Teren had had a lot of errands after work - going to our house and dropping off Spike. I knew my mom had probably grilled him over and over about the accident, making sure I was really okay, and about living out here, making sure the women could take the proper care of me. All of his tasks had taken awhile, and the sun finished setting while I was pacing.
Imogen came down the stairs and stood by her daughter, watching me curiously as well now. Halina, probably wondering what we were all doing hanging out in the entryway, eventually strolled in and sat on a step, watching me with a huge grin on her face. She glanced at Alanna as Jack peeked his head in the room, shook it, and then headed to the living room. "What's her problem?" Halina asked merrily.
Alanna shook her head as she answered her. "Teren is getting closer to the ranch."
Halina shrugged. "Yeah, and?" Alanna only shrugged at that and turned back to watch me continue to restlessly pace.
Shoving down my embarrassment, I made an irritated noise and ran my hands back through my hair. The restlessness ate away at me as I paced in circles on the marble floor. My hands ran over my body in ways that I really shouldn't have touched myself with everyone watching, but I couldn't help it, my body felt on fire. Occasionally I even itched and had to scratch my arms in places. I was pretty sure if this went on too long, I'd develop a nervous tick.
He got even closer, to the point where I could feel him at the end of the super long driveway. I flashed a look at the door again, my chest nearly heaving as I breathed heavily. He was so close now, I imagined I could already smell him. I wanted to shove the door down and get to him, but I knew that was nuts, and made myself stay put, staring at it and willing him even closer.
Halina giggled behind me. "This is exciting!" I tossed a glare at her over my shoulder, but she only smiled wider and looked over at Imogen and Alanna. "I wonder what will happen when he gets here?" She looked back to me, delight clear in her face. "Do you think they'll combust...or just start hav**g s*x in the driveway?"
I hissed at her in a way I'd seen her do on several occasions when someone had irritated her, but she only laughed at me, throwing her arms over her knees, her short dress exposing all of her thigh, and resting her head on her hands, like she had a front row seat to the biggest event of the year.
I couldn't focus on her any longer though; Teren was halfway down the drive, approaching fast. My heart surged, my breath picked up even more, and the circle track I'd been pacing became a short back and forth strut, right in front of the door. I couldn't help the image of Spike pacing like this when he'd see Goldie in the backyard and wanted out, to chase her down. I wanted a chase too...just a much more satisfying one.
Over Halina's chuckles, I heard Alanna and Imogen talking about how unusual my reaction was. Apparently getting into a fervor over your lover approaching, was not typical vampire behavior. Maybe it was the twins that were ramping up my emotions. Maybe I'd burst through the door and Teren would be completely unaffected by coming closer to me. But then again, yesterday he'd been just as...eager, as me. And that had been a much shorter separation. If he was feeling an ounce of what I was feeling, Halina may not be too far off the mark with her joke.
I heard the crunch of his tires as he pulled up to the house. I stopped walking. I heard the engine of the car shut off and I stopped breathing. My body started shaking with unrestrained energy and a rush of longing surged through me. He was so close. So close. I'd be in his arms soon. Soon.
The ache became too much, the need to be with him too great with him right outside. I surged forward, not even trying to hold back my super speed, and Alanna just barely streaked to the door before I busted right through it. The cooler air temperature prickled my flesh and the wind buzzing past my ears was distractingly loud, but neither one did anything to impede my progress. I was just past the huge, ancient timbers supporting the massive overhang of the front door, when a streak came rushing towards me.
That streak twirled me in a quick circle, my balance momentarily thrown off, but before I could fall, my shoulders were pushed back into the supportive log behind me. I ignored the momentary pain in that as I felt Teren's presence collide with mine. My breath came back in a groan and my hands reached out to grasp any part of him I could find.
His mouth came down to mine and he groaned as his body pressed carefully, but firmly, into the side of my hip, ever cautious of my belly, even in the midst of...this. We both panted and moaned as lips and tongues and in my case, fangs, attacked the other. I tasted blood and knew I was nicking him, but he never complained, only growled deep and pushed his hard body into mine. Wanting to kiss him deeper, and feeling, more than knowing, that they were in the way, I somehow managed to pull them back up. He slipped his tongue more completely into me and I whimpered, sagging against the beam now holding me up.
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.