Night Walker's Woman Ch. 07

He smiled as he passed the ancient and delicate dress into the hands of its new owner. "That was the lesson child. You must grow into it. Grow into the dress...and the gifts which reside in it. It will take time but I know you will."

The child nodded slowly as if pondering his words, then she was off like a wild horse. No, like the beautiful brown doe which she was, he corrected himself. She bounded like the young fawn she was in that moment to where his grandson and her mother had stood silently just inside the door of the barn.

The woman did not look happy, he noted. He chuckled. This was just the first of her lessons too. She like all mothers must learn to let go...it was a lesson that seemed harder for the human mind than their animal cousins. This one especially had been such a lone wolf, protecting and feeding her young alone for so long. But she must learn know that she was part of a pack. That there were others who shared her burdens. Others in whom she must come to trust. He did not envy his grandson those struggles. Especially as this was only the first lesson of this day.

"I must see to supper," he said as he rose slowly from the hay that covered the barn floor. His knees hurt. His back protested. He thought of that moment when he had touched his wolf again. He had felt the power once more, such a fleeting glimpse of the man he had once been. But as he watched the woman begin to argue with Rex and her daughter that she could not accept such a gift, he knew that it was his mind and not his broken body they all needed now.

His family. And they were home...home to stay whether they knew it or not yet. He dusted the dirt from his jeans and tried to be casual as he brushed the back of his hands across his eyes to clear the tears. He would be more blessed by this final chapter than the whole book that had come before.

***

Rex stood on the front porch, looking out over the dry and hot Texas Hill Country. It never ceased to amaze him how much life this semi-arid region could support. Its thin layer of topsoil meant that it had evolved plant life all its own to survive the mostly dry and sometimes flooding terrain.

He smiled as he looked across the yard at the Texas live oak that he had once climbed as a boy. How old was the damned thing, he wondered. He knew that Grandfather before him had climbed it. And after today, he was beginning to hope that his little girl would someday soon climb it too.

His little girl? How could he think of her like that after such a short time? Only a few weeks seemed too quickly. The truth was that it had happened the moment he laid eyes upon her. Oh, he had listened to his friends talk about the moment they had first seen their children...the instant bond, the unconditional love. But that was a biological thing...after months of pregnancy and anticipation. He had needed neither, just the sight of her soft brown skin, those big brown eyes and that hair flying as wildly about her head as he hoped she would one day fly about the ranch.

He shook his head as he thought about the hours of arguing that he, Angel and Grandfather had with Jaycee. The woman was stubborn. He chuckled, that word did not come close to covering it. No doubt if she had been a Night Walker, her skin would have been a mule.

"What is so funny, my son?" That voice of wisdom spoke from over his shoulder.

"Mitawa Naya," it was all he needed to say to his Grandfather. He knew the man would understand instantly.

His Grandfather echoed his chuckle, "I will not say that I envy you, my grandson. That one is..."

Rex laughed as he turned and accepted the steaming hot cup of coffee that the old man held in his weathered and gnarled fingers. He flashed back to that Sunday morning before he met her. It seemed a lifetime ago. His Grandfather had been right, of course. He need not have been worried, Fate and the Great Ones had it all under control. He inhaled...he hoped they did know as well.

"What am I going to do, Grandfather?" he repeated the question.

"What you are meant to do...love and protect them," his Grandfather's wise advice seemed so easy. But it was anything but. If Jaycee had insisted once, she had done so dozens of time since that afternoon. Angel could not accept such as precious gift from them. He and Grandfather had both tried to explain, but how could they? Tell this woman of logic that the skin belonged to the child or maybe the child belonged to it.

He was reminded of another mother...his own. She never did come to understand. To this day, his mother dismissed all of her father's ways. She clung to the 'one truth' of her mother's family. Even more she clung to the science and experiments she conducted in her labs every day. She could never accept that it was the spirit world which she denied and not the medicine that she forced on him for years that had finally brought him the peace he sought.

He chuckled again, not that he had much peace since she came into his life. If he could never convince his mother what made him think he could convince his mate? Even now, she resisted. Refused to see that they belonged together. Resented the way that he knew her thoughts. Denied the very existence of the bond that provided his only hope for true peace from the beast within. The beast that threatened to consume him as it had that other man...the Chupacabra.

But there was no other choice. He had to succeed this time. They had to, he thought looking at his Grandfather. It was not just his life that rode on this outcome...but his child's as well. He remembered that first day, the violence that had threatened to pull her tiny body limb from limb. He had to make Jaycee see what she refused to admit...her daughter had not had even one of the seizures since they came here...not even one of the small ones. He hoped that would count for something...when the time came.

And he feared it was coming soon. Too soon. He needed more time, he wanted to ease her into things, help her to come to accept the truth that she could not see.

His Grandfather put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly, "Like I told the child, there is time. Not much time granted. Perhaps even shorter for you, my son. But as it will with her...it will be enough."

His shoulders sloped as the reality of the battle ahead loomed larger than even the comfort of his Grandfather's words. He hoped there was enough time. He hoped he could reach this woman as he never had his mother. He hoped he was man enough to be what she needed. To protect and love the woman and child that he had been given. He hoped Grandfather was right one more time.

***

Jaycee watched them through the screen door. It was hard to believe that the two men were related at all. The older one with skin almost darker than her daughter's and long straight hair that even through the white you could catch glimpse of the midnight black it must have once been.

She smiled as she thought about the picture that she had seen of the man. He had been an actor...in Hollywood. And the wedding photo of the dark handsome young brave with the platinum blond starlet had been another shocker. She would have never guessed.

But that photo and the one of the little girl with light caramel skin and straight light brown hair began to explain how Rex had come to be so fair. She had found no photographs of the woman and her son...none of the man that must have been his father. But undoubtedly he was as fair as her mother had been.

Rex might not look like his Grandfather with his sandy blond short hair that curled just a bit at the tip. Of course, his Native American heritage could account for some of the healthy copper tan. Her breathe caught in her chest as she thought about seeing him without a shirt that first day as they had unloaded the horses in the late Spring heat of the Texas Hill Country.

The tan extended into the waist band of his jeans that clung like a second skin to firm thighs and a tight ass. But it was the smooth muscled expanse of his chest that had cradled her head the night before than had tormented her dreams every night since. She sucked in a deep breath just at the thought of it.

"Damn it, woman," came the pained explanation as the center of her thoughts turned to face her. She had forgotten that as weird as it seemed he seemed able to read her mind. Or she would like to forget it anyway. Better yet, she would rather he did not.

"I'm sorry to disturb you," she apologized as she dropped her eyes to the wooden floor. She hoped they could not see the way her cheeks flamed red in the pale moonlight. "It is just that Angel wants Grandfather to read her a bed time story."

Not me, she thought as she choked back tears. She knew that she should be grateful. Happy that her daughter...and she...had more good people like Hector and Lupe in their lives. It seemed that there were so few of them in this world as she thought about all the people that she had once thought her friends...back when she was married to Sean, back before Angel got sick. It seemed another life time ago.

So why was she so jealous? Why did she resent them so much? She had been grateful for the help that Hector and Lupe offered. Even though she had always insisted that they let her pay them something for their trouble, she knew that they did it not for the money but out of the goodness of their hearts. Just like Rex and his Grandfather. So why the difference?

Because she had never really had to share her daughter with them. Hell, she had never had to really share her with anyone, not even her ex-husband, Angel's father. And that frightened her. What would she do if Angel came to need them more than her? She had given up her life...most of it anyway...to care for her daughter. What would she have then? What would she do?

She choked back a silent sob as they opened the door. The older man came through first. "Please join us. I would like you to hear this story too, my child."

Jaycee frowned as the man walked past her down the hall to the room that she shared with her daughter while they were here. She was not certain she was ready for anymore of the man's lessons today. She had finally had to accede to her child's demands to keep the old dress when she recognized that the child was spiraling out of control, fast approaching one of her meltdowns.

She had not had one since they came here. She frowned, she had not had a seizure either. Not even in her sleep. After five years of vigilance, it was strange lying in bed next to a peacefully still child. She frowned as she tried to think of even one time since that first seizure when she was a baby that she had gone this long without a single one. She could not.

But there had to be some explanation. Maybe as a couple of the doctors had suggested, Angel was outgrowing them? But most of the experts they had consulted had not been so hopeful...not as severe and frequent as her seizures were, not as young as they started. What then?

She sighed and shook her head. She would have the whole night to think about it. It was better than more wet dreams about his bare chest and tight ass. Or worse yet about the hard ridge that she had felt in his jeans during their brief stolen moments on her ranch. Before all this...

She felt the hand on the small of her back like a red hot poker. Her nipples hardened painfully in her bra. She felt the moisture as it ran into her panties. Damn, why did this man do it to her body every time?

He captured her hand in his and brought it to his soft lips. He kissed the palm as he stared into her eyes. He slowly lowered her hand then, but instead of releasing it, he brought it to the front of his jeans, "Because it is mutual, Mitawa Naya. My body craves yours as much as yours desires mine." He smiled at her, "But we were summoned by Grandfather and we should not keep them waiting."

Jaycee nodded mutely, glad for any excuse to escape the heat and need she felt building for this man. This was the first time he had touched her since they had come here. She had even begun to think that he was having second thoughts. That seeing what her life was truly like day in and day out, he had decided that he was not that interested in her after all. She would not have blamed him.

He shook his head, "Never. That little girl is not a burden. And even if she were, she would be mine to bear right alongside of you, Mitawa Naya." He bent and brushed a kiss atop her head, "I just knew you were mad at me. I wanted to give you time. But never think for a single second that I do not want you. Need you. I do. And I always will."

Jaycee nodded. She did not want to admit it, but his words came as a relief. She was glad to know that he still wanted her. She was half tempted to put her hand right back on the front of those jeans just to prove to herself how much.

He chuckled, "Damn it, woman, your timing sucks." He growled and for all the world it sounded like a wolf. Like the old pelt his Grandfather had shown her daughter than afternoon come to life. His hand at the small of her back urged her forward, "Later."

Was it a promise or a threat, Jaycee wondered. Not that she cared one way or the other. Her body anyway. It was starved for his touch, his kisses, his caresses.

He pushed her through the door where the soft glow of the lamp seemed to embrace them all...young and old. His Grandfather looked up as they came in. Was that smile just a bit to knowing? "I am glad you could join us, my children. I was just about to begin without out. Tonight I promised our Angel that I would tell her a very important story, another lesson. About the Night Walkers..."