Never Give Up Hope
Chapter 10
Sitting on the couch as the end credits of Transformers movie roll by, I turn to look down at my girl. Raven is currently tucked into my side with her favorite blanket laying across her feet. For some reason she has to have her blanket regardless of the time of year. She's almost always cold.
I tighten my arm around her shoulders, rubbing her upper arm. "W-w-w-wake up, O-Orchid." I tenderly whisper to her. I love having her in my arms like this so I don't want to rush the whole waking up thing. Instead, I leaned towards her and begin running my nose along her jaw line into her hair, stopping to nuzzle the crook of her neck. God, how I love this woman. I close my eyes and inhaled, taking in her floral scent. It's sort of like a drug to me. Whenever I'm having a difficult moment, I make myself remember her scent and the feel of her in my arms. Everything bothering me at that point just floats away.
A soft moan and a whisper of breath across my cheek tells me that my Orchid is awake. I pull back to look down into her eyes, those deep chocolate brown eyes that I could drown in. "Hmmm?" She look up at me.
"I-I-I think y-y-y-you might b-b-be more comfortable in-in your b-b-bed, Love." I move to pull away from her but she slides her arms up around my neck. Picking her up gently, I hold her in my arms bridal style as she cuddles into my neck. Her need for physical touch when she was with me makes my wolf extremely happy. He would stay wrapped around her 24/7 if he could and so would I.
Walking through the house to her room, I lay her down on the bed with a kiss. She tries to pull me down into the soft mattress with her but I couldn't. I have patrol in about an hour. The faster I make it through my shift, the quicker I can get back to her side.
"Stay." She breathes.
My insides melt at her husky voice. "Sorry L-Love, I c-can't. I h-have an early-early morning t-t-t-tomorrow." I absolutely hate lying like this but I can not make myself break up with her. I can't break her heart or mine for that matter.
"I'll b-b-be by tomorrow a-a-a-afternoon after I-I get off w-w-w-work, ok Rae?" I smile softly down at her, tucking the blankets around her as she settles into the bed that we now share often. My fingers brush a lock of hair back from her face as I feel my heart clench. I am in way too deep with her to turn back now. With one last tender kiss to her forehead, I quietly leave, heading out for another late night of patrol.
A couple of days later….
Sitting at my work desk, there are several sketches laying out in front of me. It seems that my obsession with wolves as the subject of my work has returned. I have several different poses in front of me as I try to decide which will be my next major project. I have this overwhelming need to paint, and very specifically, this particular creature. I make a mental note to order more gouache so that I can indulge myself.
I hum along with my music that is always playing in the back ground when I hear the back door open. A smile comes to my face. He's here. I had fixed dinner earlier so that I could indulge in my art until he came over. His feet move almost silently up the stairs, heading my way.
"Dinner s-s-s-smells great." His strong arms slide around my waist from behind. He kisses along my neck and then, nips lightly at my pulse point. He likes the fact that I always shiver with delight whenever he does that. Collin chuckles against my skin.
"Did you have a good day?" I trail my hand up the side of his neck, lacing my fingers into his hair. I set my pencil down so that I can turn my full attention to him.
"It-it was g-g-g-good." He answers as he pulls me up out of my chair. As soon as I turn in his arms, his lips are on mine, tasting, consuming. "I m-m-missed you." With a groan of need, he picks me up, carrying me back to the bedroom.
Never breaking our kiss, I give myself over to him. The way he makes me feel in moments like this is incredible. I know that he loves me with everything he has and cannot live without me. I feel the same for him.
We lay down into the pillows on my bed. His hands begin to roam over my stomach and hip. "Rae…." His voice deepens with need as our breathing begins to speed up. Our love making is incredible. It doesn't matter if it is an urgent moment of absolute need or hours of slow, seducing, drowning in each other, we wrap ourselves around each other with no desire of letting go.
An hour later, the moon is shining through my bedroom window. A lonely owl hoots from the trees. We lay sprawled out over the bed, the sheets bunched up at the foot. Collin is dozing lightly. I find myself tracing a finger over the contours of face. I'm always fascinated by the many planes and angles that make up the man I love.
"H-h-having fun?" His eyes are closed but he's smiling, enjoying my soft touch.
I continue to trail my fingertip over his bottom lip. "As a matter of fact, I am." He catches my finger with his teeth and teases it with his tongue. Refusing to let go, he starts nibbling on all of my fingers one by one. "Collin, I remember that you said you stuttered because you were nervous around women, but surely you're not like that anymore with me, are you?"
With a peck to my index finger, he shakes his head. "Not in-in the l-l-least. Why?" he rolls his head over to face me.
"I want to try something. Close your eyes." He complies immediately, showing his trust in me. "Now I want you to picture yourself in a calm quiet place for a few minutes, focus on breathing and calming yourself."
Again, he does as I ask. After several minutes of quiet, I drop my voice to a whisper and speak slowly. "Now, I want you to answer my questions in the same slow manner that I ask them." He nods. "Tell me about our children."
A beautiful smile crosses his face. "Th-they will be-be beautiful, a b-boy and a-a girl. Our b-boy will be a soccer-soccer player." He relaxes more as he dreams of our future family. "Our daughter will be sweet and kind like her mother. I'll love you all so very, very much."
"Now, tell me about our home."
"I'll w-want a big house that h-has lots of rooms and a-a large yard so the kids can play, maybe a dog. You'll need a studio so you c-can work." We both sigh at the mental picture he creates.
We lay quietly for a moment. "Collin, you just answered me with barely a stutter."
He takes my hand in his, playing with my fingers. "I did, d-d-didn't I? What kind of-of magician are you?"
"No magician, I think you just need to work on calming yourself more so that you can communicate. With practice, this would all become second nature to the point that I bet you will rarely ever stutter again."
I find myself pulled into his strong arms and tucked in beside him. "I'm the luckiest man on-on the Res, Raven Uley….or-or should I say Raven Littlesea?" He grins at me, happier than I had ever seen him before.
I roll over to lay on his chest, looking down at him. I grin back at him. "I'd say Raven Littlesea sounds mighty fine indeed." Snuggling into my head into the crook of his neck, I relax against him, thinking dinner can wait a bit longer. We have our love to enjoy.
The next day…
After seeing Collin off to go to work, I'm at the sink washing up the breakfast dishes when I hear a knock at my back door.
"Aunt Sue! Come on in!" I open the door for her and then sniff the air appreciatively as she passes by me. "Please tell me those are your blueberry muffins." I laugh, closing the door behind her.
With a bright smile, she sets the container on my counter. "That they are. I was just thinking of you the other day when I remembered how much your loved these muffins as a kid so I baked some just for you." Placing the container on the counter, Sue took a seat next to me, reaching for a couple of coffee cups in the cupboard like it was her house.
"You know me so well." I walk back to the sink to wash and dry my hands before filling our mugs. "What brought you over my way?" I take the spot beside her as I dig into the container of muffins, handing her one.
"Well, a certain little birdie told me that my niece is getting really chummy with a certain Collin Littlesea so I had to come find out for myself." She takes a bite of her muffin, hiding her grin. She's the closest thing to an actual mother I've ever had in my life and I love her dearly.
Blushing brightly, I remove the wrapper from my muffin with a nod. "Well, I am quite…chummy with him." I break off a bit of the muffin, pop it in my mouth. "We're engaged now."
Sue stops mid sip of her coffee, giving me a look. "You're not moving too fast, are you honey?" She asks with a concerned tone. "I wouldn't want you to get your heart broken after the year you've just had."
I shake my head. "No Sue, I'm not. Collin is just the right man for me. He's kind, honest, gentle and sweet as can be but I'm sure you already know that."
Sue takes another sip of her coffee. "Oh, I do. He is wonderful but I can't help but worry about you, you know that." She gives me a sad smile. "You've had too much loss in your life already and I want only the best for you."
"I understand but I truly believe that Collin is just that…the best for me." I set my muffin down, turning to her. She gives me a worried glance as if she had more to say but she chose to lift her coffee mug instead. It doesn't matter to me. I feel secure in my love for Collin. He would never hurt me or leave me.
Later that afternoon, I decide to run into Forks for some groceries and art supplies that I had ordered. The drive into town is peaceful and enjoyable. I am lucky enough to find the perfect parking spot for my car. From here, I can walk to the art store for my supplies and drop them off in the car before doing the grocery run. I have some new recipes that I want to try out for Collin. Cooking for him has become my latest hobby. I enjoy watching his face light up every time he samples my food.
Whistling softly as I enter the art store, I speak to Frankie who works behind the counter. His smile brightens when he sees me coming in. He is an easy going kind of guy and has developed a bit of a crush on me over the past couple of months.
"Hey Frankie, is my order in yet?" I stop at the counter, looking behind him at the shelves that hold the personal orders.
"Yep, they did." He turns to find my box of gouache that I ordered. "Are you still happy working freelance from the res?" Frankie asks, leaning on the counter in front of me as he sits the box between us.
A blush covers my face as I reply. "I am happy on the res, very much so." I look down at the box that he sat in front of me, trying to cover my embarrassment. My hands immediately flip through the different tubes of paint as I check all of the colors.
"Now, judging from the look on your face, I'm beginning to think that maybe there's another reason that you're happy out there in the middle of nowhere." His eyes roam over my face. His expression changes up, showing jealousy.
"My boyfriend and I are now engaged." I smile. "I'm going to go grab a couple more canvases. I'll be right back." Not wanting to answer any more of his questions at the moment, I walk down the aisle to choose which sizes I want.
After a few minutes, I finally make my selection, ready to go check out. As I turn, I look up to see a very beautiful blonde woman wearing sunglasses standing at the end of the row. She is blocking my way, watching every move that I make. Moving to step around her, I notice that her skin has a very light pallor. Giving myself a mental shake, I think to myself that I might be a bit too wrapped up in the russet skin of my people to even think like that.
I place my items on the counter so that Frankie can ring up my purchase. As I push my box of paints up, I see that he has a dazed look in his eyes. A quick glance tells me that that weird blonde woman is, walking my direction, watching both of us intently. Something in my gut tells me that it is time for me to get out of that store. As I walk out of the door, another customer walks in, waving to me. I wave back but all I can focus on is getting back home as fast as I can.
We had spent the morning hours chasing after the red headed blood sucker. She is taunting us yet again by zigzagging across the treaty lines. I never understood why we still uphold the treaty since the Cullens have been gone for so long. It's not like they were here to care if we go after that bitch.
Tired from a hard patrol, I lope towards my parents' place, thinking. It is time for me to consider other living arrangements. I love my parents but I need my own space. I come through the back door to find my mom almost in tears as she watches tv in the living room.
"What's wr-wrong, Mom?" I sit down beside her, taking her hand in mine.
She turns to me, tears falling down her cheeks. "I just turned on the tv to see this. Collin, Rae called about two hours ago, asking me if I needed anything from the grocery in Forks. She said that she was going into town to pick up some more art supplies. " She glances back at the tv again. "There was a murder at the art store an hour ago. The police found the clerk and another guy dead in the store." Her eyes dart up at me. "Where's Rae?"
My heart sinks. "I-I don't kn-know." Fear grips my heart as I fly out the back door. She has to be ok. I can't lose my Raven.
I walk back into my house with my art supplies but without my groceries. Things were just too weird in town so I immediately drove home. Carrying my supplies into my studio, I notice that my hands were shaking which is not normal for me at all. Thinking that I just need a snack and a break, I head back to the kitchen to fix myself something. As I stand at the counter making a sandwich, I jump as the backdoor flies open. Within a flash, Collin is standing behind me, his eyes moving quickly over my body.
"Are you ok?" He asks, his tone clipped.
"Yeah, I just had an odd trip to the store is all. Why?" I put the lid back on the mayo jar before turning to him. I don't want him to be upset by something as silly as my intuition warning me to get back home.
He sighs in relief. His large warm hands slide around my waist as he steps closer. "Mom saw on the news that the clerk at the art supply store and another guy were found dead not an hour ago. I knew you had gone in to pick up your paints and it scared me." Collin drops his head to bury his nose in my hair. "I thought you might have been hurt." He hesitates. "I can't let that happen, Love. I'm nothing without you."
Relaxing into his hold, I lay my head on his chest, allowing his strong heartbeat and warmth soothe me. "I'm fine. It must have happened after I left. I'm sorry that I worried you."
Collin nods. "I'm just glad that you weren't harmed."
My wolf calms as she relaxed in my arms, but I now know one thing for certain, the vampires are after her. Today made that all too clear to me. I need to speak to Jake to try to figure out what to do before it's too late.
A/N: To those of you still reading, thank you for sticking with me! I appreciate your reviews and favorites! :)