back. The force of his hit sent her to the floor. She looked him defiantly in the eyes from her position on the floor and saw that they carried no regret. She spat out blood on his leather work shoes. 'I hate you…'

'One day you will thank me.'

'Never.' She touched a delicate hand to her stinging cheek and winced. 'You don't deserve praise for your actions...'

'They are not my own. James-'

'James? Who's James?' Sheila scoffed. 'He doesn't care if your bloodline is lost. He probably doesn't even know you exist.' She stood, shaking, unable to look at her father. 'I should Will my Power away just to spite you…'

'If you do that, you'll die…'

'I know, but when I die, at least I'll have the satisfaction of taking your filthy blood with me…'

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Kate helped Sheila unpack while the Sons settled into their own dorms (Caleb being the exception, who stayed at home with his mother). The effort of rearranging and making the dorm room feel homelike could make anybody hungry and hungry was exactly what Sheila and Kate were at this point.

"Being a private school and all, the cafeteria gets good funding, so the food is pretty decent." Kate pulled a hoodie over her head. "We can get a bite to eat there if you'd like." She said, through the fabric, grunting as she pulled the rest of her head through the article of clothing.

Sheila slid on a pair of jeans, nodding. "That's sounds great…" She adjusted her sweater and pulled her hair into a messy bun, tendrils falling in odd places about her face. "Any chance Caleb might be there…?"

Kate grinned. "Why?"

A shrug. "Just a question…"

"Well if I know anything about Pogue," She paused, contemplative. "which is just about everything, I know he's always hungry… and where Pogue is, Caleb is, and where Caleb is, the rest of the Sons are."

"The Sons?"

"Yeah. The Sons of Ipswich." Kate ran a quick brush through her hair. "It is said that Tyler, Reid, Pogue, and Caleb are actual descendants of the people that founded Ipswich." Sheila let out a silent 'Oh'. "It is also said that those founders had powers…"

"What kind of powers?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. The usual witchcraft kind of powers, I suppose. With cauldrons and sacrificing bats and all that. I asked Pogue about it once, but he said it was all nonsense…"

Sheila smiled at her. 'I bet he did...' "How do you know all this stuff?"

"Honey, I know everything about everyone." She grabbed Sheila's hand and led her out the door. "Why do you think my hair is so big?" Sheila looked at her and shook her head. "It's because it's so full of secrets…"

Sheila couldn't help but laugh.

A/N: Not so much mystery this time... At least you found out who got the envelope from Gorman... Now the question is WHY? Now let me make one thing perfectly clear, Sheila can only hear people's thoughts when she comes in direct contact with them (skin on skin) and if you noticed, she NEVER touched Pogue... There's a reason for that... smirk

Oh and I know it seems as if all the boys are in love with her, but that's because right now, Sheila hasn't been officially Claimed by any of the Sons, so technically she's still open game. So they're all going to be infatuated with her until she is Marked.

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