Destined for Time (13 page)

My hand shot out and gripped his forearm. “Don’t leave me
Rook; I can’t be alone right now, not after everything that’s happened tonight.”

Our eyes met and the emotions I saw in his scared me. I saw
what it would cost him to stay with me, if tomorrow I turned my back on him
again. But in that moment I couldn’t think about that. I needed him, and maybe
that was selfish, but I couldn’t let him go.

A long moment later he climbed into bed with me, lying
behind me as I rolled onto my side. His warmth and weight was just what I
needed to feel safe again. I closed my eyes, ashamed for needing him so badly
but not being able to give him what he needed in return. I wanted to promise I’d
never turn my back on him again but I couldn’t make myself say the words. Why
did life have to be so complicated?

His arm came around me and pulled me in tight against his
body.

“Thank you Rook,” I told him sincerely.

“Anything for you Angela,” he replied a little sadly as he
took my hand in his.

Bringing his hand to my lips I kissed his fingers then held
his hand in mine just below my chin as I drifted off to sleep

The sun was shining outside and its rays had replaced the
moonlight peeking around the edges of the curtains. I’d been lying in bed awake
for some time thinking about my life and the very hard choices I needed to
make. Rook and I slept the whole night spooned together with his arm wrapped
over me and his hand held in mine. It felt so right to wake up beside him.

I’d only had one serious relationship in my life and that
had been with Rachel’s father Jimmy. We had an on again off again relationship
for more than ten years that included a few incidents of domestic violence. I
hadn’t seen him for a while and I couldn’t have been happier about his absence.

But even when my relationship with Jimmy was fresh and new,
I never felt this comfortable with him. I never felt like he was a part of my
soul, but with Rook it had always been that way. I had to fight with myself
constantly not to open up to him. Yet, no matter how hard I tried not to, I
still let him in. I’d told him things I hadn’t told anyone else, not my
friends, or even the partners I’d had. For six years Rook had been the one
person on the planet that I thought of when I was alone, that I felt I could go
to with anything, and that I knew wouldn’t let me down even when I treated him
like a common criminal. Why was I letting anything keep me away from him?

His arm tightened around me and his hips shifted pressing
him closer to my body. Oh God how I wanted to just say screw everything else
and tell him I couldn’t live without him.

“Have you been awake long?” Rook asked quietly behind me.

“For a while.”

“I can practically hear the wheels turning in your head.
What have you been thinking about so hard?”

He pulled his hand from mine to run it along my side and
down my hip then back up again. I loved the feel of his hand on my body and I
wished there weren’t any clothes between us.

“I’ve been thinking about what’s important in life.”

“And have you come to any conclusions?”

“I don’t know how to answer that...” I struggled to find the
right words. “Obviously Rachel is important to me and every decision I’ve made
since she was conceived, I’ve made with her in mind. I’ve worked hard to build
my career so I could support her on my own and give her a better life than I
had growing up. I had two parents but neither of them could stay sober long
enough to hold down a job for very long.

When I was still very young I met Rachel’s father Jimmy. At
that age, I thought he was great. He always had grand plans that he promised
would make us rich someday soon. It was good for a while after Rachel came
along. We never did get married but I stayed with him and he did a better job
supporting me than my parents ever had. Then his businesses started failing and
he started drinking more. Things got physical a few times and I left him.

After that, I found some support groups, joined the force
and learned to stand on my own. Then one day he came back into my life. Every
time he came back it was the same. He’d lavish gifts on me and Rachel, treating
us like queens. He could be so charming when he wanted to be. But it always
ended the same too. His businesses would take a dive, the drinking would start,
then the 911 calls. Right after I met you I told him it was over, that he could
still see Rachel but we were through and I haven’t seen him since.”

Rook was listening quietly, growling when I mentioned the
physical abuse. He continued caressing my hip idly like he wasn’t even aware he
was doing it. It just felt so right to lie there in his arms baring my soul to
him.

“I’ve never been involved with anyone other than Jimmy. I
mean, I’ve had a couple of casual flings, but no real commitments. I don’t have
a lot of faith in relationships given my past experiences. That’s why it’s so
hard for me to take that next step with you. I have to think about Rachel. If
we were to go any further down this road we’re traveling I would most certainly
be thrown off the force. I could argue that there’s no evidence suggesting that
anyone at this resort has ever committed a crime, but it wouldn’t matter. They’d
eventually find a way to get rid of me. Where would that leave me and Rachel?
We can’t just expect you to take care of us. And what if things didn’t work out
between me and you? What then?”

“That’s not something you need to worry about Angela,
because if we continue down this road we’re traveling, we will be bonded as
anai
and there won’t be any chance of us leaving each other.” He said it so matter
of fact, like there wasn’t a doubt anywhere in his mind.

I turned over to face him. “And that’s supposed to make me
feel better? What if we do this ritual and then a few years later we decide we
don’t want to be together anymore?”

He reached out to caress the side of my face. “We are
already bound Angela, we just haven’t completed the ritual.” I shook my head
and started to pull away but he pulled me closer and continued, “Tell me you
don’t feel it Angela. I can’t imagine myself ever wanting another woman as I
want you. Since the day I met you, my heart and my soul have belonged to you
and nothing, not even death, will ever change that.”

It was exactly how I felt about him, but I still couldn’t
admit it out loud. Just like him I hadn’t been with anyone since the day we
met. I’d turned down offers from men at the gym, or on the job, or hell, even
one of Rachel’s teachers hit on me. I just couldn’t see myself with anyone but
Rook.

“Feelings change over time Rook and what you are suggesting
is a lot more binding than a marriage. We could still get tired of each other
someday, then where would we be? And what happens when I grow old?”

He gave me an expectant smile like whatever he was about to
say would cause a humorous reaction. “Once the ritual is completed you won’t
age anymore because your soul will be bound to mine and I don’t age.”

My eyes nearly popped out of my head and by the way he
laughed my expression must have been everything he expected it to be.

“If you wouldn’t remember it, I think I’d turn back time
just to see that reaction again,” he laughed some more.

“Ha-ha. That’s very funny,” I said. “But seriously, this is
a lot to take in. And everything you’re telling me is actually making it harder
for me to make this decision. What about Rachel? I can’t just stop aging and
watch my daughter grow old and die.”

He shrugged, “So when the time is right we’ll ask her if she
wants one of the nightshifters to change her over. Then she won’t age anymore
and she’ll even be able to turn into the animal form of her sire.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, “Be serious, we can’t just
have Rachel changed into a nightshifter.”

He rolled me onto my back and lodged himself between my legs
so fast I didn’t have time to blink. “I am being serious Angela. We’re doing
the same thing with Serafina’s mother right now. We’ve been slowly letting her
see our world and when she’s ready, Serafina will ask her if she wants to
become a part of it.”

I didn’t know what to say, I just stared at him in shock.

His erection rubbed against my clitoris and I moaned when my
womb clenched in response. “Now that you know the truth, why keep running away?
They probably would make you leave the force if you didn’t quit before it came
to that, but eventually that wouldn’t matter anyway. You wouldn’t be a part of
the human world any more. You’d be a part of our world. Think about it Angela,
we could finally be together and we’d find you a place to fit in, somewhere you
could work where you wouldn’t have to hide what you feel inside.”

He gave a little twist of his hips that made my eyes roll
back in my head.

“That’s not really fair you know, using sex to convince me
to stay with you.”

I wrapped my legs around his hips and it was his turn to
moan as I rotated my hips, grinding myself against his hard flesh.

Silver sparks danced in his eyes when he said, “I dreamed
about you last night and I’m convinced it was a message from the Goddess. She
told me that our path will not be easy but we have something important to do
together. Then she showed me the future we could have if we don’t allow
anything to get in our way. I already knew we were meant to be together, but
now I know our fates have always been intertwined. There was never another
choice for either of us, because only together will we ever be whole.”

Before I could protest his mouth claimed mine and I couldn’t
speak any more; couldn’t think about anything other than his tongue sliding
along mine and the warmth spreading through my body.

I rolled him to his back without breaking the kiss. He
seemed happy to let me have control and groaned when I rubbed myself along the
thick arousal beneath his sweatpants. Oh that felt so good. I did it again, and
again. His hands came down and clamped on my hips, gripping tight as he urged
me to move faster.

The kiss broke when he sat up and stripped my shirt off over
my head, then he lifted my breasts with his calloused hands and feasted. He
teased the nipples, making the soft tips tighten into throbbing peaks as his
wet tongue swirled and he sucked them into his hot mouth one by one. His hands
kneaded while his mouth devoured and pleasure twisted in my core, tightened my
nerve endings to the point of breaking.

It was almost too much to take. I buried my hands in his
hair and held on while he drove me out of my mind with desire for him. My body
writhed against him but it wasn’t enough. I needed to feel him inside me.

Grabbing a handful of his hair I pulled his lips back to
mine. His arms came around me, holding me tight like he’d never let go. Our
tongues tangled while my breasts rubbed against his hard chest, the friction
sending lighting through my tightly wound nerve endings.

“I need more,” he said with a ragged breath as he flipped me
off of his lap and stood, already reaching for my waistband.

“Yes, now...” I agreed wholeheartedly, then added, “I have
condoms in my purse.”

“Mom, are you in there?” Rachel’s voice came with a knock
from outside the door and we froze.

Why was this happening to me? “I’ll be out in just a minute
Rachel,” I called without looking away from Rook. His eyes were wild and I knew
mine wouldn’t look any better. Quietly I told him, “I’m so sorry.”

He fell back onto the bed sitting on the edge with his head
in his hands. “You don’t have anything to be sorry about Angela. Go take care
of you daughter. This can wait for another time.” His voice was rough, guttural
and I knew exactly how he felt.

I stood there for a moment silently screaming in my head,
trying desperately to convince my body it wouldn’t combust if Rook didn’t make
me come in the next instant.

“Mom?”

“I said I’ll be out in a minute Rachel,” I snapped, then a
little more calmly, “Why don’t you look at the room service menu and decide
what you want for breakfast?”

“I don’t know who pissed in her Cheerios...” we heard her
mutter as she walked away.

Rook handed me my shirt and once I had it back in place he
kissed me. It was short and sweet, but held a promise for more to come. When he
held me like that and kissed me like that, I wanted to believe we could have a
happy ending. But my heart had been broken too badly, and I wasn’t sure I could
risk losing everything I’d ever worked for, just for the chance to be happy
with him. Why couldn’t life come with guarantees? Or while I was at it, how
about a Fairy Godmother to make all my dreams come true?

Rachel was sitting at the table looking over the room
service menu when we came out of the bedroom.

“My, my, my... Look who finally got laid last night. You
know, I’ve been telling her she needed to do that for a while now, and I can’t
say I blame her for finally giving it up with you.” She actually bit her lower
lip while her eyes took in all the luscious muscles of Rook’s bare chest.

Rook had crossed the room and was in front of the couch
where he’d left his shirt.

“Rachel, he was just in there to use the bathroom,” I
started but Rook held up a hand and I waited while he pulled a T-shirt over his
head and slipped on a pair of sneakers that must have been brought along with
the sweats he was wearing.

When he was fully dressed again he approached Rachel and
said, “Rachel, you don’t know me, but if things go the way I’d like, I’m going to
be spending a lot of time with your mother. I believe in giving everyone a fair
chance so I’ll make you a deal. I’m not going to treat you like a child because
you’re old enough to be treated like an adult, in fact, legally you are an
adult. But in return you need to stop acting like a child. Disrespecting your
mother like that not only hurts her, but it makes you seem petty and childish,
and I don’t think that’s how you want people to see you.”

While Rachel sat there slack-jawed he told me, “I’m going to
go check in with Dragon. If you need anything I can be reached by dialing *13
on any house phone. Anything you order from room service will be comped along
with the room so go ahead and splurge.” He gave me a peck on the lips then he
left before I could say another word.

“Wow Mom. How did you land that one, and where can I find
one for myself?” Rachel was staring at the door Rook had gone through with wide
eyes.

“Just tell me what you want from room service Rachel so I
can get breakfast ordered.”

Today was going to be a long day for both of us. I’d have to
tell her about Emily, and sooner was always better than later. Everything with
Rook would just have to be put on the back burner while I helped Rachel deal
with the devastating loss of her best friend.

* * * * *