He looked back at me with eyes that were softly glowing in the darkness. I swallowed. "She's what...some vampire vigilante?"
He frowned. "Except she's not handing them over to the police...she's executing them."
I nodded and we both silently watched each other. Shades of gray indeed. I wasn't sure how to feel about this. Another thing to reflect on later, I guess. As we walked into the house, I at least began to finally feel like Halina wasn't going to eat me or my family any more. One small positive, I suppose.
Halina rejoined us while we were finishing up dessert. She swept into the room and poured herself a glass of still steaming blood from the carafe. No one asked her where she'd been. No one gave her much more than a cursory glance. She'd been licking her lips when she'd entered the room. I was dying to ask her if green-eyes was still alive, but after Teren's comments by the pool, I felt pretty good about his chances of survival. And if she had killed him...well, he'd probably deserved it. I still wasn't sure what to feel about that-except grateful that I'd never be on her hit list.
Halina sat next to Imogen and calmly sipped her glass of blood. She noticed me trying to discreetly watch her and she grinned. "Do you need us to go for another walk tonight, Emma?"
I forced myself to not react to her clear goading. Alanna and Imogen respectfully looked away from me and Jack...just looked confused. Teren shot her a nasty look, but said nothing. I guess I was on my own. I swallowed and mentally replaced Halina with my boss. I could talk to my boss.
In my most respectful tone-she was my elder after all-I answered, "No, Halina...Teren and I are going to watch a movie with the family and then go to sleep. We won't be trying for a baby tonight."
I couldn't believe I'd just said that...out loud...to his family. Halina looked equally shocked that I'd admit such a personal detail to the room. She stared at me, her bloody fangs visible in her open mouth, then she started laughing. Shifting her pale eyes to Teren, who was also staring at me and looking a little shocked, she said, "I like her, Teren."
Teren turned to her and started laughing. Eventually the other vampires started chuckling, and even Jack laughed once and shook his head. I forced down the blush and laughed with them. Teren grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. I felt a layer of tension and unease lifting from the room as laughter filled it, and I began to feel as comfortable with this family as I was with my own.
We finished our meal with pleasant, and appropriate, conversations, and then we retired to the living room to watch a movie together. Teren and I snuggled on one end of the massive couch while Jack pulled a large projector screen down from the wall. He pressed a button on a remote and from behind us, a machine built into the wall started projecting Legends of the Fall-classic Brad Pitt ranch movie.
As Halina crossed in front of where Teren and I were entwined on the couch, my legs over his lap, his arms over my legs, she leaned down to whisper in my ear, "You really should try tonight. You are running out of time." She gave me a pointed look as she pulled away and I could only lamely nod at those intense eyes.
Teren sighed underneath me. "Thanks for the advice."
Halina smiled and rumpled his hair, before walking over to sit next to Imogen. She snuggled with her daughter, and suddenly she looked more like a teenage girl at a slumber party than a vampire vixen. Finished with prepping the movie, Jack went over to sit with his youthful wife, who slung her legs over his lap in a similar fashion to mine. She kissed his neck and let out a happy sigh as he laced his arms around her. Jack didn't seem to care in the slightest that her body was cold and her chest was silent. They were definitely my vampire/human relationship role models.
I only partially watched the movie-during the scene where Brad Pitt's character bends his hat in greeting and water droplets jump off of it, I wondered again if Teren had a cowboy hat somewhere. I partially watched the content vampires in the room-Halina and Imogen were whispering and giggling over something on the screen, and I got the impression Halina was eyeing the horses more than Brad. I partially scanned the impressive room-my eyes frequently drifted back to the flame-encrusted fireplace. Such an amazing piece of work. What I mainly did though, was feel the life and vitality of the man beneath me.
His hands stroked my thigh as he watched the movie, and my hand rubbed his stomach. I laid my head on his shoulder and occasionally pressed my lips to his neck, feeling the heat of life beneath my skin. I didn't want to think about him changing. I didn't want to think about the day he was destined to die. I didn't want to think about the responsibility of getting him to the ranch safely, so when he awakened to his new life, he wouldn't do something we both regretted. I didn't want to think any of those thoughts right now as I snuggled with him. And of course, since I didn't want to think about them, they were forefront in my mind.
I blinked at the screen when credits were rolling across it. Somehow during my brooding, I must have fallen asleep. Teren was holding me close, one hand on my hip and the other gently stroking my hair. I looked around with my eyes, but we appeared to be alone in the room.
I infinitesimally stretched and he kissed my head. "You missed half the movie," he said.
Fully stretching, I looked up at him. "Sorry...I guess ranch life wears me out."
He grinned and ran a hand down my cheek. The room went pitch black as the movie flickered out and his eyes glowed bright in the darkness. I let the feeling of peace and serenity wash over me. I'd do anything he asked anyway, but the serenity his eyes gave me swept away my fears for our future.
"Teren?"
"Yes," he whispered, his hypnotic eyes never leaving mine.
"Take me somewhere...anywhere."
In the pale glow he was casting, I could see his lips turn up into a smile. "How about I show you my favorite place here?"
I returned his smile. "I'd love that."
He stood, and even though he was lifting my weight as well as his own, the move was effortless. Gripping me gently, but firmly, he walked us outside to the back patio. Then a breeze was blowing through my hair as he ran us away from the house. I didn't care where we were going. I didn't care how fast we were moving; we would just be a blurring streak to the casual observer. I laid my head on his shoulder and enjoyed the sensation of moving fast without feeling like I was moving at all.
We stopped at the edge of a deep, slow moving creek. I really was only aware of stopping because the wind was no longer brushing past my face; it was that smooth. I marveled at the moonlit water before me as Teren set me down. It was idyllic. Long, tufted grasses lined the banks and the occasional ripple broke the tension of the lazy water, as some creature below it popped up to kiss the sky. Toads and owls filled the air with a quiet symphony, and I could easily picture a young vampire lying in the grass, listening to the sounds of nature around him.
I smiled as I looked over at Teren. My grin grew wider when I saw that he was shirtless and working on his jeans. "What are you doing?"
"I thought I'd go for a swim, want to join me?" he asked. I laughed and was about to answer, when he focused those glowing eyes deep into mine. "I could always make you..."
I pushed him away from me and tore off my shirt. "I am immune to your hypnotic ways...but I will join you." He laughed and we both finished removing our clothes.
I watched his flawless form enter the water and then dive under the deep surface. I crept up to the edge and dunked in a toe-it was freezing. Teren's head popped up near the middle of the easy flowing stream, and he casually held himself in place with a light back and forth motion of his hands.
"Come on. Just jump right in." He flashed me a gorgeous smile, and I suddenly wanted to be in his arms more than I cared about the cold. I gritted my teeth and ran into the water, my toes sticking a bit on the mud at the very edge. Gracefully, I dove under the frigid liquid and swam until I felt his body. I popped up right in front of him, gluing my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck. His hands worked a little harder to keep us both afloat and he laughed.
"Not so bad, right?"
My teeth rattled a little with the cold, but I nodded. Eventually his warmth alleviated my chill and my body acclimated to the water surrounding it. I relaxed the death grip my thighs had on him and lightly treaded water with my hands. Seeing me more at ease, Teren grinned and leaned over to gently kiss me.
"It's beautiful here, Teren," I whispered in between our kisses.
Never taking his eyes off mine, he nodded. "Yes, I know...beautiful." His gaze tracked down my body and I knew he wasn't talking about this perfect place he had taken me too. I felt flushed and tingly all over.
He replaced my arms around his neck, and swam us closer to the edge until his feet could touch the bottom. When he could stand, he wrapped his long arms around me and pulled me in for a searing kiss.
"Teren...tell me everything is going to be okay," I said, during a brief break in our kiss.
He pulled back to look at me; his face showed none of the doubt and fear that I would have felt if I were him. "Everything is going to be fine, Emma." His voice was low and soothing, full of assurance. He truly sounded like he believed that, like somehow, he knew it would all work out. I wished I felt his certainty. If things went wrong...they could go really wrong.
"Do you promise?" I knew the words were empty and pointless, but I sort of needed to hear them anyway.
His hand came up to cup my face. "I promise." His eyes searched mine, and the soft glow mellowed my momentary flood of panic. "I promise," he repeated, before bending down to kiss me.
Our kiss picked up intensity and urgency, and just when I was sure our heat would evaporate this idyllic brook, he picked me up and walked me to a soft spot of grass along the bank. Water rolled down our bodies and dripped off our hair, but I felt none of its chill as Teren laid himself over me, giving me his warmth, giving me everything he had. And in return, I gave every part of myself over to this remarkable man, who completely had my heart. Very quickly, his favorite place soon became my favorite place.
I awoke the next morning feeling satisfied, content, and in love with this wonderful ranch. I also woke up alone in our humungous bed-that, I didn't love. I looked around the empty suite. The fireplace was cold, the candles snuffed out, the curtains drawn tight, so that no light would touch my face to wake me up. I wondered if Teren had thought of that little detail before slipping away. We'd considered sleeping out under the stars last night, in that long grass near the creek, but the slight breeze along our damp skin had us redressing and hightailing it back to our plush, warm room in no time. I would never forget that stream, though.
I stood and stretched my arms high into the air, wondering where my vampire had taken off to, and why he hadn't awoken me. A small surge of God, what else is he hiding? panic filled me, but I pushed it back. He'd said he wouldn't do that anymore. If he was going to trust me, then at some point, I would need to trust him. I'd work on that.
I shuffled off to the bathroom, hoping maybe he was in there, but that room was also empty. I examined my I-had-sex-in-the-grass-last-night hair, and sighed at the straggly mess before me. After picking out a few long strands of dry blades, that had somehow managed to stay with me for the past several hours, I brushed the rest out into some semblance of order. I examined the pale, red wounds on my neck. They were now surrounded by a light, bluish bruising. Thank you for that, Teren. They were better than yesterday, but were still a huge announcement of my boyfriend's newest fetish, so I left my hair loose around my shoulders. I might have to wear a fifties-looking scarf tomorrow at work. Clarice would love that.