A/n Just a recap. Tory is Emery's mother and James is her boyfriend. Also, remember in this world, werewolf soul-mates CAN fall out of love (unless you're a Carter).
James and Tory
Sunlight comes streaming in. Tory blinks at the dazzling light, groaning mentally for forgetting to close the blinds last night. She tilts her head to the side, her moment restricted from the large man draped over her, pinning her to the bed. Her fingers trail at the soft hair of his sinewy forearm before interlacing their fingers around her waist. She feels his face nuzzle into her silk strands and nose run along the column of her neck.
“Morning beautiful,” he croaks, his voice husky from first use.
“Mmm, morning,” she whispers back, smiling to herself as she feels him lay sweet chaste kisses against her naked shoulder body. As the kisses continue, the hand at her waist curves upwards to cup her breast and Tory can only laugh at his virulence.
“Really? Already?! Jeez, baby you sure do have the appetite of a 20 year old.”
She can’t help but tease him about his age. The passing of another year for him, something they’d celebrated yesterday. Unlike her, he embraces it with ease and truthfully, Tory only finds him more attractive with time.
The erect staff rubs against her smooth ass before she parts her legs and allows him to guide himself inside. Both gasp at the connection; one no matter how many times they exhaust still remains powerful.
“Don’t you go worrying, Angel. I’ve still got a few good centuries in me yet,” he promises before making good of their slipping time.
As they quietly sip their post-breakfast coffee in front of the TV with Ina Garten explaining some simple delicious recipes, James decides now is the best time to reveal his recent train of thoughts. Thoughts that refer to stepping up their relationship.
After their first night, he’s let her take more of the reins on the pace of their relationship and so far it’s not been an issue. In all honesty, he admits there have been times when he’s had to persuade her a little but this is one of the big hurdles and it’s one he can only hope she’s ready for.
“So hey, we’ve been spending a lot of time together, right?” he causally mentions, arm still slung over her shoulder.
He feels the muscle tense before she turns to him in confusion and apprehension.
“I-I suppose but I mean, we don’t have to. I don’t mind but if you-”
“No-no-no. Wrong end of the stick, baby. I meant that since we should carrying on spending a lot of time together.”
That doesn’t shed anymore light on the situation for Tory and the confusion remains.
“Okay,” she drawls out.
“Okay, so I was thinking maybe we should…move in together.”
Tory’s stunned. Of course, it’s a natural step to take. They have been spending an awful amount of time together-all the weekends, most of the evenings and even a few cheeky texts at lunch.
“Oh but my job….”
“Angel, I didn’t mean you just up and leave to move in with me-”
“But if you move in with me the commute would be way too long.”
He grins broadly. Now he can really tell her how long he’s been thinking about this.
“I have some time off since the club’s undergoing some renovations so I thought…if it’s okay with you, we could give this a trial run. Maybe stay here for a few days-or however long you’re comfortable.”
“How long do you have?”
“A fortnight at the least.”
“Well then stay for a fortnight…at the least,” she grins.
The smile is too infectious and he can’t help grin back. Pulling her towards him, he gives her a chaste kiss. Only small, butterfly kisses are never enough with a woman that addictive. Poor Ina fades into the background as they passionately kiss on the couch.
As his hand slides up her smooth thigh, barely covered by the oversized sweatshirt and plaid short, Tory giggles pushing him away playfully.
“Stop it! We just had breakfast, don’t make me burn it off before it’s even digested-”
“We could always eat again. Maybe eat off each other,” he huskily whispers back, urging a bright blush to her cheeks.
Eating off each other the first time hadn’t worked so well but the shower had been…well…steamy would be one word to describe it.
The second time had been much better. Much, much better. The shower had been great as well.
“You know Emery’s visiting next week. We’re going to have to control this,” she says twisting away from his lush lips that keeping coming forward.
Her half-hearted efforts to distance herself from them are in vain and he soon has her trapped in his grasp and latched to her neck.
“I say we should try and have our fun while we can.”
“James! Jame-”
And that’s when the cries turn into a moan. Thankfully before things escalate further there’s knocking at the front door.
“There’s someone at the door, move….James, seriously…James!”
The knocking continues and begrudgingly he lets go off her. Eyes still trained on her as she strides towards the door.
There’s another knock and as the next one starts to come, she opens it wide. Only her brimming, joyous smile slips slightly as she takes in the stranger before her.
His bronze hair is a fraction lighter than hers and lusciously curly. His eyes are a soft blue and his features completely masculine. He stands slightly shorter than James and is also leaner, as highlighted by his casual clothing. She’s sure she’s never seen him around before but there’s something awfully familiar about his face that she just can’t pinpoint.
“Hi. How can I help you?”
His head tilts as he assesses her head to toe. Tory can only shuffle self-consciously at his gaze but that’s when she feels James’s hand and body behind her.
The man’s head snaps to James’s and amusement glazes them.
“Who is it babe?” questions James gazing down to Tory, who mirrors his confused expression.
“Er…I’m not sure,” she responds refocusing on the stranger.
“Oh I think you are…babe,” he snorts condescendingly.
Tory can feel James snap straighter at that and she knows she needs to intervene before they break into a brawl right on the doorstep.
“Listen, I don’t know who you are but I think it’d be best-”
“But you do who I am, Tory.”
She shakes her head, “what on earth are you-”
And that’s when she realizes it-when she acknowledges it.
“You’re not…David?” she whispers fearfully.
It can’t be him. Why on earth would he turn up here now?! After all these years? Now, when she’s finally happy-he comes just to ruin it?!
“See I knew you’d know.”
“What are you doing here? Why are you here? After all this time?” she exasperates.
“I would like to discuss all that, however preferably not at your doorstep,” he patiently points out.
Naturally Tory hesitates. She doesn’t exactly want to welcome him into the house that he destroyed before she rebuilt it into a home. It would be like bringing bad karma in and she doesn’t particularly want that. But then again, she wants answers-an explanation. The same thing she’d wanted years ago and had convinced herself thereafter that she doesn’t. But now with him standing at her front door with all that in tow, she wants it. She craves it.
“Okay…okay, we can talk but don’t expect it to lead anywhere. I still want you away from my daughter and I,” she firmly states, lips pressed tight and posture defensive as she moves out of the way to allow him to pass.
Shutting the door, it’s only when she feels James’s hand on her tense shoulder, she actually realises he’s here.
“Dining table; I’m sure you know where that is. I’ll be there in a minute,” Tory instructs David, who for a split second seems like he’s about to crack a joke at her bossiness but quickly changes that for a strategic nod and enters into the lounge-cum-dining room.
“Do you want me there?” murmurs James, softly kneading the knot there at her shoulder.
Tory exhales deeply before nodding, “yes. I’m only going to tell you it all after anyway, so you may as well stay. Though…this-this is between us; James, I don’t want to hurt your feelings but I’d really appreciate it if you just remained a spectator rather than…”
“Hey, that’s fine. I understand, okay? I won’t interfere, I won’t say a word…But are you sure you want to do this? He…He-”
“I know. I know and this I’m not giving him a second chance-this is not that. I just want answers…answers I never thought I’d get and he obviously has something to say, considering he’s here now after all this time…” Tory exhales, “let’s just…get this over and done with.”
James simply nods, hugging her close and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
As she slides into the old dining table chair, opposite David, she feels a lot stronger than the last time she’d been in his presence.
“So…you’re here. Why? Why now?” she shrugs.
David sighs his gaze sliding towards James before his eyebrow rises.
“Must your…what are you? Her gay best friend or something?-be here?-”
“Stop it-what are you 17? He’s my boyfriend and he’s staying and we’re not talking about my relations with anyone but you. So just answer the question David. Why are you here and now?”
“My stepdaughter passed away a week ago. Cystic Fibrosis,” he exhales.
Tory can’t help but gasp. One in shock and pain that after leaving her, he’d moved onto another woman with a daughter-and not even his daughter. The second gasp for the tragedy that had happened, the poor girl.
“I’m very sorry to hear that. That must have been…hard.”
“Thank you. She was a wonderful girl. Which is why I wanted to see how…Emery is.”
Unbelievable. All these years and he’s now only interested in his daughter?
“She’s great. She’s studying English Lit and she has a wonderful boyfriend. But of course, if you’d stuck around or even wanted anything to do with her before, you’d know all that.”
“You’d really have given me joint custody, Tory?!”
“Yes! Of course!” she snaps back. How dare he insinuate that she’d keep her daughter away from her own father?! In fact, she’d always wanted her to have a good role model and although David may not be the best one, he is her dad. She deserved that much.
“Oh really? Because I recall things very differently to you,” he sneers back.
“I have no idea what you mean! Okay, you left. You-you had all these affairs and you…you didn’t even care about your own daughter! All you cared about was-was your extramarital indulgences-”
“Oh I see! You’re just going to blame the entire failure of our marriage on me?! And what-you were a saint in all this?”
“Well I certainly didn’t go whoring myself out-and in front of my daughter-”
“Once! It happened once! And I wanted to explain it to her! I wanted to talk to her but you wouldn’t let me! You were so…so…”
“ ‘So’ what David? You may as well spit it out now?! It’s not like we have anything to salvage,” she sarcastically spits.
“You were so possessive.”
“Excuse me?!”
“You just-you never saw it from my side, did you? The failure of our marriage isn’t just my fault Tory, you played a major role in it too,” he points out before expanding on that, “you were so obsessed with the pregnancy. All you’d talk about was that, all you cared about was that. And then when we had her, you would hardly ever let me hold her-”
“That’s not true.”
“Yes, yes it is,” he says, “you were so possessive over her. You’d always have to have her around. Hell, she even slept in our room for years! You wouldn’t let me play with her, you wouldn’t let me take her to places without you, you wouldn’t even let me pick her up from nursery! Then you started ignoring me! Distancing yourself from me. You’d give me such short, curt answers-like I was a stranger in your house. Tell me, what was I supposed to do?”
Tory swipes away the few tears that trail her cheeks. Her head is spinning with disbelief and confusion. She’d thought she’d been a good wife-a good mother but what if she in fact hadn’t been? She tries to recall those buried memories, trying to find just a few shreds of evidence in her memory that David’s wrong but shockingly, she catches glimpses confirming his words. After her parents shunned her, perhaps she had overcompensated by being overprotective of her daughter. Maybe she did push David away? But he…he still made his choices.
“You shouldn’t have had those affairs,” she says in conviction. That’s one fact she’s sure on. He had cheated on her-multiple times.
David simply nods in agreement.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have. But I was just a kid as well, Tory…I didn’t know how to deal with all these crazy changes-a baby, a house, a job. And I couldn’t even talk to my soul-mate about it. So maybe, yeah, I did try to forget about it, in between other women’s legs and for that I’m sorry.”
“Fine…Fine. But David if you truly wanted Emery-if you truly wanted us to work why didn’t you stay? Wait, did you want us to work?”
“Yes! Yes, of course. I mean, I didn’t want to end it on such bad terms like we did and like I said-I was just a kid-I only wanted to hurt you as much as you were hurting me. But Emery…I truly did-do-want her. She’s my daughter.-”
“Then why just abandon her? Do you know how much she’s suffered because of that? How…careful…she was around men?!” exasperates Tory.
Tory’s the one who had to live with seeing her daughter battle the consequence of her own father not fighting for her. She’s the one who had to try and somehow ‘fix’ the problems he caused, not that she could.
“I can only imagine-”
“No. No you can’t because you weren’t here, David! You didn’t feature in her life at all!” cries Tory.
“And you think I did?!” he shouts back just as furiously because lowering his voice and continuing, “I wanted to be in her life, Tory. I wanted her just as much as you did. I’m the one who convinced you to keep her remember.”
The last sentence is whispered but it’s a sucker punch for Tory-only because she knows it’s true. She had been an A grade student, she had the perfect life, the perfect boyfriend and then she’d got pregnant. So of course, she’d considered an abortion. Her parents were highly in favor of it but David…David convinced her otherwise and for everything bad he’s done to her, that was the single best thing he’s ever done for her.
“That divorce settlement sure was a funny way of showing your love for your daughter then. Never wanting anything to do with us-with her. Yep, definitely father of the year material.”
“Stop it. I had my reasons-”
“Then please, enlighten me David. Isn’t that why you’re here after all?”
He pauses for a moment before sighing.
“Yeah, okay. I thought she’d be better with you. I…I didn’t want her to be in the middle of a messy divorce. I didn’t want her to have to split her time between us and I…I couldn’t stand to see you with someone else. Plus if you or her were in my life, I didn’t think either of us could find happiness with anyone else. So I did what I thought was best. I left you both and…it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Then…after I met Elaine, my…wife and her daughters, I realized how foolish I’d been. By then, so much time had passed and I didn’t want to intrude on your lives. But Lacey-she was always trying to get me to reach out to Emery, only I was…too cowardice. She wanted me to do this, Tory and I…do too.”
Tory gulps; her thoughts so befuddled that she has no idea what to even feel. She believes David and she can understand what he’s saying, however that doesn’t change the past and that past has determined the present. And they’re in this situation where both mother and daughter, are happy. She doesn’t want to ruin that for Emery. But then again, as much as James is like a dad to her, David…David is her biological father.
“Look, David. I-I am really sorry about Lacey but what do you want from me?”
“I want meet her, Tory. I want to meet my daughter. Talk to her, see her, know her.”
Tory shakes her head, “that’s not my call, David. She’s an adult now. She should be able to decide for herself.”
As much as Tory wants to protect her daughter and thus push David away from her, that’s exactly the kind of thing that caused a rift between them. And this time, it’s up to David and Emery. But…she doesn’t want her daughter to be hurt again.
“Good, okay, then do you have a contact number? I’d like to speak to her.”
Tory nods, standing up and picking her phone off the coffee table before finding Emery’s number. Reciting it to David, she hopes she’s making the right decision. Her eyes glance to James, who’d been surprisingly quiet over the whole ordeal, even when David had yelled at her.
That’s another thing she has to worry about. What does he think now that he’s heard David’s side? Does he think that she’s a monster for doing what she did to David? And what about Emery? She doesn’t want him to feel like he’s being replaced as a fatherly figure if David and Emery reconnect.
“Thank you, Tory for this,” David nods, slipping away his own phone and rising to his feet and following her lead to the front door. He notes that her boyfriend remains seated which is good for what he has to ask her.
“Well what we’re both happy now with other people so what good would it do holding onto that anger and resentment? But just know that Emery has a lot of people that care for her, so if you hurt her, you will have a lot of people to answer to,” she mutters. She’s giving up on those long ago when she realized just how lucky she was to have the things she does and even luckier when she found James. She would mention that Emery’s mate is Dane Carter and hurting Emery would only bring the wrath of his whole family on him, but she decides it would be much more entertaining when he finds that out all on his own.
“You’re right. And look, if Emery and I…do reconcile, naturally we would see each other a lot more so…would that be okay? I mean, I don’t expect us to be friends but we can be polite right?”
“David, if that happens, you don’t have to worry about me starting any sort of conflict with you. I’m…I’m happy where I’m at and I past holding onto us.”
David can exhale in relief and he holds his hand out for a handshake.
“You’re right. Maybe this was all for the best.”
She shakes his hand, a small smile at her lips, “maybe.”
As she reenters the room, she’s wrapped in a thick pair of arms. The feel of him, the scent of him, his presence of him is incredibly comforting.
“Thanks baby. For staying and not…getting in the middle of it,” she mumbles into his navy t-shirt.
“I told you I wouldn’t and I meant it. That was between you two and you seemed to be able to handle yourself. So? How are you feeling now?”
Tory untangles herself from him before gazing up at those serene blues.
“Let’s sit down first. I wanted to ask you that too,” she replies wearily tugging him towards the couch.
Taking a seat in his lap, she swings her legs onto the couch and rests her head against his shoulder as his hands slide soothingly along her thigh.
“James…He-he’s right, you know. I was selfish and possessive and-”
“Don’t. Sweetheart, don’t. I’m sure you both made mistakes. But there’s no point dwelling on it, is there?”
“Am I like that now? Do you…do you ever feel like that with me?” she whispers.
“No. Absolutely not, Tory. I hate to agree with the guy, but like David said, you were both very young then. You’re a more mature woman now. And I don’t love you any less for who you were then. But I am curious to know, what do you think about him? Turning up now and everything? And his stepdaughter?”
“David seems…much better than before. He truly seems happier and I’m glad. I guess, for so long I’ve been imagining him as this devil in my mind, you know. The root of all my problems and that just wasn’t fair. He really did make me realize that and I’m glad he turned up. Although, I do wish he’d done it sooner but I suppose if it had been sooner I wouldn’t have known you and I probably would have resented him for his happiness. Hated him for finding another family, for being this seemingly great father to another woman’s kids but now…I feel like it’s okay. I like my family and I’m really sorry he had to lose his stepdaughter but I really do wish him happiness with his family.”
He kisses her forehead and whispers, “you’re incredible, you know that?”
Tory can only smile and blush before she remembers to ask him what he thinks to David. Not that it truly matters because even if James doesn’t like David, it doesn’t mean Tory’s going to love James any less.
“So what about you? What do you think of David? And wanting to connect with Emery? Do you think I should have given him the number? What if Emery-”
“Tory-Tory-shhh. I think you absolutely did the right thing. If David’s reaching out to Emery then it should be her choice whether or not she wants to do the same. As for wanting to connect with Emery…I’m not sold on it. I’m sorry, I know it’s not what you want to hear but I don’t think he’s really doing it for her. I hope so. But I just feel like given what he said about his deceased stepdaughter, it’s like he’s doing it for her. But maybe I’m wrong.
As for David himself…I don’t know Tory, I’m not exactly taken by him. We definitely won’t be hitting the bars together anytime soon but at least he’s trying to rectify his mistakes.”
Tory sighs, okay, nothing too bad there. But there is one more thing.
“And if he manages to ‘connect’ with Emery again…would you be okay with that? She does see you as in that father-like role.”
And Tory knows that James regards her very much like his own daughter. She hasn’t ever missed those small, sweet gestures he does for her, which causes the heartstrings of Tory’s fluttering heart to sing. Take next week for example, instead of having Emery take the train home, he’d volunteered to actually drive down and pick her up. Or the time, he’d given her a lecture on safe drinking after she’d drunkenly phoned him. And there’s the fact they sometimes just text each other random quotes from books they’re reading.
She doesn’t want James to feel like all that’s going to be taken away from him. And she certainly doesn’t want him to feel intimidated by David.
But James…he always surprises her.
And right now with his gaze screaming sincerity and his hand cupping her cheek, he says the sweetest, most reassuring thing she’s ever heard, “Tory, I love your daughter and I will always love her like she’s my own, because she sure feels like it. If David wants to do the same, then that is fine with me. Because you can love as many people as you want and many people can love you in return. Love doesn’t have limits, baby.”
A/n Okay, so like I said this is a side project, so yes, I never will know how long I'll take to update. And I've decided that I won't be doing a separate Rachel/Zac story yet! But maybe in the future.
Also I've decided to keep these updates in order of books. So characters from Book 1, then 2, then 3 then 4. Meaning that Book 2 will be next aka. Mason and Katy.
As for kids and stuff, I thought I'd also do it in terms of a time line. So for the first round, it'll only be a little into the future; the next round will be further and the next (if I do one after) even more into the future. Idk, this seems to make sense in my mind and hopefully as I do more, it'll make more sense to you guys too (if you don't already get my messed up mind-and tbh I don't blame you if you don't!)
Alright, thanks for reading.
*unedited*