Conversion Book Two: Bloodlines

by S. C. Stephens

  I smiled and shook my head, realizing that, of course, his mother would take care of him. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if she came by weekly with a stash for him. She was just a caretaker like that. I instantly stopped worrying about what he’d find to eat. His family would never let him starve. I sighed happily and relaxed back into the couch, closing my eyes and letting that feeling of exhaustion sweep over me.

  I was awoken from a particularly steamy dream awhile later, by the smell of pasta directly under my nose. I cracked open my eyes and smiled widely at a plate of something rich, creamy and incredibly fattening piled high in front of my face. Teren gave me a half-smile as he watched me come alive again.

  “I was wondering if I should wake you, or join you.” His half-grin turned a little devilish. “That sounded like a good dream.”

  I blushed and took the plate from him, straightening on his couch. Immediately plowing into the food as my stomach rumbled, I smiled around the fork in my mouth. “It was…maybe I’ll show you later.”

  His eyes widened at that and he chuckled before taking a sip from a goblet in his hands. I watched him drink a few sips of what looked like really deep, red wine. I knew it wasn’t though, especially with how his teeth had dropped down. He leaned back on the couch, watching me eat as well. I sighed and brought my shoeless feet into his lap. He grinned and rubbed them while sipping his blood.

  I pointed to his glass with my fork. “You saved some?”

  He shrugged and pointed with his glass to my plate. “I told you once before that we’d still eat together. I meant it.” He smiled sweetly and took another small sip.

  I shook my head at his cuteness and continued shoveling food into my mouth, conscious of the fact that I wasn’t nearly as cute. I didn’t care though – I was starving. Before I knew it, the pasta was gone and I was considering licking the sauce from the plate; Teren could cook, even dead he was amazing.

  He laughed as he gauged the expression on my face. “I’m glad you liked it.” His brows drew together as he took my empty plate from me. “I only hope you can keep it down.” He said that with concern in his voice and I grinned at hearing it.

  I put a hand on my stomach and smiled. “Yes, I think they’re very happy with Daddy.” He gave me a breathtaking grin and leaned down to kiss me for a moment. As he pulled away, I was suddenly equally happy with him, but in a very different way.

  He cocked his head, taking in my body language, and lightly shook his head as he straightened. “I’m gonna clean up.” He pointed at me with his empty glass. “You…rest.” He grinned and turned, making his way through the arch in his living room that led to a kitchen most women would die for.

  I sat on that couch, snuggled in my blanket, for as long as my body would allow, but he was right when he’d said my dream had been a good one. And he was really right when he’d offered to join me. With my stomach full and content, and my body feeling awake and carefree, I decided I’d rested enough and I wanted to be a little more…active.

  I got up stealthily and crept into the kitchen, hoping to catch him by surprise. Although that was pretty improbable, he didn’t react to my entrance and continued absentmindedly rinsing some dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. Thinking I’d actually done it, I tiptoed across the tile floor and was just preparing to throw my arms around his waist, when he spoke.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” His lips twisted into an amused smile at my attempt to sneak up on him and I sighed irritably and casually slung my arms around his waist, my element of surprise gone. Darn super ears.

  “You’re no fun,” I muttered into the back of his shirt and felt him laugh softly.

  Suddenly, he twisted in my arms and wrapped his around my waist. “I’m plenty fun.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You’re just noisy.”

  I smirked at that, but then his lips lowered to mine and I remembered what I’d come in here for in the first place. Groaning a little, I leaned into his embrace and deepened our kiss. His hands around my waist tightened as mine snuck up to run through his hair. He angled his mouth, sweeping more of that marvelous tongue along mine and another groan left me, as my body started to heat.

  His hands reached down to cup my backside and a low rumble sounded in his chest. Loving what that noise did to my already aroused body, I pressed my hips flush to his, finding him equally aroused by me. Our lips never stopping, my hands slid down to his shirt, casually popping open the buttons. When I had the last one free, I slid the fabric over his cool shoulders. His hands came up to help me, his fingers pulling the shirt free from his slacks.

  We pulled apart and I took the opportunity to take in the muscled perfection of his chest. My fingertips lightly traced across the tan skin and while nothing physically happened, by the quick intake of breath, I was sure he’d have goose bumps if his skin were normal.

  As his lips lowered to my neck, his hands pulled off my jacket. I sighed at his caress and tilted my head, giving him all the access he needed to explore the surging vein he loved so much. He growled again as his tongue flicked over the surface, stoking the already nearly unbearable ache building in me.

  My hands ran up his back as his ran over my lacy camisole, feeling my breasts through that seductive fabric. Suddenly, he pushed me back into the island counter behind me. I gasped as the hardness of him roughly pressed up against me, trapping me against the hardness behind. I brought my leg up his thigh, wanting him inside of me already. He pulled back to look at me, passion clouding the perfect paleness of his eyes. He took a split second to tear off my shirt and then a slow smile lit his lips as he stared unabashedly at the black, lacy bra I was wearing.

  Watching his eyes drink me in, I calmly reached around and unclasped the bra, letting it spring free and drop to the floor. His smile dropped and his face looked a little wondrous. I smiled at his reaction, even after all this time, and urged his face down to me, to feel what was his. He went freely, his lips closing over a nipple and gently sucking. My leg clasped him tighter as his name fell off my tongue. My hand in his hair tightened as he switched sides, his hand pulling my hips firmly into him. I swear he was even harder, as hard as the granite counter pressing against my ass.

  Oh hell…

  As I closed my eyes and let my head fall back, I was vaguely aware of him lifting me up and my legs automatically encircling his waist. Then I felt air rapidly rushing past me. By the time I opened my eyes, we were in his bedroom, and he was pulling back his covers and lying me down on his silky sheets. A slight shiver went through me as the cool fabric hit my back, while his cool skin rested on my stomach. I ignored being enveloped by the chill and pulled him tighter to me, eagerly finding his mouth again.

  His hands worked at my pants, undoing and removing them in a matter of seconds. Mine worked on his more clumsily. He pulled away from my body for a fraction of a second and when he returned, I could feel the cool, naked length of him pressed against the warm length of me. Desire and a surging anticipatory energy shot through me at what I knew was coming. My breath came faster, my lips on his more insistent, as my fingers tugged at the last barrier between us, the tiny scrap around my hips that was passing for underwear.

  He looked down my body and groaned, his fingers joining mine as he tugged the material off. In our eagerness, the delicate fabric ripped and I cringed at the slightly painful sensation, and then groaned at the hotness of him destroying my underwear. He chuckled and tossed the ruined pieces aside. “Sorry,” he muttered, before his lips lowered back to my breast.

  I was about to say ‘don’t worry about it’, when a couple long fingers slid between my thighs. I lost the ability for coherent speech after that. Making vague erotic noises, I closed my eyes and reveled in that wonderfully chilly touch. He eventually warmed to my considerably hotter temperature and those talented fingers began working into a rhythm inside me that was quickly going to bring me to climax. Just as I was panting and clutching at his shoulders, he removed them.

  I gasp
ed and sought his lips, needing him now more than ever. He kissed me ferociously, his cool erection digging into my hip. His lips separated from mine and ran down my shoulder. He glanced up at me, an almost feral passion in his eyes, and then he dragged his tongue over the healing wounds in my shoulder. He closed his eyes and shuddered, his teeth dropping to sharp fangs as he remembered drinking from me.

  I bit my lip and squirmed as I watched him, wanting him to bite again, but knowing he wouldn’t, not so soon after feeding on me. He opened his eyes, his teeth automatically retracting as he did. I grabbed his cheek. “No, leave them out.” He cocked his head at me and in a low, breathy voice I added, “It’s…hot.”

  He dropped his mouth open, his fangs following and he crashed his lips back to mine, careful to not hurt me with his sharp canines. I was less careful and nearly attacked him with my need. Then he blurringly fast flipped us over, so I was straddling him. With his superhuman strength, he deadweight lifted my hips and lowered me directly onto him. An animalistic growl escaped him and a loud moan escaped me.

  I still wasn’t used to the coolness of him filling me. It was such a shockingly erotic experience, that every time it brought me right to the edge of having an orgasm – and on occasion, it did. His body eventually would acclimate to mine, but that first thrust was something so incredible, it shocked me every time. Sometimes I wished his body wouldn’t warm with mine. The hot/cold sensation was that remarkable.

  He sat up with me as I straddled him, my knees along his hips. He laid his head against my chest as I rocked against him, slow at first and then with a growing urgency. As his body warmed along the outside of me, my body heated to near inferno levels from the inside. His strong hands eventually came down to grasp my hips, pulling me onto his body even farther. He filled me so deeply that I almost couldn’t take it. My release came hard and fast, and I clenched around him, inside and outside. The cry escaping my mouth hardly did the explosion within me justice.

  Just as I hit the very peak of it, when I was sure I actually would explode, his body stiffened under me and he let out a long, low groan. His head rocked back and forth along my chest as he came inside of me. He was so deep, I couldn’t feel it, but I knew he was doing it and I clutched him tighter and kissed his cheek, whispering how much I loved him as I came down off my high.

  After my gently rocking hips slowed, we slumped against each other, almost holding the other up. Then he exhaled and lifted his head to look at me, his earlier passion replaced by a calm, deep love, his fangs still extended, either for my benefit, or simply forgotten about at this point. “I love you,” he whispered, before kissing me softly.

  “I love you too,” I whispered back.

  He gently pulled me off of him and rolled me to my back. I settled down into his silky sheets and held my arms open for him. He smiled, his fangs retracting, and gently laid his torso on top of me, his legs twining with mine. I cradled his head and pulled him down to my chest. He exhaled a cool breath, making my skin pebble, and nestled his head between my breasts. With an almost contented, purring noise, he wrapped his arms under me, holding me tight.

  Just when I felt my heart shifting back to normal, my breath following and sleep beckoning, he popped up on his hands, crouched low over my body. I startled at his sudden movement and furrowed my brow, puzzled. Teren wasn’t looking at me though; his head was tilted to the side and he was staring past me, listening. Just as I was going to ask him what was wrong, his eyes shifted focus and stared at mine.

  “Did you hear that?” he whispered.

  I scrunched my brow almost comically. Aside from my own breath, I heard nothing. “What?” Abruptly he sat up straight, and I shivered as his warm-compared-to-the-air body was ripped away from me. “Teren?”

  His head shifted to stare at the door and then back to me. With an intensely serious face he whispered, “Stay here,” and then he blurred from the room, grabbing his pants as he streaked away.

  I sat up, pulling the sheets around my body, irritated at my post-coital bliss being snatched away from me, and worried about what could have riled him up. “Damn it,” I muttered, to no one in particular.

  Chapter 3

  Some Secrets Are Just Hard to Keep

  The sun had set outside, but a nearby streetlamp cast a reddish light through Teren’s open windows, bathing everything in his room with an almost fire lit glow. I stood, biting my lip and wondering if I really should stay where he told me to, or if I should investigate as well. I knew I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the mysterious sound like Teren could, but I was pretty handy in bad situations, if that’s what this was.

  A knot tightened in my stomach and I started to worry about him. Sure, he was stronger now than before his conversion, and he was much harder to kill, since he could now do the super-healy thing that I’d been so eager to see when we was alive, but he wasn’t invincible. And we knew with certainty that there were whack jobs out there who wanted him removed from this world, just because of what he was. Some people couldn’t look past the prejudices.

  Shivering and rubbing my bare arms, I walked over to his closet and pulled down one of his dress shirts. It was long on me, completely covering my backside and hitting my legs mid-thigh, and cut the slight coldness in the air considerably. I glanced around his closet (that I’d soon be taking over) and looked for anything weapon-like. All I saw were clothes; Teren really didn’t have much in the way of self defense.

  I tiptoed back to the bedroom, not sure why I was being quiet, but feeling the need to be that way anyway. The red-orange light of the lamp outside flashed on various hard objects around the room - the TV remote, a particularly thick book he was reading on his nightstand, his laptop sitting on a chair tucked under his window. I didn’t see anything great, but if we were going down tonight, we going down swinging. I settled on an umbrella propped up by his bathroom door and grabbed it. With a hand on my stomach, I decided that I‘d do what my vampire fiancé had requested of me, and stay put, for the children’s sake. I backed into the bathroom, wanting an easier to defend spot and crouched low, holding my cheap umbrella like it was a sturdy baseball bat.

  I don’t know how long I waited, but it felt like an eternity. Teren could search every nook and cranny of this house in a matter of minutes, so the longer I waited, the longer I was positive something horrible had happened to him. As time ticked ominously by and my legs started protesting the rigid posture I was keeping them in, tears started stinging my eyes. It couldn’t end like this. I couldn’t have just made love to him and then lost him, all in a matter of moments. He was supposed to be mine forever. That was the deal. We were fated. We were destined to a long life of love, happiness, children and grandchildren. That was what getting through his hard changeover meant for us – that we were free to love each other peacefully, for the rest of my life. Not for him to be whisked away from me forever because he “heard something”.

  I felt the tears brimming as my overactive imagination started playing out the different scenarios where some intruder had gotten the best of him. In my head, I watched him die a hundred times over. I felt the tears travel down my cheeks as I listened for any sounds that he was okay.

  Just as my arms were starting to shake from the tension I was maintaining in them, the bathroom door started to swing open. Panic and fear made me cock back my makeshift weapon and I swung it around as soon as the figure walked into my sanctuary. In my self-riled turmoil, I didn’t even register who I was swinging at until he reached up and calmly grabbed the stupidly fragile umbrella. It bent a little as he yanked it out of my hands.

  “What are you doing, Emma?”

  Teren was standing right in front of me, half-dressed and tilting his head at me, like he thought I’d possibly gone mental in his absence. As I felt a sob rise in my throat, I started to believe that maybe I had gone mental. I brought my hands to my face, relief mixing with the icy edge of fear still lingering in my system. His eyes widened at seeing me on the verge of breaking down and
he instantly had me in his arms, swooping me up to cradle me like a child.

  “Baby, it’s okay. You’re okay. You’re okay.” He repeated it over and over while he walked me back to his bed. A hand continuously stroked down my back while he placed dozens of kisses along my forehead. I held back the stupid tears, but they were coming regardless. He laid me down and got in next to me. I embarrassingly cinched him tight when he moved to cover me with his blankets. Once I was safe and cocooned in his bed, my arms firmly around him, his hands came up to my cheeks. Sweeping his thumbs over them, trying to dry my concerned tears, his face took on a look of confused compassion. “Emma?” he whispered.

  Between hiccups and stuttered breaths, I managed to get out, “I thought…something…happened…to you.”

  Understanding, he swept me into a tight embrace, his hands rubbing over my back again. “Oh god, I’m sorry, Emma. “ He pulled back, searching my eyes. “I’m fine, baby. Okay?”

  I nodded, willing my body to calm down. Before I could protest or stop him, he blindingly fast hopped out of bed and securely closed his heavy curtains. The room blackened as he held me in his arms again. He kept his eyes open, staring deep into mine, and the phosphorescent glow on the whites of his eyes became brighter as the room slowly became darker. That was another vampire effect – the glowing eyes. It was only apparent if they were somewhere really dark, say hunting their prey late at night, and had an almost hypnotic-like calming effect, to relax that prey into submission, as if they needed the extra help getting humans to submit to their power.