Dawn Reclaimed

"I was supposed to grow old with my husband. Sit in my rocker and hold my grandchildren."

"And you will, Claire. I do age. Just differently than you. Sitting here debating age is pointless. Age doesn't mean a damn thing. Love is timeless and without boundaries. I'll love you now. I'll love you tomorrow, and the next day, the next year, the next decade, and the next century. I. Will. Never. Stop. Loving. You. Ever. I can leave the Pack. If age is that important to you, I can walk away from everything here and never come back. The magic that makes me what I am will cease to flow. Claire, I'd give up everything I am, my wolf, for you. All you have to do is tell me it's what you want and I'll do it. None of this means anything without you."

"What will people say when they see us together and I'm all wrinkled up and disgusting and you don't look a day over forty?"

"What people? And who gives a shit?" Grant ground his molars together. Claire was thinking like a human. But, of course, she would. Humans didn't spend, or perhaps waste much time thinking beyond this realm and into the next. He couldn't think about the decades of loneliness he'd suffer when she crossed the Great River and he lingered on and on, trapped on this side. Love didn't stop because a person moved on. The fact that they'd be together again, someday would be enough to keep him going until he returned to her side. He was content to think about the life they could have together, here and now. Whatever was to come, would come and nothing would change it. Today mattered. And it'd been his experience that if you completely botched up today. It didn't come with a do over switch. "I certainly don't."

"Maybe, I should wait and think about this a little more. Maybe, you should wait to ask me to marry you until after you've met my mother," Claire said softly.

"Claire, I'm marrying you. Not your mother. Now quit making excuses and answer my question. Do you love me?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to be with me?" he asked. Dragging her down lower in the bed, he pinned her to the mattress with his weight. Resting his lips against hers, he gave her a slow, gentle kiss and waited for her answer.

"Yes." Claire's back arched reflexively into Grant's chest. She could feel his breath hot against her lips as he inhaled the answer from her mouth.

"Then there's not really any problem is there? You love me. You want to be with me. No real reason for you to say no."

"I..." She gasped as he slid a tongue between her parted lips, slowly caressing the inside of her mouth with seductive, deliberate strokes of his tongue. Her hands instinctively went up around his neck, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. He put up one hell of an argument for his cause. She couldn't seem to recall all of her reasons for shooting him down. He loved her. That much was evident. He wanted to be with her. He'd risked everything. Willingly surrendered his freedom for her... "Grant."

"Hmmm?" Claire's heart pounded like a jackhammer against his chest. She kissed him back with urgency and need. Her tongue darted in and out of his mouth hungrily. Her kiss was as soft and fluttery as a butterfly's wings brushing against his lips. Her tongue was desperate, darting into his mouth for more, retreating back, and then darting in again. Her body was pliant and soft beneath him. Back bent in an arch against him. "Your answer, if you please," he drawled. Nipping a trail down the curve of her neck, he suckled the bounding pulse point there.

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Claire shivered in delight as Grant, fully hard and erect slid into her. Quenching the fire he'd rekindled to life. She was a woman in love, a bride, and a mother to be. She was thrust into an impossible situation that she could not win with an equally impossible man. A man whose love she could never begin to fathom and probably didn't deserve.

Grant's kisses and the thrust of his hips drove logical thought far from her mind. His body collided into her. Coaxing her to the steep edge of a chasm where pleasure and love existed without end. Grabbing on tightly, she gave everything she was over to him for safekeeping, letting him take her with him over the edge.

Grant reared back on his haunches and stared down at Claire. She shivered from the aftershocks of her orgasm. And he was right there with her. Sweat beaded on his brow and his body zinged with the lingering remnants of pleasure. Parting their bodies, his weight balanced on the heels of his hands. He stared down at her. His wife. To him, a 'yes' was just as good as any wedding ceremony and ring. She was his wholly and completely. And he would care for her all the days of their lives and beyond. Gently he scooped her up, pulling her onto his lap. Guiding her legs around his back, he wrapped her in the cocoon of his arms. "I love you, Claire."

"I love you too, Grant." Claire held on wrapping her arms around Grant's broad shoulders. Nestled against him in a warm embrace, she exhaled contentedly as he entered her again and drove her past any point she'd ever been before. She did love him. She knew there was no way he had all the answers and she didn't expect him to. She guessed there were some things that no matter how hard a person tried couldn't be planned for. Grant was one of those things. Loving him was one of those things.

Grant was right about one thing though. In life there were no guarantees. What was here today was gone in an instant. Life was short and fleeting. And nothing more than a giant question mark of possibilities. Sharing a life with him, for however short or long it might be, was the right choice. Of that, she was absolutely certain.

Claire glanced at the clock. When they'd started their love in, the sun was barely up. The house was a din of activity around them. She blushed violently at that thought. People had been tromping up and down the stairs. Coming and going up and down the hallway. They hadn't shown up for breakfast and it was almost lunchtime. The sound of dishes clattering in the sink and the lingering aroma of fried bacon wafted through the hallway. From the living room, she could hear the sounds of conversation and the TV. No one had knocked on the door to roust them out of the bedroom. Everyone was busy going about the daily routine of life. And while they'd been making love, she hadn't exactly been quiet. She hadn't even tried. If two were company and three, a crowd, what did an entire house filled with people make? Embarrassed, she considered pulling the covers over her head and never leaving the bedroom again. Somebody might have heard them carrying on. How was she ever going to face these people again?

Grant, as if he knew the direction of her thoughts, patted her on the rump and dragged the covers up over her shoulders. He gave her the softest peck on the forehead and the most wolfish grin she'd ever seen. Reluctantly, she supposed, making love in a houseful of people was something she was going to have to get used to. Sharing her life with other people, so many people was going to take some adjustment on her part and on theirs. There were other couples here. And all these babies got made somehow.

Reluctantly, she turned her head and glared at the clock. "Grant, we have to get ready," she said with a hint of urgency in her voice. When it came to mother, especially with the news she was about to break to her, it was best to be on time and not to keep her waiting.

Grant groaned and unwound his arms from Claire. "What's she gonna do shoot us for being a little late?"

Claire huffed as she trotted into the bathroom to shower. "Don't push your luck. She might. Hurry up."

Grant lounged on the bed, giving Claire a few minutes of privacy. He flicked the empty velvet box open and closed. While he'd been keeping Claire busy and distracted thoroughly loving her. He'd managed to slip the ring on her finger. The minute she said yes, he snuck it on. A grin spread across his lips when her startled happy gasp echoed from the bathroom.

Claire stared down at the ring. How had he managed to get it on her finger without her realizing it? The buttery yellow gold band encrusted with tiny sparkles of round, crystalline diamonds, glittered in the bathroom lights. The ring was exactly what she would have picked for herself. Pretty, with just a touch of bling, simple and not over the top. Over the course of her career, she'd seen more than one unhappy nurse look down to realize the stone, usually an unwieldy hunk of overstated, very pricey diamond, was missing from her wedding set. Lost in a glove or a patient's bed, or wherever, never to be seen again. "I love it!" Claire said, flinging open the door and jumping into his arms. "You knew I'd say yes didn't you," she accused playfully.

"Like I said I'm pretty hard to resist. I wouldn't have given up if you hadn't. I simply would have turned on the charm and kept bugging you until I wore you down. A yes answer was a one hundred percent certainty," Grant said smugly. Batting away her pretend punches, he grabbed Claire around the middle and dragged her to the bed. Mom was just going to have to learn the virtue of patience. He and her daughter had a little more last minute celebrating to do before lunch.

Claire glanced at the clock. She could spend a few minutes loving her man. Fortifying her courage before she dragged Grant to meet his doom. She adjusted her position and slid down on his length, riding him slowly. Rocking in a series of fluid motions until she felt his climax build and his body jerked in spasms of relief. She brushed his hair away from his forehead and planted a kiss. "We have to get ready."

Grant scrabbled to keep a hold of Claire's hips. To keep them connected, but there was no diverting her attention. He wanted to lounge around in the bed all day. Enjoy a sex marathon, but Claire had other ideas. Her anxiety was growing by the second. The closer the minute hand got to noon, the more agitated she became. He smelled the scent of her worry, harsh and sharp like lemon. And he began to wonder. Exactly, how bad could lunch with her mother be?

At her incessant prodding he got up and ambled into the shower. "Claire, will you relax a little. She's not going to bite me," he said as he dressed.

"Not until this is over with." She eyed Grant. He looked fantastic. Dressed in a pair of low riding black jeans and a soft hunter green button down with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. Dowdy gray yoga pants Grant had managed to scrounge up and a loose t-shirt were not a good wardrobe choice for her. She looked fat and pregnant. She tried to convince herself that the stretch pants could pass for casual and comfy. That she looked athletic. But, it was no use. She was pregnant. She looked pregnant. And as the days passed, she'd swell up like a balloon and look even more pregnant.

"You look fantastic," Grant said. He snatched Claire's hand and dragged her toward the door. Time to meet the devil. Claire's mother could scowl and pick on him all she wanted. But, if she said one nasty or hateful word to Claire, he would not be responsible for his actions. "We're going to be late."

Claire ran a hand through her hair and groaned. She was going to do this. She'd made the decision to invite Grant. And it was time to face her mother. "Ok. Remember honey, I love you."



Chapter 52

Anna got to work early. She spent the night memorizing the menu and the drink recipes. If she was going to impersonate a barista, she might as well do it right. She wore a navy blue polo and kaki pants, the required uniform, and waited for one of the employees to arrive and open up the shop. Downtown was still quiet at this hour, the streets a peaceful preamble for the busy day to come. The sun had barely turned the sky to a pale shade of blue-gray.

She glanced up to the squat rooftop of the building across the alley and shot a wide smile at Toby. When it came to her safety, he wasn't so good at hiding. When the sidewalks got busy, nobody would notice him. The only reason she was able to pick him out was because she knew he was there. Two years ago, she wouldn't have noticed him lurking up there either. She spent most of her career in downtown, working in a high rise not too far from here. And the coffee shop she doubted she'd be working in long enough to draw a first paycheck, wasn't so different from the one Chris and she used to frequent every morning before work. Those mornings seemed like a lifetime ago. They'd happened to a much different person than she was now.

Anna was alone then. She had Chris, her best friend and an office full of coworkers. Hell, a whole city full of people constantly coming and going. And yet, she was still so alone. Not now though. She'd thought, back then, her career was her only purpose. And yes, she had made her mark on the world. A few of these buildings lining these busy streets bore her design. At the time, she'd thought through architecture she could make the world a better, more beautiful place. Maybe, it did. But, it wasn't the buildings that made the world better or worse. It was the people in them. Strange really, how she'd never known what it was truly like to live until she died. Possibly, in some way, in helping her to find herself, she owed Roark for that.

Patrick stood across the street, lounging against a streetlight, pretending to wait for the bus. Hunter wandered the sidewalk down the block, headed her way. He would find his way into the shop as soon as it opened. Order a coffee and a roll. And take a seat at one of the small tables. Feign interest in a laptop until her shift was over. Keene and Dane and even the mysterious Carter were around here somewhere watching and waiting. She was the most protected woman in the city. Not that she needed it. She could do far more damage with her hands than the patrol assigned to her.

Even if the man did come in. She wouldn't get a chance to do anything. The guys had it and her covered. To her it all seemed like overkill. She could handle herself. Her gift made everyone nervous. Most of the time, she pretended it didn't exist and she was ordinary as everyone else around her. And in a lot of ways, she was. Her gift was dangerous. And she'd learned to keep it harnessed, to a degree. Her hands held the power of life and a very painful death. But, her hands built as well as destroyed. Sometimes, when no one was around, she practiced. Little things, heating a pot of water on the stove with just the power of her hands, stuff like that. And yes, she could make a mean cup of coffee with nothing more than grounds, water, and the energy from her hands. But, she'd also almost killed with nothing more than a thought and that raw, unleashed power.

"Hi," she said brightly to a petite brunette with sleepy eyes approaching the shop. The brunette wore the same uniform she did. Digging in her purse for the keys, the brunette scowled at her and dropped a lit cigarette onto the pavement, exhaling a cloud of smoke in Anna's face. "I'm Anna. I'm starting today."

"Goodtomeetcha." Tess glowered at the overly chipper blonde. She absolutely hated morning people. The stench of coffee made her stomach turn. And she despised this job with an unparalleled passion. Coworkers were a dime a dozen. They came and went so fast. So, she really didn't bother to learn their names. "C'mon in and I'll get cha set up."

"Ok." Anna smiled and winked at Toby. Tess was a grouch, definitely not a morning person. But, Anna could deal. She watched as Tess wandered about the store flicking things on and pulling a tray of pre rolled and shaped pastry from the fridge. "You mean you don't make the stuff here?"

Tess blinked at Anna's naiveté. "Of course we do. Out of the prepackaged bag, onto the tray, and into the oven. Home baked goodness." Tess snickered at the expression of horror on what'sherface's face.

"Oh." Anna thanked the goddess that she couldn't eat and would never have to pay $3.99 for a prepackaged bagel again in her long life. What a cheat. She followed Tess to the espresso machine. Learning what the various gauges, nozzles, and levers did. At least, thankfully, the coffee was real. And coffee, she would gladly pay any price for, just to take a sip of the decadent blend.

"You wanna handle the sheep this morning. It's simple. Smile like serving this shit makes your day. Slop some coffee into a paper cup. Toss them a donut or whatever the hell we just threw in the oven. And charge them way too damn much for the privilege." She tugged on Anna's blouse, opening the neckline down to the last button and nodded in approval. "Here, you'll get better tips this way."

"Thanks." Anna pulled her polo closed and took position behind the counter. Pasting a doubtful smile onto her face as Tess unlocked the door and flipped the welcome sign. Anna looked up at the sound of the door chime banging against the glass and brightly greeted the first customer of the day. Hunter of course, and he was so not bright, nor was he cheerful. And she had no doubt his demeanor was not due to the current mission as much as it was just hardwired into him. Nevertheless, she greeted him with a bright and cheerful, "Good morning."

Within an hour she was up to her elbows in flavored syrup, whipped cream, and bakery treats. She waded through an ocean of coffee and customers. She greeted each and every one with the same unbridled enthusiasm and cheer, although her sentiments were rarely acknowledged and ever more rarely returned. No wonder Tess hated the job. People were more awful in the morning than at any other time of the day. And the empty tip jar proved it.

The man pushed his way into the store. Over night the air had gotten damned humid and stuffy. Rain was thick in the air, building with the energy of an oncoming storm. He inhaled the heavenly scents of espresso and freshly baked goods. He was always aware of his surroundings. Always. The coffee shop patrons were the same type of patrons that rolled into this joint every morning, business tycoons, movers and shakers, masters of the universe, and the like. To him, they were all works of art just waiting to be unveiled. And oh, the things he could create with the blonde behind the counter as his canvas. His stomach rumbled eagerly as he impatiently took his place in line. He could taste the blueberry sconces and almost feel their decadent richness crumbling in his mouth. The line moved slowly. More people herded in behind him. And at a snail's pace he moved up in line.

Hunter looked up from his laptop and scanned the crowd. Even though his senses were diminished, they were sharper than any human's. The shop reeked with the scent of blood. He'd noticed the smell of the woman's blood the minute the man came into the shop. Hunter got up from his seat and pushed to the front of the line, ignoring scowls and hisses from the patrons crowded around the counter. "Miss, could I get a refill?" The son of a bitch was standing right next to him with a smug and arrogant grin across his lips. Hunter covered the low growl rumbling in his chest with a cough. Hunter could reach out and grab the mother fucker by his scrawny little neck and have this done. And it was tempting. But, there were too many humans around for him to act on the impulse.

"Here, I'll get that for you sir." Tess nudged Anna to the side as she grabbed the man's cup. Refilling it with steaming hot coffee. Fucking refills on house blend were free and some people, like this jerk off, spent hours swilling the freebees. Waste of time. In her mind if you weren't buying then get the hell out. Do her a favor and quit breathing her air. The first dayer was standing there like she'd stepped in crazy glue and her feet wouldn't move. At first, Tess had held out some hope for whateverthehellhernamewas. But, Anna was just as dumb and slow as the rest of the flunkies hired to work the morning shift. "Get it together, girl," she muttered beneath her breath at Anna. Nudging her not so gently in the ribs with an elbow, she handed the freeloader his cup.