He smiled. "Yeah, I can do that. Sorry, I should have been clearer about dinner."
I stood back up, then leaned over and gave him a light kiss. "Yes...yes, you should have."
I awoke early the next morning to a pale shaft of sunlight streaking across my eyes, and the undeniable aroma of bacon wafting through the door, even all the way up here. My stomach let out a loud rumble and I pressed a hand against it. I felt Teren laugh beside me and then he raised his jet-black head to gaze at me, blocking the light from my eyes in the process.
"Hungry?" he asked, as he shifted in bed to turn towards me.
I giggled as I massaged my belly. "I shouldn't be after that meal last night, but apparently, I am." I sighed. My scale wasn't going to thank me for this. "I'm gonna gain ten pounds hanging around your family this weekend."
Teren stroked my hair in a soothing, repetitive pattern. "It's all part of our plan to fatten you up," he whispered. My eyes widened and he laughed at the look on my face. "I'm just kidding, Emma."
"Funny."
He smirked. "Your weight doesn't change the flavor of your blood anyway."
Offended, I smacked him on the shoulder over and over. He blocked a few hits, but that only made me try and hit him harder. In a defensive move, he brought the bulk of his body over mine. "Would you stop," his fangs slid out as he hovered inches from my face, "hitting me."
I instantly stopped provoking the vampire above me and held completely still. He cocked his head and stared at me in an inhuman way. Then, quicker than perceptible, he lunged for my neck. Before I could scream, he clamped onto my skin. As the sound of my terror bubbled up from my chest, I waited for the impending pain of my throat being sliced open.
It didn't come.
I stopped the approaching wail and struggled through my labored breathing to understand what was happening. It was then that I realized he was only kissing my neck, not sucking me dry. I had felt the tiniest prick of a fang, but he must have retracted them perfectly upon impact with my skin, and only his normal, much less threatening teeth were playfully nipping at my neck.
My heart painfully stuttered, and I smacked his shoulder again and pushed him away from me. He gave me an impish grin while I took deep breaths. "Don't you ever do that again! You scared the life out of me!"
Grunting, he shook his head. "Do you honestly think I'd do that?"
Feeling calmer, I shrugged my shoulders. "You looked pretty convincing..."
He leaned back in to kiss my neck. "Silly human," he breathed across my skin. "I keep telling you...I won't bite until you ask."
His lips across my throat were starting to do wonderful things to my body, and my breath quickened again for another reason. "Don't get your hopes up on that one," I muttered, as I closed my eyes and savored the feel of rough stubble, soft lips, and a warm tongue against my very sensitive skin.
He shifted his position on top of me and pressed his hardening body against me. I made a soft, satisfied noise at the intimate sensation of our bodies touching each other, and ran my fingers up his bare back. His breath increased as well as he shifted his mouth to mine. A deep noise escaped his throat, thrilling me, and I eagerly kissed him. Wrapping my legs around his, I imagined him ripping my silky pajamas off and taking me on this oversized, satin bed. The oversized, satin bed that belonged to his family. His vampire family...with the uncanny hearing, that right now, was listening in on every moan, lip smack, heavy breath, and squeak of the bed, as if they were standing at the end of said bed.
I immediately broke contact and pushed his shoulders back. "Get off, get off, get off!" I whispered intensely.
He rolled over and looked confused...and disappointed. "What? I was just teasing about the whole neck biting thing."
I sat up and gathered the sheets around me, like his family was actually in the room. "I know. That's not why... We can't... I am not..." I didn't know how to explain it to him, without explaining it to everyone. Eventually I just whispered, "Super ears."
He looked at me confused for a minute more, and then he understood and started laughing. "Emma." He couldn't say more than that since he was laughing so hard, so I got up and went to the bathroom to take a cold shower.
After I had finished with my chilly shower, I went back to the bedroom, where Teren was still just lying on the bed. He started laughing again as I approached my bag on the dresser and I scowled at him. He made a concentrated effort to stop laughing and quieted to soft chuckles. Eventually, he sighed and held his arms open to me. I ignored him and rummaged through my bag for fresh clothes-faded jeans and a fitted, button-up shirt that looked very ranch-like. Teren could pack my bag from now on, I decided, since he was so good at it.
Not letting me ignore him, he sat up on his knees and blindingly quick, removed my towel. I gasped at the sudden surprise of being nak*d, and at the cooler air swirling around my skin. I modestly tried to cover myself with my hands. "Teren!"
He lay back on the bed and grinned at me. I couldn't even see where the towel went; he could have put it back in the bathroom and I wouldn't have seen it, he was so fast. He opened his arms for me again.
I didn't ignore him this time. "No," I said firmly.
He pouted. "Why not?"
I threw on my bra and underwear before he could blur them away as well. After I was successful with that, I slid on my jeans. "I'm hungry," I said, sliding on my shirt.
"So am I."
He grinned, and I rolled my eyes and pointed to the bathroom. "Go take a shower...now!"
This time he rolled his eyes. "Fine."
I dried my hair and threw on some makeup essentials, mascara and lipstick, while Teren took his cooling shower. While he dried off, I lightly curled my hair with the provided curling iron. Not only did our fancy guest bathroom have a dual headed shower, a jetted tub, and a private room for the toilet, it came with a fully stocked vanity, complete with a plush, cream-colored, cushioned bench and a three-by-six foot mirror. I just might move into this bathroom, I mused.
After toweling off from his shower, Teren dressed in his most lived-in pair of jeans with a blue button-up shirt that he left loose over the top of them. The jeans did wonderful things to his backside, and the shirt did wonderful things to his pale blue eyes. He slipped on a pair of work boots and I hoped that somewhere in his bag, he'd tucked in a cowboy hat; it just would have completed the outfit. He looked incredibly handsome. This life suited him.
Hatless, he grabbed my hand and we made our way down the elaborate staircase to the foyer with the nak*d woman statue. We took the hallway to the right that led to the kitchen, and the smells of breakfast made my stomach rumble again. You'd think I hadn't eaten in years by my body's reaction to the amazing hickory and maple scented bacon that was filling my nose. We walked into the cheery, sunlit room and spotted Teren's dad reading the paper and sipping on a mug of coffee. He looked up at hearing our approach.
"Good morning, kids. Sleep well?"
I smiled as Teren answered, "Yeah. Thanks, Dad."
We sat across the table from him, and just as I was wondering if I should help out in the kitchen, Alanna came out with a tray full of food. She set it in the middle of the table and gave me a warm smile. "Good morning, dear. Hungry?"
Knowing that every vampire in the house had probably heard my gurgling stomach...among other things...made my cheeks heat. I cringed as I answered. "Yes...thank you."
Alanna looked over at Teren with an odd glint in her eye. Teren looked away for a second, seeming almost embarrassed, but then he calmly returned her gaze. "Good morning, Mother."
She looked at him for a silent second, flicked a quick glance to me and then back to him. "Good morning, Son." She smiled brightly and so did Teren.
Alanna blurred back to the kitchen and returned almost instantly with plates, silverware, mugs and glasses. Disappearing again, she returned with milk, orange juice and a carafe. I ignored the carafe and eyed the overflowing platter of bacon, scrambled eggs and toast, with my mouth practically watering. Jack started helping himself and Alanna gave him a swift kiss before blurring out of the room. I figured it was all right to load up our own plates, so I grabbed a spoon resting in the eggs and started piling.
Teren grabbed the carafe and I tried very hard not to notice. He held it out to me and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "Coffee?" he asked, as he grabbed a mug.
"Coffee?" I asked quietly.
He smiled. "Yes...just coffee this morning."
I relaxed and nodded as he filled my cup. I wondered where the rest of the vampires were in this huge house as Teren set down my steaming mug. I supposed they didn't need to eat breakfast, so there wasn't much point in them idly sitting at the table and watching the humans, and the mostly-human, eat regular food. As I watched Teren fill his plate with bacon, I wondered why he ate regular food and they didn't appear to. Maybe their more vampiric nature just made regular food not taste as good to them. Teren certainly appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the slice he'd popped in his mouth though. I stopped worrying about it and focused on the incredible meal before me. It tasted just fine to this one hundred percent human.
Once breakfast was out of the way, Alanna lickety-split cleared the table. She removed almost everything while I went from a sitting to a standing position. I was instantly a little jealous; being super-fast was one vampire trait that I really wouldn't mind having. While she finished cleaning up, Teren held his hand out to me, to show me the rest of the expansive home.
We walked through the five star kitchen, where Alanna was already washing the breakfast dishes. I marveled at the double oven, a walk-in freezer, the ceramic, smooth-top burner-less range on an island in the center of the room, that also had its own sink, and a refrigerator that was built right into the wall and resembled cabinets, until you looked closer and spotted the handles. All the countertops were thick, green-speckled granite and all the wood in the various cabinets and cupboards was a deep mahogany. For a home where only one person appeared to eat, they sure spared no expense on the kitchen.
Walking through that room, we swung around to the living room that seemed to take up the entire back of the house. A wall of glass on one side of me had French doors that opened up to the foyer and the set of elegant staircases that led to the rooms upstairs. A wall of glass on the other side showed me that my earlier assumption was correct; a large swimming pool was nestled in-between the three buildings.
The living room itself was an homage to a comfortable ski lodge. Plush chairs, throw rugs and ottomans were scattered in clusters around the massive room. A couch that looked as if you could live in it was opposite an antique, claw-footed coffee table, scattered with oversized books filled with glossy looking pages featuring ranches around the country. I wondered if this ranch was in one of those books and decided that if it wasn't, that was purely by the owner's choice-this spread was amazing.
The couch and coffee table were in front of the single most impressive fireplace I had ever seen in my life. I stopped in front of it and just stared and shook my head at the innate beauty of it. It was large, taking up a good chunk of the wall it was positioned on, and it protruded into the room with a semi-circle ring of stones that commanded attention. But that was pretty standard for a fireplace of its size. What made it intrinsically breathtaking was the flue. It was shaped in a semi-circle, much like the hearth, and, like the outside of the home, river rocks in various sizes and colors were pressed into the wall. While that would have been impressive enough, it was the fact that the rocks were formed into what was clearly a flame design that had me still marveling.