Torn (4 page)

           
“Oh
Liz that’s great!” he said smiling and I ran into his arms and hugged him
tightly.

Chapter
8

         
We slept for most
of the day. I was getting used to this nocturnal thing. I actually enjoyed
staying up at night when most of the world was sleeping. It was a much quieter
world to live in, it was like a secret shared amongst people you really
trusted.

           
We
awoke just before sunset and we went out to the old porch and sat on the wooden
swing watching the sun disappear letting most people know their day was over
but for us ours was just beginning, I found this thought rather exhilarating. After
the sun finally settled itself for the evening Mystic joined us on the porch.

           
“There
you two are,” she said sweetly. “I was wondering if you could head to town to
pick up a few groceries for me.

           
“Of
course we can,” he said getting up from the swing and taking the list from her
hand, he then hugged her. I was beginning to realize that Mystic was basically
the motherly figure of this coven. Archer stretched out his hand to me and I
grabbed it as he helped me off the swing. I went over to Mystic and taking a
cue from the group I also gave her a hug.

           
“Thanks
for letting me stay here,” I said to her.

           
“This
is your home, where you belong, no thanks needed,” she said and then she went
back into the small house.

           
“Do
you mind if we take your car? Can’t carry too many groceries on the bike,” he
said smiling.

           
“Sure,”
I said and threw him the keys which he caught. “But you drive.”

                                   
***

           
When
we pulled up to the local Ingles I began to feel a bit uncomfortable as I knew
I would probably end up running into a lot of people from my neighborhood. I
must have had a worried expression on my face because once Archer had parked
the car he turned to me.

           
“Everything
alright?

           
“Um
yeah, let’s go grocery shopping,” I said trying to sound cheerful but I don’t
think he bought it.

           
“Don’t
worry about what other people think Liz. This is your life not theirs. Do what
makes you happy.”

           
“You
make me happy,” I said. He smiled brightly and stroked my cheek.

           
“You
make me beyond happy,” he said and my whole body tingled and I had to remind
myself to breathe.

           
“Let’s
go,” I said determined to hold my head up high regardless of who we ran into in
the store.

                                   
***

           
As we
walked through the store gathering the things on Mystic’s list we only had eyes
for each other. We playfully went down each of the aisles joking and laughing
with each other. Sure I knew people were staring and gossiping about us but I
didn’t give a damn, let them talk. Archer was right this was my life and for
once I had some kind of happiness. My only worry was getting my children back
but at the very least I knew I was going to see them in a few days.

           
Archer
and I were tossing around a bag of rice between each other, when he told me to
“go long” I ran down the aisle as I looked back at him to catch the rice I
backed into another person. I quickly looked back to apologize to the
individual when I noticed who it was I gave up on trying to catch the bag of
rice Archer had launched. Actually I had forgotten about it completely but once
I remembered about it, it was too late and it hit Cora squarely on the head. I
had to choke back my laughter but Archer made it escape me when he called out,
“Sorry about that lady.”

           
I
burst out laughing hysterically. I picked up the bag of rice and tossed it
between my hands, shrugged, and said, “Sorry Cora.” I then launched the rice
back to Archer where it landed in the center of the cart. Archer whistled
loudly and let out a big “Wooooo!” to which Cora gasped and pursed her lips.
She stood there looking like a wounded fish which made me laugh harder. I ran
back to Archer and we high fived each other. As we were turning the corner to
head to the next aisle I stopped and waved goodbye to the red faced Cora.

Chapter
9

         
We laughed all the
way home over what we called “The Cora Incident.”

           
“Did
you see her face?” he asked laughing loudly which made me burst out into
another fit of giggles.

           
“My
favorite part was when you called out, hey sorry lady,” I said and we both laughed
until tears were running down our faces. As we pulled up to the house our
laughter died down a bit but I was still smiling with a few tears falling on my
cheeks. He looked over at me and smiled sweetly then wiped the tears from my
face causing the current between us to surge through my body.

           
“I
love when you smile,” he said softly. “You should always be laughing.” Then he
quickly got out of the car and began to get the groceries out of the back while
I sat stuck in the passenger seat waiting for the tingling to subside. “You
coming?”

           
“Uh…yeah,”
I said as I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the car door hoping my shaky legs
would still be able to hold me up. I grabbed the few bags still left over and
followed Archer into the house. We went past the upstairs kitchen to the real
kitchen in the basement. We set the groceries down on the center island in the
middle of the kitchen. Mystic was there already waiting on us, guess she knew
we were on our way since she was psychic and all. I helped her put away the new
groceries as Arch helped himself to a beer and sat down on a barstool at the
island.

           
“Where’s
Cutter?” he asked curiously.

           
“Oh he
is busy organizing his collection,” she said. Chills ran through me as I
remembered that Cutter was a keeper of spirits one of which was the spirit of
an evil ghost that had followed me around since I was 15. She must have sensed
my discomfort. “It’s fine Lizzie. Oz is still safely stored away.”

           
“Thank
God,” I said. It gave me some sense of security but I was still a bit unnerved.
“Care if I get a beer?” I asked Archer.

           
“No
need to ask my dear you can have whatever you want,” he said slyly sending a
different kind of shiver through my body. I grabbed a beer and sat across from
him just admiring his long dark hair and bright aqua eyes. I thought about how
good it would feel to run my fingers through his hair while kissing him and I
got goose bumps.

           
“You
cold?” he asked noticing the raised skin on my arms.

           
“No,
I’m fine,” I said blushing slightly at the embarrassment of daydreaming about
this man right in front of him. He smiled.

           
“Anyone
hungry?” Mystic asked further pulling me out of my daydreaming and making me
blush more.

           
“I
am,” I said quietly.

           
“Starving
over here,” Archer said.

           
“How
about some tacos?” Mystic asked smiling at us both which was still a little
strange to me as she was blind yet she had no problem finding her way around
and looking people right in their eyes when speaking to them.

           
“Someone
say something about tacos?”
 
Cutter said
as he walked into the kitchen and straight over to Mystic to plant a kiss on
her lips.

           
“Mystic
asked if we wanted tacos for dinner,” Archer said.

           
“Did I
hear tacos being mentioned?” Jagger questioned as he walked into the kitchen as
well.

           
“Yes I
was wondering if you all would like tacos for dinner,” Mystic replied to both
Jagger and Cutter.

           
“Darla!
Mystic’s making tacos,” Jagger called out to his mate. She quickly came running
into the kitchen.

           
“Yum
tacos,” she said smiling in my direction. “Wait until you taste them then you
will see why we are all so excited.” We all laughed. We sat around drinking and
eating tacos well into the evening. Darla was right I now understood the
excitement Mystic’s tacos brought out in everyone.

                                   
***

           
The
evening passed by quickly and it was turning into morning already. I was
feeling slightly drunk as we said our goodnights to the rest of the group and
Archer grabbed a few more beers as we made our way to his room. Pharaoh
followed us and laid down on the little loveseat in the corner.

           
Archer
turned on the TV and put Scream into the DVD player which told me he was just
about ready for bed. Every night, well early morning we would fall asleep to a
DVD mostly horror movies because Archer said they bored him to sleep. He
changed into his PJ pants and I changed into one of his big t-shirts. I found
his t-shirts to be the most comfortable PJ’s ever. It suddenly struck me how
comfortable we were together. We had never been intimate, hell we hadn’t even
kissed, yet here we were changing in front of each other. I looked at him and
he smiled at me as he held up one of the beers in my direction. I took it from
him, and then he patted the bed beside him for me to come sit by him. I climbed
into the big bed with him and snuggled myself under his long muscled arm. I sat
sipping my beer and I heard him sigh which was very unlike him.

           
“Something
wrong?” I asked him curiously.

           
“We
should get some sleep soon, it’s almost six in the morning and I’ve got to go
pick up some…uh…well…blood at ten. I hate going on blood runs.”

           
“Is it
a run just for you or is it for Cutter and Mystic as well?” I asked.

           
“Just
me,” he said. “They got theirs a few days ago and since they can feed off each
other they don’t need as much as I do,” he said. I felt bad for him as I was
his mate according to destiny, the irony of the situation was I was already
married.

           
“Drink
from me,” I said softly.

           
“What?!”

           
“I
said drink from me,” I spoke up with a little more confidence.

           
“Liz I
can’t, you know what it could lead too,” he said his eyes full of both want and
sorrow.

           
“It
doesn’t have to lead to anything. It didn’t at the waterfall and we are adults
we can restrain ourselves can we not?”

           
“It’s
a bad idea Liz.” That statement hurt me to the core.

           
“It’s
the only thing I can give you Archer and you have given me so much, please let
me at least give this to you,” I said looking into his very pale blue eyes and
I knew he really did need to feed soon. I pulled my hair back from my neck assuming
from the countless movies that was where they drank from. At the sight of my
neck he sighed deeper. Not a sigh from being slightly annoyed but a sigh of
desperate wanting and finally resolving to give in to that want. I waited with
anticipation as he inched closer to my neck. He put his hand in my hair and I
found it difficult to catch my breath. I closed my eyes waiting for the bite
and then…my cell phone began to ring.

Chapter
10

           
We
both pulled back and I got a glimpse of his fangs and it made me want him so
much more. I thought about just letting the damn phone ring but when I looked
at Archer again the fangs were gone, the moment had passed. I was the one to
sigh now as I climbed out of the big royal blue bed and grabbed my cell phone.
Of course it was Richard.

           
“Excuse
me a sec,” I said to Archer and he simply nodded his head and went back to
drinking his beer. It made me sad to just leave him there wanting, no needing
something from me and again I had let him down. Well as soon as I get this
phone call over with I was going to give him what he desired I thought to
myself as I made my way down the empty hallway to the game room to answer this
stupid phone.

           
“Hello,”
I said impatiently.