Then the water in my eyes became too great to bear, and the heavy tears dropped to my cheeks. As they did, my vision cleared and Teren was the first thing I saw. Teren was the only thing I saw. I was positive more people were in the tent, I could still hear the whispering above the procession of the music, but I took no note of them. My soon-to-be husband was waiting, and with tears on his cheeks too as he smiled at me.
I held his pale gaze as more tears dropped off my cheeks, staining my dress. I didn’t care, I barely noticed. Mom brought me ever closer to him and my breath came faster with each step. He was mine, he was waiting. His smile was glorious as he stood in his jet-black tuxedo, matching his jet-black hair, his hands calmly clasped together in front of himself. He stood tall and straight, the sharp tux, with a button collar instead of a tie, and a silver vest peaking out underneath the jacket, emphasizing every enticing thing about him.
He was…perfect.
As my mother handed me off to him, something inside me changed as well. As his cool hand took mine, I felt something shift inside me, some instinct buried deep within me, something that told me that everything was going to be fine, because we were now in this together – for life. I’d never worried about Teren straying on me, not with what we meant to each other, but as his fingers interlaced mine, a calm assurance filled me. This man would love me, with the same intensity that had driven him to throw Hot Ben against a wall to protect me, until my very deathbed. My looks, my body, my mental facilities…none of that fading from me, would keep him from my side.
I turned to him, facing him, suddenly feeling as if the rest of this ceremony wasn’t even necessary. I completely understood what he’d meant when he told me once, that in his eyes, I was his the day I’d saved him. That, to him, I was already his wife. And he was right. We were already married, already bound, in our souls, if not on some legal document.
My eyes lost in his, I heard the gruff voice of their friendly hired hand fill the space of the tent. There were introductions and a poetic rendering on the meaning of love, and, although I never turned from Teren to look at him, I imagined the leathery Jack Palance-like man speaking of love, and couldn’t suppress a giggle. Peter Alton led the crew that helped the family out throughout the year (more for show than anything else) and he was pure cowboy, rough and hard, and with a heart of gold. Or so I had to believe, since I also believed he was well aware of the family’s true nature, and worked for them anyway.
As he got to the section about exchanging rings, Teren’s eyes finally pulled away from mine. He looked behind him to his dad, who handed him my ring, a beaming smile on his aged face as he stood next to his son. It was probably a little odd to my distant relatives that Teren’s dad was standing up as his best man, instead of some twenty something guy, but that was just Teren’s family. They were close. As Teren turned back to me, I looked past Jack and felt myself sigh with relief. Hot Ben was standing beside him, looking pale and nervous, and eyeing Teren cautiously. I knew from his behavior that he still remembered what Teren was, and he’d decided to stand beside him anyway. Again, I could have kissed Ben.
Finally registering what I needed to do, I turned to Ashley standing beside me, her blood red dress making her look elegantly beautiful, the elaborate curls on half of her head facing the direction of the crowd. From their perspective, she’d look nearly normal. To me, she looked perfect. I gave her a quick hug, handing her my bouquet of white roses and then taking Teren’s unadorned platinum band from her. I flashed a quick smile at Tracey behind her, looking exceedingly hot in her skintight dress and intricate up-do, and then turned back to Teren.
Opting for our own words instead of prepackaged ones (since nothing about our relationship was prepackaged), Teren began speaking to me as he slipped the ruby encrusted ring on my finger. I swallowed as silent tears ran down my cheeks.
“Emma Taylor, I think I fell for you, the moment you dumped your coffee all over my shirt.” He grinned and a soft laughter went around the tent, followed by a round of soft sniffling. He tilted his head as he gazed at me adoringly. “I would have married you on that first day in the coffee shop, if you’d have had me.”
I smiled at his sentiment and he stroked my fingers, once the ring was in place. “I promise you that I will always love you, that I will always take care of you, and that I will never let any harm come to you.” A silence filled the tent as Teren’s face got intensely serious at those words. I understood the meaning though, and even more tears slid down my skin.
Clutching my fingers, he added, “I will be your husband until the day I die.” With tears building in his eyes and falling down his cheeks, he softly said, “I will love you, for the rest of my life.”
A sob escaped me and tears fell rapidly at hearing those words, at seeing the tears running down his cheeks, at understanding what he really meant by that. When most grooms say things like that, they are assuming that they will live a long life together, and will each die within a relatively short amount of time of the other. With most men, those sentences merely imply that ‘I will never love another while we are both alive, that I will never stray, and we will still be in love with each other on our deathbeds’.
But when Teren says those things, he knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will die before him, quite possibly, centuries before him. What he is really saying, is that he will literally mourn me, miss me, and love me…for eternity. That he will never move on from me, will never marry another. I will always be his wife, no matter how many hundreds of years we were apart. It was a heartbreaking admission and I openly sobbed. I heard others sniffling at his sentimentality, but really, only his family understood our true pain at those beautifully simple, yet horribly complex words.
Knowing I was skipping a step, I reached up and kissed him. The sniffling in the crowd shifted to laughter and Peter coughed and said, “We’re not there yet,” but I ignored them. My man had just said something that deserved a bigger response than me sobbing in front of him. I poured my soul into that kiss, letting him know that I would make the short time we were together worth it. I would give him the memories he could take with him, for the rest of his supernaturally long life.
Finally we broke apart as the crowd openly laughed at us. I sniffled and wiped my eyes, muttering an apology to Peter. He smiled warmly at me, shaking his head and looking very debonair in his gray dress suit. He indicated the ring I was still holding, and I turned back to Teren, to slip it on his finger.
I said something, something warm and loving that brought tears to Teren’s eyes and made him smile warmly at me. It wasn’t nearly as moving as what he’d said, although the crowd still sniffled, not realizing just how heart-wrenching Teren’s speech actually was. While I couldn’t remember the words in my hormonal, emotionally charged vows, the overall sentiment was – I love you more than words can express, and that will never stop.
After that, we kissed again, and a laugh went over the crowd again until Peter finally gave up and simply proclaimed our kissing bodies husband and wife. I ignored the thunderous applause and the sensation of several bodies standing and clapping; I already knew we were husband and wife. Teren and I kissed, smiled and hugged. Finally we tore our attention off of each other, long enough to take in the crowd of well wishers.
I didn’t know a lot of them, only having heard of them through family stories my mom told, but some were familiar and I smiled warmly at them. At the people I loved, I smiled brightly - My mother, her eyes a red, watery mess. Alanna, her eyes so pink from her pink tears, that she almost looked like she had an infectious disease. Imogen, who was clapping at us and swallowing repeatedly. I could tell she was forcing herself not to cry; vampires cried pure blood, and although that trait had faded away by the time it had diluted to Teren, it was still pretty obvious in the fifty percent vampire that was Imogen. Beside her, her bare arms wrapped around her daughter, was Halina. No tears were on the vampire’s cheeks, nor did she seem to be holding back any, but her face beamed at us as
she hugged Imogen.
After another moment of the clapping, Teren took my hand and led me down the carpet path placed over the Plexiglas floor above the pool. Along the sides of the carpet, I could see the pool water glowing blue, lit from the bulbs beneath it. Combined with all the candles and the twinkling lights above, the space was well lit, and no trace of a glow was in Teren’s eyes as he shook hands with my relatives, no glow but a happy one, that is.
The music shifted to a happy beat as Teren and I drifted over to the barbeque area of the patio, where the tables of food were being set up. People congratulated us and gave me hugs. In fact, I hugged so many people that my automatic response to someone walking in front of me was to grab them and enclosed them in a teary embrace. Teren thought that was pretty funny, since I didn’t even know the majority of the people’s names.
Between the bustle of talking to strangers and having my sister shove some food in my mouth, some sort of teriyaki beef that was to die for, the folding chairs were swished off the pool, and the red carpet rolled away. As I noticed people starting to dance on the huge Plexiglas floor, I also noticed that the lights under the pool had started shifting to different colors in time to the music. They pulsed red and then blue and then a really beautiful green. I smiled around a mouthful of food at the beauty of my fairytale wedding. And I hadn’t planned any of it really.
I firmly embraced and thanked every in-law I could find after that. With tears running down my cheeks, I even told Halina I loved her. She smirked at that, raised an eyebrow to Teren, and then proceeded to bump and grind a couple of my cousins on the dance floor, her super short, strapless dress, riding even higher up her toned thighs.
I pulled Teren out to that dance floor, and much to my mother’s dismay, we danced all night long. People were so entertained by the environment and the food and the music, not to mention the wine and the huge hot tub that a few brave souls jumped in, that no one really noticed that we skipped over the cake cutting, just serving the slices instead, and no one gave any champagne toasts, we didn’t need them anyway. Well, my mom noticed, trying to get me off the floor several times to do the “formally correct” wedding things, but I ignored her, only hugging Teren tighter as he twirled me around the see-through floor, and telling her we’d do it later. Of course, I had no intention of doing that, as my husband couldn’t eat or drink, and I was not about to subject him to another round of blood-chucking on our wedding night. I had much more appealing plans for him than that.
Eventually, Mom let it die, Alanna helping with that by keeping her occupied on the floor with her and Ashley. When it was horribly late at night, the revelers finally started dispersing. I cried and hugged each one, telling my third cousin, Tyra, that I loved her and we’d get together soon, even though we’d never hung out before and I wasn’t even sure of her last name.
When just a handful were left, and Teren and I were sleepily slow dancing, Hot Ben and Tracey came up to us. Teren stopped our movement and we broke apart, both of our eyes on Ben. Tracey, oblivious and slightly tipsy, congratulated us both and gave us each long hugs and sloppy kisses on the cheeks. After pulling apart from Teren, which made Ben clench his jaw, she slurred, “It’s getting cold out here.” With a grin she added, “You should go upstairs before Teren turns into a Popsicle.”
I giggled at that, but stopped when I noticed the pale look on Ben’s face. Teren extended a hand out to the side of the pool and asked Ben to talk to him for a minute. Ben swallowed, but eventually nodded, looking around at all the human witnesses before he did so.
I sighed at his reluctance to be alone with him, and without seeming like I was eavesdropping, which I was, I turned to Tracey, who muttered to me, “Did you see Ben during the ceremony?” She shook her head, her now freed blonde curls dancing, “You’d think he was getting married up there, by how nervous he was.”
I giggled self-consciously as Tracey frowned at her seemingly reluctant to commit boyfriend. I was pretty sure that that wasn’t the case, since Ben adored Tracey, but I couldn’t really explain the reason for Ben’s nerves to her, so I didn’t comment. Luckily I didn’t need to, as a beaming Ashley joined us.
“We’re gonna take off, sis,” Ashley said brightly.
I cocked my head at her. “You’re not gonna stay until tomorrow?”
She shook her head and she and Tracey both giggled. “No way, we don’t want to be anywhere near you on your big night.”
I flushed furiously and smacked her arm. “God, Ashley. We’re in a different building for goodness sake.” I wasn’t worried about their ears hearing us anyway.
She and Tracey exchanged a look and then they laughed again. “Yeah, we know.” I completely couldn’t hear what Ben and Teren were talking about, over their fresh bout of giggles, but figured Teren would tell me later. Wife’s privilege, right?
I sighed and smacked them again before they went off to pack their stuff. As they walked away, Teren and Hot Ben came back. They both looked worn, but had slight smiles on their faces. As Ben gave me a hug goodbye, I watched Teren over his shoulder. He cocked his dark head, listening, and then muttered something under his breath. I knew he was talking to his family, and could easily imagine which one. As Ben and I broke apart, I looked over to the other end of the dance floor. Halina was staring at us unabashedly, her eyes narrowed in disapproval as she stood still amid the handful of dancers left.
Ben noticed my gaze and looked at her too. He sucked in a quick breath as he caught her glaring at him. I think if Halina had made the slightest move towards us, he’d have bolted. “Oh god, did she hear Teren and me talking? Does she know that I know?”
I didn’t need to answer him, for Halina, several feet away from where he’d whispered that, nodded, slowly and deliberately. There was no question that she was answering him. He gasped and backed up into Teren. Teren put a hand out to steady him and Ben looked back, a little unsure about his closeness. Teren kept his eyes on Halina, as he firmly said, “You won’t be bothered, Ben. You’re free to go home, if you wish.”
Halina shifted her gaze to Teren, clearly not happy about that, but made no move to disagree with his decree. Ben took Halina’s distraction as a chance to scramble away from us. I sighed as I turned to watch him leave, both grateful that he’d chosen to remember, and sad that he wasn’t as instantly okay with it as I had been. Although, when it came to Halina, even I had needed a minute to adjust. Teren’s eyes still on Halina, I heard him mutter, “We’ll talk about this later.”
Halina shot him a glare and then turned to walk away from the pool, out the back of the patio where she could disappear into the night. I figured a cow or two were going down tonight and I hoped no humans were, deserving or not. Teren sighed and looked down on me, an arm wrapping around my satiny waist. I sighed as I wrapped an arm around him.
“So?” I asked.
He shook his head. “He says he wants to remember…but I feel like he, just as much, wants to forget.” His eyes looked sad as he softly smiled. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be the same, but I don’t think he’ll say anything.” His eyes lifted to a point off to his right, where he could sense his great-grandmother in the darkness. “And if he does…she’ll take care of it.”
I patted his chest, leaning into his side in sympathy. I knew what that friendship had meant to him, and I hoped it could somehow survive. Before I could respond to him, the rest of the guests started coming up, saying their goodbyes. My mother said it last, wishing us well, but not wanting to stay and pester our first night together. I automatically put a hand on my ever-so-slightly expanded belly, thinking it was nowhere near our first night together, but understanding my mom’s sentiment. In a way, it was our first night together, as husband and wife anyway.
As she left, Alanna came up to us. With tears in her eyes, she congratulated us both. Then she turned and started to walk away, towards the darkness Halina had disappeared into. “Where are you going?” I called after her.
She turned, a knowing smi
le on her lips. “We are all spending the night at the ranch hand’s home.” Her arm lifted to indicate the massive, empty spread. “You have the main house all to yourself.”
I flushed everywhere as I stammered out a thank you. She shook her head and giggled, the youthful sound matching her youthful appearance, and then she blurred from sight. Teren chuckled at seeing her dash away, and then swept me into his arms, a broad smile on his face. “Mrs. Adams, are you ready to retire for the evening?”
I tightened my arms around his neck, pushing aside my embarrassment as the desire to rip off that incredible tuxedo struck me. “Oh, yes, Mr. Adams.” I leaned in, giggling as I kissed him.
I felt his strong arms tighten and then the rush of air as he blurred us upstairs, no longer having to hide his abilities in this empty home. An empty home that for once wouldn’t be privy to my moans of passion. I delighted in that fact, just as much as I delighted in the feel of his stubbly jaw along my sensitive skin.
Conversion Book Two: Bloodlines Page 16
