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"You have a nice smile," she said, laughing softly when Caine scowled at her over the compliment. "You do," she said, moving the three inches that separated them and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before settling back on her pillow.
Not that she could have gone very far anyway, not with his arm thrown over her, keeping her on her side facing him. She woke up a couple of hours ago to find him lying on his side, watching her as he tenderly ran his fingers through her hair. Without a word she'd turned on her side and for a long time neither spoke. It was actually........nice.
In the past she usually couldn't get away from the guy fast enough after sex. She usually had a hundred other things she'd rather be doing than hang around and do the whole cuddle thing, but with Caine she found herself too relaxed and enjoying this time with him.
They had to leave in a few hours and for the first time in a long time she had absolutely no idea about what to do. Her old life was over now. There was no going back to the Sentinel Compound, knowing that it wouldn't take long before someone figured out that she was no longer human and even less time to figure out who was responsible for the change. She couldn't do that to Caine. She cared too much for the cranky Pyte to hand him over.
"Can I ask you something?" Danni asked as she moved closer to him.
He gave her a pleased smile as he nodded.
"How do you know Jax?" she asked, wondering why she never heard about the man before.
Caine released an annoyed groan even as his smile turned fond. "I met him when he was a young pup back during the war."
Danni frowned as she asked, "Which war?"
"Independence," he said, leaning in and giving her a quick, yet sweet, kiss.
"Which country?" she asked, smiling when he scowled at her.
"This one."
"What happened?" she asked, reaching over and gently tracing her finger over the tattoo that decorated his jaw.
With a soft sigh, Caine turned his head and pressed a kiss against her hand before answering. "He had the unfortunate luck of being the third Alpha born to his pack. The first two were father and son and they didn't want to take the chance of Jax taking the pack away from them. So, when he was about twelve, he was forced out of the pack."
"That's when you found him?" she asked, wondering more than ever now why he hadn't mentioned Jax before.
"No, I met him just before he froze into his immortality," he pursed his lips in thought, "I think he was twenty-four at the time. Anyway, I normally minded my own business during public executions, but-"
"Wait," she said, stopping him. "Public executions?"
Caine shrugged. "They were in the process of hanging him."
"How could they hang him? He's an Alpha. He should have been able to get away from them," she pointed out.
"He probably would have if he wasn't unconscious at the time."
"Oh," she mumbled, shoving aside her confusion. "So, why did you save him?"
He looked away from her. For a moment she didn't think he was going to say anything, but then he floored her by saying, "Because they were stoning him and calling him a monster."
She wanted to take him into her arms, kiss him and help erase that haunted expression on his face, but she didn't. She knew enough about Caine's history and about the man himself to know that he wouldn't appreciate her sympathy.
"We have to leave soon, Danni," he said as his thumb gently caressed her hip.
"I know," she sighed, not knowing what the future held for them now and having absolutely no idea on how to go about asking him.
She wasn't good at relationships, never had been. All of her old boyfriends and probably even her friends would agree. Kicking someone's ass for a friend? No problem. Late night sparring? Drinking? Shooting the breeze while they waited to ambush a nest? No problem, but anything deep like talking about feelings or any degree of clinginess and she couldn't run fast enough for the door. With Caine she didn't want to run.
In fact, she wanted to stay with him, but he'd pushed her away once and she wasn't foolish enough to think that great sex was going to be enough to keep him in the picture. She sure as hell wasn't about to ask him about his feelings, she'd gag before the words left her mouth. When they left in a couple of hours it would be pretty clear where she stood with him.
If he asked her to tag along then she'd figure out this whole relationship business. Maybe they had a future and maybe not, but she wanted to at least try and see where they stood. Wanting this was a little odd for her. Only yesterday morning she fully planned on ditching him and starting this new life of hers by herself, but now......
Now the thought of parting from him made her chest ache and her breath quicken. She cared for him so much and maybe even loved him, but she wasn't sure yet. She'd never been in love before and really wasn't sure what it should feel like. This whole experience was strange to her so she planned on treading carefully.
There was no way in hell that Caine would respond positively if she showed any signs that she wanted a future with him. If he decided that they would part ways in a few hours then that was fine with her. It would hurt like hell, but she'd get through it. She'd go to Pennsylvania like she planned, get control over her abilities, learn to tolerate bagged blood and move on.
Thanks to Caine they were both going to live forever so there was no point in rushing anything, especially if she was just confused about how she felt about him. If they ran into each other in a century or two and wanted to try for something more, then that was more than fine with her. If on the other hand neither one of them wanted anything more, then that was more than fine with her, too.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly as he reached up and pushed her hair back.
She forced a smile as she said, "Nothing."
"Nothing, huh?" he asked, sighing heavily as he moved his hand back to her bare hip. "You used to be able to tell me anything."
"That was a long time ago, Caine," she said, shoving back the old pain that threatened to take over at the memory of what she used to have with this man. None of that mattered anymore. At least she wouldn't let it matter.
It was time to move on.
She opened her mouth to tell him what was wrong, but quickly shut it and shrugged it off. She might want to be with him, but that didn't mean she was an idiot. The second she told him that she wanted him he'd be levitating his ass out the nearest window and making a run for it.
"You can tell me anything, Danni," he said, repeating the same words he used to use when she was little and she was upset or feeling alone.