Chapter 20
B woke up after what felt like eternity, and felt beyond relieved that Kate was still with her, and that either the presence outside their door was never there, or it had disappeared. Kate held B tight against her, sensing her fear, but wouldn't say a word until B was ready.
"Kate, did you hear anything last night? Or even smell something strange?" B asked, voice muffled since her face was still buried in Kate's shoulder.
"No," Kate murmured, kissing the top of her head. She didn't ask why; she knew it probably had something to do with the strange noises she had been hearing, although B was worried that whatever the sound was, if it existed, had B scared in the cabin now.
Heart still pounding wildly, she wrapped her arms around Kate, who rolled onto her back, pulling the cat shifter on top of her. Kate just stayed like that, pained to know that there was nothing she could do to help until B was ready.
"It was just a bad dream," B whispered at last against Kate's neck. "Nothing more."
Kate frowned, wondering if B wasn't just saying those words for Kate's benefit, but for her own as well. She considered asking B if she would be okay with talking to Irina about these things, since Irina had gotten quite a few psychology degrees over the years and might be able to help, but something stopped her from asking. So she just propped herself up on one arm, using her hand to stroke down B's back in a comforting manner.
"Okay, but if you want to talk…" Kate murmured, kissing the top of B's head again.
"Yeah." B tried to push the fears away, but it still lingered in the back of her mind, making her feel threatened despite what she told herself. Maybe she should push to go to the Cullens after all. If whatever was plaguing her just had to do with the area, then B's best chance at feeling some peace was to go somewhere else for a while.
Deciding to talk it over with Kate and her family first, B sat up, startling Kate with her sudden movement. Cupping Kate's face in her hands, B decided her girl deserved it, and so much more, so B leaned down to kiss her softly. Kate let out a hum of pleasure, hands cupping B's ass––of course––as the kiss deepened. The fire between them burned low but hot, and it was only the laziness of the morning and the smell of B's fear still lingering in the air that stopped Kate from trying to grind against her mate.
B's tongue dipped between Kate's lips, just a little, and when she opened for the cat, B pulled back with a small smirk, running her hands down Kate's body as she sat up.
"Tease," Kate groaned, making B laugh as she hopped off of Kate and headed towards the closet, a little more sway in her hips than usual.
"I have to do something to keep you motivated," B said over her shoulder as she bent down to open a drawer.
Another groan slipped out of Kate's lips as she stared at B's ass. "Trust me, just your presence motivates me plenty."
"Then you better catch me soon. When you do, I'm yours." B headed towards the bedroom door as Kate snarled with her frustration, but B's pause and the spike of fear from her mate took her mind off of her own problems immediately.
"B?" Kate called softly, but B didn't answer, didn't so much as twitch. Kate got up and walked over, wrapping her arms around B's waist and rubbing her cheek against her mate's. "Isabella, what is it?"
Biting her lip, B leaned back against Kate. She didn't sense whatever it was now, but… "Can you maybe open the door for me?" she asked in a small voice. It wasn't that she wanted Kate in danger, but the fear was almost paralyzing.
Immediately, Kate felt a swell of anger as she realized B was afraid of Kate thinking less of her for asking. Whatever was scaring her, whether it was just a dream or not, Kate needed to kick the thing's ass.
"No problem," Kate said, her voice strangely calm considering her own emotions. With a kiss to B's cheek, she let the girl go, unconsciously moving in front of B in a protective manner. She grabbed the doorknob, turning it...and the second it opened, Kate was jerked backwards, nearly falling on her ass.
"Sorry," B said sheepishly, having attempted to drag Kate out of the way in case whatever it was was still out there. But nothing stood in the doorway. Not a thing looked out of place, and there were no strange scents that indicated anything was off. Kate probably thought she was crazy now, for sure. Feeling miserable yet relieved, B slipped past Kate, mumbling, "Let me just go change and get ready…"
"Can I watch?" Kate asked, trying to lighten the mood while also being completely serious and hopeful.
B laughed weakly, but it was a laugh. "Maybe when you get a little better at catching me…"
"Oh, I'll get better alright," Kate muttered under her breath, turning back towards their room to go grab some clothes for herself. She was starting to consider going to bed naked, debating if B's reactions would either be hilarious and help get Kate into B's pants, or if it would only lengthen the process of the whole "woo her" thing, but when her eyes landed on the doorknob, she froze. A fear unlike any other gripped her as she stared, and stared, and stared, unable to understand how it had happened.
For there, in front of her, was their door. The doorknob was nothing but a twisted hunk of melted metal, and around it in a perfect circle, the door was completely black and charred. It was a good thing Kate was a vampire, because otherwise she'd have suffocated since she couldn't fucking breathe.
Sniffing the air furiously, ears straining for any strange sound, Kate wanted to punch through the wall when she smelled and heard absolutely nothing. Despite that, the facts were undeniable. Kate hadn't made that, which meant that something had been in their house. Something had tried to open their door...or maybe changed their mind at the last moment? The door had...holy fuck, the door had been unlocked. Something could have come in and done who knew what to them, and Kate hadn't even sensed anything off last night.
But B had. Her B, her mate, had sensed something, something scary enough to give her nightmares. Nightmares that were actually fucking real.
Cursing heavily, Kate got dressed in record time, grabbing her cell phone.
"Hello? Isn't it a bit early for you––"
"Tanya, this is bad. Something was in our house, and I don't know what it was...I couldn't fucking smell it, or hear it, or anything, and it was at our bedroom door. Our fucking bedroom door! It––"
"Kate, calm down. What's going on?" Tanya asked, her voice calm and cool in an effort to calm Kate, but Kate could hear an undertone of anxiety to it that even her coven leader couldn't hide.
Kate explained as best as she could, starting from when B had gotten scared over a sound she had heard when they had gone outside for the first time. She concluded with the nightmare, the marks on the bedroom door, and not only getting any clues, but not having any idea what the thing could possibly be.
"Okay, come over to the house immediately. You're going to have to put your sex life on hold until we at least check this out, do you understand?" Tanya asked, taking control of the situation even as she threw a little taunt at Kate.
"You're lucky we haven't gotten that far, or I'd be so pissed," Kate joked, although she was still too tense to even let her mind there. All of her instincts were on alert, screaming at her to protect her mate...her strangely silent mate, who was taking quite a long time in the bathroom. "Shit. B? B!" Kate flashed the two feet from their room to the bathroom door. "B! Damn it, B, answer––"
The door flung open, revealing a clearly annoyed mate, hair still wet from the shower and eyes a little gold. "What? Kate, don't you dare try to tell me that you can get separation anxiety just from five minutes apart, or I swear…" Her eyes traveled downwards, taking in Kate's attire and completely losing her train of thought. Kate was wearing a tight white shirt that was sleeveless, with a low neckline, and black short shorts that left very little to her imagination. She struggled to regain her composure, but it was clear from the way her arousal filled the air how distracting the outfit was to her.
So distracting, in fact, that she didn't even notice the bedroom door behind her.
"Yeah, I'm clingy, we've been over this. Hey, just wanted to tell you, Tanya invited us over, so we're gonna go to the house, okay? Good, awesome, let's go." Kate scooped B up before she could even shake herself out of her lust induced daze and took off out the door, forgetting B's jacket, which she realized halfway there but wasn't willing to go back for. B started complaining about the rush, being carried, how she wasn't some little kid, so Kate shut her up with a kiss that had B melting into her, clutching at her with sharpened nails that pricked Kate's diamond hard skin.
"You better explain what's going on," B muttered, loosening her hold on Kate when she was released for some much needed air.
"I will. Promise," Kate swore, and a few moments later, they were at the house.
"Um...if we were invited over, why is no one here?" B asked, disconcerted as they walked into an empty house.
"Sorry!" Carmen called from the kitchen. "I'm just cooking some food for you, I'll be done soon enough."
B's stomach let out a joyous growl at that as Kate set her down, but then her stomach seemed to shrivel in on itself when Kate brightened and said, "Let me help."
"No!" B's loud and frantic rejection, as well as her grab for Kate's hand, clearly took the vampire by surprise. Kate stared at her with confusion as B scrambled for a reason as to why she had reacted so harshly. "You, uh...promised you'd explain what was going on. I want to know. No distractions."
"I know I promised, but I just feel it'll be best when everyone's here," Kate said, awkwardly scratching the back of her head. While she knew that Kate's news about what had happened to B's bedroom would freak anyone out, B especially so, she still wasn't going to hide what had happened from her. B was her mate after all, and while scaring her mate wasn't something she liked, she would rather deal with that fear than keep something from her mate again.
"But––"
Leaning forward so B got a perfect view down her shirt, she rested a hand on the table next to them, her other hand reaching out to trail Kate's fingers down B's face. "Please, Isabella?"
B's eyes glowed a little more gold for a moment as her brain restarted, but then she sighed. "Fine. But we're watching TV." Anything to keep Kate away from the kitchen.
With that, decision made she grabbed Kate's hand and dragged her over to the couch. Kate was the one who looked ready to protest now, so B grabbed the remote and plopped herself into Kate's lap to shut her up. Kate grinned to herself, enjoying having B on top of her, and wrapped her arms around the smaller brunette as B struggled to figure out the remote. Laughing to herself and feeling more relaxed than she had all morning, Kate gently took the remote from her, turned on the TV, and switched it to some reality show. It wasn't long before B was completely entranced, although more due to her own confusion and curiosity than any interest in the TV show.
"Why does she paint her face like that? Does that man have to flex every time he's on camera? Why are those two mad at each other when it was the boy who cheated on them with each other without telling them?" were just a few of B's many, many questions.
While it entertained Kate greatly, even Kate didn't know how to answer them all with useful information. So basically, every answer to B's question was either some version of, "Because they're stupid," or "Maybe it's a human thing." Still, even the stupid show and B's barrage of questions didn't stop Kate from mooning over her Kitten. In fact, B's expression and clear confusion only made her impossibly cuter. So cute, in fact, that Kate just had to bite her. So she did, tilting her head for better access and gently biting B's earlobe.
B yelped and jumped, and Kate was so surprised she actually let B jump right out of her arms and land on her ass on the floor. Seeing B's embarrassed blush and expression had Kate cracking up, with Carmen trying to politely hold in her own laughter from the kitchen, knowing B would be able to hear her.
"You surprised me," B protested weakly, making Kate laugh even more.
"Yeah, yeah, my little scaredy cat," Kate teased, bending down to scoop up the pouting shifter and pull the girl back onto her lap, although this time B was seated sideways. Kate leaned in, brushing B's hair behind her ear, and lightly nibbled on B's ear, making the girl jump again, although only slightly this time. "You better get used to this, because I like to taste you...preferably all over."
"Well you better get used to waiting," B murmured breathlessly. "Because my taste is for someone who can keep up with me."
"I'll show you who can keep up––" Kate growled, leaning towards her mate.
Just at that very moment, the door burst open, and in stepped Irina, Eleazar, and Tanya, all incredibly serious, and clearly nervous. Their sudden appearance made Kate pull back with a frustrated rumble, her vampiric instincts not wanting anyone else to see B as Kate claimed her, no matter how small the claiming would be.
"We have a problem," Tanya announced, her eyes darkened, calculated, and cool, as they immediately found and landed on Kate and B. "A big one."
Kate looked at Tanya, then B, then back to Tanya, taking in Irina and Eleazar's states as well. Realizing how bad it really was, all Kate could say was, "Fuck."