Dawn's Innocence

"Planning a wedding," Eloise grimaced at Janine's shocked, hurt expression.

"And you didn't call me first? You know I'm an expert at planning the 'big day'. I'm more than willing to lend a hand." She didn't give Eloise a chance to get a word in edgewise as she held up a dress. "Looking for something in white?"

Eloise bit her lip when Janine pulled out a fluffy, satin and lace sleeveless dress with the fullest skirt she'd ever seen. The fairy princess look was definitely not what she was going for. "Something in simple, I think." Eloise took the dress from Janine's hand and stuffed it in between two equally little girlish formals.

Janine squealed in delight as Kacie slid the dressing room curtain back and timidly stepped out. "Oh MY GOD! I love your hair!" Kacie definitely had the cute thing going on. Her hair hung in loose curls that spiraled to her chin, framing her pug nose and cherub like face. She looked like a wood sprite in the emerald green dress that sparkled and glittered with every move of the skirt. "And that dress is to die for!"

Kacie spun as Janine twirled her around. The skirt floated around her knees. The crystals sparkled in the shop lights above. The dress was soft and sleek in her hands and fit like it was made just for her. Not too low cut but just enough to give her figure a hint of cleavage. And the crystal fasteners that held the fabric into folds at the shoulders definitely drew the eye to her breasts. She felt all girly and fluffy inside. Usually this kind of flaunting and showing off was not her thing, but when she saw Tristen's approving look of interest, she liked the attention. She blinked as a scowl crossed Janine's perfect brow line and her lips curled down in a frown. "What is it?"

"Hmm. I think a couple of crystal pins in your hair and a dusting of glitter across the shoulders. A pair of strappy silver sandals with a bit of a heel." Janine studied Kacie as she walked in a circle around her, stopping to stare at her cleavage. Kacie could do better with what God gave her. She just needed a little help. "And the right foundation garment. Gotta support the girls." She slid her hands under Kacie's breasts to push them higher in the dress till she was satisfied with the result. "There, I think you've got it."

"Hey!" Kacie swatted Janine's hands away. "No touching the merchandise." She liked Janine, but not that much.

"Don't be such a homophobe. You're definitely not my type." Janine fluttered over to a bra display and began pawing through the pile of lace and satin till she found what she was looking for. She handed the bra to Kacie and moved to the table with the support garments. "Now this is sexy and supportive," she said, holding up a pair of control top panties. It didn't matter how skinny or how hard a woman worked out. Nobody had a perfect figure. And she ought to know. She'd been trying to get rid of her ass for years. And well, now she was stuck with it... in a forever kind of way. Not that she minded as much as she used to. Patrick liked her with a little extra junk in the trunk.

"My mother always said that the foundation garment makes the woman. Go try the dress on with these underneath," Janine said, pushing Kacie toward the dressing room. "Go, go go. And come out so your mother and I can see when you're done."

Janine smiled a smug satisfied smile as Kacie snapped the dressing room curtain closed. Turning to Eloise she pressed an index finger to her chin. Drumming a dainty, polished nail against a bicuspid. "Sorry, Hannah, but I think I've got just the thing for my friend Eloise, something borrowed, something old, and something more traditional than what you've got in the shop. She flounced her way over to a lingerie display and pawed through the racks of lace and silk. "Ah, here it is. Something new and blue." She held the revealing teddy up to Eloise's frame and smiled a satisfied smile. "Perfect. I'm a genius!"

Eloise blushed as she took the garment out of Janine's hand and discreetly dropped it on the counter along with the pile of other things that was beginning to stack up. Tristen watched them shop with rapt fascination. Idly, when he'd get bored, he'd shuffle through the racks of clothing and then glance around the store looking for Kacie. He wasted time smelling random bottles of perfume at the display counter and wrinkling his nose in disdain. That was, until Kacie came out of the dressing room. Then he was all about her.

"That's perfect." Tristen mumbled awe struck by the tomboy turned princess spinning in front of him. The dress clung to Kacie's curves and the crystals shimmered as she moved. He wished it were just the two of them alone someplace classy instead of in a small town store. He'd take her dancing. Hold her close. His fingers reached out to touch Kacie's shoulder. And then he felt her mother's watchful eyes on him. Instead he dropped his hand and clinched the fingers into a fist at his side.

"Its not too girly?" Kacie asked. Flattered and blushing at Tristen's rapt attention, she spun in a circle watching the play of light over the crystals sewn into the dress.

"Not at all. You look beautiful."

Janine beamed at the couple. Another romance was brewing there. No doubt about it. Was she a matchmaker or what? This time she hadn't even had to try and love was in the air. "Kacie honey, you have to take the dress off now so that Hannah can ring it up," she whispered.

Her eyes scanned the store and locked on a target along the far wall. The wedding, the dresses, and just about everything else was forgotten as she honed in on the display. "Ohhh, shoes," Janine exhaled with the reverence of a true believer. She found a pair of silver sandals and tossed them at Kacie. Abandoning the wolves in favor of a half off sale of last winter's boots, she picked through the boxes and found a pair in her size. The heel and the buttery soft leather were to die for and she had just the perfect skirt to go with the boots. But, the thrill of finding a pair of Miz Mooz boots on sale for half off was quickly forgotten. Did she have something to wear to the wedding or not? Of course, she did, but since when had that stopped her?

Nash stared into the plate glass shop window as the women hugged and giggled. Checking out at the counter and divvying up the loot before they parted company. Hannah had made a pretty nice profit tonight judging by the stack of bags that Tristen juggled. "Everything go well?" He asked as he held the door open for Eloise.

"Much better than expected," Eloise answered. She didn't trust Tristen or Kacie with Kacie's bridesmaid dress. She carried the dress herself and draped it carefully over her lap after Nash helped her slide into the passenger seat. Janine was already long gone, disappearing just as suddenly as she'd appeared. How she managed with all those bags and the towering boxes of new boots and sandals, Eloise had no clue. Janine was a vampire, a woman, and a shopping addict with a pre-paid visa... with that kind of combination anything was possible.

Eloise didn't know what kind of hold Tristen held over her daughter, but whatever it was, he'd kept Kacie under control. Kacie had behaved herself this evening instead of throwing a fit and pouting like she usually did whenever she was forced to go shopping. Eloise was relieved and owed the young man a great deal of thanks. Nash started the engine and waited for the heaters to blow the first gusts of warm air before holding out his hand palm up for the change. She snickered and dropped the change in Nash's palm.

Nash counted the crumpled bills and loose change. "Is this it?" He'd laid hundreds on the counter and she'd come back with ten bucks and seventy-two cents? He shook his head and stuffed the bills in his pocket, playfully muttering, "Women," under his breath.

Eloise shrugged and buckled up. A man of Nash's experience should know better than expect too much change from a shopping spree. Besides, since he considered them technically married didn't that make everything community property now?

Tristen wrapped his fingers through Kacie's, gently tracing a thumb over the pulse point in her wrist. Her pulse quickened and bounded beneath the pad of his thumb in response. Tenderly, he raised her hand to his lips and brushed them across her knuckles. Smiling when she closed her eyes dreamily and leaned into him. He could not stop thinking about her in that dress. The way the fluttery fabric clung to her curves and glittered in the light. The swell of her breasts was simply perfect hugged in the hunter green bodice, showy but not too showy.

He was working his way in deep. So deep that she couldn't turn him away, ever. She was almost where he wanted her. And that was a good thing, because he was already there. Head over heels, helplessly and hopelessly in love.

Chapter 53

Kacie carefully hung the dress in her closet and sighed heavily. The closet rod was dismally bare. No even half of her things had made it here from Texas. So much of her old life she'd abandoned and simply left behind. As the daughter of a pack mistress her clothes, hell everything about her had been engineered as a display of her mother's power. She'd worn the best of the best. Designer labels, nothing stained or frayed at the seams, expertly tailored beautiful things without the first hint of a flaw. She hadn't wanted or needed any of it. But, without the closets filled to the brim with clothing and dressers overflowing with every bauble and feminine trapping conceivable, she realized she kind of missed them.

Funny, she really hadn't considered herself a girly girl before now. She'd spent so much of her life resenting everything in it. The money. The clothes. The jewelry. Her position in the pack. Her mother. Hell, even Jan. The hours of training Catcher and Tracker had put her through had saved her life. And the years she'd spent watching her mother jockey to keep her title had given her some very useful life skills. No one should underestimate the value being able to bullshit your way in or out of any situation to manipulate it to your advantage. And her mother even now in love and happier than Kacie had ever seen her was still the queen of manipulation.

Kacie shook her head and still couldn't believe that her mother had gotten her into that hideous yellow sequin dress. Talk about manipulation. Kacie stared down at her simple jeans and even simpler t-shirt paired with a loose button down cardigan. She could still have nice things, if she wanted them. Wear designer clothing and have jewelry dripping off her earlobes and fingers. Sometimes she was so uncertain about the things she valued in her life or exactly where said life was heading. What did she want beyond the immediate? The answer was so apparent it was painful. She wanted Tristen.

What about everything that came with him though? He was kind of a package deal. With him she got the pack and this place. He'd never leave his family and his home. She'd never ask him to. And she wasn't so certain he could even if she did. Tristen's values were so different from hers. She didn't have his convictions about where her life was taking her and his belief in a greater purpose.

He knew exactly where he belonged. She was so tired of being adrift and not knowing anything for certain. Sure, she was devoted to her family and to a degree the pack that put the roof over her head. And she was devoted to him. But, there was a part she held back, a part that didn't trust anything or anyone. Admitting to him that she loved him took a leap of faith perhaps he couldn't understand. Being in love with him, letting go and allowing that feeling to sweep her up in an inexorable vortex was bigger than that. She could feel herself getting sucked up into everything that was him. Truth of it was, she didn't know if she was brave enough to survive it, to have herself be so open and so raw, and so vulnerable and to be not a single person but an extension of another. Truly scary stuff.

Kacie fingered the meager belongings hanging in the closet and the plastic bag over the dress. She had enough. She liked to think she kept her personal inventory low so that she could travel light. And maybe, that was the truth. She could go anytime she wanted to. Go anywhere she chose. The lure of glittering lights in far off cities she'd never seen definitely had its appeal. But, she couldn't see herself leaving her life behind again in exchange for another. Transversely, she couldn't or rather didn't want to see the reality of what happened in those glittering places behind the scenes. People did the same things there they did here. They went to Super Centers. They ate at McDonald's. They lived in overpriced shitty apartments or in big sprawling houses, same as they did anywhere else. There were families, single people, lonely people, happy people, and sad people living lives behind the smoke and mirrors of the big cities she longed to visit.

In that one way she envied Tristen. He was completely content with where he was and what he had. He accepted what life had given him without complaint or the slightest shred of doubt. She was the one locked in a constant war with her worst enemy, her self. Oh, there was one thing he wanted and longed for with crazy desperation. Her. Kacie wondered if to him, she was like the glittering lights of some city in the distance, just out of reach and nothing but smoke and mirrors.

Would he be disillusioned with the reality of her as she would be when she finally walked the streets and found garbage on the sidewalks of those distant places? Everything looked so bright and shiny, so clean and perfect when you were looking at it from a distance. But, up close and personal, the reality was so very different and so incredibly disappointing. Was he really in love with her or just the illusion of her? And did she want to throw open the gates and welcome him inside to see the truth of what she really was?

She knew the reality of herself. That inside she was a scared little girl terrified of commitment and hanging on desperately to the pieces of herself she was too afraid to show anyone. She was scared to love because she was too afraid to lose. So much of her life had been shattered and burned to ash. Everything was temporary in her world, even love. Kacie longed for the solidarity of believing and belonging. She was simply too afraid of it and too skeptical to assume anything could last forever.

She closed her closet door as a gentle rap sounded on the bedroom door. She knew who it was before she answered it. Tristen stood on the other side waiting for her to answer. Who knew how long he'd been standing there while she ran through her mental monologue? She wasn't out to shatter his illusions of life. But, he'd only known a small sample of the truth of reality. She'd prove that the bond he believed in with such certainty wasn't real. She could free him. And maybe then he'd see his feelings for her for what they were. Smoke and mirrors. Glittering cities. He should live a little before he settled down in one zip code for the rest of his life. While the thought of him with another woman stung, dispelling his fictions in exchange for the bitterness of a harsh reality really was what was best for him.

She played mad at him and put on her best pouting face as she opened the door. "I'm still mad at you."

"No you're not." Tristen slid her a sly, sexy smile as he planted a kiss on her lips and pushed his way inside. Taking care to close the door until it latched and the lock engaged, he smoothed his mouth over hers and guided her deeper into the room until the backs of her knees hit the bed. He ran his hands along the slope of her waist until his thumbs slid along her rib cage. Traveling the hard, bony ridge on a course to the hilly wonders above.

Maybe it was seeing her, for once, dressed up that pressed his urge to mark his claim on her. Kacie didn't realize what type of effect she had on men, especially him. Once his pack mates saw her in that dress, they'd be waiting in line for just the tiniest smidge of her attention. He wanted, no had, to make it more than abundantly clear to this bunch of f'idiots that Kacie was hands off. She belonged to him.

Kacie softened and nibbled at Tristen's lip. Sucking in a breath as his thumbs found the hard tips of her nipples and began to tease the flesh. The touch, muted through the T-shirt and bra, was enough to make her forget the trauma of shopping with her mother and melt into his arms. Struggling for some slight bit of decorum and resistance to his charms she lifted his chin in defiance. "No you don't. A kiss isn't going to get you out of trouble," she stubbornly protested.

Tristen heard the waver in Kacie's voice. She wasn't mad at him. But, he was willing to play along. "What will?" He slid his hands down her waist and over her hips, settling them on her butt. Gripping her tightly, he lifted her in his palms and eased her onto the bed. He lowered his pelvis into the cradle of her hips as he worked her mouth with his lips. She was warm and so soft beneath him. Her emerald eyes glittering with desire, looking up at him burning with need as he stroked his hands along her curves and slicked his tongue across her lips. "Am I forgiven yet?"

His hands tickled and teased, slipping up under her T-shirt as they worked their way up along her belly and ribs. His mouth was hot against hers, tasting of wild, need, and male. He had the cockiest grin on his face when his fingers made it to the front closure of her bra and unfastened it with a clever twist. Unwillingly her back arched as he brushed the lacy cups over the tips of her breast to tease her sensitive skin. Desire, washed over her like a tidal wave. Responding to his slow, seductive touch, she growled, "Not yet." Tristen pushed the bra out of the way and nibbled at her breasts through her t-shirt, torturing her with damp cotton and the heated breath of his exhales.

"Hmm." God, he was so hard he was dizzy. She could have him reduced to a stuttering, drooling fool in a matter of seconds. Being near her was enough to make him forget his own name. When he touched Kacie, everything ceased to exist, but her. He slid a hand behind her back and lifted her torso as he eased the stretchy cotton shirt over her head. Trapping her arms in the sleeves, he held her wrists fast with his free hand. "I'll have to try harder, I guess."

He traced a path along her chin and down her neck. Lower and lower. Kacie's bra had slid to partially cover her breasts. He was having none of that. He peeled the menacing scrap of pink lace and wire to the side, baring her breasts for his exploration. He was eager, as always, to make new discoveries, lapping at one pert nipple with his tongue. Rolling the ripe peak over his tongue and suckling it with his lips as he busied his fingers with the other nipple.

A moan of appreciation eased out of her parted lips. The wolf in him growled with satisfaction that was pure male. The wolf wanted her just as badly as he did. Jolts of hunger surged through his body and planted eager suggestions in his brain. Take her. Mate her. Make her ours. The wolf panted desperately. That sound, desire mixed with want, was exactly the encouragement he and his wolf needed. She could say whatever she wanted. Her body was right on line with the plan though. He alternated breasts with his fingers and his lips. Paying homage to one full, berry tip and then the other.

Kacie's fingers curled into fists as she writhed under his touch. She was pinned with her arms over her head, trapped in the sleeves of her shirt by his clever maneuver. He had her on her back, stuck there by the weight of his body and the sleeves of her shirt, in a position of submission. Her wolf howled in her head so ready to get on board with the plan. She was conflicted between relaxing and letting him lead and struggling to get free.