I truly relaxed as I watched them embrace. If my sister could bond with Halina, then the rest of the Adams family would be a snap. And it did appear to be that way. Never leaving my side for long, Ashley conversed breezily with Alanna, talked at length with Imogen, and gazed at Jack in such a way, that I suspected she was aware of what role he could play in her life as well. She even spent some time laughing with Halina, and learning some Russian phrases-phrases that I was absolutely positive were Russian curses that would have made the KGB blush.
Teren drove her back home an hour before dawn, after lengthy goodbyes and promises to return longer when she had a break with school. Halina looked disappointed that she was leaving, and told Ashley to let her know if anymore foolish boys bothered her. I hoped my sister was aware enough of Halina's nature to not take her up on that offer. I was pretty sure that any frats who crossed Halina would get more than a light nibble and a mind wipe.
A few nights later, Teren and I were curled up on the couch in front of the massive living room fireplace. His family was relaxing outside in their massive hot tub. Apparently the vampires enjoyed the near-searing heat on their chilly flesh even more than humans did, and from what Jack had told me, their skin was a much hotter temperature for a while after leaving the tub. I'd tried not to think about the intimate implications of that, as I nodded at the man who was practically a father to me.
Teren and I talked about some of the things our captor had told us. My memory of that night was hazy at best-I had been smacked around a lot-but Teren remembered quite a bit, even with the fog of pain he'd been dealing with at the time.
"So...you're not alone," I told him, as we lay side by side on the couch; the heat from the fire caressed my back, while the coolness of my boyfriend's chest gave my arms goose bumps. "You're not the only mixed vampires."
Teren looked over my head into the flames of the fire. His eyes danced in the changing firelight as he thought about that. "Yeah...and all this time we thought we were the only ones." He returned his gaze to me. "Who knows how many of us are out there?"
I bit my lip as I searched his face. "Will you try and find them?"
He looked back to the flames and pulled me tighter. I laid my head on his silent chest. "I don't know. It's tempting. Maybe...someday."
"You know I'm coming with you, right?" I murmured into his chest.
He laughed and kissed my head. "You know I'm not leaving you behind, right? We vampires tend to stick close to what we like, remember."
I peeked up at him with a crooked grin. "Does that mean you like me?"
Without missing a beat, he answered, "Sometimes."
I playfully poked his arm and he laughed. He held me close in silence and just as I was about to flip around to warm up my chest and cool off my back, he spoke. "He mentioned fourth and fifth generations. He said that they were rare, and hard to spot, but if we could find some of the older generations, maybe we could see if diluting out vampirism is even possible."
I pulled back to look at him and a sad smile lit his face. "I know it's too late for us...but it would be interesting to know if it could have been possible for our line to remain...alive." He shrugged and looked sorry for mentioning it.
I swallowed back the surge of grief, and felt pleased that only one tear escaped my eye. Teren tenderly stroked it away. "Yeah, it would be interesting..."
"I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry." Remorse tightened his face as he stroked my cheek.
I shook my head. "It's okay, Teren. It's okay to talk about children. We should talk about it. We both lost..." I brushed another stubborn tear off my cheek. "Besides, maybe one of these older generations has tried to turn someone. We could find out if it's possible..."
He pursed his lips at me and I let it drop. He still didn't want to talk about it. I didn't want full vampirism for me, or even for my sister anymore, but if we could find a way to become like Teren? Well, that would be considerably more tempting...although, drinking blood still seriously grossed me out.
I flipped over and snuggled my too-warm back into his cool embrace. My arms and chest heated in the glow of the blazing fire. Slightly turning my head, I whispered over my shoulder, "You and your family will need to be extra cautious from now on, now that you know there are people out there...hunting you."
He sighed and kissed my head. "I told you not everyone is a fan." I stroked his arm and pulled him tighter, savoring him being close; I'd been so sure I was going to lose him. He kissed my head again. "You're right...we'll be careful, more so than usual." I rested my head on the crook of his arm and nodded. "And besides...we don't know for sure that he was working alone." He said that last part quietly, like he meant for the others to hear it, but not me. I had heard it, though, and I clutched his arms tight to me. He was right; we didn't know that for sure. The man's life had seemed solitary...but we had no real way of knowing. And if he'd told someone about the nest of vampire ranchers that he'd found...
A low growl vibrated against my back and I twisted around to look at Teren. He was staring into the fire, his eyes intense. "Let them come, they'll regret it," he said, his voice as intense as his eyes. "I'm not so weak anymore and I won't be taken by surprise again. No one will ever touch my family."
I swallowed and a shiver ran through me. I hated the thought of Teren's family being in danger, of Teren being in danger. Twisting back around, I closed my eyes and let that fear burn out of me with the heat of the fire on my face. Right at this moment, I was safe with Teren and he was safe with me. Everything else would just have to be worried about on another day.
After a while, my face and body felt healed enough to leave, but the ranch was so comforting and welcoming, not to mention packed full of bursting-with-blood bovines, that we delayed returning to the city. We delayed returning for the full six weeks, and before we knew it, November arrived...and Teren's twenty-sixth birthday.
On that night, the girls surprised him with an elk. I had no idea where they got it and the idea of them hunting the countryside for one and then lugging it back to the property, made me insanely happy. I was giggling near uncontrollably when they showed it to him. Teren laughed at my reaction and then the rest of his family joined in too. Well, everyone except Halina; she was eyeing the Elk with interest, and I was pretty sure that if Teren didn't drain it soon, she'd take a bite while his back was turned.
Eager to give him my own present, which required far less clothing, I pulled him into the house when he was finished with his birthday meal. His family stayed outside, only watching us flit indoors with amused expressions on their faces. I supposed they'd become a little accustomed to our physical relationship, and while I wasn't going to let it stop me, it did still sort of ick me out.
Walking backwards down our hallway, I started pulling off Teren's shirt while we kissed. I successfully removed his shirt and flung it over my shoulder; it landed just on the inside of our door. Teren laughed and started unbuttoning my top. Inside our room, the fireplace was burning away and a merry, orange glow danced across Teren's chilly flesh. I backed him into the door a second after he closed it and ran my hands up his body.
He made a low growl deep in his throat and finished blindingly fast with my shirt, throwing it on top of his. His hands ran up my back and I shivered. His skin felt like he'd momentarily walked into the freezer in the kitchen; cool, just on the verge of being cold. It was enough to send goose bumps racing along my skin, but not enough to be completely uncomfortable. And after his skin left mine, I felt all the hotter for its absence. We were the perfect blend of fire and ice.
Teren pushed us away from the door and started making quick work of my jeans. I started in on his as well. "Happy birthday, baby. I hope you didn't fill up on that elk," I whispered in his ear. All I got from him was another low growl in response.
His lips trailed down my body as he sank to his knees. He started pulling down my jeans. When he reached my hips, he stopped and looked up at me, a little irritated. "What is that?"
I tried to control my heavy breath, as I pushed his head back to my skin. "What's what?"
He looked back up at me, like I was intentionally doing something to annoy him. "That noise? I've been hearing it for a few days and it's really distracting right now..."
Irritated myself now, I stepped closer to him, so he'd refocus on the task at hand. "God, Teren, I don't know...you could be hearing a moon landing with those ears of yours."
He sat back on his heels, further frustrating me. I put my hands on my h*ps as he stated, "No...it's coming from you."
Embarrassed, I crossed my arms over my body. "I did eat a lot today..." Alanna had been outdoing herself with gourmet food for Jack and me; one of her greatest joys was cooking, and she loved having some humans around to do it for. I'd been eating way too much and had definitely gained weight this time-my clothes were even getting a little tight. I was kind of scared to step on a scale, and maybe just a touch happy that we'd be leaving our love nest soon-so I could start eating more moderately.
He dismissively waved his hand at me. "No...I know those sounds." He brought his fingers to his chin, while he sat there thinking. "This is different...it's almost like-"
I cut him off, my face heating. "You know those sounds? Teren! You do not have permission to listen to noises that my body makes. We need to talk about boundaries."
He shot to his feet and took two steps away from me. "Oh my God, Emma."
I looked over his shocked face with scrunched brows. "I'm just saying I don't want you eavesdropping on my digestive track. It's nothing to freak out about."
His face broke into a strange expression. He took a step towards me, cocking his head, like he was intently listening. "Oh my God, Emma," he said again, almost reverently.
My heart started racing at the odd look on his face. "You're freaking me out, Teren."
He looked down my body and then looked back to my eyes; a crystal clear tear fell down his cheek as he regarded me in awe. "Oh my God..."
He took another step towards me and I stepped away from him, until the backs of my legs hit the bed. Confusion added to my trepidation. My heart felt like it was going to burst right out of my chest. I was about to yell at him to tell me what the hell was freaking him out, when I finally noticed where his eyes were going when he looked at my body. The realization hit me at the exact moment his hand came up to rest on my abdomen.
My eyes flashed up to his. "Teren, do you...hear a heartbeat?" A tear rolled down my cheek at the very idea.
His eyes flicked back and forth between mine as he nodded. "Yes...I think so..."
My hands flew to my mouth as I physically held in a sob. A baby? With the horror we'd been through, and the lasting grief I'd felt over the past few weeks, I hadn't been paying too close of attention to my body. We'd been so sure that that future was lost to us that I hadn't let myself consider the fact that I could have been pregnant before Teren's change and not known it. Heck, he could have very feasibly gotten me pregnant the morning of the attack, and I wouldn't have known it for weeks. It was such a long shot, and it hurt so much to think about the possibility that I hadn't let myself.