Dawn Redeemed

"My wolf. Oh god, Erica, I'm so sorry. Sometimes he does things on his own accord. I don't even remember doing that." Torr dragged his hand down his face as total mortification set in. He'd been thinking of something to get Erica to show her how special she was to him. For weeks, he'd been searching the Internet and the local shops looking for something unique. Unfortunately, his wolf had taken matters into his own hands/paws. But instead of using PayPal, his wolf had been taking care of the gift giving in a more primitive way. "I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't be. I'm flattered in a disgusting, morbid kind of way."

"Thanks," Torr grumbled. He squished his big body into the narrow confines of an office waiting room chair. He had an idea. Something that would solve his wolf's amorous intentions for Erica. Answer her housing dilemma. And show her exactly how much she and Fallon meant to him. There were, of course, countless side benefits as well. "Move in with me."

"What?"

"Move in with me. You've been looking for a place of your own anyway and I've got plenty of space. The city limits are forbidden to us while we're in wolf form. It's a perfect solution."

"And where would I sleep?" Erica asked, crossing her arms over her chest, leaning on the edge of the desk. The squared edge of the desk poked into the backs of her thighs.

Torr couldn't suppress his grin, "With me."

"With you. Uh-huh. And what kind of message would that send to Fallon?" Erica dropped into the chair. The conversation had taken a turn she hadn't expected and it was absolutely exhausting her.

"What do you mean?"

"Her mother moves in with her boyfriend and they live happily ever after? Torr, am I the only one who sees a problem with this? I can't move in with you. We can't play house and pretend to be married. Not when we've got a daughter to consider."

"Ok then, marry me."

"You can't be serious?" Erica massaged her temples and groaned inwardly. She had to think of something fast. Without the aid of caffeine, her addled brain was totally blank.

"Why can't I?" Torr felt his ego rapidly deflating. She wasn't quite the tearful, blushing bride to be he'd anticipated. This so wasn't going the way he expected. But, of course, as proposal went, this one wasn't the one he'd spent hours playing over and over in his mind's eye. Her face was contorted in a deep scowl directed solely at him.

"I don't even know your full name."

"Torrance Mason Werth."

"Ok..., I don't know how old you are. I mean really are."

"I'll be thirty-four in August."

"Torr, this is absurd. I can't marry you," Erica sputtered. She wasn't exactly sure how a conversation about carcasses had swung onto the topic of marriage, more importantly a proposal. As proposals went, this had to be the worst one in history. As a little girl, like all little girls, she'd spent countless hours with Ken down on one plastic knee proposing to Barbie. This wasn't how it went in romance books or on soap operas. The guys were always so suave and the moment so romantic. Torr looked like he'd swallowed a tack and the sharp point had firmly embedded in his throat.

Torr crossed his arms over his chest and sat upright in the chair. "Why not?"

"Because...we are pointless. For God's sake Torr, you leave dead animals on my porch! You are going to look thirty-four for decades while I...oh you get the picture. There's no point to us. We're not even the same species. Why would you even want to marry someone as...limited as me?"

"Limited?" Torr jumped to his feet and loomed over her desk. "I'm the one that's limited. I didn't choose to be like this." He scrubbed his hand through his hair and turned his back to her, infuriated by his lack of control. "Erica, do you love me or not?"

"Well...yes."

"Then stop making stupid excuses and say yes. I am serious. Will you marry me?" Torr spun on his heel and dropped to his knee. So far, he'd done a real botch job of convincing the woman he loved that he was absolutely serious about her. The least he could do is get this part right. "I know that I'm no prize. I'm stubborn and temperamental. I leave carcasses on your porch. I can't offer you a normal, conventional life. But, I can offer you my love for as long as you'll have it. We're good together and you know it. We complete each other. One word is all I need to hear."

"I...I,"

Torr leaned up on his knees and pinned Erica with his stare. Gently, he pressed his finger to her lips silencing her. "No more excuses. Some things we're just going to have to figure out as we go along. Don't make this about our differences, but about the one thing we have in common above all else. We love each other. It's really very simple, either a yes or a no."

"You're a pushy bastard sometimes," Erica mouthed against his finger. Her heart leapt in her chest, dancing and rejoicing, screaming for her to say yes. Her brain, which had finally come on line, had a thousand reasons, all very sound and logical, for her to say no. She felt like a distant observer, watching a tennis match between the two as they volleyed yes and no like a ball over the net.

"I know," Torr smiled and leaned back on his haunches. Cocking his head, he analyzed the changing emotions as they drifted across her face. At least, he'd gotten out everything he wanted to say and she needed to hear. All he could do was sit back and wait for her answer.

"Just so we're clear on that point."

"Erica..." Torr grumbled.

"It's the most insane thing I've ever considered. What we have doesn't make any sense. How two people like us, out of the billions on the planet, ended up meeting and falling in love is absolutely crazy. I know our lives together will be anything but picket fences and weekend barbecues." She exhaled in a long deep breath, "But, I can't imagine spending my life with anyone else. Yes, I'll be your wife."

Torr pulled Erica to her feet and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off the ground. The kiss they shared was one of love, commitment, and utter joy. "Thank you," he whispered as he dipped his head for another sampling from her lips. His wife. His mate. Before he'd never understood why wolves selected one mate for the whole of their lives. Now, he did. Erica held his beating heart in her palm.

Smiling and blinking back happy tears, Erica slid out of his embrace and gathered up her purse. There wasn't much point in sticking around the office. She wasn't going to get a damned thing done today anyway. Her head was too full of possibilities for the future to focus on an endless pile of records from the past. "Oh, by the way, you owe my uncle a box of chocolates."

Chapter 111

"Bianca sweet, what an unexpected surprise," O'Sullivan rose to his feet and bent to caress her cheek with his lips. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Bianca suppressed the urge to shudder at his gesture and slid out of his reach. Gracefully, she sat as far away from him as she could get and pretended to devote her full attention to smoothing the wrinkles out of her skirt. The relentless heat and humidity was a bitch on linens. "One of my people has gone missing."

O'Sullivan dragged a chair across the room and parked it beside her. "Oh really? Don't tell me the Guardians can't guard one of their own." He swiveled his body so that his knee brushed against her thigh. Inwardly grinning at her apparent discomfort as she shifted away. "What ever can I do to assist you in retrieving your wayward member?"

"What did you do with him?"

"I haven't partaken of that particular brand of fruit for a very, very long time. I find my appetites better sated by the female persuasion. One, in particular holds my interest above all others."

Bianca rose from her chair and paced the room to put distance between herself and O'Sullivan. Being that close to him was nauseating. "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it," she hissed. "Where is he?"

"Just because one of your infantile members has gone missing you automatically point the finger at me? I'm here in a gesture of friendship and goodwill. I have not harmed one hair on your precious Guardian's head."

"You only play by the rules when it suits you."

"Perhaps, I've had a change of heart in my old age." O'Sullivan ran his fingers down Bianca's neck. He'd moved so quickly that he'd taken her by surprise with the speed of his movements. The ornate wall paper was cool against her back. His breath was hot and putrid as it poured over her skin. "I can be a very, very good friend."

"I didn't come here to play games." Bianca turned her shoulders and twisted out of his grip.

"Didn't you?"

Bianca quickly regained her composure. Her linen skirt was wrinkled beyond repair. "So you know nothing?"

"Only what I make it my business to know. But, it is an intriguing puzzle isn't it? Why would a Guardian take a newborn under his wing and flee the city? I suspect if you follow the trail of bodies in their wake, you'll find your missing Guardian. Oh, don't worry. I've already cleaned up their mess. We wouldn't want to attract any undue attention would we?"

"He's gone rogue?" Bianca couldn't believe it. David was hers. She'd made him what he was and he'd never so much stepped an inch out of line before. He lived for the past which had made him so easy to control. He'd have to be punished for what he'd done. But, as long as nobody found out the depths of what he'd done. She could save his neck and her reputation.

"It would appear so. But, I wouldn't worry too much. I assume your lost will be found, in a day or so. What I would be worried about is exactly what is going to find them." O'Sullivan made a gesture with his index finger, dragging it across his windpipe. "They should cross into the Sons's territory very soon. Tell me, why would a missing vampire and a newborn barely cutting her fangs bother you so? Why not let The Sons do what they do best and let there be two less rogues in the world?"

"I made him."

"Ah, the sins of the father and all that... I see. Your...son has been very, very naughty indeed. The nut didn't fall too far from the tree, did it Bianca? You parented him and he in turn parented one he can't control. The young, so quick to rush into things. Don't you agree?" O'Sullivan sat in his chair and leaned his elbows on the desk, resting his chin on his steepled fingers. "Well then...I suggest we find them first."

"You're going to help me?" He was the answer to her dilemma. She needed to keep this quiet. Find them and bring them back, quickly and quietly. Or eliminate them, quickly, quietly, and efficiently. The Guardians would find them, no doubt about that. The Sons would take care of her problem as well. Not without questions though, questions she couldn't afford to answer. Hunting them herself through the link she had with the boy was impractical. Someone would notice that she was missing. She needed discretion. Her vie for leadership was almost complete. No one had heard from Carter for weeks and there were dark musings and voices of dissension amongst the ranks. Before long, she'd have control of the Guardians. She couldn't afford to let anything stand in her way.

"What do you want?" Bianca asked narrowing her eyes. O'Sullivan was a man who didn't trouble himself with the burdens of others, unless he had something to gain.

"Nothing. This one is on the house. Gratis." O'Sullivan grinned his widest politician smile and clasped his hands. Bianca had already proven herself of great value. He had exactly what he needed, an in. "I'll take personal responsibility for the boy and his child...no one will ever know you were involved."

"He's marked, how will you do that?"

"If a part offends thee, cut it off. By the time I'm finished with them. They'll be grateful just to be alive. The boy won't complain about a trivial little thing like a missing limb. And as for his protégé, I have something special planned for her."

Bianca gripped the edge of the desk till her knuckles turned pale. O'Sullivan's presence was only surpassed by his reputation for cruelty. Tracking the missing pair and dodging the Sons should keep him busy enough to have him tucked nicely out of the way till she achieved her objectives. "Do it."

"As you wish, my sweet. Do try to have a nice day," O'Sullivan called after her as she slammed the door.

Chapter 112

Erica giggled and wrapped her arms around Torr's neck. "I feel like a cheerleader skipping school to make out with the star quarterback. I can't believe I ditched work to sneak off with you. I should be asshole to eyelids in files by now." His lips fluttered over her mouth softly and sweetly, savoring each gentle brush against her.

"I thought you could do with a little respite from the world. I know I sure can." Torr picked a shady spot and spread out the blanket on the grass. He dropped onto his knees and pulled her down onto the blanket beside him. The woods chattered with life around them. A cool breeze flapped at the edges of the blanket, flipping them back and forth playfully with its unseen hand. The air was sweet with the smell of pine and growing things. He opened a paper bag and pulled out a can of ginger ale. Cracking the top of the can, he poured it into two Styrofoam cups, handing one to her and keeping one for himself. "To us."

Erica smiled and tipped her cup. "To us." She was surprised that the heat of the mid-morning sun had not found its way through the deep canopy of trees and cooked away the coolness of the shade. In the distance, she heard the sound of water bubbling over rocks as it made its way down stream. The leaves, gently kissed by a soft breeze, rustled high above her. "It's beautiful here."

Torr took their cups and anchored them with the weight of the blanket so that the breeze wouldn't carry them away. There was nothing worse than some irresponsible idiot leaving trash in the woods and ruining their pristine beauty for everybody else. He stretched out on his side and casually fiddled with the top button of Erica's blouse. What little sunlight that found its way through the towering shelter of the trees dappled across her hair, setting it a blaze in a dazzling display of oranges and intense golds and fiery crimsons. The top button worked loose and his fingers continued down to the next.

Erica stilled Torr's busy fingers with her hand. "Somebody might see us." Exhibitionism wasn't really her thing. Getting caught naked in the woods doing the nasty by a group of pre-adolescent boy scouts wasn't an experience she cared to have.

"Nah, we're alone."

"How do you know." her stomach rippled as his fingers wandered along the inside of her blouse. She scooted out of his relentless reach. Maybe it was the wildness of the trees or the burst of life that covered everything in shades of green and brown that stirred an awareness deep inside of her. The feeling wasn't one of those epiphany kind of 'oneness' with Mother Earth or anything like that. It was as if a part of herself that she hadn't known existed was grappling its way to the surface. She had a wild side? Who knew? Torr's idea of doing something so natural as making love while surrounded by nature was sounding better and better.

"No offence, but, humans aren't the quietest of creatures. I can hear them coming an mile away. If one of my kind were near, I'd feel it. The woods would be deathly still if there were another predator within in a thousand yards of this place. We're alone."

"What if we're ah... if you're too busy to hear someone sneak up?"

Torr chuckled and popped another button free. "Trust me, I can multitask." He rose up on his hands and knees, like a wolf with his sights on a frightened rabbit, and crawled across the blanket. She didn't understand how comfortable he was in the woods before now. The woods were the one place where he and his wolf co-existed in perfect harmony. He ate in the woods. He slept in the woods. The woods were more like home than the three bedroom ranch he called home.

Torr's mouth was hot and urgent on her lips. His tongue slicked in between her teeth, coaxing her to open. Erica had no resistance when it came to Torr's advances. The feel of his hands as they brushed across her sensitive peaks and worked the last button on her blouse open made any points she had to argue easy to forget. Their bodies melted against one another as he eased her onto her back and kissed his way down her neck.

The smell of her arousal was dizzying. Torr balanced his weight on his elbow and traced a path along the lacy V of her bra with his fingers. Now he knew why pink was his favorite color. The lacy bits did nothing to disguise the pearl like points beneath them. She arched beneath him to aid with removing the restrictive clothing. Torr unclasped the back closure and worked her body free of the confining bra and blouse.

Torr's hair tickled the point of her chin as he laved her breasts with the tip of his tongue. She grappled with his t-shirt with her nails, gathering it up into a wad along his shoulders. His abs were so hard and rigid against the softness of her stomach. His mouth so hot, teasing her nipples to the point of aching, her back arched for more.

Torr ripped his t-shirt over his head and tossed it somewhere. He heard the rustle of dried leaves as it landed. At this moment, he had more important things than the location of his clothing on his mind. Exploring and tasting every bit of Erica was paramount on his list. He palmed her breasts and dipped his mouth lower for a sampling of the flesh on her stomach. A nervous little gasp emitted from her lips as he unbuttoned the waistband of her Capri pants. Quickly, he recovered from his faux pas and kissed her mouth as his hand traveled from her breast to her open pants and wandered lower.

Erica shuddered and arched her hips. Any fear she had of being caught naked in the woods was rapidly dissipating. She'd been wanting this for days. Her body needed him as desperately as it needed air to breathe and water to drink. She might have been a lot more comfortable in a bedroom, behind a closed door, but, the natural scene, besides from the occasional niggle of worry about some perverted voyeur hiding in a bush for a peek or two, was every bit as perfect. The trees, the rustle of the leaves tossed about by the breeze, the fresh air, the heavy scent of pine, and the chatter of little forest creatures, was so Torr.

His fingers slid along her folds and found their way deep inside her body despite the limited space for his large hand. Little by little, she felt her body open up for him and her shyness melt away under his soft, slow, teasing strokes. A slight groan emulated from her lips as he withdrew his touch and loomed over her on his knees. Gently and carefully, he lifted her leg and untied her shoe, sliding it and the sock free. Methodically, he stuffed the sock down into her abandoned Keds and repeated the motion with the other foot. His hands were warm on the jutting of her hip bones as he helped work her free of her capris and underwear.

Erica looked resplendent, lying unabashedly naked, sprawled out on a blanket beneath the shelter of a shade tree. Open, beautiful, eyes wide with desire, lips kissed to fullness, ready and waiting for him. He towered over her and stared down, drinking her in with his eyes. His fingers brushed through the thatch of ginger colored curls between her thighs and trailed along the wet slit at their juncture. Finding the spot that made her gasp and moan, he tickled and teased at the blossoming bud of flesh, watching her quiver and feeling the thrust of her eager hips rise up to meet his strokes.

She couldn't quite muster enough concentration to work his belt open while he was touching her like that. She didn't want him to stop. Hell no. Rather to allow her to join in with a little exploration and touching of her own. "Help me," she said between panting breaths.