Everyone listened to Teren's suggestions and we ended up stopping at a spot that looked like an artist had painted it. Thick, majestic Douglas firs and sequoias lined the banks of the broad, slowly churning river. Huge boulders created perfect spots for Tracey and me to sit and dip our fingers into the icy waters. Teren and Ben moved a few feet away from us and cast their lines into the clean, crystal-clear stream that was home to huge trout. Even I could see some occasionally swimming by. Eagles were perched high on some nearby tree branches, watching for meals of their own, and Half Dome peak provided a magnificent backdrop that was almost too perfect to believe was real. It was a stunning location.
The boys chatted back and forth about fishing lures and other places around California that they'd been. I noticed that Teren never mentioned his parents' ranch and the fishing hole he and his dad frequented, and wondered if that was because Ben would naturally ask to see it and that was just something Teren wasn't willing to let happen yet. That thought reminded me that my mom had wanted to see the ranch. Hmmm...maybe she'd forget if I never brought it up again. Yeah...right.
Tracey and I found a nice spot on some large, flat boulders to lie down on, and we enjoyed the warmth of the sun on our faces while we chatted about work, Ashley, and our fishing boys. We had flipped onto our stomachs and were sort of ignoring the men, as we chatted about the latest celebrity gossip. I was sharing my "I practically know Brad Pitt" story, which Tracey appreciated a lot more than Teren had, when an icy blast of cold water hit my previously warm lower back. I screamed. Tracey matched my startlement as her own skin was suddenly exposed to the frigid river water.
I flipped over and glared up at a laughing Teren. He was standing above me, wiping his wet hands on his jeans. He and Ben had thought it funny to cup a handful of icy water and dump in on our backs. Why does that sort of thing amuse men so much? I jumped up and smacked his shoulder while he laughed and backed away from me. I heard Hot Ben spouting something behind me and knew Tracey was probably smacking the crap out of him too.
Teren suddenly picked me up and scooted me back into the forest a little ways. I could hear Ben and Tracey giggling, but I could no longer see them. Teren backed me into a tree and pressed his body along the length of me. I suddenly didn't care about the fight we'd had. I suddenly didn't care that he'd just doused me with water. I suddenly didn't care that our friends were ten feet away.
I ran my hands up his back and pulled him tight against me. His lips hungrily met mine and he made a deep noise in his chest as his hands ran over my body. I threaded my fingers through his hair as my tongue sought his. I moaned in his mouth when we brushed together.
His mouth scooted over to my ear and sucked on the lobe. "I want you," he growled. I gasped, amazed at how much that feeling was reciprocated, how much I wanted him. His mouth trailed down my neck as his hard body pressed into mine.
"How do you want me?" I murmured.
His blazing eyes pulled back to look at me and my breath increased at the passion in them. His fiery eyes flicked back to the bank, where Tracey and Ben were still laughing. When they flicked back to me, his fangs were extended. "Every way," he husked.
Well, damn...
I struggled to remember that our friends were a short distance away, and I couldn't entertain this little vampire fantasy right now. I ran my finger along an extended tooth and he quivered. I pressed the pad up against the point until it poked through the flesh. I cringed at the momentary pain but stopped when his warm mouth closed around my finger and started sucking.
Oh, hell...
"Hey, guys?"
Ben's voice shouting to us from the riverbank startled me from the hotness of the moment. Teren stopped sucking on my appendage and lightly shook his head; his fangs retracted as he did. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself away from me and smiled with just the corner of his mouth. I struggled to put myself back together as he answered Ben.
"We're coming," he shouted towards the bank.
I heard Tracey laugh and mutter, "I bet they are." My face heated at her comment and Teren chuckled and looked at the ground. When we were both more collected, he extended his hand to me, and I happily took it. We emerged from the forest a few minutes later. Hot Ben and Tracey looked at us with knowing smiles before laughing and cuddling into each other's arms again.
"Ready for lunch?" I muttered, walking over to Teren's backpack to get the picnic we'd tucked in there. Only light laughter answered me and my face flushed even more.
A few hours later we were on the highway, driving through the sea of green trees, heading back home to Fog City. We were zipping along a few paces behind Ben's SUV, and I could see his and Tracey's heads leaning together in a sweet kiss. I thought about how tender and romantic their weekend had been, and how different an experience mine had been. Not that Teren and I hadn't had our moments-that last by the river was still burning through my body-but for the most part, our weekend had been an enlightening one.
As Teren had been helping Ben take down the tents and load up the vehicles, and Tracey had been regaling me with tales of more camping trips she wanted our foursome to take, my mind had been spinning with the ineptitude of Teren's plan.
It wasn't going to work. I needed him to see that. I needed him to at least consider that possibility, without ripping my head off. I looked over at his softly smiling face as we followed Ben's vehicle away from the park. I hoped that smile would stay on his face after this little conversation...we needed to have it though.
"Teren..."
The edges of his lips curled down as he instantly knew what we were going to talk about. So much for the smile. He looked over at me out of the corner of his eyes. "You want to do this now?" he asked.
"I just want you to listen to my side...that's all."
His eyes relaxed and his mouth softly curled into a smile again. "I can listen. I am capable of that."
I exhaled in a long, calming breath as his eyes went back to the road. Seeing the smile still on his lips, I quietly began, "I'm terrified, Teren." He turned to look at me with furrowed brows, and I continued before he could interrupt. "Your little stunt yesterday has clearly shown me that I can't do what you're asking of me. I just can't, Teren."
He returned his eyes to the road with his forehead still scrunched. I couldn't tell if the expression was anger, confusion or worry. Finally, he shook his head and said, "I'm only asking for a car ride, Emma. It's not as big a deal as you-"
He wasn't understanding my dilemma. I cut him off. "Assuming, by some miracle, you call me in time and I get to your heart-attacking body before everyone else, assuming I manage to get you into my car before a single person around figures out what's going on, assuming all of that, how long will the actual conversion take Teren? How long do I really have to get you to the ranch?"
He blinked and let his train of thought end without a fight. He stared at the road, thinking about it, and I could tell from his expression that this was the first time he'd considered that part of it. I realized that, just like I hadn't looked at every angle when I'd asked him to change Ashley, he hadn't looked at every angle in his quest to stay in San Francisco. Sometimes we only see what we want to see.
When he finally spoke, he answered me quietly, and a little humbly, "Great-Gran said Gran's conversion took half of an entire day." I considered that, as his face fell with his next realization. He continued in a near whisper, "Gran said Mom's took four hours."
Icy shock made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I blinked and gaped at him. "Four hours? From Twelve? Teren, in one generation it condensed that much? Who knows how long it could take for you?"
He looked over at me, and I could see real fear behind his eyes as he came to a startling conclusion. "It could take under an hour for me," he stated, returning his eyes to the road.
Panic filled me, as I realized what that meant. "Your parents live an hour away. Even if I got to you right away, even if you were still conscious in the car when we started the trip...if we got held up in traffic or the tiniest thing went wrong, or if it was even quicker than an hour..."
Teren swallowed and spoke my greatest fear, "I would wake up in the car...alone with you." He immediately added, "I wouldn't hurt you, Emma. I swear."
"Teren...what are you willing to risk on that? Are you willing to risk my life on a death-inducing thirst? Are you willing to risk yours?" He twisted to stare at me, his mouth dropping open. He hadn't known that I knew how severe his thirst would be, that I knew how severe the ramifications of his not drinking would be. He didn't know that I knew he would die, if he didn't kill me. He realized it now.
He briefly closed his eyes before returning his vision to the road. We had lagged behind Tracey and Ben while we'd talked, and that happy couple was no longer within sight of us. That seemed a little appropriate, considering the conversation we were now having.
"What do you want me to do, Emma?" he asked, heavy reluctance in his voice.
I laid my hand over his knee. "I want you to go to the ranch. I don't want this burden. I don't want this risk." He glanced over at me with sad eyes. "I want you to be safe, Teren."
He looked back to the road and was silent for so long, that I was positive he'd begin fighting with me again when he did speak. But, with a heavy sigh, he finally conceded the fight. "Okay. I'll go."
He didn't speak again for the rest of the exceedingly long drive home, and I felt every mile go by in the oppressive silence. I found I couldn't speak either. I found that I had no words. I didn't feel like gloating that I'd won the fight, that he'd finally be safe. If anything, I felt guilty that I'd coerced him into doing something he didn't want to do, even if it was the smarter choice.
We pulled up to my house hours later and he sweetly helped me carry my things to my room. But sadness marked his features, like the reality of his situation had finally tightened around him, and he was having trouble accepting it. He'd lived for so long in a sort of stubborn "I'll do this my way" denial, that he'd overlooked some truths about his situation. Those truths were eating him up inside now; I could see it in his countenance. He looked on the verge of a breakdown.
After the last of my stuff was plopped onto a wicker chair in the corner of my small bedroom, Teren murmured goodbye and turned to leave. I grabbed his arm, stopping him. He looked at me with heartbreaking eyes that were quickly filling with tears. One finally dropped to his cheek and I felt my own eyes watering.
"I'm so scared, Emma." His voice quavered, and another tear fell down his cheek, following the same path as the first.
I immediately pulled him into me and kissed him. He returned the kiss with ferocity and instantly started stripping clothes off of me. It was the only comfort I could give him. It was the only comfort he could give me. Things were changing...rapidly, and fearing that change, we clung to this one moment of physical bliss in my small Victorian bedroom.
Chapter 14 - Decisions
Teren's moment of panic quickly subsided with our passionate lovemaking, and he fell asleep in my arms, happy and content and with probably a full pint of my blood in his system. Before I followed him into slumber, his terrified face filled my mind and his quavering words filled my heart-"I'm so scared, Emma." I knew he was scared to die. I knew he was scared he'd hurt me. His fear was only solidifying mine. But I'd do this for him. I'd be strong for him.