by Dena Christy
“I’ll let you and Rickman get on with it. I’m going to go out for a while, and get coffee and muffins for everyone.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” He seemed reluctant to let her go, and she gently pulled her hands from him.
“I want to feel like I’m contributing to all this. Please let me do this.” She smiled at him, and he nodded his head.
“Just be careful.”
She didn’t know what could happen to her in broad daylight, but she nodded in agreement. She quickly stepped away from him and walked back into the shop. She needed to be away from here for a while. Gregor’s proximity was making her think things she wasn’t ready for, and she needed some time away.
Before he could waylay her, she went behind the counter where her purse was tucked away and quickly walked out of the shop. Once outside she felt like she could breathe a little easier. Hopefully she could think a little easier too now she was away from Gregor’s distracting influence.
She’d mentioned a future where he was a part of her life, and she didn’t know how she felt about that. It could have just been a slip of the tongue, but it made her uncomfortable. For the past four years she’d deliberately moved through her life taking every day as it came. She’d deliberately closed out any thoughts of the future beyond the next day or two for so long it felt strange to plan anything further ahead.
She shook her head as she headed down the sidewalk toward her favorite coffee shop. The point of going out was to clear her head, so she shoved aside any thoughts of the future and focused on the walk.
A feeling came to her, and she reached up to rub the back of her neck. The fine hairs at the base of her neck refused to lie down and a shiver chased down her spine. The day was warm and sunny but she felt cold suddenly. She felt almost as if someone was watching her but when she turned her head to look around, all she saw were a few people going about their day.
She gave a nervous laugh at her paranoia. Obviously she was more affected by last night than she thought. It didn’t stop her from hurrying a little faster than usual as she walked toward the coffee shop.
7
Gregor turned and watched Elle walk out the door. His feet remained in place where they were in the middle of the shop floor, despite his mind screaming at him to go after her. She needed time alone, and the least he could do was give that to her. That's what the rational part of his mind said at least. The dragon part of it hated having her out of his sight. Treasures were meant to be guarded, and he'd already lost this treasure once. Did he really want to risk losing her again?
He turned away and walked around the shop trying to keep himself from walking out the door. It wasn't easy. He stared unseeing at the books, crystals and other objects that were attractively placed around the room.
He looked at his watch. How long did it take to get coffee? Where was this coffee shop located and how long would it take to get there on foot? Damn, he hadn't checked what time it was when she'd left and wouldn't be able to tell how long she'd been gone. Already it felt like forever.
He walked over to the huge window in front of the shop, being careful to stay far enough back so he couldn't be seen from the other side of the glass. There was no sign of her. Christ, he should have asked her where the coffee shop was.
"I know right. How long are we going to wait?" Rickman came to stand beside him and looked out the window too. Gregor turned his head and scowled down at him.
"What are you talking about?" Why would Rickman care how long Elle was gone? Surely he didn't think she wanted to be involved in the minutia of the security alarm system installation.
"The consultant. He's late. Isn't that why you're pacing around here like a caged animal?" Rickman cocked his pierced eyebrow at him, and it did nothing to smooth out the scowl on Gregor's face. Surely his minion wasn't that dense.
"I honestly don't care about the security consultant's whereabouts at this moment. As long as he eventually gets here and does what needs to be done.” It was in the consultants best interest to show up since he would be paid a lot of money. That would be incentive enough for him to come, so why would he waste his thoughts on him. Elle was out there, alone and vulnerable. How could he care about anything else?
"Then what's the problem?" Rickman looked at him and then at the front door of the shop. "Surely you aren't doing this because of Elle? She’s only gone down the street for coffee, which is an everyday occurrence. What do you think will happen?"
Maybe Rickman was dense.
“There are hunters in Waldron Valley. They could use her to get to me. I should be with her.” Gregor took a step toward the front door. The more he thought about it, the more the dragon inside him thought it was a good idea to go after her. What had he been thinking, letting her go off by herself? He needed to be with her, he needed to protect her. Despite his vow that he would stay away from her and find another, the feelings churning inside him made it clear that she was the woman for him. Fate had chosen Elle to be his mate, and he had been foolish to think he could fight that. She needed him and he needed to go to her.
Rickman clutched at his arm and pulled back. Gregor paused for a second and looked down at his minion’s hand, then up to look at Rickman. To his credit, his minion didn’t look at all intimidated by the look Gregor was certain was on his face.
“Easy there. You can’t go barging out the door after her.”
“And why not?” It sounded like a splendid idea to him. He could keep Elle safe and spend more time with her. She needed to be around him if she would ever see him as the man who would love and cherish her for the rest of her life.
“Going after her is the last thing you should do. I never thought dragons were this stupid, but between you and your brothers, when it comes to women you are complete morons.”
Morons? Gregor swiveled around and towered over Rickman, pulling himself up to his full height. His minion seemed to forget himself and who exactly it was that he was talking to. The blue-haired man looked far from intimidated as he raised his hand up to him.
“Save it. I’ve been through all this crap with Andor and Iszak. If you want to keep Elle safe, you need to stay here.”
That made little sense. How could he keep her safe by letting her out of his sight?
“Explain.” His voice was clipped, and he was still set on his course of action. If Rickman didn’t come up with a compelling argument, he was going out that door and finding her.
“The hunters are the reason you should stay here. Remember them? They are looking for you. Do you want them to find you?”
Gregor’s mouth tightened, and he shook off Rickman’s hand. “I’m not a coward. I can handle three hunters in broad daylight.”
“I’m sure you can. But what happens if Elle is with you and they see her with you? Don’t you think they might come after her and use her?”
That was a possibility, but Gregor had no intention of letting it happen. There was no way that the hunters could get close enough to hurt her. “I can protect her. I can’t do that if I’m in here.”
“Look, you said yourself that she is friends with one hunter. He would have no reason to do anything to her as long as he doesn’t know you are in her life. The second he sees you with her, one of two things will happen. He will think he needs to save her from you and attack. Or he will think she’s betrayed her own kind and attack her. The result will be she gets caught in the crossfire and hurt. Is that what you want?”
“It isn’t. The whole reason I didn’t want to get involved with her in the first place was because I didn’t want her caught up in this war with the hunters.” Gregor raked his hand through his hair. Not getting involved with her was out of the question now. He was becoming enmeshed in her life and only getting in deeper by the second. There was no turning away from her now. “Fine, I won’t go after her, for now. But if I think she’s been gone for too long, I will.”
“Of course.” Rickman turned and smiled at the front door. “The consultant
is here. Do you want to take part in this? You are paying for it.”
Gregor didn’t think there was anything he wanted to do less. “I trust you to take care of the details. Just remember that she is more precious than all the treasure in the world and make sure she will be safe.”
Gregor turned away and walked back into the back room of the shop to wait for Elle to return. He threw himself down on the sofa and sighed. He’d really been deluding himself when he thought he could stay away from her. Maybe he could have if she hadn’t needed him last night. All it had taken to forget his noble intentions was hearing the distress in her voice. Even remembering it in his mind made all his protective instincts rise inside him.
Damn Rickman for being the voice of reason. He was still stuck in the same situation he had been in before, needing to be with her, but knowing he couldn’t go after her. All he could do was sit here with his thoughts and there was one question that his mind seemed insistent on working out.
Would it really be that terrible if he allowed himself to fall for her again? The hunters were a complication, but surely something could be done about them. Something that would keep Elle out of the crossfire. He would have to speak with his brothers about it and see what they could come up with. Gregor was willing to kill them if need be, but he suspected that killing the three hunters would only bring more to town. His understanding of the war starting up again was because Andor had killed a hunter named Kevin.
There was still the question of his true nature and how best to show it to Elle. That had been a sticking point in his past with her. His dragon nature had frightened her so much that she hadn’t been able to conceive of a life with him, despite how she appeared to have felt about him. When he’d revealed his dragon self to her, she’d waited until she was alone to escape him. It had cost her life, and he would never forgive himself for that. What if she rejected him because of his nature this time too?
With a slashing of his hand, Gregor did his best to stop the direction of his thoughts. They were living in a different time, and while the woman he’d met a few days ago might be his Elle reborn, she was not the same person she had been. He had to remember that.
She was the product of this time, which was a much more ration and logical time. This was not a time of superstitions and believing every stranger that was encountered was to be feared. He had to believe this she was different this time. Otherwise, he may as well get up right now and walk out of her life.
He had to cling to the hope that this time would be different. His brother’s had been successful in finding their mates and earning their love. Both Lyssa and Julia had eventually accepted Andor and Iszak’s true nature, and he had to believe Elle would too. He would have to find the least frightening way to introduce her to that side of himself, but fortunately it was not something he had to worry about just yet. She still needed to get to know the man he was, and fall in love with him before he could ever hope she would fall in love with the dragon inside him.
The coffee shop was bustling with people in a hurry to get their morning caffeine fix, and the noise proved to be an effective distraction for Elle. This was what she wanted, what she needed. Time away from the shop where she could pretend that this was just a normal day.
She stepped up to the counter, and the barista smiled at her in recognition.
“Do you want your usual?”
Elle hesitated for a second. The plan had been to grab the coffee and muffins and get back to the shop. “Yes, but I’ll have it here today.”
She told herself that she wasn’t avoiding the shop or Gregor, she just needed a little time out. Time to collect her thoughts and to get her hormones under control. Being around Gregor made her forget everything but him. That kiss last night had shown her how much she let a part of herself die with her husband.
When she paid for her order, she took her coffee and went to a table near the back and sat down. She reached up and put her fingers to her mouth. She closed her eyes and if she concentrated, she could still fill his lips on hers. What would’ve happened if she hadn’t run away to the guest room? Would things have gone further? Would she have made love with him?
She opened her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. The thought of making love with Gregor made her cheeks feel hot, and she looked around as if people could tell what she was thinking. What would it be like? She hadn’t known the touch of a man since Ian had died, and until now she’d been fine with it. She’d always thought her sexuality had died when her husband had. That was until Gregor had come into her life. With him, her physical desires had come roaring back to life, and it intrigued and scared her at the same time.
She didn’t want to get in over her head, to fall in love with him and risk he would be taken from her too. She had to remember that an act of violence had brought him into her life, it could just as easily take him out of it again.
Another sip of her coffee did little to settle the matter. It would be easy to turn away from him if not for the feelings he’d awakened in her. But who was to say indulging her desire for him had to end with her falling in love and being with him for the rest of her life?
Women had flings all the time, sometimes for long-term and sometimes for the short term. Maybe she should let go the iron grip she placed on herself in her grief and live a little. Explore where the attraction between her and Gregor would take her. She had loved Ian deeply, and those feelings had taken time to develop. There was no reason for her to think she would develop the same feelings towards Gregor.
She was certain that if she sated her desire for him, she would be in more control of her emotions. It was this damn desire that was impeding her seeing things clearly. Perhaps if she got him out of her system, her life could return to normal. This assumed that Gregor wanted to get physical with her. Her memory of the kiss, and that he had instigated it had shown her he wanted her. She may be a long time out of the dating pool, but it hadn’t been so long she’d forgotten what it looked like when a man wanted her.
She took another sip of coffee and looked around. People came and went, paying no attention to her. How would she broached the subject with him, about having an affair? Should she bring it up at all?
What could she possibly say to him that wouldn’t be insulting? That she wanted to sleep with him but wanted no other sort of involvement with him? With a shake of her head, she took another sip. She was overthinking this, like she always did.
One thing she’d lamented was that while she could see glimpses of other people’s future, she had no ability of seeing her own. Perhaps it was better that way. Would she have gone on that first date with Ian if she’d known their love would end in tragedy? Maybe she should relax and enjoy being with Gregor. Get to know him and let the chips fall where they may.
There was so much about him she didn’t know. This was all happening so fast and now she was thinking about leaping in and making things go even faster. If one of her clients to come to her with the same dilemma, she would have advised them to slow down. It was good advice and perhaps she should heed it.
“Elle, this is a surprise.”
Elle paused with her coffee cup halfway to her lips and looked up. Gabriel Nash towered beside her table, with a smile that did not take the chill from his eyes. He also didn’t look that surprised to see her, but it surprised her to see him. With everything that happened he’d slipped from her mind.
“Gabriel, I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” But perhaps she should have since he’d always had a knack for turning up in the past whenever she was on her own. It seems some things never changed. “What brings you here?”
“Same thing as you.” He held up a paper cup and wiggled it a little. “Do you mind if I join you?”
Elle suppressed a sigh. She’d come here to be alone with her thoughts, and she didn’t want company. She would be done with her coffee soon enough and then she could order coffee and muffins for the crew back at her shop and be on her way. Her time with Gabriel could be short.
“I was surprised that you would drink your coffee here. I would’ve thought you would be in your shop by now.”
“The shop is closed today.” And the memory of why that was slowly melted the smile off her face. The vulnerable feeling she had last night when she discovered that someone had broken in came back to haunt her. She shoved it away and plastered the smile back on her face. She wanted to finish her coffee and be on her way and didn’t want to get into a long and involved discussion with him. But those glacial eyes had always been perceptive.
“What’s the matter? Something about your face tells me you didn’t take the day off just for fun.” He reached across the table and put his hand on hers, and his touch elicited nothing but an uncomfortable feeling for her. She slowly drew her hand out from under his and wrapped it around her coffee cup under the guise of bringing it up to her lips to take a sip. Something about the tightening of his mouth told her he wasn’t fooled by her action.
“The shop is closed today because I’m having a new security system installed. Someone has brought it to my attention that I am in need of it.” She took a sip of her coffee, wishing she was at the bottom of the cup. Once upon a time she could sit and talk to him for hours, but that was a long time ago. Something had changed in him, something told her he didn’t want to be just friends with her and it made her uncomfortable. She’d never been able to look at Gabriel and think of anything other than friendship.
“Did something happen?”
Elle set her coffee cup back down on the table and realized that he would not let her go anywhere unless she gave an explanation. The fastest way to get this conversation done and over with would be just to tell what happened last night, editing out the parts that involved Gregor.
