Sacred Bond: Secrets of Stone Ridge

by Harms, C. A.

  Turning her, I lower her to the couch at my side and crawl over her slowly. Gliding my palm over her silky thigh I push up her shirt and pause near her waist. Kissing the very place our child rests safely. I hear her take in a slow calming breath as her fingers comb through my hair and I pause, trying to calm my emotions. I am generally a man that shows very little emotions but with Taryn and now our child I feel they are my only weakness.

  Slowly rising up, I find her lips and get lost in our kiss. Her legs wrap around my waist and hold me in place. “Show me how much you need me,” Taryn nibbles on my lower lip and as I pull back she sucks gently making me groan. “Make love to me.”

  I don’t respond, but instead I give her what she is asking for. Lowering my boxer briefs I watch as her eyes settle on my cock. Her panties are shredded, and tossed to the side right before I find my place inside her and feel her warmth engulf me.

  Seated deep inside Taryn we both hold on to one another, our hearts racing, only the sounds of our panting breaths filling the room. Needing nothing more than to memorize the feeling of her wrapped around me tightly I wait. It's almost like I can’t get close enough.

  A gentle shift of her hips she pulls back and pushes forward once more giving only a small amount of friction. Just enough to trigger my own movements. I pull back, feeling her pussy grip me and I push in once more and together we are lost. Slow, drawn out thrusts, we are doing exactly as she asked. Making love, loving one another, getting lost in the way we feel as one.

  Waking to the feeling of the sun heating my back I begin to move and hear a soft whimper from Taryn. After more than an hour of making love we fell asleep just as we were, naked and sated on the couch. The large picture window gave way to the morning sun allowing it to fill the living room. I squint, searching out the clock and find that it's barely after seven.

  Taryn’s shirt is pushed up enough to expose her stomach and the slight bump there warms my heart. Sprawling out my hand over the space I feel a slight movement that makes me smile. Our child.

  “I can’t wait to meet you little one.” Looking up at the woman that is giving me such an amazing gift I know what I need to do. I was ready to make her mine, and that means I have to bring her parents here and I have to make them see how much I adore their daughter. She is mine, I know this, as does she, but I also know that the one thing holding her back whether she chooses to admit it or not is the blessing of her parents.

  I want them to be a part of our lives, a part of our child’s.

  Now to convince her it is time too.

  Taryn

  Merick wraps his arm around my waist as we make our way into the airport. My parents' plane should be landing anytime now. The voices bombard me, and I close my eyes for a second to clear the thoughts that flood my mind. Crowded places like this, with so many people causes the thoughts I hear to sound all garbled.

  “You okay?” he whispers against my ear, causing me to do a full body shiver. This man has become my addiction. The love I feel for him is so strong it scares me. My hand goes to my belly and our baby gives a little kick.

  I nod, “I’m good. Excited to see my parents.”

  He leads me over to baggage claim and we take our seats. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I casually look around, looking for anyone out of place. I close my eyes and try to see if I can hear any threatening thoughts, but again it’s all garbled. There are too many people around.

  Merick wraps his arm around my shoulder and hugs me into his side. He places his lips against my temple and I smile up at him.

  When they announce my parents' flight has landed I jump up from my seat. My body is vibrating with happiness. Merick stands behind me with his hands resting on my shoulders as people start walking down the hallway toward us.

  As soon as my mom comes into view she squeals. “My baby.” She comes running toward me and I run to her. We hug as we hop up and down. I’m barely aware of my dad and Merick greeting each other.

  Mom puts her hands on my shoulders. “Montana looks good on you my baby girl. You’re glowing.” She looks down and sees my little bump and her eyes turn bright. “Oh my goodness.” Mom places her hand on my little belly. Tears begin to run down her cheeks. “My baby is having a baby.” She pulls me into another tight hug.

  “Karen, can I hug our daughter too?” My dad says from beside me. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tight. “I’ve got the most beautiful daughter in the world.” Dad kisses me on the forehead.

  “Hi Daddy.” With my arm around him I reach out and grab Mom’s hand. “This is Merick.”

  Mom grabs his face, pulling him down and kisses both cheeks. “It’s so nice to meet you. I see you’re taking good care of my girl.”

  “I am and she’s taking care of me.”

  Once we get their luggage we head over to the rental kiosk. Dad and Merick take Merick’s truck and mom and I follow behind in their rental. We head to the cabin where my parents are staying. I’m dying to know what the guys are talking about.

  Mom grabs my hand. “Merick is so nice and the way he looks at you? Totally swoon-worthy.”

  “Swoon-worthy? How do you know that phrase?” I laugh.

  “Romance novels, of course. In all seriousness, he treats you well?”

  “He does, I swear. Mom, I’ve never felt a love like this before. He’s so excited about being a daddy.” Merick and I decided to fabricate a story for my parents' benefit due to the fact that my pregnancy is moving along rapidly. “Mom, I need to be honest with you about something.”

  “What baby?”

  I hate lying, but I can’t really tell her that I hear people's thoughts and our baby--her grandbaby is going to be half shifter. “Merick and I actually met while he was in Chicago for business. We really hit it off and imagine my surprise when he told me where he was from. Anyway, we were um...intimate and I got pregnant. That’s why I came here, to tell him and see if we could have a future together. So, I’m a little further along then I said.”

  She’s quiet for a minute. “Honey you’re old enough that I don’t need to tell you about being careful. I’m glad that it’s someone who is obviously in love with you.”

  Merick’s fingers glide up and down my back as I lay snuggled up to him in our bed. My parents were over for dinner earlier and Mom “oohed” and “ahhed” over our home. She insisted that they wanted to order and pay for the baby’s furniture. While Merick and Dad stood out in the cold in front of the grill Mom and I looked online and picked out the most beautiful gray distressed wood crib and dresser.

  She and I talked baby names and if I had any thoughts on if the baby was a boy or a girl. Honestly, sometimes I feel it’s a boy, but in my dreams I always see a little girl. They want to be here when he or she is born, but since that could be a lot sooner then they’d expect me to deliver, not to mention dangerous because there is still a possible threat to me and my baby, it’s not a good idea.

  Dinner was nice and I was so happy to see Merick and Dad get along so well. I think it’s because he could see how happy I was. Every now and then I’d catch my dad looking at me with a soft look in his eyes as he smiled at me. I didn’t listen to his thoughts, I was worried I would cry and then they’d find out my secret--well one of my secrets.

  “I can hear you thinking baby.” He whispers against the top of my head. Merick’s hand covering my belly makes circles. Our baby loves their daddy and immediately starts kicking.

  I smile in the dark. “This was a great day. I’m so glad that you convinced me to invite them out.”

  “They’re good people baby. I want our child to have loving grandparents around. I love my dad and he’ll be good to our baby, but I don’t see him being lovey dovey like your parents would be.” He says quietly.

  “They’re the best. I wish I could’ve met your mom.” I kiss his chest. “What was her name?”

  “Olivia.” I don’t miss the sadness in his voice.

  I place my hand on top of his. “If this
baby is a girl I want to name her Olivia.”

  Merick tips my face up and leans down kissing me slowly. “You’re an amazing woman, you know that?”

  “Well good thing you’re an amazing man.”

  In no time at all I feel exhaustion take me over.

  I place my back against the tree. My heart races as I try to catch my breath. The scream cuts through the night, causing me to grab my huge belly and start running again. I can’t let them catch me. If they do, they’ll kill me and my baby.

  Tears run down my face when Merick’s lifeless body runs through my mind. They killed him, right in front of me and I couldn’t stop them. The man I love died trying to protect me.

  I’ll die protecting my baby if I have to. The scream sounds closer and I pick up the pace. I feel a trickle running down the inside of my legs. “Oh God,” I moan as I start cramping.

  This can’t be happening right now. Shelter, I need to find some place to hide. I scramble toward a huge bush and crawl underneath it. More fluid leaks from me and I know it’s my water breaking.

  I place my fist in my mouth as pain spreads across my belly. When the pain subsides, I listen closely and hear nothing. A scream rips from my throat when the bush is pulled off of me. Something grabs my arm and I scream and fight. “Noooo! You can’t have her.”

  “Taryn, baby stop.”

  “Stay the fuck away from me.” I punch and kick with all my might. “I will kill you. Don’t touch us.”

  “Fuck! Taryn baby wake up, wake up.” My body shakes. “Dammit baby you’re scaring—”

  I fly back in bed, pressing my back against the headboard. My hands protect my belly from danger. I’m shaking so hard my teeth chatter. I blink a few times and I find Merick on his knees with his hands up. Blood drips from his nose and he’s got a split in his lip.

  “D-Did I do that?”

  He nods, crawling on his knees toward me. “It’s okay.”

  “It was so real,” I whisper as tears fill my eyes. “Y-You were d-dead. Th-They were coming for me.”

  “I’m going to call Amelia and have her come over and check you out. I’m worried about you and the baby. You were fighting me so hard and were screaming like you were in pain.” Merick reaches out, brushing my hair back from my face as I begin to cry.

  I collapse into his chest, clutching him tight, knowing that he’ll protect me.

  Merick

  “I’ve never felt something so real, it was so vivid, the pain, the fear -- all of it. I can still feel that deep ache in my chest, the rawness. Like my heart is being ripped from my chest.” Taryn looks up and her teary gaze connects with mine. “You were gone,” her voice shakes, her lips tremble. “I don’t ever remember a time when I’ve felt that kind of pain,” her confession almost breaks me.

  “I’m here,” reaching out. I place my hand on her cheek and when she leans into my touch, her eyes closing as if memorizing the way it feels. It wasn’t lost on me, the intensity of the moment. “I’ll never leave you.”

  “You can’t promise me that.”

  “I can,” I knew already where this was going and I needed it to stop. I don’t want to live this moment with her, not yet, not now. I don’t want Taryn to feel the things she is feeling, to have the thoughts she is having. I want to shelter her from this kind of fear and agony. But my girl is too observant, too smart.

  “One day there may come a time when the promise will have to be broken. You know it, and so do I. There will be nothing either of us can do about it, nothing to change what's already written in our future. I truly hope that neither of us ever have to live through the kind of pain your father lives through every day, but I think if we ignore, or if we pretend it's not a possibility, then we are only fooling ourselves.” When she takes in a slow calming breath, I feel her tremble. “I love you Merick, and even that word feels insignificant. I feel like nothing I can say or ever do would show you the depth of my feelings for you. But I need you to know something.”

  I try to maintain my composure but seeing her like this, so raw and emotional it makes me feel all of the same things myself. Taryn is my greatest love but she is also my biggest enemy when it comes to how she makes me feel. She makes me weak and vulnerable and I understand that someday that alone could be my undoing. Someone will find that vulnerability and most likely use it against me.

  “You tell me that you breathe for me, that you live for me,” she says. I nod in agreement. Taryn is my purpose, she is my destiny. “You are my everything too, you and our baby and the idea that there is anyone out there that may harm either of you, it makes me feel murderous. I may not carry the kind of strength you carry, but I can assure you that if I can do anything about it, no one will ever harm either of you.”

  I can see that she means it, and it scares the hell out of me.

  I hear a shuffling behind me and I look back over my shoulder just in time to see Amelia pause in the open doorway and look between the two of us. Part of me is thankful that she came so quickly, but another part wishes I’d been given a little more time to assure Taryn that my protection was not her responsibility.

  My determined woman, so strong and assured.

  “Do you mind if I sit with her for a bit, talk?” And heal, I hope.

  Nodding, I offer Taryn a gentle kiss and stand, moving aside for Amelia to move closer.

  I stand silently near the door, watching as they talk. My body is still humming from the events that have taken place. My world feels shaken, unsteady by the events of our morning.

  I don’t know if it's the pregnancy, or the ability she holds to hear others' thoughts, but I know that this type of fear is one I never wanted her to feel.

  Turning to leave I walk to the stairs and mindlessly descend. Reaching the platform at the bottom I feel the urge to tear something apart. I wanted normal, or as normal as a shifter could get anyway. I wanted to relax, feel comfort in knowing the one I love is safe, but that is a luxury I can’t have.

  You’ll need to form an army around them.

  The words of my father fill my mind as I walk toward the bar in the corner of the expanding great room.

  They will always need to be watched, protected. Never for one second let your guard down son, because that’s when they find their in.

  Grabbing a tumbler, I set it on to the bartop a little too hard that the clank of the glass against the marble echoes through the empty space. I don’t want to be the hardened man my father is, but I’m man enough to accept that I’ve been a little more lenient than I should. I had to listen to his words, even if they only pissed me off. Because the safety of the two I love the most lies in the ballast. To an extent I had to be my father, only I had to be better, stronger, more observant. I had to be mindful and...I had to be ready, always ready.

  “There’s movement in Italy, and in the northern regions of Canada.” Ryder points to the expanding map before us. “I’ve gotten word that many of them are moving closer, taking their time so that they remain hidden. But they are coming.”

  “Should I worry that the idea of a clan of vampires moving to town brings me comfort?”

  Ryder chuckles as he finally takes a seat on the leather sofa across from me. Rowan and Amelia are upstairs with Taryn while Jonathan, Ryder, and myself work to make sure that everything is in place to keep our true natures hidden from the towns folk who don’t know what we really are.

  For their safety, it is better if the people from Stone Ridge to remain sheltered from what is taking place around them. To them this land remains peaceful, a sweet place to visit and an even better place to raise a family.

  “Asta and Fiona will arrive in a few days,” Jonathan confirms the arrival of my ancestors. There are still some bad feelings between them and my father. They all thought the other handled everything poorly, but it was a shitty situation all around.

  They are coming for me, though, the child they know will reopen the world they’d lost. “They will be moving back into the estate, reopening the ga
rdens,” Their home is the oldest in the area. It’s a huge sprawling mansion with a lot of land on the opposite side of town. I take in a slow calming breath and I slowly sip on the tumbler of whiskey. “Later the others will fill the quarters, living as hired help around the land. Or so that is what most will think.”

  The apple orchard, when flourishing and well kept, is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. Rows and rows of trees, enough for many of the towns people to pick for days and still there would be more. I remember doing that very thing with my mother when I was younger.

  If I close my eyes, I can see my mother standing on a later with a basket in one hand as she picks apples with the other. She’d find the best one and give it to me every time. The wind would blow her dark locks behind her and she’d smile from ear to ear.

  I wish, more than anything that my mother was still here, I wish she was here so that she’d be given the chance to know my child. So loving, my mother was an angel, much like my Taryn.

  “We’ll learn from the mistakes of our ancestors,” I’m pulled from my memories and am instantly reminded of the now. Ryder and Jonathan both watch me close as if they could read my thoughts, see my visions. “We will protect them,” the determination in Ryder's voice, the devotion in his eyes brings me a sense of comfort. The gift of my child means a lot to the others too. “We’ll build a force around them so strong that no one will reach them.”

  I nod, knowing that the words could never express my gratitude to him and to every other person that will arrive. I know without a doubt that each will stake their lives to protect the life of Taryn and our child and for that, I am forever in their debt.

  Taryn

  Since my dream the other night, Merick is on edge. He’s always watchful and appears as though at any time if needed he is prepared to strike. Right now he’s outside chopping wood with my dad while Mom and Rowan make dinner. I know Rowan’s purpose here is to be part of my protection, but I’ve enjoyed spending time with her.