He kissed my nose. “I haven’t called her yet. If I told her you were in an accident, she’d rush right out here, and you needed time to…adjust before you saw her.”
I sighed and looked down at his chest. “Oh.” I looked back up. “Ashley?”
He nodded. “Ashley knows, I told her the truth. She is dying to come see you, but I asked her to stay away until you called her.” I raised my eyebrow at that. He shook his head. “I didn’t mention to her that you may…not have made it.” He smiled sadly. “I painted it in the best light that I could for her.”
I wondered briefly how he’d painted being attacked by a vampire in a good light. He was either very vague or underplayed things a lot. “Does she know you gave me your blood?” I said softly.
He sighed and shook his head. “I only told her I saved you, I didn’t go into details.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “She didn’t ask either, so, I’m pretty sure she figured it out.” He sighed and kissed me again.
I swallowed a painful lump, thinking my sister was probably going out of her mind and I should call her right away. I wondered if she’d talked to Tracey for me, explained about me missing work. Maybe she even told her that Hot Ben had been there and had been surprisingly very heroic. Maybe in the story, he pulled me from the wreckage or something. Either way, Tracey was probably waiting for a phone call too.
I closed my eyes, overwhelmed by all the lies I’d have to tell soon, and heard words around the house drifting to me. Hot Ben was snoring, sleeping it off. Jack was watching TV while Alanna and Imogen started making dinner. Imogen and Halina started talking about eating outside tonight and my mouth started watering at the detailed conversation. I felt my teeth get longer and heard my own heartbeat quicken in anticipation.
Teren’s hand came up to my cheek, bringing me back to this room, with him. I opened my eyes, surprised to find my breath faster. He was smiling softly at me, his eyes sympathetic. “You’ll get used to it,” he whispered.
I sighed and nodded, surprised and grossed out over how much my body wanted even more blood. Apparently my pregnancy hunger had shifted to this kind of nourishment as well. I suppose staying out of the city was a good idea after all. I didn’t plan on biting anyone, ever, but the cravings in my body might try and convince me otherwise.
Shutting out as many of my enhanced senses as I could, I focused on Teren’s calming, sky blue eyes. I could see flecks of gray in them that I’d never noticed before. As my heart and breathing returned to normal, I started relaxing. Feeling calm, I found I could will my teeth to retract. They moved slowly, and in my awkward mouth, I could hear the canines sliding against my gums and against the teeth next to them. I smiled when they were pulled in as far as I could get them and ignored how my jaw ached from creating space for the new, longer teeth to disappear into. Teren grinned at my normal looking smile and kissed me softly.
Softly at first anyway. Our kiss started picking up a little bit and I heard Halina’s chuckle before she and Imogen left the house. As his tongue swept along mine, and I reveled that some things felt exactly the same, a stray thought pricked my brain. Pulling back, I playfully said, “So, are you sort of my father now? Do I call you Sire?” He grinned and I leaned in for a deep kiss. “Because that makes this a little creepy,” I muttered between our lips.
He laughed and gently angled me to kiss me even deeper, his cool palms resting on my neck, soothingly. “Husband will be fine,” he chuckled.
One of his hands staying on my wound, the other started trailing down my body and his leg started coming up over one of mine. I sighed and pulled him over, so the top half of him was over the top half of me; the bottom half just had too much belly in the way for him to lie on. His hand still came down to cup my backside though as he pulled my leg back over his hip. My fingers tangled back in his hair and that earlier connection we’d shared started burning under the surface. I wondered again if that bond was unique to us, or just a remnant of our terrible experience. His hand traveled over my stomach while I thought about that.
One of the twins reacted strongly to Teren’s caress and kicked him so hard we both looked down. He laughed and rested his palm over them, feeling them squirm to get near him. I found I could hear their movements too. I closed my eyes and concentrated, tuning out every other sense I had. It took a minute, but then I heard it, the faint, fluttery heartbeats, the same as at the doctor’s office. I could hear them without any special equipment. I could hear the life flowing through their veins. It warmed my heart and tears were in my eyes when I opened them.
Teren was watching me, his hand still on my stomach. “I can hear them,” I whispered, a huge smile on my face. Thinking of what Teren’s blood may have done to them, I frowned. “What do you think happened to them in all this? Do you think your blood…altered them in any way?”
Teren’s hand rubbed my stomach and he shrugged, his face thoughtful. “I obviously don’t know for sure…but I don’t see why it would. Unlike you…and Grandma, really, when Great-Gran was turned, they were never entirely human in the first place. My blood was already in their veins…”
I nodded, smiling again, feeling relieved by that. He smiled in kind and leaned down to kiss me again. Before his lips touched mine, I whispered, “Take them.” He pulled back, confusion clear on his face. “Whatever happens to me, if I die and convert, or die and just…die, take them.”
He tilted his head, concern now clear too. “What?”
I reached up and cupped his cheek, a calm peace flowing through me as I did. “Take them out of me, and do whatever you can to save them.”
He shook his head, his hand from my stomach coming up to cover my hand on his cheek. “Emma, it’s too early. They won’t survive and we can’t take them to a hospital, not with their blood.”
I searched his eyes, seeing that he clearly didn’t want to think about this yet. I needed him too. We needed every possibility covered, and the chances that I wouldn’t make it full term, were too great to ignore. “I know I’m asking you to do something terrifying, something that you know nothing about, and, I know it’s an exposure risk, for them and for you, if take them to get help, so all I can ask from you, is that you and your family try and save them. I trust whatever you all decide is best, but promise me, that no matter what happens, you’ll take them out of me. Promise me that you’ll at least try. That’s my deathbed request.” I took our hands from his face and put them back on my stomach. “Don’t let them die inside of me, Teren. Give them a chance…please.”
He looked down at our hands resting over the bulge of our children. His eyes were wet when he looked back up at me. “I will, I promise. I love you, wife.”
I smiled, knowing that it may not make any difference, they may not make it anyway, none of us might, but at least he would try and save them. “And I love you, husband.”
To Be Continued on Next Chapter ... ... ...