As dawn breaks, p.10
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As Dawn Breaks, page 10

 

As Dawn Breaks
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  “I thought you’d gone,” she whispered before realising she’d said the words aloud.

  The fire in his eyes softened. “No, Genevieve, I wouldn’t leave like that.” He kicked the door shut. “You deserve better than that.” He sniffed the air, as if sensing how close to the edge she skated. “Coffee?”

  She shrugged and headed to the kitchen, silently dragged another cup from the cupboard, and plunged the coffee, grateful for a moment or two where she could hide and regroup.

  He read the rejection in her eyes. Genevieve thought he’d left, and he cursed himself for not realising just how much his thoughtlessness had cost. Ham-handed fool. Nothing had prepared him for the guilt that now coursed through him.

  “I’m sorry, Genevieve. I shouldn’t have left without telling you. I just needed air.”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s fine. No promises were made, after all.”

  “But I need to explain—”

  She turned, thrust the coffee at him. “No you don’t. I understand.”

  He winced at the blank look on her face. On a sigh, he shoved the mug to the bench beside he, and cupped her face. Gazed deeply, hoping she’d read the honesty there. “I needed to think. This whole situation has taken me by surprise, and I don’t know how to deal with it.”

  She blinked.

  “Genevieve, I feel something for you. It’s big and it’s scary, and I don’t know if I can trust it because I wasn’t a good pick last time. So I went outside, hoping some fresh air would clear my brain. I meant to be back before you woke, because I had no intentions of leaving. Unless you want me gone?”

  The slow blink was joined by a shake of her head. “No,” she whispered. “But I woke to silence. If I’d known…” She shrugged. “Everyone else has left me when things get tough, but I didn’t expect it this time.” Genevieve slid a shaking hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to say all that.”

  He pulled her close, so their foreheads touched, and sighed. “Probably not, but thank you for sharing it with me. It means a lot.”

  “I’m a loser,” she muttered.

  Now David tugged back. “Not at all, Genevieve. It means you’ve been hurt, and I should be more careful of your feelings.”

  The bark of laughter was wet. “I’m not a china doll, David.”

  “No you’re not.” But gazing into her eyes, he knew she was far more fragile than she let on, and he felt the responsibility to protect her heart in the future.

  He weighed up her reaction and decided the best defence right now was to be firm. “Come on.” He lifted the coffee and reached for her hand. “Come back to bed.”

  She opened her mouth, and he shook his head. “We can talk or cuddle or anything you want, Genevieve. Just tell me what you need.”

  “I don’t know.”

  He believed her, because her eyes were wide and startled, pulse jumping at her throat, betraying her.

  “We can take this as slow as you want or need.”

  She took his hand, the touch like the wing of a nervous bird, shaking and shivering, and reached for her coffee. “Okay.”

  Chapter 12

  Early morning brought with it an additional layer of uncertainty, and Genny wasn’t really sure how to handle it.

  David had roused her by sliding his hand over her shoulder, and she stretched and purred. “I need to get back to the house before dawn. Can you take me, or I should I grab a cab?”

  Genny opened her eyes, peered at the clock: 4:00 a.m. “No, I can take you. Just give me a moment to dress.”

  Before she could rise though, David took her in his arms. “Not before I wish you good morning.” Then he did so, with a thoroughness that left her breathless and hot.

  “David?” she whispered as he pulled away.

  “I really wish we had time to continue this, but I have to get back.” He frowned and ran an unsteady hand through his hair, and for the first time, Genny was aware he was once more fully dressed. When they’d finally settled in for the night, he’d worn nothing, and the memory of bare skin against bare skin had her swallowing while her body reacted with goosebumps.

  He groaned. “I really don’t have time…”

  She grinned. “I’m just teasing.”

  “I know,” he growled, and she laughed.

  “Come to the house. Stay the night with me.”

  She blinked.

  “Please.”

  In his gaze, she read both earnestness and uncertainty. His damned ex-wife had been a prize, she thought. A real class-A bitch. “I’ll try. It depends on the day, though. If I can, I will, David.”

  He nodded with a quick jerk of his head. “Okay.”

  Genevieve sprang out of the bed, opened the drawers where she’d stashed her newly clean underwear, and hurried through dressing, her body more than a little aware of her audience. As the brush of her bra over sensitized nipples or the slight tug of panties over already swollen intimate zones heightened her arousal, she tried really hard to ignore the pull.

  Finally, she tamed her hair, then hurried to the bathroom to run a brush over her teeth before sliding into her boots.

  “Ready,” she called, going into the kitchen to see him putting the final touches on to-go cups of coffee.

  “Here.” He thrust one into her hands. “I know you like a cup.”

  Such a simple act, but it touched her deeply. Moisture burned behind her eyelids, but she blinked it away. “We should get moving.” As they moved to the door, she snatched up her small bag containing ID, purse, and gun, then grabbed her keys.

  She closed the door, and for a moment, it felt like she’d done something momentous. The act became a portent, but she snorted silently and thrust the idea away. No building castles and picket fences, girl. She’d done that before, and look where she’d ended up.

  Once in the car, she took a long deep swallow. “Won't there be questions if I join you tonight?”

  His smile was warm. “No, there was an invitation extended for you, Genevieve.” He reached out and slipped a wayward strand of hair behind an ear. “I won’t push, but I’d like you to join me.”

  She slid the cup into the drink holder, started the car, and smoothly drove out onto the road. Traffic was light, but she remained quiet, figuring if she didn’t know what to say, silence would be best.

  As if he understood, David didn’t speak until they reached the steps.

  “Think about it. Let me know your decision.” Then he leaned in with a quick, hard kiss before hurrying out and up the steps.

  The day dragged. By lunchtime, though David had been mired in reconstruction plans, checking amendments to the new structures, and attending to issues with the business, he’d already looked at the clock a million times.

  He drank deeply of the coffee, rubbed his eyes, and turned to the next pile of urgent tasks.

  By mid-afternoon, with no news from Genevieve, he scowled.

  When the cell phone rang, he answered it.

  “Sorry I haven’t called. We’ve had a bit of a situation down here to sort out. I don’t know what time—” She sounded winded, and he frowned, wondering what had happened.

  His hand squeezed the phone. “Doesn’t matter the time. Whenever, because you’re always welcome here, Genevieve.”

  “David, I have to go. There’s…” Shouts echoed, and she sighed. “I have to go, but I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” he countered. Then she disconnected so all he could hear was the tone on the line.

  Genevieve’s lips thinned as she watched the man being loaded into the cell. The call with David had been short, but she’d desperately needed to hear his voice.

  The day had turned out to be a real disappointment.

  Her contact turned up dead in a back alley. Dried up and hacked to pieces, literally.

  They’d gotten wind of a planned influx of bikers who were angry disaffected shifters. Looking for trouble, and more than one psychotic member with a grudge against the Liaison Division.

  The Attar situation was biting too, with the city government unhappy that the trouble had come to town, and why hadn’t the Liaison Division done more to curb the situation? The boss had to meet with the mayor and came back looking more like a bull with a sore head.

  Now this.

  “I’ll get you, bitch!” The angry selkie’s tones filled the silence.

  With a sigh, she sat down to write out her report when the boss came stalking in.

  “Got him?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  He cocked an eye. “Not before he got a few licks in.”

  He didn’t need to remind her. The blow from a meaty hand had made contact with her eye and ribs.

  “You look like you should go home, get some rest and heal.” His gaze fluttered over her face. She knew the reddish purple around her eye was off-putting.

  “Soon. Once the report is finished. I’ve already sent the nymph home. Her information about what she’d seen and where to find the pelt proved quite useful.”

  “Just a shame your partner is off sick.” Boss’s eyes bulged as he spoke, and Genny knew he was less than pleased that the human she’d been working with was once again absent.

  “I don’t think the Liaison Division is quite what he thought it would be.”

  The man opposite laughed. The bullhorn-like sound never ceased to surprise her. “Yes. He’s put in his retirement paperwork.”

  She nodded, licking her lips. “He’d said he planned to. Anyway, I do prefer to work alone.”

  “You need backup, Genevieve. Just like the rest of us. Your inner creature is powerful, but one day, you’ll find someone stronger. I don’t leave my people to face challenges greater than their strength.”

  She grimaced and rubbed an aching rib. “Yeah, I know. I’ll finish this, and then I’m gone.”

  He grunted, rose, then turned back to pin her with a glare. “You’re going home?”

  Had he read something in her eyes today? “No. I’m… I’m going to be off-site tonight.”

  “Be careful, Genevieve. There’s too many potholes around right now to get lost.”

  She bit her lip, more than aware of that. When he left, she turned back to her screen and tapped slowly, wanting the thing done so she could honestly settle in for a night of… what? “Just what do I expect?”

  The problem, as far as Genny could see, was that there was no obvious answer. Sure, she wanted the sex. Who wouldn’t? The closeness of another living being was also a component of the decision-making process. The C-word loomed in the back of her mind, scary and growing ever more demanding.

  Shaking her head, Genny sighed. The words on the screen were little more than a mass of letters. No sense in what she’d written. “This is getting in the way of my life,” she huffed indignantly.

  Backspacing, Genny deleted the gobbledegook and pondered her words, describing the altercation that took place. The human who’d been dragged back in a fugue state wouldn’t remember, thankfully. Selkies’ mind control was pretty damn strong, given they would drown their prey, and it was only because she held the skin that she was able to control it. That didn’t mean it wasn’t furiously angry, though.

  Sliding her head down to the desk eased some of the thudding ache from her skull, but there was still much to do. The precinct’s medical officer had raised a concern of concussion, but she’d waved them away.

  It wasn’t like she had a viable partner now.

  “Fernly, is that report finished?” The disembodied voice of the boss rang out, and she sighed.

  “Nearly.” If she were diligent, it could be completed in the next ten minutes.

  She fought the bloom of pain in her head, finished the report, hit Send, and leaned back in her seat, eyes closed.

  “One of the team will drive you home.” His voice boomed by her side, and she opened her eyes.

  “I was going to al bin Habbad.”

  Silence stretched between them.

  “Home,” he finally growled, and she gave up, rising and absorbing the hiss that wanted to escape between her lips.

  It was only once she was in the shower that she realised she hadn’t yet contacted David. How would he react? Would he be pissed that she hadn’t told him the boss had sent her home? Would he worry?

  Not that he should. She’d been alone for a long time and had faced far more dangerous situations than this before.

  “I can look after myself,” she muttered as the water sluiced down her body.

  But no matter what she might think, it would be wrong to leave him hanging. So once she’d stepped from the shower and dried off, she settled into the bed, snatched up the cell, and sent a message to David.

 

  Slumping back against the pillow, she closed her eyes, drifting off.

  Sometime later, a banging at her door roused her, and she rolled to the edge, dropping from the bed, head pounding in time with the echo of the door.

  “I’m coming,” she muttered, dragging the wrap around her nude body and moving slowly.

  She peered through the peephole.

  David. Pissed, face tight, and eyes spitting fire.

  She opened the door.

  “What the…?” He stepped up, gripping her chin hard. “What the fuck happened to you?” He didn’t stay still long enough to hear her answer before scooping her up and slamming the door behind him.

  Rage rose in a boiling mass from belly to gullet. One eye swollen and radiating tones of purple and red while the rest of her face was pale, and the grunt of pain she gave when he picked her up had his pulse racing.

  “Who the fuck hurt you?”

  Her eye, the one not swollen almost completely shut, widened. “It was a work thing.”

  Pushing through to the bedroom, he lowered her to the coverlet, then reached for the knotted belt of her wrap.

  Genevieve batted at his hands ineffectually. “What are you doing?”

  He ground his teeth together at the pain threading through her tone. “I need to see how bad the damage is, damn it!” Control was a thin thread, almost ready to crack under the pressure of the fear riding him.

  “I’m okay. Really.”

  “Bullshit! You’re pale, one eye almost shut, and that sound you gave when I picked you up says it’s not the only injury. You should be in hospital. Why didn’t you ring me?” The last words were little more than a hiss. They betrayed the true level of his anxiety, but he clearly didn’t care.

  Her hands stilled him, warm and curving over his fingers. “I’m okay, David. I’ve seen the medic.”

  “And they let you come home. No one to watch over you. That’s not good enough.” Truly, if he’d been able to get hold of the medic right now, he’d likely squeeze them dry. She should have come to me.

  “I wanted to come home. We’re not…” She waved one hand in the air. “There’s no actual agreement between us, David. I mean, one night of awesome sex—”

  His fury notched up. “Sex? You think that’s all this is?” He realised exactly what he’d said, but the words were out. Spoken. He wasn’t the kind of guy who’d recant on the truth, though. It told him his emotions were engaged in a level he’d never before felt. The terror that shot through him when he’d gotten the text still rippled through his nerve endings, and seeing her, the way she moved carefully, the pallor of her features, the reality of the shiner? They all built up to something he couldn’t deny. Terror he might have lost her and never known.

  “Damn it, Genevieve, I was worried.”

  She blinked. “Come on, David. It’s a work thing.”

  Clearly she didn’t realise just how deep the effect of seeing her in this condition; otherwise, she wouldn’t have uttered the words. “Bullshit, Genevieve. I don’t care if you think I’m some kind of idiot.” His ire rose, scalding him.

  “I don’t think you’re an idiot—” she began.

  “Really? So, it didn’t occur to you that I was waiting for you. Then I get this text.” He shoved the cell in her direction. “After last night…” He traced angry circles on the carpet of her bedroom floor, shoving his hands through his hair because he needed to control the terror that continued to shoot right through his gut. David turned, speared her with his gaze. “I’m in deep, Genevieve. I told you that just this morning in the kitchen. But the thought that, for all that, you won’t take even the most basic of steps to protect yourself—”

  “What? No!” Her bellow didn’t ease the greasy waves swamping him.

  “Of course it is. Or is it you just don’t care about how others see you? How I see you? That text nearly killed me, Genevieve. I was in the office when it came through, and I left in the middle of the nightly handover. That’s how much I was worried. Terrified.”

  Her mouth hung open, as if none of this had occurred to her, and for a moment—a long wild moment—he wondered if that were truly the case. But he was burning. The emotions incendiary. He stalked forwards and bent down. “I was beside myself, Genevieve.” Tears pricked his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t realise because I’ve been alone for too long, David, and it didn’t occur to me—” Her words broke off. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just didn’t think.”

  The words slaughtered him, because he could read it was exactly what she felt. That she’d not needed to tell anyone because no one cared.

  He closed his eyes. Inhaled as he fought to control his emotions. The touch of her hand had them flashing open again.

  “Please promise me, Genevieve, you’ll always let me know when you’re hurt.” It wasn’t nearly enough to soothe him, but it was a first step, and he let the racing of his heart settle when she nodded.

  “I will. I’m really sorry though, David. Please.”

  He sighed and bent down. Gathered her close and let himself inhale the scent of her.

  It would do. For now.

 
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