Dawn Rising

Alex was tempted to succumb to his teasing. She felt his tongue probe along the outer border of her lips. She clenched her teeth to bar him entrance to her mouth. Firmly, she pressed her palm to his chest to push him back. "Lucien, we have to talk."

He groaned, reluctantly releasing his grip. He could practically feel the tension in her voice. He was all geared up to make love not war. When a woman wanted to talk, nothing good would come of it. "What's the matter?" he asked, evasively.

Alex took a few steps away from Lucien and stared out into the dark, avoiding his gaze. "I..." she bit her lip nervously unsure of how to start the conversation. "When you asked me to marry you, did you mean it?"

Lucien's brows furrowed in confusion as he considered his answer. He hadn't had time to buy her a ring, yet. He'd been a little preoccupied lately with keeping her alive. Alexander had a penchant for doing the thinking for his daughter. That was what landed them all in this mess in the first place. If he'd given Alex a little credit back then, things would certainly be different now. If her father thought he wasn't good enough for Alex, he'd do everything in his power to break them apart. What the hell had Alex and her dear old dad been talking about before he arrived? "Every word of it."

Alex took a deep breath. She had serious doubts and she needed to hear the answer. He wanted to marry her, but why? Why would he want to tie himself to her when it wouldn't last? "You tried to turn me? And it didn't work. Why?"

Lucien closed the distance between them longing to reach out and touch her and ease the confusion that lingered in her voice. Alex was picking apart his words and trying to push them together in a way that made sense to her. Sometimes, things just were and they didn't have to make sense. Alex had never been one to let things be what they were and let it go. She had to know the reason why things were what they were. He was fresh out of whys. "I did. And no it didn't work. And no I don't know why. What's this about? Did your dad say...,"

Alex stood her ground as she wrapped her arms around her chest. With a wave of her hand, she cut Lucien off. "Dad didn't say anything. You could love me anyway. Even though I will grow old and die. You're immortal, shouldn't you find someone," Alex paused again mulling over her words, "Wouldn't you be happier with someone more like you?"

Lucien growled and stiffened to glare down at Alex. Her question outraged him. "Never. You are my one and only." He snorted, "You THINK I am immortal. But I'm not. I wish I were." Abruptly, he withdrew his arm from her shoulders and turned away from her. He had a few things of his own to say. Maybe Alex didn't get the bigger picture. Maybe he didn't either. That she thought of herself so cheaply, that she wasn't worth it because someday she'd die...damn it pissed him off. "I love you. I always have and always will. It doesn't matter to me what you turn or don't turn into. I love you unconditionally. Maybe you should think about if you can do the same."

Alex felt her heart wrench in her chest. Tentatively, she reached out and wrapped her hand around his muscular thick bicep. "I do love you. But, I'm afraid. What about my job? My apartment?" Tears sprung to the corners of her eyes when she thought about leaving Lucien. Deep inside, she knew she was done and her old life held no allure for her any longer. But, it didn't seem right to give it up without a fight. Her breath rushed out of her throat as Lucien wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up, crushing her against his chest.

Lucien lowered his lips her cheeks kissing away the tears that fell. "Never be afraid. I don't have any answers. If you wish to return to the city, I will follow you. If you wish to remain here, we will stay. If you wish to live on the continent of Antarctica, I'm there too. As long as we're together, it doesn't matter where we live."

Alex gasped as Lucien claimed her mouth in an urgent kiss that said everything neither one of them could say. He had no more answers than she did. Together they were fumbling in the darkness, desperate for a handhold. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, clinging to him desperately.

His onslaught weakened her knees and they threatened to buckle beneath her weight as he lowered her to the ground. Her heart sang beneath the pressure of his weight, bearing down on her body. His erection pressed against her sensitive places, eliciting a moan of desire. Erasing all doubts from her mind. He was willing to give up everything for her. She could never ask that. The Sons needed him. The world needed him a whole lot more than it needed her. She loved him too much to take him from the only home he had. The only place where he could truly be what he was. "Lucien," her breath came out in a fevered pitch, "drink from me. Please."

Lucien lifted his head and stared longingly into the deep mahogany of Alex' eyes. He wanted to possess her body and soul. But, he also wanted to give of himself, to give her possession of him. He sat up, cradling her head in the crook of his arm. He brought his wrist to his mouth, biting down in a sharp jab of pain, freeing a torrent of blood. "Forever," he whispered, lowering his wrist to her mouth. Drawing in a deep hiss as Alex wrapped her lips around his wound.

Chapter 44

Alex trembled as Lucien's blood surged through her body. Her senses reeled from his abrupt withdrawal. Slowly, he bent his head low, pressing his fangs gently beneath her skin, releasing a flowing torrent of crimson. A low moan escaped her lips as his thoughts entered her mind. His pleasure, intertwined with fierce love and devotion rocketed her over the brink with soft cries of ecstasy. When he broke free, he licked her wound closed, sending a shiver of pleasure along her fevered skin.

Lucien cradled Alex's head against his chest. The woods reflected the deep peace he felt within. He cushioned her body with his and stretched out along the forest floor. He stared up, marveling at the moonlight as it filtered through the leaves in silvery patches. The softness of Alex's voice echoed in the night.

"Lucien, please," Alex whispered grabbing his wrist guiding his hand up underneath the rough fabric of her sweatshirt.

Lucien sighed contentedly as he landed a kiss on her forehead. "You're insatiable," he teased. He rolled lightly on top of her, feeling her heat against his throbbing need.

Alex looked up at Lucien. She knew right then and there that they'd never be apart again. Only in this moment had she felt such a sense of rightness of belonging. She was his, and he, hers. "No, I'm in love."

With a possessive growl, Lucien set his hands to work, blazing a trail of desire as he claimed her body inch by inch. "So, you'll marry me?"

Alex giggled against the curve of Lucien's neck. For such a big, powerful, male he sounded unsure as a schoolboy. She arched her back to the soft caress of his palms over her breasts. Maybe it was the moonlight. Maybe it was the love. Maybe it was just him and all that he was. But, this moment belonged to them. And nothing, no one event in her entire life had ever felt more perfect than this one. "Yes. I'll marry you."

Lucien hovered over Alex, his weight balanced on his palms. Their hips merged as one, pressing down on her. Silvery patches of moonlight danced on her pale skin and reflected in the depths of her eyes. Her hair draped across the forest floor, tangled amongst the wild of leaves and soft spring growth. Eagerly, he clamed her kiss, the promise sealed. He'd thought his brothers made him whole. Maybe they did. But, it was this woman who made him complete. Not even death, no matter when or how it came could separate them. She was part of him in every way possible. Embedded in his soul.

She doubted herself. Her humanity. There were so many things, so many reasons for him to doubt himself. His life was filled with danger. He couldn't give her babies. He'd never know the color of her hair in the sunlight. Never feed her from his plate. And he'd always lust for her blood. Not good qualities for a husband. She loved him anyway, despite of all he could not do. But, there was one thing no other male could do for her that he could. Love her forever.

**************

Kore lightly rapped her nails against the gleaming countertop, cursing lightly under her breath. She had searched the girl's apartment and came up with nothing. There were no clues that brought her closer to The Sons. "Damnable wretch!" she hissed as she hurled the picture frame at the nearest wall satisfied at the sound of crunching glass.

She needed to get out of this apartment. She needed more time to come up with a plan. The blood she had taken from the girl had yielded nothing. The damnable warrior had blocked the bond. Searching the apartment had also been useless. Obviously, the girl possessed no knowledge worth discovering. Lowering herself out the window, Kore climbed to the rooftop and waited for a plan to come to her. Perhaps, if she could manipulate her brother's unyielding obsessions to her advantage, perhaps.

Alex giggled as Lucien brushed stray bits of pine needles and debris from the forest floor out of her hair. Who would have thought she'd be the kind of girl to sneak off in the woods and have sex? Sex with Lucien was incredible no matter were the place. Maybe the hint of danger, of being discovered made it all the more fun. "So," she blushed tugging the edge of her sweatshirt down her torso. "What now?"

Lucien grinned as he felt the flush of her skin against his fingers. "I should ask your parents for permission to perform the bonding ceremony." Alex scooped up a loose mound of dried leaves from last fall and threw them at Lucien. She wanted to play, not to be all serious. There was way too much serious in her life right now and she desperately needed fun. Chuckling at the look Lucien shot at her as he brushed leaves and pine needles off his shoulders, she asked "Didn't we already do that?"

Lucien lifted Alex up off the ground, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist. The woods suited her. Nestled amongst the pines and all the life of the woods, Alex belonged. "I just thought we should have an official ceremony. Make an honest woman out of you." He winced as Alex swatted the top of his head. "Ow."

Alex jostled in Lucien's arms as he weaved and bobbed through the trees, carrying her. A different girl might get offended that he insisted on carting her around when she was perfectly capable of walking under her own power. She didn't. Lucien knew she was perfectly fine. He carried her as an excuse to hold her close. And after so much wasted time apart, she wanted to feel his skin against hers as often as she could. Any excuse to get close to him, to feel his touch, was a good one.

They emerged from the woods into the wide, rolling pasture. Alex locked in his arms. She lifted her head to stare up at the dark shapes of the trees against a night sky littered with diamond like stars. In the city one couldn't see the stars for all the light. Here she could make out each and every heavenly constellation. Orion, the hunter; low in the western sky, showed the change of seasons. Ursa Major and Minor, the bears, hunted the stars for prey. The thought of returning to the city of returning to her empty life left her cold. She wasn't going back. Lucien walked in the shadow of the North Star, carrying her to the place she belonged. Home.

"I should go to the apartment and get my stuff and resign from my job." Alex groaned at the thought of becoming voluntarily unemployed and going job hunting. There wasn't much need for a degree in Native American history in this small town. If she was lucky she could land a job as a grocery store clerk at the local Grab-n-Save.

Lucien could read her thoughts. He took a deep breath as he thought about how to explain that a job was waiting for her. The Great Father was very impressed with her exhibit at the museum. Maybe it was that full sized likeness of him that swayed his opinion. The man had a huge ego. But, considering he was the father of a race of warriors, Lucien supposed he had a right.

The Great Father had a job in mind for her, as a scribe. Lucien didn't want her to think that she hadn't earned the privilege to put their history and legends into print. He knew she would never concede if she felt he had a hand in helping her land the job. "Tomorrow has enough trouble of it's own. Let's just get through telling your parents first."

Alex snickered in disbelief. "You're still afraid of my dad?"

Lucien whispered, faking a tremble of fear in his voice, "Do you think he's managed to get that shotgun loaded yet?" Over the past thirteen years he'd earned more than one disapproving scowl from Alex's father. The first one, the minute he pulled up in that supped up Camaro to pick up Alex for their first date. Alexander was right about the car and about the cocky, full of piss and vinegar, boy he had been back then.

"Probably." If her father had his way, she never would have gone out on that first date with Lucien. He would have kept her home and wrapped in bubble wrap to protect her. If not for her mother, Lucien wouldn't have gotten a second date or a third. After she'd come home that night, ten...count 'em ...ten minutes late, her father and she had argued bitterly for hours. Her mom, Alex never knew what she said to Dad. But, whatever it was, it worked. Her dad would glare at Lucien when he came to pick her up. He would scowl from behind the curtains when he dropped her off. But, he never said another word to her about him. Not even if he got her home ten or fifteen minutes past curfew. That was their first and last truly bad fight and she'd won hands down.

Alex bent close to Lucien's ear and whispered, "I have a feeling that he already has suspicions about us. And he hasn't tried to shoot you, yet. Besides, it wouldn't kill you, would it?"

Lucien chuckled at the way Alex timidly asked the question. He was impervious to bullets, for the most part. A carefully aimed shot in the head with an exploding round might change that though. Alexander would never do anything to hurt Alex. And killing him, as much as it might satisfy Alexander, it would devastate Alex. "It would sure hurt though."

Alex wiggled out of Lucien's arms. She stopped in the darkness, just outside of the ring of light from the windows. Gently, she cupped his face in her palms and guided his face down to meet hers. "Lucien, you're sure about this? I mean..." There was no reason to point out their obvious differences. Not when they were so painfully apparent. They were both sacrificing to be together.

Lucien silenced Alex with a gentle press of his finger to her lips. "Even back then. From the first second I saw you. I was sure. I had no plans beyond the next day. I didn't know if I was going to go to college, where, or what for. I didn't know if I'd be stuck working part time in that sawmill for the rest of my life. But, there was one thing I did know. One thing I wanted more than anything else in the world. You."

Alex pulled Lucien's face to her lips and pressed them together with a kiss. Back then dreams had been so easy to dream. She'd had the luxury of time, time to dream and imagine a future with Lucien. Her wedding day, dressed in white. The white picket fence and a beautiful raven haired daughter with her daddy's eyes and her nose. After college, of course, she was only a sophomore in high school when Lucien, in his cocky, boyish way, barged into her life.

She never did understand what a boy like him saw in a girl like her. She wasn't popular. She wasn't pretty. Hell, she hadn't even filled out a B cup yet. But, he stuck to her like glue. Determined to get her to say yes to a date as if his life depended on it. Somewhere in the middle of all the firsts, the first time he held her hand, their first date, their first kiss, she fell in love.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the Old Man. But, you're on your own with Janine."

"What do you mean by that?" Lucien asked as the air whooshed out of his lungs and he landed on the ground with a tooth-shattering thud.

Giggling, Alex felt a surge of pride. She had bested him with a swift kick to the shin, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Taking advantage of her position she shouted out as she ran to the house, "Last one to the house gets to tell them!"

Leaping to his feet, Lucien trotted after her. "Oh no you don't!" Deliberately, he slowed his pace. It was his duty and his honor to ask her parents for her hand. And he guessed, to deal with Janine.

Chapter 45

Alex bounded through the front door with Lucien close on her heels. Alexander glared at his daughter, awakened from his nap by her noisy, giggling entrance. "Daddy!" Alex exclaimed, flinging herself into his lap. The old recliner groaned at the additional weight and a spring that had been duct tapped into submission sprung loose, poking him in the butt. He groaned at the pressure of her bony tailbone digging into his thighs. Alex hadn't sat in his lap since she was ten. A lot had changed since then. She'd gained a few pounds and several inches to her height. It made him feel older than dirt. Alexander couldn't help but laugh at the trail of kisses she speckled across his unshaven jaw.

Scowling he stared up at Lucien as he peered over his daughters crown of tousled ruby curls. The Sons weren't the only ones with abilities. He had that uncanny ability of a father to know when he'd lost his little girl to another man. Stifling a grin, Alexander waited for Lucien to approach him. If the boy was brave enough to ask him, it didn't mean he had to make it easy.

"Uh," Lucien said as he shifted his weight. Conspicuously, he slid a glance to the side of Alexander's recliner. Just to make sure the shotgun wasn't within reach. The man was practically snarling at him. Lucien began to wonder if Alex had parked herself on her dad's lap deliberately, just to slow him down.

The crochet work in Leigh's lap forgotten, she split her glances between Alexander, Lucien, and her daughter. Alex was practically bursting with excitement and happiness. Bouncing in her daddy's lap as if she were five-years-old. Leigh didn't know if vampires could puke, but Lucien looked particularly green around the gills. And Alexander, he had his upper lip curled up in a disdainful snarl, his fingers protectively tensed around Alex's waist.

As parents, they knew this day would come. The day their little girl fell head over heels in love. Leigh had known, from the first moment she laid eyes on Lucien, he'd be the one to steal Alex's heart. Even after the accident had torn them apart. Leigh knew that Alex and Lucien would find a way to be together again.

Her husband was putting on a good show, posturing like a rabid dog ready to pounce. Casually, she reached into her basket of yarn balls. Wrapping her fingers around an awkwardly wound ball, she hurled it at Alexander's head. "Stop it," she chastised.

Janine, who had been bored out of her skull, between the endless clack of Leigh's crochet hook against her wedding ring, and Alexander's deep, rumbling snores, was stretched out on the couch, counting the dots in the ceiling tiles and multiplying them by ten. Something interesting was finally happening around here. She sat up, suddenly very entertained.

Alex giggled at Lucien's discomfort. Unable to contain her excitement, she blurted out, "Daddy were getting married! Isn't that wonderful?"

Lucien grumbled under his breath, staring down at Alex in disbelief. This wasn't the way he imagined the conversation going. Nervously, he backed up as Alexander eased his daughter off his lap and stood. Lucien dropped to one knee at Alexander's feet. His gaze lowered to the floor. "I will love Alex till the end of time. I will give my life to keep her safe. And devote every thing that I am to see to her happiness."