Chapter Eleven

By the time she returned home from work Elena was overall upset with how the day had gone. She wasn't able to reach Bill to apologize about Dmitrei's behavior. Or talk him out of suing the shelter, if he planned on it, which would be a complete disaster for everyone involved. She hated how she had gone off on Dmitrei. It was true, he had hurt her feelings, but he hadn't meant to, obviously. She could have addressed it better. She could have done everything better. Unfortunately, she, like anyone, had bad days and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Besides figure out how to make it right.

It was still light out when she arrived home. She parked in her driveway, got out of her car, and leaned against it for a moment, enjoying the evening glow on the tall hedge of bushes in front of her house. She saw something move in the corner of her eye, turning her head to see a man getting out of a parked car and walking toward her. She let out a breath when she realized it was Bill. Maybe he had gotten her messages and he came to talk to her. He always seemed like a reasonable, even friendly, person and she didn't want today to jeopardize their working relationship.

She knew Dmitrei would be offended, but long after he decided to do whatever he wanted, she would still be here, taking care of the shelter. Dmitrei never made her any forever promises. It was stupid after knowing each other such a short time. She sighed and walked toward Bill.

She frowned seeing the look on his face. A faint red, mercurial, his eyes glaring. He backed her up in the direction of her house and she was in front of her car again. He folded his arms as he stared down at her, appearing as he never had before, "Do you want to explain what happened today? What your boyfriend did?"

"He's not my boyfriend," she muttered. "He's an employee who happens to really care about the animals, and I don't know what upset him today. He's never like that." She gave him a polite smile, "But I'm really, really sorry and on behalf of the shelter, I would love to know if there is anything I could do to make it up to you."

He frowned, then a dark smile curled the corners of his lips, "What did you have in mind?"

Not whatever he seemed to be thinking. Ugh. Maybe he wasn't so nice after all. "I thought, maybe, a plaque on the wall that commends your donations. Or naming a room after you? Something that acknowledges everything you've done?"

He stalked forward backing her up to the car until her back hit it. He looked her up and down, making her skin crawl. Why, oh why had she chased Dmitrei away? He was turning out to be right about too many things. Still, why had none of this happened before?

"Why don't you acknowledge everything I've done?" Bill said creepily, curling his lips as he got even closer.

She put up a hand. "Look, I'm sure we can work something out." She tried to side-step around him, but he trapped her further with his huge bulk. She looked around the street for any sign of help but didn't see anything. "Not like this, though." She struggled against him, pushing on him as he began to pull her into his arms. "Stop!" She pulled back, fighting to keep his lips off her. "Help!"

The bushes behind them rustled and she looked up in shock to see Dmitrei standing there behind Bill, glaring down at him with ominous rage in his icy blue eyes. He grabbed Bill by the scruff of the neck, "Oh, you have done it now."

"I didn't mean it! I didn't mean it," Bill screeched, groveling as he dangled in Dmitrei's grip.

Dmitrei looked intimidatingly large and angry, but then she saw him take a huge breath in an effort to stay calm. He glanced over at her, his eyes noting every detail of what the other man had done. He turned back to Bill with fury in his stare, letting his hands tighten as the other man struggled, "You touch her again, you are fucking dead. You got it? Dead. Not able to think about torturing puppies. Not able to creep on shelter workers. All because you will be dead."

Bill nodded, going even more red. Dmitrei gave him a look of disgust and dropped him. As Bill got to his feet and started running away, it looked as thought it took every ounce of Dmitrei's self-control not to chase after him.

He was tense for a few seconds, then exhaled, letting all the air out of his chest and she swore his breath was cooling the air around them. "Are you okay?" he asked, his blue eyes concerned.

She stayed against the car for a moment, trying to process everything that happened. She was glad he was there, but where the hell had he come from? She looked around. Sure enough, down the street where she wouldn't have looked before, sat his black Volvo. She put a hand to her face, "Yes, I'm fine."

He walked forward, hands in his pockets, "Sorry I didn't move sooner. I didn't know what you wanted me to do until you yelled for help." He bit his lip, "And I already got in trouble once for overstepping my bounds."

"You didn't overstep," she said letting out a shaky breath. "You were just in time." She looked in Bill's direction as he pulled away. "It just… surprised me. I didn't think he would do that."

Her heart was racing painfully fast. She looked up at Dmitrei, grateful but confused.

"I know," he said. "Let's get you inside." He walked her in and she sat in her usual chair, still in shock.

What just happened?

She was still thinking about it when Dmitrei brought her a glass of juice from the kitchen. "Thanks," she said, bringing it to her lips for a slow sip. As she calmed down, she thought over the situation and something ridiculous hit her. "You were hiding… In my bushes."

He nodded seriously, "I was stalking you."

She let out a laugh, then covered her mouth. "Oh my gosh, why were you doing that?"

"I wanted you to know I wanted you. That you weren't a one-night stand," he said.

She looked him over and noted the small pieces of shrubbery stuck to his shirt and pants, "How long were you there?"

"A few hours," he said with a shrug. "The right amount, I guess." He interlaced his fingers and cracked his knuckles, "I had no idea that was going to happen, or I would be in your bushes day and night."

"Or you could stay inside, with me," she suggested softly.

He gave her a small smile, "I would like that." He walked over and pulled a chair next to her, looking pleased with himself. "I didn't beat the crap out of him. Did you notice?"

"I did," she said, stifling a giggle. "I'm pretty impressed."

"I know, but seriously, are you okay? Because I also wanted to talk to you about last night, if that's okay with you?"

"Sure," she said, her heart pounding in her chest.

He went back to the couch and leaned forward, facing her. His hair was mussed and he still looked like the most handsome thug she had ever seen. "I sent the wrong message last night," he said. "I wasn't trying to say I didn't want to commit. It's just… for what I am, making love is a very big deal. It's more than that, it's mating. I have never met a woman I wanted to mate before, so I didn't know how it worked. You're tempting, and I didn't want to screw something up."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," she said. "What do you mean by screw things up?"

"I didn't want to trap you. Mating is permanent."

She rubbed her temples with both hands, "I don't know what that means: mating. Are you some kind of animal?"

"Not exactly," he said.

"Are you ever going to tell me what you are?" she asked.

"I think so, when the time is right." He sat up with a long sigh, "Okay, so from the top… When I came here, I was given a mission. One I didn't think I could complete." He touched the heavy metal chain around his neck, "I was suppose to prove I could care about the human world. I didn't want to ever do that again. I cared once, and it broke me. It broke a lot of people." Guilt clouded his blue eyes and he looked away for a moment before turning back, "So, I was planning to simply sit here and do nothing and wait for my punishment."

"What was the punishment?" she asked.

"Oblivion," he said flatly.

Her heart sank and her stomach twisted at the thought, "So, you changed your mind?"

"Yeah, I think so." He nodded, "I mean, it's scary to care again, but I really do. I care about you… and Sebastian, and some others." He twisted his fingers together, "I just… I'm bad at it. When I left last night, I thought I was doing the best thing. I didn't know what it meant to you when I left." He gave her a hopeful look, "But if you will allow me, I would like to stay tonight."

She felt hope welling up in her, filling her like a hot air balloon making her feel as if she were floating. "You want to?" she asked.

"Yes, Elena, I want to," he said folding his arms. "I wanted to last night, but as you have seen, I don't always have the best judgment, even when I'm trying to do the right thing."

"I know. I didn't react the best either," she said. They both smiled and sat in an awkward silence together. She took a deep breath "Well, you were right. He was a creep."

"Yeah, but I could have been better about telling you about it."

She came over and sat next to him on the couch and as he put his arm around her, she enjoyed the warm, soothing feeling that washed over her. That always happened when he was around.

"What do you want to do tonight?" he asked. "I'm all yours, until you want to kick me out."

She laughed, "I wouldn't. Maybe just take it easy tonight? Watch a movie?"

He nodded, "Try that snuggling thing you were talking about." He wrapped both arms around her, encircling her with strong muscles. "I think that's what I missed the most about leaving last night. I didn't get to hold you."

"I didn't know you wanted to."

"Of course I did. I always want to," he said squeezing her lightly.

She smiled and gently pushed out of his arms, "Well, in that case, you better help me make dinner so we can eat and get that out of the way. We've got some snuggling to do."

His blue eyes sparkled in a way she had never seen before. Truly, it was like watching a black-and-white painting come into color the way he was changing every day. "Sounds good to me."