Dawn's Innocence

"Don't push your luck, Bud." Kacie giggled as the world tilted when Tristen lifted her in his arms. "Where are we going?" The wide meadow disappeared behind a thicket of pine and brush. His muscles coiled and bunched against her body with each step he took. He carried her deeper into the woods till nothing was around them but trees and nature.

"Someplace where we can be alone. I've spent the last two days thinking about nothing but all the things I'd like to do to that hot body of yours. I think I've come up with some pretty creative ideas. And there's time like the present to try them out."

"Tristen, do you mean what I think you mean? Are you sure?" Kacie's grip tightened around his neck as Tristen leapt over a fallen log blocking the narrow, rugged, downhill path through the woods.

Tristen stopped his rugged trek through the woods long enough to give her a quick peck on the lips. His heart pounded in anticipation as he picked up his pace. "Kacie, I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

Her stomach flipped and her toes curled in her shoes. She was getting a good case of the jitters. This time wasn't going to be like any of the others she'd experienced. This wasn't just a booty call or a quickie intended as nothing more than to scratch an itch. He was offering her his body and his heart, not just for a night or a day or two, but for forever. He trusted her with everything he was at the core of his being. She could only hope, that she never, ever let him down. "Tristen I..."

"Shh, just relax and enjoy the ride. We'll be there in a few minutes." Tristen adjusted Kacie in his arms and cradled her cheek against the bend of his neck. He sped along the path, his woman safe in his arms. He was so ready to lay claim to her and to allow her to lay claim to him in return. He realized what he was doing and nothing absolutely nothing could stop him now. He was in way too deep to back out. He'd been in way too deep since the moment they met. And there was nothing left to be done about it, but let himself fall and let her, as his partner, catch him.

Chapter 71

"Hey, mom." Thomas grinned up at his mother, pretending that he didn't notice the scowl of disapproval hidden beneath her smile. He hadn't been spending as much time with her as he usually did. His life had gotten totally crazy over the last couple of months. With being a new husband and an expectant father, he had completely shirked his duty as a son. No doubt, she'd smelled him in the compound and had popped by to remind him that she still existed. He'd been meaning to spend some time with her this afternoon, but he'd had a busy day with Shayla.

She was due next week and had a severe case of the pre-labor nerves. Understandable. He'd run another battery of labs and performed another ultrasound, mainly just to ease her mind. The baby looked fine and the pregnancy was progressing as naturally as wolf pregnancies ever did. He'd have to deal with the delivery and any possible complications as they came. He'd do absolutely everything that he could to make sure that she and the baby were safe, anything other than that was simply out of his hands.

"Could that be my baby boy hovering over that computer screen?" Barbara placed her hand over her heart. Laying it on a bit thick? Naturally, what else was a mother to do to get her son's attention? For so long, it had been just the two of them. She missed him terribly. Their lives were so full now. He had Jan and a baby on the way, and she had to admit, Doc had given Thomas a run for her attention. "I haven't seen you in forever."

"Aw mom, cut with the drama. It hasn't been that long. Has it?" Thomas teased. He flicked off the computer and gave his mom a big hug. He didn't have to be careful of her anymore, no more worries about causing unbearable pain from a simple hug or bruising her fragile skin. She was healthy and whole, and would be that way long, long after he was gone. Nothing, not even the threat of death that had once loomed over their heads like a black cloud could separate them now. "How have you been?"

Barbara smiled up at her son and tucked a stray lock of sandy blond hair behind his ear. "Good. You? Are you getting nervous about being a papa?"

"I'm trying not to think about it." Thomas wrapped an arm around his mother's slender shoulders. "Besides, with you as a grandma, I've got nothing to worry about. You did ok with me."

"Ok? I did great. Look at this kid I raised." She pinched his cheek lovingly. "So when do you expect the new arrival?"

"Any day now. I've got Claire on call to help me out when the time comes. Nana and Doc will be on hand too. With all that help, what could go wrong?"

"You are worried aren't you." Barbara squeezed his hands tightly in hers.

"I almost lost Claire when she delivered GT. These pregnancies are so unpredictable, now with two expectant mothers ready to pop any minute." Thomas grazed his hand through his thinning hair and exhaled.

"Especially when one of them is your wife. If trying to deliver her gets to be too much, step back and let Doc and Nana do their jobs. Your job is to be the supportive husband at her side and nothing else. Jan is going to be fine." Barbara cupped his cheek and turned his face to meet hers. "I won't let anything happen to her or to you. I'm here for the both of you. I may not be the vampire that the Great Father is or the healer that Doc is, but, you are my son and Jan is my daughter in law, the baby, my grandchild. The tie of love between us is stronger than all of their blood combined. I'll do whatever it takes, to make sure that Jan and the baby are safe."

"I know you will, mom. Jan and I have talked about that and if things really take a turn for the worst, we're going to take you up on your offer."

"Good. I'm glad we've got that settled." Barbara smiled and led Thomas out of his office. "So tell me, when are you planning baby number two?"

Thomas chuckled at his mother's eagerness to fill the tiny house he'd inherited from her with grandchildren. "Not for a while. I think Jan wants to see how things go with baby number one first."

"Party pooper. I'm going to have to have a talk with that girl. I want that house filled with grandchildren."

"Mom, if we have more than two it will be."

"Meh, you're a doctor. You can afford to build on." She waved her hand dismissively. "Come on, Anna needs a human to sample all the food she's been making for the big wedding tomorrow," Barbara said as she dragged Thomas toward the kitchen. She loved to watch her son enjoy food. Especially since she couldn't and the closest she could get to eating was to live precariously though him.

"Mom, I'm already getting paunchy." Thomas patted his stomach in protest. He hadn't been living according to the advice he gave his patients lately and had skipped out on the gym more times than he'd been.

"No you're not, baby. That's love." She patted his soft belly so proud that her son had finally found the woman of his dreams. And she knew those dreams were happy ones.

Erica rested one foot on the rough wooden rail of the corral fence. Watching Fallon navigate Jack in circles. Actually, Jack was on autopilot, Fallon was just on his back enjoying the ride. Her job search had been a complete bust. More of the same sympathetic smiles and promises to call as soon as a position came open. At this rate, she'd be forty and Fallon would be graduating high school before she landed something paying minimum wage. She could forget about health insurance and a benefits package. Times were bad out there, for everyone.

She flipped her cell phone over and over in her hands. Riffling through the saved numbers and stopping on Torr's, her thumb hovered between the button to place the call and the button that would delete the number from the memory. If only she could delete him as easily as she could his number. He was permanently in her life. Denial and avoidance wouldn't change that fact. Eventually, she was going to have to face him. Since he lived here, sooner would be better than later.

Waiting for the inevitable to happen wasn't fair to anybody. What would he say if she was out with Fallon and he bumped into them? Would he realize that Fallon was his? Fallon looked so much like him. The same chin and blue eyes. Of course, he'd recognize the bits of himself that were in her. Erica couldn't let him find out about his daughter like that. But, could she face him and tell him the truth? What did she expect him to do? Rush to Fallon's side and be the father she'd always wanted for Fallon? What did she want from him? To pick up where they left off and become more than a one night stand?

She couldn't call him. Not yet. She wasn't ready to face the hurt of the years she'd stolen from him and from her daughter. This whole mess was her fault. She should have tried to find him. She should have made sure that something like this couldn't have happened in the first place. A condom, one little pill, could have prevented the whole thing. But then, she wouldn't be standing here watching her daughter giggle and play. A life without Fallon wasn't something she wanted to think about. No matter what happened between her and Torr, she couldn't regret the outcome of their night together. He'd given a gift that she'd never felt worthy of and wasn't sure she ever deserved. Her daughter was everything.

Torr slouched over the gelling mass of grease and fries on his plate. The bar was packed with locals and he stood out like a sore thumb. All around him, people sipped beers and chattered about the upcoming festival. The chatter from the TV filled in the lull in the conversations. He wanted to march right out the ranch and demand some answers out of Erica. Why hadn't she tried to find him when she found out she was pregnant? Why hadn't she told him that he had a daughter?

In retrospect, he should be happy about that. If his father had gotten wind, he would have gone after Fallon and probably her mother too. If Seff had managed to find them, they'd both be dead now. His father despised what he called 'curs' the half-breed, half-human-half wolf offspring. Torr took a sip off his beer and was thankful that his father would never hurt anyone again.

Who was he to demand answers from Erica? He hadn't exactly been a model citizen himself. They had the one night together. It wasn't like he busted his ass to find her afterward. He hadn't taken any precautions to prevent her from getting pregnant. His fault. Not hers. He couldn't bring himself to regret that their brief time together had resulted in a daughter and she'd been left to raise Fallon alone.

A little girl, his little girl, she was so beautiful. Open and loving, carefree like her mother had been that night on the beach so long ago. He would leave right now, and give up the notion of being a father, if he thought for one second that she would not be subject to the bitter truth of the consequences of being his daughter. She would need his guidance and his experience, especially in about fourteen years when her first shift came.

Storming out to the ranch and pounding on the door wasn't going to be the best way to open up lines of communication between Erica and he. He had to be patient and hope that she'd call him or that fate would intercede and they'd run into one another. Until then, he'd bide his time and wait. What other choice did he really have?

"Aw c'mon, what do you mean I have to sleep in one of the guest rooms?" Nash twisted the knob in his fingers and tapped lightly on the locked door. "I can't go without seeing you for a whole day, Eloise, please." He wasn't above begging to get into his bed if he had to.

"Nash, forget it. Pleading won't get you anywhere. Now shoo." She knew the old wife's tail about not seeing the bride before the wedding on her big day was nothing but nonsense. Still, she wasn't about to put the theory to the test. Eloise rested her hand on the door, determined not to open it. The engagement ring on her finger glittered in the pale lamplight.

"Can I at least have a kiss before you send me into exile?" Nash coaxed. He could hear her breathing on the other side of the door. The knob jiggled as she unlocked the door and pulled it open. He wasted no time wiggling his way through the crack. "I've got two more hours till tomorrow technically starts." He made a grab for the length of her silk nightgown. A frown crossed his lips as she gracefully danced out of his grip.

"A kiss and then you are leaving," Eloise said. She meant business. She wasn't taking any chances. He was going to be gone and tucked into a bed somewhere else in this big house long before the clock hit twelve.

"One kiss is all I ask." Ok. He could play along. She didn't qualify how long or short the kiss had to be, only that he got just one. He was planning on making it count. Nash reached out, cinching an arm around her waist and pulled her close. He took his time, claiming her mouth in a long luxuriating kiss that he hoped would coax her into letting him spend, at least the next couple of hours in bed. "Can I stay a while?"

How could she say no to Nash when he shot her that puppy dog look and fluttered his thick dark eyelashes at her? "Till eleven fifty-nine and then you're out of here."

"I can accomplish a lot in two hours. That's not much time, but I can work with it." Nash backed Eloise across the room. Slowly, he lowered her down, pressing against her, loving her with his lips and his fingers until she couldn't see straight, let alone keep tabs on the clock.

"Mama, I don't want to dress up tomorrow. I'm a kid, no body will notice me anyways," Evan protested as he climbed into bed.

"Of course they will. You're going to be the best looking little boy there," Ruby tucked her son in for the night. Ever since he'd disappeared into those tunnels she hadn't let him out of her sight for a second. He had scared her half to death. "Now go to sleep."

She inhaled his special little boy scent and let it calm her nerves. Last night, she'd gotten up in the middle of the night and insisted that Evan sleep between Hanning and her. Despite every reassurance that an alarm had been placed on the door that led down to the tunnels, she wasn't taking any chances. He was still a child and very creative at finding ways to get what he wanted. Tonight, much to her reluctance and Hanning's insistence, she had agreed to let him sleep in his own bed.

"Mom, I promise, I'll stay put."

"You'd better. Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again." Ruby gave him an extra snug tuck into the blankets and pecked him on the forehead before she walked to the door.

"Mama, can you leave the little light on for me?"

"Sure, why?"

"I just feel better when it's on." He wasn't going to tell his mom the truth. Something was coming and it scared him.

"Ok baby, if you need anything we're right next door." Ruby flipped on the nightlight and pulled the door almost shut. Evan had a haunted look in his dark eyes. Anymore she didn't question it. She didn't want to know about his visions.

"Love you. mom."

"Love you too, baby."

Carter grappled with the voice singing in his head. He thought it was gone. That Kacie's generous donation had extinguished it for good. The sweetness set his teeth on edge. He wouldn't give in to his urge to scream loud enough to drown it out, as if he could. One week, he had to hope that in one week the voice that had been his constant enduring companion would spring into the world and he'd have his head to himself again.

Shayla assured him that the doctor had given her a clean bill of health. That did little to ease his mind. What part of him did the child inherit from his blood? She had faith in him. Faith that despite all his claims that he was evil, that he was good deep down. It had been so long since he'd had that kind of faith. So long since he'd seen himself as anything other than the dark monster he was all too familiar with.

Could he change and be the man she thought him to be? How? He was what he was. He ate what he ate, consuming life from the well of its very source. How could he be a good man if he was forced to live the way he lived? There was no way to change that. He could, he guessed, trot around in the woods like the Sons did, chasing down his dinner and releasing the dazed animal before the kill. Hell, The Sons didn't even call themselves vampires. He'd always thought their ways naïve and puritanical. There certainly wasn't anything puritanical about him. He was what he was, and unlike his brethren, he didn't hide behind self-imposed laws or a phony religion. He was what he was, a vampire, to his very deepest pit of his dark core.

Chapter 72

Tristen adjusted Kacie's weight in his arms as he felt along the narrow ledge at the top of the door. The key was hidden in a thin crevice between the shingles and the doorjamb. "Ah, got it," he said. His fingers gripped the brass key and fumbled with the lock. The cabin was his favorite place to come when he wanted to hide from the rest of the world. It was easy to disappear here. And he wanted nothing more than to disappear with Kacie in his arms. Everyone else could go to hell. Tomorrow he belonged to the world, but tonight, the world, this small piece of it anyway, belonged to him.

The lock opened with a metallic snick and the door opened. The inside of the cabin was chilled from the lengthening shadows of the cool spring night. Didn't matter. Soon, he'd be heating things up and a little fire would make the dim interior so much cozier. The heels of his boots scraped against the rough hewn wood floor as he carried Kacie across the room and tossed her playfully on the bed. The springs groaned in protest to the sudden jar. He landed on top of her, thumping the headboard against the rustic log surface of the walls.

Finally, after over twenty-one years of waiting, he was going to seal the deal. Finally! He was hard and aching with anticipation. Nervous jitters ran along his spine. Supporting his weight on his palms, he stared down into Kacie's green eyes. They glittered up at him with a mix of awareness and want. He wasted no time getting lips pressed against lips. His tongue sought hers out in an eager tangle. She tasted like a blend of woman and sex, with a hint of shy innocence on the tip of her pink tongue.

His body melted into hers. The hardness of his pelvis pressed against the softness of the cradle of her thighs. Her hands were light on his back. Her fingers crept along the outside of his t-shirt, scrambling to find the hem tucked neatly into the waistband of his jeans. Tristen ignored the twinge of nervousness stabbing in his gut as she freed the hem and glided her palms over the curve of his spine, up and down before settling them on his ass. He wasn't nervous about doing IT, only about doing IT right. The sensation of her warm hands traveling along his back and just being this close to her was pleasure enough for him. Pleasing her was the only thing he worried about.

Kacie's breath came out in short pants across his lips. The kiss was a driving, hot kiss that communicated so much more than just the physical need of one person for another. Their tongues spoke thoughts without words, sparking and bursting like solar flares in their mouths. She wanted him. She needed him with a primal desire that rivaled his own. He balanced his weight on one arm. Grappling with his t-shirt, he slid fabric over his head and it landed on the floor with a soft whisper. Her fingers wandered his torso, skating over his bare shoulders and down the hard planes of his chest.

The cotton fabric of her camisole shirt brushed against his stomach. Tickling the bare flesh with soft murmurs of sensation. The whisper of the fabric and the magic jolts created by her fingers loosed a tidal wave of instinct that swept away all lingering tremors of nervousness and doubt. His fingers wound through the soft lengths of her silky hair. Fisting the strands, he trapped her head and tilted her chin up. Her lips pressed tightly against his in another heated kiss.