'Til Death (Conversion Trilogy # 3)

Chapter Six: Letting Go

Chapter Six: Letting Go

Teren checked the flight times between Maine and California after we put the kids to bed. There was nothing direct, and with multiple layovers, and the hour or so flight from L.A. to San Francisco, the earliest she could show up was six or seven in the morning. But we really didn’t know how long the vampire Gabriel sent would take to find her and compel her. And we didn’t know if he’d told her to go home first and get some stuff, or if he’d just run into her on the street and told her to leave town. Hopefully the man was nice enough that he let her make some arrangements before she left. I’d feel horribly guilty if she lost her job because some vamp compelled her to haul up and abandon her responsibilities.

Teren wasn’t happy that she’d been “forced” into making such an arduous trip, but I think the real reason for his snippiness as we lay in bed, was the fact that he was nervous about seeing her. While I’d briefly met her a few years ago, when I was pregnant, Teren hadn’t seen her since high school. And the meeting was going to be an emotional one, I was pretty sure of that.

Sighing irritably, he snapped shut his computer and flung it on a chair. “It would be nice to know exactly what flight she was on, so we could meet her at the airport.”

I rolled over on my side, placing a hand on his stomach; the muscles under his shirt were tense, even relaxing in bed. “It will be okay, Teren. Gabriel had her compelled to come all the way to you. She’ll make it here.”

He looked over at me, swallowing. “I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

I blinked at him, sitting up on my elbow. The long strands of my hair curved around my arm and his fingers came up to stroke one; I could hear the silkiness sliding along his skin. “You’re sorry for me? Why? This is going to be hard on you…not me.”

He sighed softly, his eyes searching my face. I could see the guilt in his features and stroked my thumb over his cheek. “You are going to watch me reconnect with the first woman that I ever slept with, a woman that I accidentally got pregnant… I can’t imagine that you’re thrilled about it.”

Pulling back a little, I twisted my lips. “Well, when you put it like that.”

He exhaled heavily and turned his head from me, flopping the hand that had been stroking my hair over his eyes.  I turned his face back to me, removing his arm. “I was joking. I know what this means for you, how difficult it is. I’m not going to let some petty jealousy stop me from being there to support you.”

He shook his head, relaxing back into his pillows. “I’m still sorry. I should have taken care of this years ago.”

My hand drifted from his face down his chest, lingering on his silent heart. “Yes, you should have.” He frowned and I quickly added, “But I understand why you didn’t.” Sidling close to him, my other hand brushed the hair from his forehead. He smiled, slipping a cool arm around my waist. “You wanted someone important to you, to remember what you had together. That’s very…human of you.”

He smiled wider, pulling on my back. Knowing what he wanted, I lowered myself to his lips. Maybe it was his nerves, maybe it was the conversation, but he immediately shifted into I-want-sex mode and gently grabbed my head, angling me so our kiss was a deeply heated one. His other hand ran down over my backside, squeezing gently.

Grinning into his mouth, I wrapped my legs around his. He groaned as my hips pressed into his side, then shifted my body, pulling me on top of him. His breath heavier as we kissed, he muttered, “You’re all I need, Emma. You’re the only one I need to remember me.”

I groaned as his hands pulled my ready body into his ready body. Hearing the breathy sounds of light slumber coming down the hall, my body ramped up its response. I wouldn’t need to tone this down with our super-hearing children asleep. Grinding my hips into his, I mumbled, “I could never forget you, I will never forget you, husband.”