Anne flipped the television off in disgust. When the best thing on 859 channels was the Reality Network 4 showing a marathon of What Will They Eat Up Next, it was time to give up.
Connor was still awake. He was on the other side of the house, but somehow she knew. She could feel his presence, feel him affecting her even without being in the same room with him. It was so strong now that she wondered why she hadn't always felt him, even when they'd had a continent and an ocean between them.
Maybe she always had…
She'd been struggling since the moment she entered the Hyperion to keep her cool, but she felt as if everything in her life had suddenly been turned upside down. It didn't make any sense how badly she wanted him. She was aching to touch him, fighting a near-overwhelming urge to go to him, despite all the reasons she knew she shouldn't.
Anne pulled her knees up, hugging them to her. She was young, but she far from innocent. She'd felt an attraction to plenty of men before, but it had never been like this. It had never made her feel so out of control.
She had to ignore it. She couldn't do anything with Angel's son. There was too much weirdness involved. She'd have to keep herself in check, keep her cool and her distance.
She gripped her knees tighter, hoping this would all be over soon.
Anne woke with a start, her eyes darting around the room wildly as she tried to place where she was. Then she remembered, and let out a deep breath. Running her fingers through her hair, she climbed out of the bed, going out the bedroom door and into the hall. She headed towards the kitchen and Connor. She stopped, leaning in the doorway to watch him as he read the newspaper and sipped on a cup of coffee.
"You play normal quite well. Looks like you've got the role down pat."
Connor glanced up, meaning to respond with some sort of come back, but barely managing to make a sound at the sight of her with bed tousled hair and wearing a small, tight tank top and cotton shorts. He coughed before finally gathering his wits enough to ask, "Sleep well?"
"Well enough." Anne walked over to the table, pulling out a chair close to him and sitting down. "I suppose there's no more food in the house today than there was yesterday."
"No. A little less, actually, seeing as I had some toast before you came in here."
"You need to learn how to find a grocery store."
"Are you constantly hungry, or do you just get a thrill out of harassing me?"
Anne smirked. "A bit of both."
"If it'll make you happy, we can go to the grocery store later. You can get whatever it is you eat."
"Aww. You make a girl feel special."
She leaned forward slightly, and Connor cleared his throat, willing his gaze away from her chest. "So what exactly happened to bring you to LA?" he asked, deciding the best course of action would be changing the subject as quickly as possible. "I mean, if I'm going to protect you, I should know a few more of the details. What are we up against?"
Anne almost smiled at his use of the word "we." It seemed fitting somehow to think of her and Connor as a team. "Demons. Scaly. With robes."
"Robes?"
"Yeah. Big ones. And yet, they still managed to fight amazingly well."
Anne shifted, and Connor picked up on a change in her mood. She was nervous. These demons had her spooked, and he could tell she wasn't the type to get easily scared. He reached out almost involuntarily to place a comforting hand on her arm. Anne jumped, feeling the same thrill rush through her that had been there when she'd touched him in a similar fashion the night before. Connor pulled back quickly, and she looked away from him, an awkwardness taking over in the room.
"So, um, what happened?" Connor asked.
"The first time, I was coming home from school with my brother, and they jumped me. And I mean just me. He tried to help me, and they swatted him aside, telling him that he didn't concern them, only the vessel."
"The vessel? That you?"
"I assume so. They keep calling me that anyway. They were going on about a prophecy and that vessel thing. People I know are looking in to it."
Connor frowned. The word "prophecy" tended to make him jumpy. He'd seen too many of them lead to badness. "You said 'the first time.' They've attacked you more than once?"
"Four times at last count. And every time, it's geared specifically towards me. No matter who I'm with, I'm the one they want to kill. Kinda makes a girl feel special. You know, in that scared out of my mind sort of way."
Connor was silent for a moment, her admission to being scared taking him by surprise. He'd pegged her for the type that never allowed herself that kind of vulnerability. He reached over again, this time taking her hand. "It'll be okay, Anne. You're in my protection now, and I won't let anything hurt you."
Anne felt her stomach flip, and she wanted to pull away from him, though she felt glued to the spot. She wasn't used to this. The lust—albeit stronger than usual with him—was something that she was used to, sure. But what she felt when she looked into his eyes now… She wanted him to hold her, to protect her like he'd just promised. Since when did she care about that?
Her eyes were wide and focused on him, and he could feel a small tremble in her hand. Instead of pulling back this time, Connor started to caress it with his thumb, unable to stop himself. Her skin was so soft, so warm to the touch... Her breath quickened, and Connor felt drawn to her, leaning in kiss before he could think about it.
The moment their lips touched, all tenderness ceased. Connor growled low in his throat. He stood, pulling her out of the chair and pushing her back on the table, his mouth staying on hers with a ferocity that made Anne groan. This was territory she was used to, something she could understand.
His mouth trailed down to her neck, licking and nipping at the flesh, and Anne cried out, thrusting her hips against his and pulling him closer to her. She could still remember her vow from the night before to not do this, but at the moment, she didn't care. If this was how Connor could make her body feel, then her brain could take a vacation…
She heard a ringing, and wondered for a moment if it was just in her ears before she heard a strange voice from somewhere that seemed far away.
"Connor…Connor, if you're there, pick up the phone…Okay, well, you're not at work either, so I don't know…"
The voice stopped when Connor jumped away from Anne and ran to the phone, grabbing it from the cradle. "Hey, Laura. I'm here."
Anne rolled her eyes, standing up to smooth down her clothes. The wife... Great. Just what she bloody needed.
"Oh, I was, um, out jogging. Just came in."
Anne raised an eyebrow, and Connor turned away from her, putting his focus on the phone conversation. Anne had a sudden possessive urge to grab it from him, to tell Laura to stay the hell away from him, when she remembered that wasn't supposed to be what she wanted. She was supposed to be grateful that they were interrupted before things went too far.
"I know I'm not at work today. I'm not going to get fired, Laura—I have sick days. Yes, I called in. I'm not being irresponsible, I just couldn't go in today. I had…things to do! There…there's a problem with the plumbing in the kitchen. I needed to fix it."
Anne couldn't help but snicker at that. It had seemed like all the plumbing was working just fine to her…
"No, everything's fine. Why would anything be wrong? So did you call for anything specific, or… Oh, okay. That's good. No! I don't mean I don't want you home! I just…I meant it's good for your mother having you there a couple of extra days. No…Laura, please don't… I…fine. Yeah, I'll talk to you later. Bye."
"No I love you, my darling?" Anne asked as Connor hung up the phone. "No begging her to run back to your arms instead of spending more time with mummy?"
Connor turned around, narrowing his eyes at Anne. "Stay out of it."
Anne held up her hands. "I'm just making an observation. Seems to me like there's a bit of trouble in suburban paradise."
"My marriage is fine," Connor snapped.
"Sure," Anne replied with a smirk. "Must be why you were moments away from banging me on the kitchen table before she so rudely interrupted."
"Go get dressed, and we'll go to the store," Connor replied evenly.
"Are you sure, cause we could…"
"No! Dammit, I'm married, and whatever just happened there was a horrible mistake I won't be repeating. Now go get dressed if you want to get something to eat."
Anne shrugged. "Fine. Your loss."
Before Anne could blink, Connor was back again, pushing her against the table. "You don't know what you're playing with, little girl," he said, his voice almost a growl. "I'm not one of the boys you probably have back home, young and stupid enough to play your games."
His reaction startled her, but Anne didn't let it show. Instead she gave him a sultry grin and replied, "I know exactly what you are. And I know you want to play…" She leaned forward, giving his neck a long lick.
Connor pushed away from her suddenly, his eyes wide. "You…don't do that."
"Why? Did you like it? No point in lying, because I know you did…"
"You're…you…just stop it."
Anne shrugged, although internally she was grinning. Looked like she'd ended up on top this go round… "I'll go get dressed now," she said, making sure to give her hips just enough swish as she left the kitchen.
Connor sat down in a chair, taking deep breaths. He was in trouble, and he knew it.
Connor watched Anne as she threw things into the grocery cart. He tried not to think about the extremely tight red top she was wearing that he was sure had been picked out just to torment him. Maybe if he could convince her that she couldn't affect him, she'd stop being so damn tempting.
Yeah, and maybe his father would decide to take up salsa dancing…
"So you, um, eat a lot of meat I take it," he said, looking at what she'd chosen.
"Your point?" Anne wrinkled up her nose. "Laura isn't one of those people who are convinced that food is supposed to taste like plastic is she?"
"She likes to eat healthily," Connor said with a cough.
"Ugh. I figured. You've got to be going crazy."
"I like her cooking."
"Don't lie to me."
Connor sighed. "Okay, so I don't, but I eat it."
"She's not right for you, you know. For what you are. She doesn't get you."
He stiffened. "And what, after knowing me not even a whole day you do?"
"Well, yeah. I mean sure, I don't know your whole life story or whether you prefer apple or oranges, but I know what makes you tick. There's something primal in you, something dark desperate to claw its way out." Anne walked around to him, placing her hand against his chest, right above his heart. "I can feel it in you, Connor. And I know you can feel it in me, too."
Connor swallowed hard. She was right, and it terrified him as much as it intrigued him. "What are you?" he asked.
"I think you know the answer to that."
His heart beat faster beneath her hand, and Connor forgot about the world around them. She was wild, untamed, everything he wouldn't let himself be…
Because he couldn't. People got hurt that way. She was right, there was something primal inside of him, but he'd buried it for a reason. What she was offering, he couldn't have. He pulled away. "Let's just finish up here, okay?"
Anne slowly drew the hand that had been on Connor's chest down to her side. He made her head spin, made her feel pulled in so many different directions. She wanted to keep him at arms length, wanted to brush away the pull he had on her. But then she was with him, near him, and none of the reasons why she shouldn't give in made any sense anymore. She turned away from him, concentrating on the groceries again.
"I like apples."
Anne turned, her brow creased. "What?"
"You said the thing earlier, about apples or oranges. It's apples."
She smiled at him. "I like strawberries."
"Wasn't one of the choices."
"That's never stopped me before."
"I bet it hasn't."
"I'm done over here. Let's go get some ice cream."
"Meat and ice cream? That's what you eat?"
"And strawberries," she said with a wink.
Connor chuckled. "Let's go get you some ice cream."
I know I didn't post anything on this story for a long time, but there was a reason for that. My life has been hectic, and I haven't had a lot of time to write. I didn't get a lot of response to the first chapter of this story, so I decided to concentrate on fics that people actually seemed to be reading. So if you are reading this, and you want more of it faster, please leave me a review letting me know what you think, so I can know if I need to make updates more frequent or not.
