As I finished my food way before anyone else, and had started in on my sister's, Tracey came up with spending the day going out and getting mani/pedis and having our hair twisted into fabulously intricate up-dos. I didn't really want to leave the ranch, but I was buzzing like a woman who'd just downed six shots of straight espresso, and with my mother emphatically agreeing that they'd get more done without me around, I was finally convinced to go get pampered. It was my day anyway, right?
Tracey thought it would be fabulously fun to not tell the boys we were leaving. I didn't spoil her fun, by letting her know that Teren was well aware of everything we'd just talked about. She also thought it was great fun for me to leave my bride slippers on. I groaned dramatically, but secretly loved it. I wanted everyone to know that I was getting married today. Hell, I felt like announcing it on the radio, or interrupting the scheduled programming with breaking news. Something big - because that's how I felt today, that something big was happening. Something big and wonderful...and eternal.
After the seventh hug and kiss, my mom practically shoved me out of the kitchen so she could get down to business with Alanna. While hugging Alanna, I did secretly ask her if she was okay, and she did tell me that she felt great. I knew she would say something like that, but at least by my asking, she knew that I'd been worried about her. And I had, I'd worried about them all.
Whispering a goodbye to Teren, the three of us girls scrambled into Alanna's sleek sedan that she let us borrow. The car was black and luxurious, with cream leather seats that were so soft, you almost felt like you melted into them. Tracey ran her hand over the edges of the cushions and sighed as her head dropped back. "This is the life." She rocked her head over to me. "Now I seriously wish I'd met Teren first."
She winked at me, so I knew she was kidding (she was hopelessly in love with Hot Ben, after all), and I shook my head at her, suppressing a laugh. If she realized that the owners of all the fineries she was enjoying this weekend, no longer had heartbeats, she'd never come near this place again. Luxurious or not, Tracey wouldn't deal with the idea of vampires being real very well.
As I drove us back into the city, I wondered if we'd even find a place to accommodate three of us on such short notice. Then Tracey pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed her salon. That clued me in that maybe it wouldn't be a problem. Five minutes later, we all had reservations at Bella Sole. I had to smile that the name of the salon meant Beautiful Sun. If they only knew the irony of them doing a vampire's fiance's hair.
Tracey kept us occupied for hours. Time flew by as we were pampered - our toes painted in a girly shade of pink, our nails dipped and buffed and French manicured, and our hair curled into long spirals and twisted into elaborately done up-dos, except Ash, who had her hair curled, but left it down. Since only one side of her head would grow hair, I think she felt more secure having it the way she was used to having it. The salon girls seemed a little reluctant to touch her at first, but with more than a few tip encouragements from Tracey, they finally got over their unease at my sister's startling appearance, and by the end, were treating her the same way they treated me.
After a late lunch at a small cafe close by, we grabbed coffees (and cocoa for me) and headed back to the ranch, eager to start dressing for the big event. Pulling up to the drive, we could see that a few guests had started to arrive, even though it was still hours away from the actual ceremony. Some people just really like weddings.
The girls pulled me into the guest room Ashley was using, giggling the entire way. We sat on the edge of the bed and talked about all the things girls talk about when they get together: catty girls at work, or at school in Ashley's case, the current mystery running through our favorite television shows, the most unusual sexual requests, positions and/or places. I kept my mouth shut on that one, thinking that Tracey would not want to know the things my bloodsucker liked doing. While Tracey and Ashley gabbed and changed into their dresses, I started to wonder what my bloodsucker was up to.
I wasn't sure how he'd spent his day, or how he was feeling now. I wondered if he was also feeling the anxious butterflies that were currently swarming around my stomach. A stomach that was also starting to veto the BLT I'd eaten at the cafe. Either that or Grande sized hot chocolate I'd just finished tilting back.
As Ash and Tracey adjusted the clingy, blood red fabric of their dresses, I put a hand on my stomach and exhaled slowly and carefully, hoping pure will power could convince my belly that everything was fine. It wasn't working though. I closed my eyes as my stomach churned. I felt a bead of sweat on my professionally done makeup and bit my lip, knowing that that was the least of my concerns now. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I shot off the bed and ducked out the door, muttering "be right back" as I ran for a bathroom.
Running blindly down the hall, I began to wonder where the bathroom was on this side of this stupidly huge house. I ran into an open door that looked promising, and nearly groaned in frustration when I saw it was just another stupid bedroom. Then I noticed the cracked open bathroom door and exhaled in relief. I would have done the happy dance if I'd have had the time. I didn't though. The only thing keeping down my lunch was the hand covering my mouth.
Dropping to my knees, I lost it right at the toilet. Knowing I was pretty much ruining my makeup, I couldn't help a few tears from falling. I hated getting sick. When my body was empty, I sat back on my heels and rested my head on my arms over the seat. I felt myself sniffling, more tears forming, and not wanting to be alone in my discomfort anymore, I suddenly wished Teren was with me, and not out bonding with the boys somewhere.
As if on cue, cool arms soundlessly wrapped around me. I was pulled back into a muscular chest as the arms twisted me into a carrying position. As he stood, I sighed contently and wrapped my arms around his neck, just glad to have him near. He kissed my head and walked me back to the bedroom. I buried my face in his cool shirt, the smell of the outdoors filling me - water, grass, and nature - all with a light hint of his cologne underneath it. He was manly and wonderful, and his mere presence had a calming effect on my queasy stomach.
He laid me down on the bed and came up to lie beside me. I lolled my head over to look at him as he propped up on an elbow to watch over me, almost protectively. I smiled at the look of concern in his face. "You found me," I whispered.
He half-grinned at me, a finger coming out to wipe off my smudged mascara. "I heard you," he said softly, his smile shifting to a pout. "Are you alright?"
A small laugh escaped me at how trivial my sickness was, compared with what his had been. "I'm fine, Teren, really." I shook my head, my smile feeling huge to me. "This is nothing at all." My arms snuck out to clutch his body and I pulled him into me, like we were two magnets that couldn't bear to be apart.
A small laugh escaped him as I clung to his body and then he sank down to the pillows and held me just as tight. "Good," he murmured, his nose sliding along my neck. I shivered at the cool touch and felt him smile as he pressed his lips to a vein there. I had to imagine that vein was pulsing faster than normal. "Why did you run into this guest room anyway? There is a bathroom right by Ashley's room at the other end of the hall."
I lightly smacked his shoulder. "Because this house is too damn big, and I have no idea where everything is." He chuckled and I pulled back to look at him, his pale eyes catching a flash of sunlight streaming through the window next to us. "Why were you in the house? I figured you boys would be off in the wilderness somewhere, hunting vicious trout."
He laughed at my comment and bit his lip. "I've been feeling edgy, anxious. " He gave me a sheepish grin. "I was scaring the fish away." I laughed at that while he shrugged at me. "I thought I'd get something to eat, thought maybe that would calm me down."
I raised my eyebrows at him, happy that he was feeling what I was feeling, but wanting to tease him some. "Oh, nervous?"
He smiled and shook his head. "No, excited." He bit his lip and then leaned over to kiss me.
I relaxed into the feeling of that cool mouth on me, that glorious tongue sliding against mine, and let myself indulge in this man I was going to marry, just a few hours from now. My hands threaded up into his hair as he shifted his weight over my body. My fingers slid up his cool t-shirt as his hands palmed me through the outside of my button-up. I groaned and rocked against him as his lips moved down to my neck, that course stubble sending tiny waves of pleasure through me. As his tongue found the spot in the crook of my neck that he preferred, I pulled his h*ps directly over mine.
He groaned a little as he instinctually pressed against me. "You know cold cow's blood won't satisfy you right now," I whispered in his ear. He growled low in his chest and pressed against me again in answer. I suppressed a moan, quickly inhaling my breath instead. He was ready for more than just a love bite, and I sort of was too. Breathily, I added, "You can snack on me, if you like?"
"I always like..." He rumbled a low growl again and the lips pressing heated kisses into my skin turned into the pinpricks of fangs, ready to plunge deep inside me. I gasped at the thought, but pushed him back.
"What do you think you're doing?"
He blinked, his eyes full of passion and hunger, his fangs extended to drinking length, and his brows furrowed in puzzlement. "You said..."
I rolled my eyes and smacked his shoulder. "I'm getting married in a matter of hours." I pointed to the glaringly obvious vein in my neck that he'd been about to puncture. "I don't need to go down the aisle with a hickey." Or circular fang wounds.
He looked down, embarrassed. "Oh, right." He peered back up at me with just his eyes. "Then, where?"
The look of clear desire still on his face, made me feel supernaturally sexy, and with a quick glance to make sure the door was closed, I gently pushed him to the side of me and began slowly unbuttoning my white long-sleeved blouse. His breathing stopped as he lasciviously watched my fingers exposing my skin, button by slow button. When the shirt was completely opened, his breathing started again, heavier than before. With my newly perfect, French manicured nails, I drew a line straight down the middle of my chest. Stopping just above my bra, I grabbed a section of the cup and pulled it back, exposing the creamy skin on the top part of my breast, the part my bra and dress would easily cover.
"Here," I whispered, my other hand reaching up to his neck and pulling him to me.
He exhaled a cool breath across my skin, his eyes closing just before contact, and then he sunk his teeth in, gently, tenderly, and yet at the same time, commandingly. I gasped at the tremor of pain, followed by the warm heat of my blood being pulled from me. His cool lips desensitized the skin around the area, and the cool brush of his tongue soothed me, just as surely as it ignited me too. He made a purring noise, his hands clenching and unclenching my h*ps as he drank from me. I smiled. This was the last time he'd do this from his girlfriend. The next time, I'd be his wife.
I was in a euphoric, connected, peaceful state of mind, when everything suddenly took a drastic turn. Somewhere in my haze, I registered the one sound Teren and I really couldn't afford to hear right now. The sound of a door rapidly swinging open.