“You…want me to be part of the team?” Rafe asked hesitantly, and glanced around at them.
“One can never have enough friends,” Ryder said, and offered the firefighter his good hand.
Rafe shook it with an eager, two-handed hold, then did the same with all the others in the room. Afterward, he jammed his hands in his jeans pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Well, I guess I should go. I’m on duty tomorrow and need some shut-eye.”
With a wave good-bye, he turned and strode from the room, leaving David with his three old friends, and his lover. He peered at Maggie and saw the smudges of fatigue under her eyes. “You should go get some rest, too.”
He looked past her to his partner and his ADIC. Diana looked… fragile, and as he watched her features tightened briefly, as if in pain. Knowing her, she was trying to hold it together, to spare them any worry. She needed to get home and take care of herself, but he knew she wouldn’t, not until she was sure he was okay. So he said, “I’m beat. I think I’d like to get some sleep now.”
“Okay, we can take the hint,” Maggie said, leaned close, and kissed him deeply.
After a long moment, Jesus’s wry cough drove them apart.
Ryder and Jesus offered manly thumps on his good shoulder. “Take care, man,” Ryder said, and Jesus gave him an encouraging smile.
Diana came to his bedside, sat down, and grasped his hand. “Whatever you need, we’re all here for you.”
He squeezed her hand. “I know. And I’m here for you, too, Di. I should never have pushed you away.”
Diana shook her head and shot a quick glance at Maggie before saying the words she had owed him for so long. “I was wrong to keep the truth from you. I just didn’t know how to say it. How to make you believe that I wasn’t crazy.”
He let out a sigh. “Even after seeing it all for myself, I still wonder if I’m not in some weird nightmare.”
Diana chuckled. “I’ve often wondered the same thing.” Rising from the edge of the bed, she gave him a tired smile. “Just remember you’re not alone. We’re here with you.”
“Thanks. Me, too.”
Suddenly, she gasped. She grabbed her stomach and doubled over.
“Di, what’s wrong?” he asked in alarm as the others rushed to her side.
Her knees wobbled and she leaned against his bed for support. She opened her mouth, but only a moan came out . She looked down at herself, and her eyes widened.
He looked down at her belly, then lower. Between her legs, a dark stain was quickly spreading over her pants.
“Oh, God,” she cried out hoarsely. “The baby!”
Chapter Thirty-four
It had taken most of the night to stabilize Diana and confirm that the baby was okay. The contractions had been caused by the stress and the physical exertions of the night, which had caused a partial tear of the placenta from the wall. Bed rest for a few days and no sex until the delivery would keep the baby safe.
No sex, Ryder thought with a sigh. Hard to do, but anything to keep the baby safe.
“It’s a girl, for sure. I wish the doctor could have confirmed it,” she said and passed her hand over the baby.
Ryder likewise grinned as he settled his hand on another side of her belly and a pointy little appendage jabbed into his palm.
“A daughter,” he said, awe in his voice. Lifting his gaze, he met hers. “Any thoughts on what we should name her?”
She shook her head and then surprised him as tears filled her eyes and spilled over, running freely down her cheeks.
“Darlin’?” He cupped her cheeks and swiped the tears away, knowing she wouldn’t. To do so would be to acknowledge them, and his warrior would never do that.
“Can we wait to name her? Until she’s born,” she asked, her voice tight from suppressed emotion.
He hated what she wasn’t saying. She didn’t want to jinx it by naming her in advance. There was still too much adversity for them to face. Giving her a name would just make her more real. Make the loss harder to bear.
“Of course we can. I’d hate to rush it and get it wrong. End up with something that sounds like she’s a porn star. Or one of those weird-ass weather reporter names.”
A watery smile blossomed on her lips and with a sniffle, she brushed a hand through his hair. “We wouldn’t want to do that and ruin her life. She’d never forgive us.”
“Never, and that’s a long time for me,” he teased.
That drew a chuckle from her, but then she turned serious as she thought about how much she had almost lost that night. “I’m sorry, Ryder. I would never knowingly do anything to hurt the baby—”
“I know, darlin’. And I know very well you accepted the van assignment because it was safer.”
“But I wasn’t safe, was I? When I had to choose between letting Jefferson get away and—”
“Protecting your friends. You chose to keep them from harm. That couldn’t have been an easy decision to make,” he said, and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
“No, it wasn’t. I was afraid for the baby every second. Afraid of what might happen to us, but more than that, afraid of what it would do to you,” Diana confessed. She knew how much he had worried about her going back to work. About her safety.
Ryder hesitated and looked away for a moment before meeting her gaze once more. “It would kill me, darlin’. Inside,” he said, and tapped at his chest, but then went on. “But I know it would kill you to stop being who you are. What you are. I fell in love with you because of those very things.”
“I wouldn’t hurt you for all the world. I love you, Ryder. I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” she said, and pulled him close with a tug on his hand.
He went willingly. He met her lips in a kiss that seared her nerve endings and dragged a rough moan from her. When they broke apart, she said, “That ‘no sex’ part is going to be tough.”
Ryder chuckled and grinned. “Define sex. Believe me, I can be a very inventive husband.”
“Husband.” She tilted her head and smiled. “I still have to wrap my mind around that, but I like it.” She liked having him in her life for always.
“I like it, too. Even if we still have a lot to find out about being married. About finding a balance that will work for us,” Ryder said.
She nodded. “I want to find that balance, too. For us, and for our daughter,” she said, and solemnly rubbed her hand across her belly. “It’s time I gave her more thought. Really planned for her,” she continued, committing wholeheartedly to what the future had in store for them.
“It’s definitely time, darlin’. I’d lost hope long ago of ever having this kind of happiness. Of having a future worth living,” Ryder confessed.
“A future together. I can’t think of anything I want more. I love you, Ryder,” she said, and to make sure there were no doubts in his mind, she leaned forward to seal her promise with a lingering kiss.
After they broke apart, he winked, and said, “I love you, too, darlin’. As long as we have love, we’ll figure out the rest.”
For the first time in forever, she could believe that. She could believe that the darkness that had filled so much of her life was gone, thanks to the power of their love. And that together, they really could handle anything life threw at them.
Anything at all.
She smiled. “So, what color should we paint the nursery?” she asked, and Ryder grinned.
“Why, pink, of course.”
And she launched herself at him, saying, “Hell, no,” and they both dissolved in laughter, in each other’s arms, ready to face the next phase of their life together.
Chapter Thirty-five
ONE MONTH LATER
Pain ripped through David’s body as the transformation finally retreated back into his gut. He convulsed on the ground as claws and fur disappeared, replaced by human skin and nails, and he shifted from bending on all fours to lying on his back with normal arms and legs again.
Thank God.
Brendon, the Adalwolf of the werewolves, kneeled beside him, urging calm.
“Easy, Special Agent Harris. It’s almost over,” he said, then turned to Maggie’s side, where his wife was comforting her as she also finished her first shift.
With a final series of tremors, and a long, low howl, David compelled himself to relax as he lay there and stared up at the moon. Inside him his stomach clenched one last time, and for a moment the moon seemed to smile at him before the rising sun eclipsed it.
He shook his head at such flights of fancy. Hearing a soft, feminine groan, he looked over at Maggie. She rested next to him on the sweet-smelling grass, her body naked beneath the fading moonlight. He reached out and skimmed his hand along her arm. It was damp with sweat and growing chilled from the cool of the early morning air.
“Maggie,” he said, the low hint of a growl lingering in his voice.
“I’m okay, David,” she said, and grasped his hand tightly.
Beside them, Brendon and Anna stood, smiling broadly. “Time for you two to rise and face the new day.”
Rise.
David was still not ready to believe what Brendon had told him nearly a month ago—that going through the shift would repair the terrible damage to his body.
And allow him to walk again. For real. Not just hobbling shuffles.
With uncertainty leadening his muscles, he tentatively moved his legs. They responded instantly, and just as smoothly as they had before shrapnel from the explosion had torn into his spine. He let out a long, shaky breath, and sat up, jubilation bubbling up inside him when he realized the only pain he felt was from the lingering strain of the transformation.
No pull or pinch of injured muscles and bones in his back. None of the dead numbness that had wrapped around his center and down his lower body for so long.
He shot a quick look at Maggie and smiled in triumph. He released her hand just long enough to push to his feet and stand up, a little unsteady at first. Gaining confidence, he took a more certain step and turned to face her.
“Mags. It’s for real,” he said in wonder, and held his hands out to his sides. “Look! I’m me again.”
Maggie smiled wistfully, and chided, “You were always you, David. Always the man I loved. That I still love.”
His heart swelled in his chest, and his throat clotted with emotion. She had always loved him. He had been the idiot who had pushed her away. He’d run from her, convinced he was less than the man she had fallen in love with. Less than she deserved.
“I was a total moron, Mags. I know that now, and I hope you can forgive me.”
She moved closer and was about to say something when Brendon handed them both blankets to cover up with. “I hate to break up this touching love fest, but we need to get going. The early morning joggers and walkers will be here soon.”
After wrapping themselves in the blankets, they walked back to David’s van, which was parked along the street at the edge of Highbridge Park. Their clothes were stashed in the back, where they had undressed the night before in preparation for the shift.
At the van, Brendon said, “See you tonight at the Fort,” waved, and he and Anna walked off to their own car.
David opened the back of his van and he and Maggie climbed in to dress. Their clothes were folded neatly, piled right beside his wheelchair and walking crutches. He supposed he’d need to use them for a little while longer, so he could make a more believable transition to being miraculously on two feet again.
He could say good-bye to the past now, and start creating his future. The kind of future he’d wished and longed for, for far too long.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to his clothes, reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out a small velvet box.
Kneeling reverently, he held it out to Maggie.
For a moment, she seemed taken aback. “David? I— I don’t understand,” she said, even as she took the box and slowly opened it, her eyes bright and her fingers trembling.
“I’ve had this ring for a while. Since before the night of the raid. But I could never muster the courage to ask you.”
“And…now you have that courage?” she asked, her unsteady gaze seeking his.
“I do, Mags. You showed me what real courage was when you were bitten. You never let it stop you, never held a pity party. And…through everything, through all the crap I dished out over the past years, you never once stopped loving me.” He swallowed heavily. “Mags, even if the shift hadn’t done this—” he gestured to his now-functional legs—“I would have asked you to marry me. Because I love you. And I’ve wasted too damn much time already. I don’t want to live another minute without you by my side. I love you, baby. What do you say?”
…
It took a moment for Maggie to recover her wits enough to look down at the box with the gorgeous engagement ring sparkling up at her. Her hand shook as she pulled it from the velvet, kissed it, and held it out to David.
She’d wanted this for so long. She’d hoped and prayed for it, and now that moment was here at last.
Her vision blurred with happiness as she watched him slide the beautiful symbol of their love onto her finger.
“I love you, David. I always have. And… Yes. The answer is yes,” she said, and felt a warm glow envelop her whole body as a smile lit up his face.
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. “I love you so much, Mags. I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much.”
She leaned into him, into his strength. Strength she’d always known he had inside him. In the month since he had been bitten, he’d shown her time and time again that he was no longer the David who had lost his way after his injuries. He’d been there for her, supporting her. Offering her the hope that things would be all right, even as they became something other than human.
And it was all right. Better than all right.
He kissed her, long and thorough, and her heart filled with the certainty that they belonged together.
“I don’t want to wait, either, David. How does today, and City Hall, sound?”
“It sounds wonderful, Mags,” he said, and kissed her again.
She returned his kiss, knowing that together they would thrive in their new shifter world and flourish in the challenges of the human world, as well. Like fine steel, their love had been forged in the fires they’d faced together, and like tempered steel, it had become strong and powerful.
Nothing could break them apart.
And their love and joy would sustain them through all that was to come.
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling paranormal and romantic suspense author Caridad Pineiro wrote her first novel in the fifth grade when her teacher assigned a project – to write a book for a class lending library. Bitten by the writing bug, Caridad continued with her passion for the written word and in 1999, Caridad’s first novel was released. Over a decade later, Caridad is the author of more than thirty published novels and novellas. When not writing, Caridad is an attorney, wife and mother to an aspiring writer and fashionista. For more information, please visit www.caridad.com or www.rebornvampirenovels.com.
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Born to Love (The Vampire Reborn Series) (Entangled Ignite) Page 23