by Dena Christy
“You’re right. Tonight is supposed to be about us. I’m just frustrated that he’s out there. He could be in the woods behind our house as we speak, watching.”
“He could be, so I guess it’s a good thing we aren't there, isn’t it?” She gave his hand a squeeze and tugged him further down the trail. “Come on Mason, I don’t want to think about Titus tonight. He’s not watching us right now, and I want to enjoy the feeling of not having eyes on me. Besides, we’re almost there. Can’t you hear the water?”
He allowed her to tug him down the trail and told himself to smarten up. This was all his idea of a way to get her to forget about the menace that was Titus for one night. It wouldn’t help her relax if he kept harping on it. In the distance he could hear the sound of rushing water and knew that they were almost at the falls. He was surprised that after fifteen years they were still able to find their way to this spot. He’d tried to bury all the good memories with her under the bitterness that came after their break up but perhaps he was wrong in that. The good times happened, and if he wanted them to keep happening he needed to focus on everything that was right between them.
They made it through to the clearing where there was a natural waterfall that emptied into a basin in the rock, creating a pool that was the perfect place for some moonlit skinny dipping. He’d spent a lot of time in the water that summer, naked with Grace and just the memory of it made his body tighten.
Grace shook out the blanket and spread it on the ground. She reached for the bag of food and they settled on the blanket.
“I’m glad you thought of this. I’m starving.” She pulled out the take out containers and opened them. He’d order them two fried chicken dinners, which he knew that she loved since she’d devoured enough of it to feed an army fifteen years ago. “I love Sawyer’s fried chicken.”
She picked up a piece of chicken and took a big bite, and closed her eyes in pleasure.
“Did you get a lot done on the house today?” He needed to find a way to distract himself from the look on her face. It was close to the one she wore when he made love to her, and if he didn’t talk about something he was going to have to take her here and now. He could see that she was hungry and so he would keep his hands to himself until she had enough time to eat at least. He might be a werewolf but his animal side was not in control.
“Yeah. Rafe was a big help, and although I don’t think I need a bodyguard, I’m glad he was there to do the heavy lifting. We got most of my mom’s stuff donated, and I think I only have to do some final clean up and staging and the house will be ready to put on the market.”
“Has it been hard for you, going back there?”
She frowned as she chewed her food. “It was at first, and it was definitely hard to go through my mom’s things.”
“Did you get back for her funeral?”
“No.” Her face closed up and she concentrated on her food. “My mother made a choice fifteen years ago, and it wasn’t me. Even after all that time I was still bitter about that. And I think that since I’d been away so long it didn’t really become real for me that she was gone. It wasn’t until I got back to the house and had to go through her things that the truth hit me.”
She set her food aside and her lower lip trembled. Mason did the same and pulled her to him, putting his arms around her. He closed his eyes when he heard the first sniffle, and he rested his head on the top of her head while she poured out her grief for her mother.
Once she was finished, she shifted away from him and used the tail of her shirt to wipe her eyes.
“Okay, new rule, no more talking about things that will make me cry or make me scared.” She gave him a smile as she closed her food container. He handed her his, since he was finished with it.
“What do you want to talk about then?”
She put the food containers back in the bag and set them aside so they were no longer on the blanket.
“Actually, being in this place doesn’t really make me want to talk at all. I keep remembering all the things we used to do out here. We had some really good times here and I was wondering if you were up for making a few new memories.” She reached back and pulled her hair out of her pony tail and it fell in blond waves around her shoulders.
The arousal that he’d been suppressing since they got here roared to life. God, he wanted her so much and the urge to grab her and pull her underneath him on the blanket was nearly overwhelming. But he held back, since he wanted her to take the lead in this.
“What did you have in mind?” His voice rumbled out of his chest, and he pulled her closer.
“How about I show you?”
She pushed him down on the blanket and when she kissed him fully on the mouth, he knew that bringing her out here was the best idea he’d ever come up with. And soon the new memories they were building together blotted out all the other memories he had, even the darker ones.
In this moment, with just the two of them, he let go of the bitterness he’d been holding on to. The past no longer mattered to him, and all he cared about was the future that he had with her.
Grace shivered and pulled her sweater tighter around her as she leaned on the railing that surrounded the back deck. Dusk was falling and Mason would be home soon. Her eyes scanned the woods surrounding the yard but she didn’t know what she expected to see. It had been two months since the full moon night when she’d seen Titus. Was he gone from their lives? Or was he still watching and simply being more careful about being seen.
She sighed and went over to the rocker Mason had bought for her and sat down. She hoped he was gone, and the more time that passed with no sign of him, the more confident she became that this was true. Things between her and Mason were perfect, now that they’d been bound together for a couple of months and she didn’t want anything or anyone messing that up.
“Grace, baby, where are you?” Mason called to her from inside the house.
“I’m out here.” She smiled as she waited for him to come to her. It was the full moon tonight and she needed to tell him that she couldn’t run with him. She didn’t know for certain if what she was about to tell him was true or not, it was too soon to tell. But the possibility of it made her not want to take the risk of going for a run tonight.
She turned her head as he came through the door, and even now, after living with him for two months, she didn’t know if she’d ever get used to him coming home to her every night. It was something she dreamed about fifteen years ago, and something that she thought was out of reach for her up until just a few short months ago.
He smiled at her and walked to where she was sitting. He reached his hands up to her and she took them, and let him pull her to her feet. She stepped close to him, put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a kiss. His mouth moved softly on hers as he tightened his arms around her waist, and she melted into the hard muscles of his chest.
“That’s the kind of greeting I like.” He swooped his head down to kiss her again, and then loosened his hold and took a short step back. “So are we running with the pack tonight, or did you want to stay around here?”
She looked up at him and bit her lip. Now was the time to tell him, and although what she was about to say was the whole point of them binding themselves together, she also remembered what they decided when they first agreed to this. She knew now that even if there was a baby on the way, she did not want things to be over with him after this year. She’d been in love with him fifteen years ago, and she was in love with him now.
“About that.” She took a deep breath and forged ahead. “I’m not going to be able to go for a run tonight. I’m late.”
A puzzled frown crossed his face. “Late for what?”
“Not that kind of late.” She smiled up at him as she stroked her fingers over the rough stubble on his cheeks. “There is a very real possibility that we are going to have a baby, and I don’t want to take any chances by running tonight.”
He stood still for a moment, and s
he could see when what she said to him fully sunk in. A smile crossed his face, brighter and more tender than she’d ever seen it. He cupped her face, and fused his mouth with hers. His kiss was soft and gentle, as if she was made of glass and he didn’t want her to break.
When he pulled his mouth away, he held her to him stroking his hands up and down her back. She rested her head in his chest and could hear the steady beat of his heart under her ear.
“A baby. I can’t quite believe it.”
“Now it’s not for sure yet. Like I said, I’m late and I don’t know for sure if I’m pregnant. I just don’t want to take any chances, so you’ll be running by yourself.” She pulled back to look up at him, and he still had the soft sweet look on his face.
“I know it’s not for sure, and you’re right not to want to take any chances. But I do hope that you really are pregnant, and not because it would fulfill our obligation to the pack. I hope you’re pregnant because I want to have children with you.”
Grace swallowed hard as he stroked his finger down her cheek. Did that mean that he wanted the same thing she did? Was it possible that he’d been able to put what happened in the past behind him, and that he could love her again?
She wanted to ask him, but hesitated. Things were so good between them right now, that she didn’t want to spoil it by bringing up the past. It was enough to know that he wanted to have children with her for now.
“So are you going to be running with the pack then?”
He stepped back with a shake of his head in his arms fell away. “No, I’ll stick close to home. You stay here and I’ll just be in the woods.”
Grace went back to her rocking chair, and watched him as he stripped his clothes off and changed into his wolf form. He padded up to her and laid his head on her lap, and she stroked her hand over his silky fur. He stayed like that for a long time, until the moon cresting the sky stirred a restlessness in him that he could no longer contain.
After giving her a lick on her hand, he howled and took off across the deck. Grace smiled as she watched him race across the lawn in a streak of black fur. Once he disappeared into the woods she pulled her phone out of her pocket and scroll through her contacts.
There was something she’d been meaning to do, and didn’t want to put it off any longer. Chances were good that she wouldn't be able to get a hold of Alena right now, since she would most likely be out for a run herself, and perhaps this was why Grace was choosing this moment to call her. It seemed cowardly, but Grace was in too good a mood right now to want to deal with Alena’s disappointment when she told her she was going to deal with a larger realtor company in the city.
She dialed Alena’s number, trying to work out in her head what she was going to tell the answering machine. To her surprise Alena’s voice came over the phone.
“Oh, I didn’t expect you to be home right now. I thought you’d be out for a run?”
“I’m just about to head out. There is something I can do for you?” Alena’s voice was rather short and brisk, and a frown pulled Graces brows together. Maybe it was just the full moon making her cranky, but the other woman didn’t sound like herself.
“I won’t keep you for long then, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to list the house with the real estate company in the south.”
There was a short pause on the other end of the phone, and Grace thought she could hear Alena’s breath come out in a sharp short sigh. “You promised that you would let me sell the house.”
Grace could feel slight edge of anger rising inside her, since she promised no such thing. It had been Alena who had insisted on selling the house, because according to her, strangers were not welcome in East Brook. But Grace no longer cared what the residents of East Brook wanted. A big part of their problem was their resistance to change. All she wanted was to sell the house and move on.
“I’m sorry, Alena. But I can’t wait anymore for someone in East Brook to be interested in the house. I just want it sold. I’m sure you’re very good realtor, but unfortunately there just isn’t a market for the house in the area.”
The silence stretched out on the other end of the phone, and for a moment Grace thought perhaps that Alena was no longer going to speak. There was an muffled noise, almost as if someone was putting their hand over their phone, as if speaking to someone else that they didn’t want Grace to hear. Which was strange because she knew for a fact that Alana lived alone.
“As a matter of fact, there is someone interested in the house. It’s funny that you would call me right now, because I was going to call you in the morning. They’ve already seen the house once, but they had a few questions that they needed to ask and I’m afraid only you can answer them. So why don’t we meet at the house tomorrow afternoon, and we can get everything settled so the house will no longer be your problem.”
Why hadn’t she said that from the start? Alena had said nothing about having anyone interested in seeing the house, but Grace supposed that unless it was a sure thing perhaps Alanna was hesitant to say anything to her about it.
“What time did you want to meet tomorrow?”
“One o’clock should be fine. Anyway, I have to go now. I’m sure you understand why. See you tomorrow.” And with that the call disconnected, Grace put her phone away from her ear and put it in her pocket.
A shiver skated over her skin, stirring the hairs on the back of her neck. She pulled her sweater closer and stood up. There was something a little weird about the way Alena was acting, but Grace shoved the notion aside. It was probably just full moon madness, and nothing to worry about.
Grace walked toward the back door of the house, and turned to look at the woods one more time. Her man was running around in there, and that was all that mattered. Soon the house in East Brook would be sold, and the past would be behind her once and for all.
13
Mason raced through the woods, with the feeling of joy bouncing around inside him. It was more than just the usual exuberance that came from running under the moon. It was because of what Grace had told him. That there was a possibility that they were going to have a baby.
Having a child to bind the bloodlines of Cold Bay and East Brook had always been the point of their mating with each other. In his head he knew that he and Grace would have to have a child together. But it always seemed like an abstract concept. Now it was real, and he couldn’t think of anything that he wanted more than to have a child with Grace.
And he want this baby with her, not because of a merger between packs or a mingling of bloodlines, but because he was starting to realize that he loved her. Children seemed like the next logical step in the growth of their relationship, and he knew he didn’t want to stop at one. Which meant he would be holding on to her for longer than the next year. She was his, and the thought of things ending with her after the year was up sent to growl rumbling through his chest.
There was no way he wanted it to be over by this time next year. When he first learned that he would have to bind himself with Grace he’d been so choked by the bitterness of the past that he couldn’t see a way through it. Things had changed for him in the last two months. The anger and bitterness he carried around inside him for fifteen years seemed like a distant memory now. Things were different between him and Grace. There were no longer any secrets between them, and what happened between them so long ago wasn’t worth bringing up anymore. She’d been so young, as had he, and she’d made a mistake. He’d had regrets in his life too, and it wasn’t fair for him to hold against her something that she done when she was only eighteen years old.
Once he burned off the restless energy caused by the plump moon shining down on him, a hunger of a different sort rose up inside him. It was time to end his run, and go find his woman. His need for her, his love for her, grew stronger with each moment that he spent with her. The possibility that they were going to have a baby only deepen those feelings. They had something to celebrate, and he wanted her with a desire that was primal.
He walked in the back door, and she was there waiting for him. Her hair shone like blonde silk, and there was a soft look on her face that ignited the hunger inside him. After a run his need for sex was always strong, but it never been this intense with anyone other than her. He dropped his shirt on the floor and strode toward her.
“Did you have a good run?” The corner of her mouth pulled up as her eyes roved over his body. She was a wolf so she knew that his blood would be up now, so there was no look of surprise on her face when he stood in front of her and put his hands on either side of her face. He swooped his head down and devoured her mouth as if he could never be sated. She put her arms around him and offered herself up to him.
With a growl he scooped her up and strode toward the stairs. His control was shaky as she stroked her tongue over his neck and nibbled on his earlobe. Mason growled as he took the steps two at a time, and in no time they were in their bedroom. He set her on her feet by the bed and the sweater she wore fell from her body. She wore a thin cotton T-shirt underneath and a pair of jeans. He could see through the fabric of her top, she was not wearing a bra and the hard thrust of her nipples called to him.
He looked her in the eye as he reached for the neckline of her top, and after she gave an imperceptible nod he pulled his hands apart, tearing the top down the middle. He bent his head swiftly and took one of her nipples in his mouth, and she dug her fingers into his scalp as a groan escaped her.
