He groaned, his breath heavy as his hands ran over my body. “God, I couldn’t get here fast enough,” he muttered as his hands ran down my backside, bringing a leg up around his hip.
He pushed against me and I gasped, then groaned. “I know, I was going crazy.” My hands ran up through his hair, tangling in the longer pieces and pulling him into me. I wanted to pull every piece of him into me. I just couldn’t get close enough. I heard Halina laughing, and sensed her at the door, probably leaning against it, amused, waiting to see if her prediction would come true. Alanna and Imogen had gone into the kitchen to start making dinner, giving Teren and me some privacy in our “reunion”.
He growled again as his lips shifted to my uninjured neck, his hand running up my shirt. “I’ve never felt this…pull, towards anyone before. I need you so much…”
I loved that this wasn’t just on my side, that he was overwhelmed by it too. It probably wasn’t the twins then. I groaned and felt my fingers sliding down to his pants. I knew Halina was about to be right and this was going to get really graphic. I also knew that she’d probably watch the whole thing, just to chide me on it later. I knew it, I just didn’t care. The sound of his leather belt sliding free of the buckle was loud to me, louder than our fast breaths or occasional sounds of pleasure. “What is this, Teren? What is this feeling?” I managed to get out.
He broke apart from my skin, his cool breath heavy in my ear as he murmured, “I don’t know. It’s wonderful though, isn’t it?”
“Yes, god, yes.”
Inhaling deeply after my words, the smell of the world danced across his skin and clothes, entering me. My hands on his slacks paused as I sensed the different flavors run from my nose, out through my mouth. It was almost like a roadmap of where he’d been today. While his body continued to attack mine furiously, my body started relaxing. I took in the underlying scent of him, tucking it away as I focused on the new smells – paper and ink from his work, the calla lilies in our entry way, Spike, the perfumed air of my mom’s house and then, underneath it all, something that smelled like…engine oil.
His hands started pushing down the lounge pants I was wearing. I paused his hands, my body coming back to rationality, now that he was with me. His wasn’t there yet (or maybe he’d just shifted to a different sort of irrationality) and he groaned in a frustrated way. “Please, Emma. I need you.”
I put my hand on his cheek and made him stop kissing me, made him look at me. “Teren, calm down. Breathe me.”
He swallowed, his eyes unfocused as desire still led most of his actions. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His lips curled up into a smile as where I’d been and what I’d been doing leeched off my skin and clothes. He stayed that way for awhile, slowly pulling back from me, and I heard Halina sigh and felt her speed off to be with the other girls. As Teren relaxed, I heard her tell them that we, disappointingly, did nothing. Imogen and Alanna laughed and they all went into a conversation over what was going on between us.
When Teren opened his eyes, he seemed more himself. He removed his hands from my body, letting me step away from the log my back was pressed against and looking down at himself, sheepishly re-buckled his belt. When he was finished, he peeked up at me straightening out my own clothes. “Hey,” he said casually.
I laughed and slung my arms around his neck, giving him a more moderate hug. “Hey,” I said back. He laughed and squeezed me tight as the overwhelming urge to consume each other faded away. I sighed, wondering if it would be like that every time we were reunited, and then looked past Teren at his car in the driveway.
I stiffened in his embrace and he pulled back to look at me. “What?” he asked, confused.
I shifted my eyes from his car to him. “What happened to the Prius?”
He looked over at the car and frowned. The entire back end of it was scrunched in, like someone had actually hit him. It was still drivable, but was going to cost him a pretty penny to fix it. He sighed as he looked back at me. “We were in an accident, remember?”
I cocked my head at him, the ache in my neck starting back up since the energy in my body had dissipated. “No, we…I mean, not really, that was just a story.”
He shrugged, his hands loosely resting on my hips. “A story that would obviously be a fake one, if nothing was wrong with my car. I needed something to fix, so I created something to fix.” He shrugged again while I shook my head. The never ending charade. How could I forget.
“Are you okay?” I looked him over, but couldn’t see anything even remotely wrong with him. He looked delicious, even my overeager kissing earlier wasn’t apparent on him.
He laughed, the sound coming out deep, husky and soothing. Just being in his presence was soothing. “Of course I’m okay, Emma.” He kissed my head and started walking us into the house. “I’m fine.” He sighed softly and I thought that maybe he was remembering that technically, I wasn’t. I sighed too.
His arm around my waist, my head on his shoulder, we made our way into the dining room. Alanna and Imogen had finished up a steak dinner, the smell of cooked meat and fresh blood making my mouth water, even from the kitchen. My fangs dropped back down and I let out an irritable groan before sucking them back up. Halina was scouring over an ancient leather-bound book laid out on the table, but still managed to look up and laugh at me.
Her eyes shifted to Teren, taking in his rumpled hair and clothes from our “greeting” and gave him a smirk. “Teren, glad you’re home. We’ve been eagerly awaiting your return.” She laughed after she said that and I flushed and shut my mouth, again halting the desire to tell her to shut it. It was prudent to not piss off the vampire, being the bearer of miracle twins or not.
Teren ignored her comment, walking around the table to hover over her shoulder, one hand coming down to rest on the table as he looked over the book she was reading. I suddenly realized they were looking over our abductor’s journals.
“What did you find?” he asked her, intensity in his voice.
She looked up over her shoulder at him and pointed to a section in the book. His hand darted over to shift the pages closer to him. He muttered something in Russian that I’m pretty sure was a nasty curse. Shaking his head, he lifted the book and read the passage over again. Then he started flipping pages. I could smell the grime and dust coming off the paper as he flipped them over.
“What is it?” I asked as Imogen flitted into the room, coming over to me to examine the wound at my neck. I sighed and closed my eyes for a second as her cool touch soothed the dull ache. Teren looked up to answer me right as she did that. His eyes locked onto my un-bandaged wound and he froze. He hadn’t been paying too close attention to the spot in the parking lot, more focused on the unblemished side, but it certainly had his attention now.
Never taking his eyes from the scar on my skin under Imogen’s fingers, he whispered, “He killed them all.” His eyes came up to mine, moist and haunted. “Entire families. He didn’t leave a single member alive…not even the children.”
My eyes watered as my hand went to my stomach. I closed them and willed the sudden bile in my throat not to rise. I couldn’t even imagine such hatred. I felt Teren blur to my side as Imogen stepped back, her scent retreating with her as she went to sit by her daughter.
Teren’s cool hands cupped my cheeks and I opened my eyes to gaze at him. “We’ll keep looking. We’ll find someone.” I nodded, not knowing what to say.
Teren brushed the hair away from my shoulder as he stood close beside me. He swallowed, biting his lip and then he slowly lowered his head. He gently placed his lips to the wound, his touch tentative, like he didn’t want to scare me by moving too quickly. Nothing Teren did frightened me, so I carefully tilted my head to the side, letting him know that I wasn’t scarred by the attack. Well, not emotionally anyway. Physically, I was, and probably always would be. But Teren’s mouth was welcome anywhere on me. He sighed and placed another kiss, gentle, but firm. I heard him mutter that he was sorry, but bef
ore I could tell him he had nothing to apologize for, Alanna swept into the room, ushering everyone to sit as she brought out dinner.
Teren studied his glass all through dinner and I could practically see the gears turning in his head. As we sipped our blood, he spoke with Halina and Imogen about every detail of the notes they’d already read. While his eyes never left his blood, he listened raptly as they repeated detail after horrid detail. The man had sliced, staked, and burned a path of vampiric destruction across the Country. Teren started asking questions about the last few entries. The entries that had led the man to him.
Finally looking up, Teren muttered, “Something’s not right about this.”
Halina scrunched her brows. “What do you mean? His last entry was a nest in California…us.”
Teren shook his head. “His notes make it seem like he’d learned about the nest awhile ago.” He shook his head again. “He admitted to me that he’d stumbled across me. No one tipped him off, he got lucky.” His voice came out sarcastically on the word “lucky”.
As meals were finished and dishes were swept away by Alanna, Imogen said, “Well, didn’t you say he tracked you for awhile? The notes could still be about you.”
Teren ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. It would be a hell of a lot easier if he’d just said, Teren Adams, vampire, living in San Francisco.” He sighed. “The vague way he talks is driving me crazy.”
It was true. From what I’d heard them discuss, he rarely used names or locations. Everything was references and descriptions. The dark haired one. The blonde. The woman and child. Found a group in the place where the sun never sets. It was all gibberish that only meant anything to the man who’d written it. I suppose that was a precaution. I mean, the creatures he was stalking were, in the eyes of the law, people. He couldn’t exactly keep a hit list on him.
Teren grunted as he stood from the table. “I want to look at the rest. I feel like we’re missing something.”
Halina nodded and standing as well, beckoned with her finger. Teren moved to follow her and I stopped him, grabbing his elbow. He looked back at me and I frowned up at him. I knew that once he got his nose in a book that might hold the key to saving me I’d never see him again. He ran his hands down my hair, leaning in to kiss me softly before resting his forehead against mine.
“I’ll be up in a little bit.” He kissed me again and then followed Imogen and Halina from the room. I sighed as I watched them leave. With the bond, I could sense him go into the living room and then down into Halina’s room. The three of them stopped down there and I stared at the floor, where they were underneath me. The sound of books shuffling and pages flipping met my ears. By the sound of it, there were a lot of journals. Diaries of a madman. That’s what we were relying on to save me. Splendid.
Alanna slung her arm around my shoulders and twisted me. “Come on, dear. Jack and I were just about to watch a movie. Won’t you join us?”
I looked between her youthful face and Jack’s weathered one. He smiled at me as he reached a hand out for his wife. I had a feeling they were on the “occupy Emma” duty tonight and sighing, I nodded and followed them.
I only half watched the movie, more listening to Teren’s deep voice than anything else. By the look on Alanna’s face as she snuggled into her husband’s side, I thought that maybe she was more listening to them too. Her eyes flicked over to mine as I sat in a plush chair, rubbing my stomach and trying not to worry. I met her gaze and we both gave each other a small, reassuring smile. All we could do was hope for the best.
When the World War II movie Jack had picked out wrapped up, Teren and the girls were still deep in discussion over a phrase in the book that Teren was convinced was the man’s next real target. He had it in his head that the man had come to California for someone else, and had been sidetracked by finding him, meaning that the original mixed he’d been stalking was still out there, somewhere. He just had to decipher where.
Getting the feeling that he was going to decipher “where” all night long, I yawned and stood (with Jack’s help). “Teren, I’m exhausted,” I said at a normal volume.
He paused in speaking to one of the girls and I could tell he was debating what to do – he wanted to stay and keep going with his line of thought, he wanted to come to bed with me. When a few seconds of silence went by, I sighed and said, “Will you just come tuck me in?”
“Of course.”
No sooner had he finished saying it, then he’d blazed into the room and was standing beside me. I’d felt him move though, so he didn’t surprise me. I slung my arms around his neck while he smiled down at me. Tired, my head went to his chest while he scooped me up. Even though I knew he was dying to return to his research, he walked me at normal pace up the stairs to the bedroom. My eyes felt heavier with every step he took. He opened the door to our room one-handed and swished us inside, closing it behind us. I pointed to the bathroom, wanting him to walk me in there too. He laughed, but obliged me.
He set me down on the counter and I smiled at him as he backed away. With one hand I grabbed him, just clutching his dress shirt before he could speed away from me. His jaw tightened, but he smiled and stepped towards me. I knew he wanted to leave, but he’d been gone all day and I missed him. Ten minutes wouldn’t kill him…or me.
My eyes drifted over him as I thought about our time apart, and more importantly, our time back together. I wondered if our reunions would always be that intense. They did say absence made the heart grow fonder, but I think we were pushing the limits of decency on that phrase. Meeting up like that could be really embarrassing in the wrong place, like a church or something.
Replaying our hot little encounter, I smiled a little seductively at him. My teeth spoiled the moment by dropping down. Luckily I didn’t slice anything. Irritated, I grunted and focused on pulling them back up. Teren smiled at me while I shot him a glare. “Why can’t I get them to stay in place? You don’t seem to have as much of a problem with it as me?”
He gave me a sly smile. “Don’t I?” He raised an eyebrow and I blushed, remembering how I’d found out about his little secret in the first place. They’d sort of slipped down when he’d gotten a little too…excited.
I smiled and looked away, delighting in the memory of his embarrassment. His hand came out to my cheek, pulling my gaze back to his. “I’ve had a long time to get used to it. You will too.” I sighed, wanting an instant answer, not an it-will-get-easier response. He tilted his head and added, “It may help, if you think of it in a different way.”
I scrunched my brow, lost. “Huh?”
He laughed, his thumb stroking my cheek. “I think most people assume that vampires push their fangs down to use them.” I scrunched my brow further; that’s how I’d always imagined it. He smiled and shook his head. “We don’t. We’re constantly holding them in.”
I tilted my head and tried to feel the pressure on my fangs. I could sort of sense the difference in what he was saying and I experimentally relaxed my mouth. They instantly popped down into place. I smiled up at him as he nodded at me.
“It’s where they naturally want to be. You have to constantly hold them up, like you’re sucking in your gut around a cute guy.” He smirked and laughed lightly at that. I sighed at the thought of always having to be in control of them.
“What if I can’t? I mean, you have to relax sometime?”
He nodded and shifted his hands down to my legs, rubbing his cool palms over my thighs. “It will get easier. After awhile, you won’t even think about it. I promise.”
I sighed and nodded again, thinking about the level of control he must always be using. It was a miracle he didn’t slip up more often. “Don’t you ever get a break? What about when you sleep?”
He smiled, his hands running up to my hips. “Yes, they come out when you sleep, as the body relaxes. You’ll need to learn to sleep with your mouth closed.” He raised his eyebrows and smirked. “Or mostly closed. You can still snore if you want to.”
I reached out to smack him, but he blurred away from me. From downstairs, I heard Halina laugh at me. “I do not,” I whispered, mortified.
He grinned and laughed, halfway across the room from me. “If you say so.”
I twisted my lips at his amusement and then carefully hopped off the counter. Knowing he didn’t really want to be in the bathroom with me, I pointed at the floor with a stern face. Stay. He gave me a wry grin and folded his arms across his chest. Not moving, but not necessarily liking being commanded. I grinned and twisted around to brush my teeth, wash my face and examine the wound at my neck again.
His eyes watched me, watched the scar intensely, like he thought he could wish it away by staring at it. Fluffing my hair around my shoulders, hiding it as well as I could, I remembered his earlier apology. His eyes were still staring through my hair, at the wound his perfect vision could probably still see.
Conversion Book Two: Bloodlines Page 32