Page 56 of Into the Dawn

"Guess what?" she says excitedly, switching back to happy, go lucky Vanessa as I set her back down on her feet. Practically vibrating with energy, her core presses against the hard-on that must be obvious to everyone, and I groan.

I really don’t think she understands the urgency of the situation, or what her tiny movements are doing to me.

"I got a job! Well, Holly got me a job. The new owner of the Mountain View Café hired me to help her out for a few hours a day."

The coffee shop has been sitting idle since Serena was killed. It'll be good to have someone new taking it over so we can all forget the Golden's even existed. The thought of my mate finding her own place in the community makes my heart swell.

“As long as she doesn’t need you to start in the next few days, that sounds perfect.”

I sweep her up into my arms, spinning her around when she tries to move away, then take her lips in a much more passionate kiss than the chaste one she gave me.

Vanessa blushes as she laughs, still shy in front of Holly. The mate bond pulses with shared desire, a beat that travels straight to my groin where my cock strains against my jeans, desperate to join with my mate and ease her discomfort.

“Yeah, we definitely need to get out of here.”

Holly laughs as I bundle Vanessa into the passenger seat and practically sprint to the driver's door.

My mate curls up into a ball, arms wrapped around her cramping tummy, then smiles sweetly at me as I fasten her seatbelt for her, knowing that changing position at all causes her pain.

With a distracted wave, I peel out of the driveway, gripping Vanessa’s hand while trying to concentrate on the road and not how good it would be to pull over and lose myself in my mate’s delectable body right now.

“Talk to me. Tell me about the job to distract me.”

Resting my hand on her bare thigh, I stroke up and down, using my touch to soothe her aches and to calm my beast, who doesn’t like to see her hurting. Though from the way she rocks her hips, it’s not all bad things she’s feeling. A breathy moan has my vision blurring, and I rub my eyes hard. This is torture.

“Fuck Vanessa, those sounds. You’re killing me here.”

Vanessa gives me a wicked smile but proceeds to tell me about Rachel, the café's new owner who moved to Sutton seeking a quieter life.

"That's great," I say enthusiastically, nodding along. This could be perfect. It’s close to Jack's store where my office is. We'll be close to each other and close to home. More time together. Less time apart.

"I want to see Jed," she admits, and I press my lips together to avoid saying something I shouldn't, like absolutely no way are you allowed to visit him. My beast bristles at the mere mention of her brother.

When my body tenses up, Nessie squeezes my hand.

"Henry's building a strong case against him for John's kidnapping. Mom's been helping, providing evidence." Vanessa sighs and closes her eyes. "When I called the station to answer questions for Henry, I asked if I could talk to Jed, so Henry let me talk to him on the phone. He's not sorry. Not one bit. He still thinks I've screwed him over to get the clan, even though Mum's running things now."

I pull her into my lap and wrap my arms around her, sensing how hurt she is, even though she always knew deep down that Jed was never going to change his ways or suddenly be struck by remorse for his actions.

"How is your Mum?" I ask carefully. Vanessa phoned home and had a short exchange, but I was waiting for her to volunteer the information, trusting that if there was something important I needed to know, she'd tell me.

Vanessa gives a one shouldered shrug, arms still wrapped around her knees to ease the ache in her lower belly.

"Better, I think. She's taken charge of the clan, and working with the women, especially. A lot of the troublemakers have left, seeing which way the wind is blowing. Probably not stickingaround long enough to find out whether Jed is going to throw them under the bus and rat on them." Pride colors her voice as she speaks of the changes her Mum is making to how things are done. "She's going to create the kind of community I always wished we’d had growing up."

"Maybe we could visit sometime, or she could come and see us here," I suggest, testing the waters. "When you're ready."

Her eyes fill with tears, but she smiles. "I'd like that, but… I can't ask Evan and Holly…"

I know what she's about to say, that we need our own place, but before she can, I cut her off.

"Actually, I might have found something." I pull out my phone, showing her the house I've been working at all evening. "It's a small cabin on the edge of town, backing onto the forest. The owner moved away, and Kali was renting it until she moved into the ranger's cabin with Griffin. It's not much, but it’s ours for now."

The cabin sits on two acres, with old growth trees providing privacy, and a small creek running nearby. Inside, it needs updating, but the bones are good. And it will work for us while we save for someplace bigger.

"Maybe it's too rough." I hesitate, pausing my scroll through the photos. "We can find somewhere else if you don’t like it."

Vanessa just stares at the phone. "This is where you were?"

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