Taken in the Night

by Tara Fox Hall

  “Sar, tell me you’ll stay in the room.”

  “Okay, Theo,” I replied. “I’ll do that.”

  “I love you,” he said.

  “I love you, Theo. Goodbye.”

  I sat by the phone for a while, but no one called, and Danial did not return. Grumpy, I went back to bed, dozing fitfully.

  About three a.m., Theo called again.

  “Sar?” he said, excited and proud.

  Part of my heart broke hearing how happy he was. “I’m here, Theo,” I said, trying to sound normal.

  “It’s a girl. She’s so beautiful.”

  I’d thought that tone was reserved only for me. My heart broke a little more, realizing it wasn’t any longer. “Is Tawny okay?” I managed.

  Theo didn’t reply.

  An ominous feeling flooded me. “Theo, what happened?” I said, alarmed.

  “Tawny’s in bad shape,” he said reluctantly. “My child was born cougar, not human. They don’t know why, maybe something about us both not being the same type of werecat.” Theo swallowed hard. “It ripped her up coming out.”

  Pity swept me. “Oh my God, Theo, I’m so sorry—”

  “She’s not stable yet, but that’s not the worst,” he said hesitantly. “She didn’t tell him, Sar. The doctor came out with the baby and asked where the father was for Tawny’s child, and both I and another man stood up. Her husband wanted to know who the hell I was. Then he saw the baby, saw my cougar markings, saw it wasn’t an African lion like him.” Theo paused.

  “He tried to fight me. I defended myself, and now he’s downstairs in the ER, waiting to heal up a knife wound.”

  “That’s awful,” I said compassionately. “What if he comes after you again?”

  “He won’t. He said he’s done with Tawny and with the baby. Look, I’m going to stay here until she pulls through. I most likely won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon, maybe tomorrow night. Please stay with Danial, and don’t leave the room.”

  As much as I was frustrated by another day in this room, I couldn’t refuse. “I will. Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yes, absolutely. I never expected to feel this way,” Theo said in wonder. “I love her already, though they say I can’t hold her yet. She’s so tiny—”

  The rest of my heart broke, consumed by resentment. “I’ll see you when you get back,” I said quickly. “Bye.”

  I was crying as soon as I hung up the phone. I’d known he’d feel like this, so excited, so in love with his child. Danial had been right, it was natural. It would have been different if it were my child. I could’ve shared that pride with him for our child, and that sense of wonder and joy. Instead I was on the outside looking in, the jealousy and bitterness overwhelmed me.

  On cue, Danial came back to the room and found me sobbing on the couch. He didn’t ask what was wrong. He picked me up and carried me into his bedroom. He laid me down on the bed beside him and stroked my hair. I held him as tight as I could and tried to cry it all out. When my tears were done and I lay exhausted in his arms, a deep resentment still burned inside me.

  “Danial, try again to undo the scars,” I whispered.

  “Why?” Danial said wearily, our heads a few inches apart on his pillow. “What makes you think tonight will be any different?”

  “Do what you did the night you removed my oathing marks,” I said. “That worked for them. It’s worth a try.” I leaned closer to him, and kissed him gently.

  “Sar, you’re playing a dangerous game,” Danial said derisively, pulling away from me. “I won’t be your instrument of reprisal. You’ll blame me later for this.”

  “I’m sorry, Danial,” I said hastily. Very ashamed, I bolted for the door.

  Danial called for me to wait. Upset, I shut the door on his words and went into my bathroom. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed my eyes were still red from crying. Wonderful. I took a long shower, telling myself it would make me feel better. Yet when I emerged, my eyes were still that bright green color of new grass in spring, a telltale sign of my sobbing. Disheartened, I put on a hotel robe, ordered room service, and ate some pancakes and bacon. What the hell, I hadn’t eaten all day, and I was starving.

  Danial came out of his room while I was finishing eating. Still embarrassed for my behavior, I didn’t look at him.

  “If you want me to try now, I’ll try,” Danial said heavily.

  I looked up at him hesitantly. “I’m sorry,” I said, flushing. “I shouldn’t have asked—”

  “It is I who shouldn’t have refused, Sar. We’ll never get a better chance.” He held out his hand to me. “Come.”

  Danial led me into his bedroom and shut the door behind us. He embraced me and then leaned gently forward. We lay back on the bed, his hands easing us down. Immediately, I tensed.

  He chuckled. “Relax, my clothes are staying on, much as I might want to remove them,” he said seductively. “Work with me.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me. His hair brushed my cheek. His signature scent of nutmeg and cedar wafted from it. Instantly aroused, I kissed him back. He pulled me tight against him with a groan, and the dam inside me broke loose, remembering all the times he’d been like this with me, all the times I’d kissed him, wanted him, and loved him.

  I wrapped my legs around him and slid my tongue into his mouth. He shuddered slightly and then pressed down with his hips, showing me what I was doing to him. I let out a gasp, pushing my hips up to meet his, rubbing against his hardness. His insistent kisses moved from my mouth to my cheek, then traveled down toward my neck. My breath came rapidly, my chest heaving. He kissed one of the scars and then sucked gently, as his hand slipped beneath my robe to cup my breast. I threw my head back with a loud eager cry, arching my back.

  Danial struck fast, sinking his fangs into me. I jerked, my cry half arousal, half pain. Danial groaned, his sighs of pleasure muffled as he drank from me. Abruptly, he withdrew, holding his mouth over the wound. The pain suddenly eased, and I went limp in his arms.

  He drew back from me, his eyes almost black with desire. “I’ve taken one. I don’t want to risk doing both in one night. They’re too deep.”

  “Thank you,” I said breathily and drew him down for another kiss.

  Danial pulled away from me, rolling onto his back to lie beside me.

  I reached for his hand and held it gently. “Thank you.”

  Danial didn’t reply. We stayed like that for some time, and gradually, our breathing slowed. I fell asleep, holding his hand, our bodies just touching.

  When I woke up about an hour later, the dynamic had changed. Now Danial’s arms were wrapped around me. I was sleeping in the hollow of his throat, his chest against mine. I reached up and stroked his face, remembering how vulnerable he’d always looked when he was asleep. I ran my fingers through his hair, feeling its softness. I curled a strand around my finger absently and then let it go. He didn’t stir.

  “Danial,” I said with light accusation. “You aren’t sleeping.”

  He opened his eyes. In their darkness, desire still burned. “I was enjoying your touch. I didn’t want to ruin it.” He moved slightly against me, repositioning his weight.

  “I need to go shower,” I said, beginning to rise.

  “Don’t go yet, Sar,” Danial said beseechingly. “Stay here with me. Let me hold you, as we sleep.”

  Hearing how much he missed me, I didn’t have the will to refuse. I looked up at him, nodded once, and settled back down into his arms. We slept that way until morning.

  I left Danial sleeping soundly and went to take another shower. Theo was going to be irritated enough to have missed my mark being healed. He would be more irritated if I was covered in Danial’s scent.

  I showered, dressed, and then tossed the hotel robe I’d been wearing in the hotel’s laundry chute. I checked out my reflection, eager to see the mark was indeed gone.

  It was. A single bite mark adorned my neck now. Maybe Danial could do that one tomorrow.

&
nbsp; I was also pleased to see I looked like my normal self again. My hair was a dark golden brown, all one length, falling in loose waves to my waist. My eyes had gone back to their normal sea green color. Yet the hardness in my eyes and my movements were at odds with my fair looks. Some of it was what I’d been through in my life―widowed at aged thirty and the hard physical work that went with country living and working in a metal fabrication shop. The rest was from all Theo’s defensive training, like the correct use of firearms.

  I brushed out my long hair, remembering our first big fight about that.

  He couldn’t understand why I practiced only sporadically with my gun. From then on, he made a point to make me practice with both the gun he’d given me, which could take out almost anything, my regular .38, and the shotgun. I’d been enthusiastic at first, but as the weeks passed and more and more time was consumed by gun practice, especially with the barrel cleaning afterward, my enthusiasm waned.

  Finally, one weekend I blew my stack. “Really, I understand you needing to practice for your job, but why do I need to, at least this much?”

  “You are going to practice until you can hit exactly what you’re aiming at least most of the time.” He glared angrily at me. “Your enemies aren’t always going to think you’re no threat or present themselves to you as targets.”

  “I know I got lucky when Devlin attacked. I understand you wanting me to be able to protect myself, but—”

  “No buts, Sar. You are going to do this, like it or not,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “Now let’s start again with the .38.”

  I relented and dutifully practiced with him every weekend. My aim did improve, too, as he’d said I would. I also felt better about myself and more capable of dealing with an attacker than I had. Even so, those benefits didn’t stop me from grumbling now and again.

  I wandered about the suite for an hour, restless. I could only watch so much TV or read and I wasn’t hungry. Finally, I went back in and curled up next to Danial, sleep my only option left.

  I awoke to Danial softly kissing me.

  “Sar,” he said softly, his cool lips brushing my cheek. “Wake up. It’s after five p.m.”

  “How did you sleep?” I asked, giving him a smile.

  “Wonderfully, with you beside me,” he said, nuzzling me. He drew back abruptly. “Why are you still beside me?” he said in confusion. “Have you slept the day here?”

  “Theo isn’t back yet,” I said, exasperated. “His baby was born, a girl.”

  “And Tawny?”

  “She’s in bad shape” I said. “The baby hurt her coming out because it was in its animal form.”

  “That should not have happened,” Danial said, wide-awake and strangely upset. He rose and keyed the phone before I had both feet on the floor.

  “Theo? Yes, what happened? Sar’s right here, she’s fine. What happened?”

  Danial listened in silence for a while and then nodded. “Yes, I’ll take care of her. Take your time. Most of these meetings I can go to alone anyway,” he said reassuringly. “They’re in the early evening, in public places. Just watch yourself.”

  Danial shut his phone with a click and then strode into the other room. I followed him. He went to the suite door and opened it. Lander was sitting outside in a chair, leafing through a magazine.

  “Anything?” Danial asked.

  “Nothing’s happening,” Lander replied. “All quiet.”

  Danial shut the door and took my hand, pulling me with him to the couch.

  “Sar, what happened to Tawny should not have happened,” he said earnestly. “Part of the problem is the baby seems to have developed too fast. That may be a problem because of the interspecies mating, or just a problem with this particular pregnancy.”

  “Danial, why are you telling me this?” I said flatly.

  “Because Theo is probably going to want another child now he sees what a joy they can be,” Danial replied, sad and wistful. “I don’t want you to be afraid.”

  He was thinking of his son, dead these many years and perhaps of our child, who never even got to be celebrated before it was gone. Yet he was also leaping to conclusions.

  “Danial, you are getting ahead of the game here,” I said with a little irritation. “Tawny’s a wreck, and she’s werelion. My body is mortal. I won’t heal like she can, and she’s still on the verge of dying even with her regenerative power.” I paused. “Theo and I haven’t even talked about marriage, much less kids.”

  Danial got to his feet. “You’re right,” he said coolly. “What matters is Theo is going to stay there with her, and I need to attend a meeting. Lander will need to come with me. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?”

  Fear of being left completely alone, a prisoner in this hated room, made me erupt.

  “And Theo wondered why I didn’t want to come,” I said sarcastically. “Not only am I waiting to see if he’s is going to leave me for the mother of his child, I’m also alone, with nothing to distract me from thinking about it! I’m glad I spent a week’s vacation on this little trip.”

  Danial looked at me dubiously, and his eyes narrowed. “I understand you’re upset. That is not what I asked you. Will you promise not to leave this room?”

  “I promise,” I replied with a sigh. “Just hurry back. I’m going stir crazy in here.”

  Danial hugged me, kissed me lightly, and then left. I felt a momentary twinge of guilt and then rationalized that the kiss had been to reassure me.

  I made sure the door was locked and took a long bath, listening to a few CDs I’d brought on the high-class stereo system. The sound was phenomenal, although the hardware made me feel dated. It was about two cubic feet and looked like a shiny metal cube. Technology had come a long way since I’d listened to music in my youth.

  I was luxuriating in the bath when a noise came from the other room. I froze, listening. If I’d have been home, I’d have guessed it was one of my cats, or maybe one of the dogs, but there weren’t any pets here.

  The noise came again, closer this time. Cold fear drenched all my nerve endings.

  The door suddenly opened to reveal Theo.

  “Sar?” he said in a tired voice.

  I eased back into the water, relief making me limp. “Come in,” I said, beckoning. “There’s enough room. I’ll let some of the water out.”

  Theo shed his clothes and sank into the tub. “Ahh,” he groaned. “This feels so good.” He looked at me apologetically. “I’m going to have to cut this short. I’m beat.”

  “Go ahead,” I replied, rising from the water and grabbing a towel. “It’s all yours.”

  I dried off and then climbed into bed. Theo came out in a few minutes, slid into bed and embraced me hungrily, raining kisses over my face.

  “Wait,” I said forcefully, pushing him away. “Stop.”

  “What is it?” he said, worried.

  “I haven’t seen you for more than a day,” I replied. “You have a child now. I need to talk to you before we have sex.”

  His eyes narrowed a little. “You’re right; we should talk. You seem to be missing one of your scars, Sar. I’d like to hear about that.”

  I really wanted to fight with him then. What right did he have to be angry? I’d gotten these scars because he hadn’t been there with me when Devlin came for me because he’d been with Tawny, just as he had been tonight. Instead, I bit my lip and made myself answer him.

  “I asked Danial to try again. It worked.”

  Theo stared at me. “It didn’t go farther than kissing, right?”

  “Was I turned on? Yes. Did we do anything, in terms of clothes coming off? No.”

  He sighed. “I believe you. I’m sorry I overreacted. I’m just upset.”

  “Will you tell me about what happened?”

  “Tawny’s doing better, but like I told Danial, she’s pretty ripped up inside. Even if she makes it though this, she’ll never have another child. Never.” He paused.

  “Sar
, they had trouble stopping her bleeding. It was like when you were bleeding, only worse. There was so much blood, and I could do nothing. The worst was I did this to her. I caused her to suffer this way.” He swallowed. “Do you know how awful it makes me feel?”

  “It’s not your fault,” I murmured.

  Theo kissed me suddenly and then rolled me over, straddling me with something akin to desperation. I kissed him back, his hard muscles bunching under my fingers as I pulled him closer to me. He moved his hips deftly and slid inside me. I let out a small cry, which he quieted with a kiss. Then he was moving within me quickly, kissing me, his strokes purposeful. I basked in his energetic attention as the familiar sensations engulfed me.

  Theo’s lovemaking was usually incredible, an intense ecstasy that engulfed like a tidal wave racing to its conclusion. Always, this wave receded and then shortly returned, breaking over me again and again. Some nights our recurring encounters were almost too much pleasure. Tonight, I wanted nothing more than for him to consume me utterly. To my surprise, he fell asleep in my arms only a few moments after we’d begun.

  I hugged him close, comforted by his even breathing. Then guilty thoughts descended to torture me.

  Danial and Theo had both been tortured by the sight of a pregnant woman suffering. Both of them had created life and not meant to. Yet I’d blamed Danial then as easily as I’d forgiven Theo a few moments ago.

  I lay there a few more moments. Then, I carefully got up and slipped on a robe. There was no point lying here restively, I wasn’t the least bit tired.

  Danial returned from his meeting as I came out of the bedroom.

  “Lander said Theo came back.”

  “Yes, he’s sleeping,” I said awkwardly, trying to put aside my guilty thoughts.

  “Get him up if you can,” Danial said wearily, sitting on the couch. “I should sleep soon and need to know if he’s going to be around or if he’s going back to the hospital.”

  I went back in the bedroom, and roused Theo, who was none too happy to have had only a few minutes sleep. He put on a robe, staggered out to Danial and filled him in on Tawny’s condition.