It was warmer outside than it had been all week. It was a sign of hope for Markus, and for Cynthia, it was the only reason she considered meeting this mystery rescuer.
Cynthia still wasn't sure of this meeting. Standing at the glass entrance of her building, wore black pants in which the fabric hugged against her toned thighs, and a dark purple short sleeve blouse that covered her chest and was held in place by an accessorized gold belt that was loosely hanging off her hips. Grooming herself took the same amount of time that it normally did for work, but she hesitated to leave. It was five minutes after ten am, and she wasn't ever late for anything.
Markus was waiting patiently at the cafe already, and had checked his watch every five minutes when it had neared ten o'clock.
It was now a quarter after, and both Cynthia and Markus let out a soft sigh at the same time. As Cynthia pushed the door open to her building and started down the sidewalk to the bistro, Markus was folding up the newspaper he was pretending to read and finished his coffee. Just as he was rising to leave, Cyn came around the corner. From the way their movement was halted when seeing each other, they both knew they were there for one another.
Cynthia approached the table, and she swore she had smelled him before, but couldn't remember where from. It certainly wasn't her attacker from two nights ago, which eased her mind. She didn't let him wait any longer and when she was settled in, he spoke.
"Good morning. I didn't think you were coming." His voice was thick and deep, and that alone made her muscles shiver as she looked him over. His age was starting to show on his face, with his long black hair secured back in a low pony tail. His skin was rigid and muscular, tanned as was expected of his Pacific island heritage.
All in all, Cynthia tried not to stare so hard or think about how long it'd been since she had been with one of her own kind willingly, and the assault had alarmed many primal urges she had ignored since coming here. He wore a simple white button down shirt, and black cargo pants. Cynthia felt at ease when he talked, and even his militant appearance doused any doubt of liking him, but she still voiced her concern.
"I didn't know what to think. You know where I work and where I have breakfast. You probably know where I live too." She said with a defeated tone. Markus nodded just lightly to confirm all that for her, and her nose wrinkled again to his musk.
"Your scent is very familiar, but I can't place where we've met before."
"When you first moved here from the mainland, I was present in the room when you met the Alphas. My name is Markus and I am the head of their security." He explained.
"Oh, I don't remember seeing you."
"Those who are presented before the Alphas usually don't meet me, or know that I'm even there."
She softly nodded and let her mind go to that day, and faintly recalled the scent looming behind her. He found it hard to keep his composure when she looked back at him. Her animal scent was driving his inner wolf mad with aggression to mate. But his restraint won over for now, letting his blood boil while he enjoyed her company.
"Were you watching me the night I was attacked?" Markus raised an eyebrow to this question. He sat forward, letting his eyes level more with hers and show his concern when he answered her.
"Would that comfort you to know, or make you nervous?"
"I'm already nervous." She confessed. Both of them grinned and laughed a little bit at that, breaking the tension between them.
"You don't need to be." He said softly. "I happened to see you walking when I was driving home, and I was fortunate to have seen you needed help that night. As for knowing where you work and where you live, it's my job to know for the Alphas. I had known this information when you had first met them. The cafe just happened to be a guess. It's on your way to work."
It would only scare her to know how much he desired her, and that he had spent close to a year's worth of mornings and evenings assuring her safety, and had gone out of his way to know these little details about her. She might have even called him obsessed.
She accepted his explanation as the truth, and when the server came over to take her order, he smiled and recognized Cyn. Knowing exactly what she'd order, he went back inside to place it and Markus ordered another coffee.
Nothing truly exchanged between the two of them while waiting on their orders. Markus knew she was still adjusting, and did very little to to try and make her uncomfortable. Only now, did he wish he was more of a conversationalist. He slid the paper forward, folded up.
"Would you like to read while we wait?" She grinned and took up that paper, nodding just lightly.
"Sure. Mahalo."
Opening the centerfold, she caught her eye on a story she looked forward to reading, and did so for about three minutes before their orders arrived. Markus, at this time, took more than one opportunity to stare at Cynthia, and let his imagination wander to the most lewd places in his mind. Every expression, every soft sound or hum that she made while reading that paper tightened every muscle with trapped heat that seared through his skin at the thought of claiming her. Even with her state, he reasoned their children would be beautiful, if making her his had come to that. That was when he looked harder, wondering just what mix she was.
It wasn't in her file.
Cynthia lifted her gaze more than once to see him staring, and it wasn't only until he had that pensive expression that she spoke up.
"You look like you have something to say."
"I wouldn't ask, but, it's itching in my mind. Are you a gray?" Cynthia debated how to answer that question while the server arrived to their table. In the time it took for him to set the table with both orders, Cynthia considered her response. After taking a drink of her cafe mocha, she looked up at him with a calm and collected gaze.
"I am a dire black; a pure blood."
