Author's note: Thank you all for reading. I really appreciate it. And I'm glad you guys are sticking with this.

Happy reading!

Chapter Fourteen

I climbed into bed and watched Adrian change out of his jeans and into sweats. He pulled his shirt off and threw it into the corner of the room, kicking his jeans after them.

"You didn't say anything about the reception idea." I said, moving closer as he climbed in with me.

"I wanted to think about it before I said anything." He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the dark ceiling.

I put my head on his shoulder. "And?"

"I don't think it's such a good idea. I mean, it is." He put an arm around my shoulder. "But not for your family. Zoe's acceptance of me is still so shaky. What's she going to do around more of my kind? She'll be surrounded by them with no easy escape. And your mom and Carly have never interacted with Moroi and Dhampirs other than us."

I sighed and rolled away.

"And now you're mad at me."

"I'm just trying to accommodate everyone." I said, feeling the sting in my nose that signaled tears were close. "This is so frustrating."

He wrapped his arms around me. "I know, honey. Let's just breathe."

I took in a deep breath and rolled over in his arms. "So what is your alternate suggestion?"

"We'll find a hall. Maybe the church has a fellowship hall we can rent out." He combed his fingers through my hair. He kissed me softly. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out."

"I guess you're right. It's going to be hard enough for them during the service."

"Right."

I pressed a hard kiss to his mouth. "You're great."

"So are you." He watched me a moment in the dark and then pushed me onto my back.

"What are you doing?"

"Just let me do something." He said softly. He brushed his fingers over my face and neck. His hand trailed down my chest and stomach lightly and then slipped under the hem of my shirt. He put his mouth against mine as he rubbed his thumb over my nipple.

I sighed and opened my mouth to his. He slipped his tongue inside and gently explored my mouth. I buried my fingers in his hair and held his face close to mine. I stroked his tongue with my own.

His hand stopped moving but stayed resting on my breast. He moved his mouth away and a whimper escaped me. He smiled down at me and then returned his lips to mine fleetingly. He trailed kisses along my jaw and down my neck.

"You need to stop." I said breathlessly.

"I know." He brought his mouth back to mine and kissed me lazily for a few more moments. His hand came out from under my shirt and he rested it on my stomach. He looked down at me once more. I could see his eyes burning with lust. He groaned and rolled out of the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Adrian?" I called after him.

He turned at the door. "Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"I am too."

He left the room and I groaned myself. I wanted it as badly as he did, but we both knew that if I gave in now, I'd feel guilty. So I rolled over and tried to get my body under control. I guess it was easier for me than it was for him.

I was asleep when he came back. The bed shifting woke me up. I squinted at him in the dark.

"Go back to sleep, Sydney." He rolled away.

I rolled into his back and wrapped an arm around him. "I love you." I mumbled.

He melted into me, resting his hand on top of mine. "I know."

I kissed the back of his neck and rolled away. I fell back to sleep easily, but was awakened several times in the night by my restless fiancé on the other side of the bed.

He finally gave up and left sometime in the early hours of the morning. I vaguely heard him talking to Eddie in the living room. I listened to the pitch of his voice and went back to sleep once more, sleeping hard until my alarm went off several hours later.

"I made you coffee." Adrian said, sticking his head in the door briefly.

"Adrian, come back in here and talk to me, please." I called after him.

He stepped in the door. "What?"

"Would you like me to stop staying over?"

"Of course not."

"Then what can I do to make it better?"

"Nothing. I started it. It's my fault."

"It's not all your fault, Adrian." I walked to him and placed my hands on his waist. "We don't have to wait another four months to talk about it."

"We don't have time to discuss things this morning." He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "It's fine."

"No, it's not."

"It is."

I sighed and wrapped my arms around his neck. "Get some sleep today and try not to think about it."

"I'm trying."

"We could move the wedding up."

"No. Definitely not. We'll get through this. I don't want to discuss this in four months. I'm making the decision now that we're waiting until we're married. I'm fine. I've dealt with it this long. I'll deal with it for another year." He kissed me softly. "Go on, I'll make you breakfast while you shower. You're going to be late for work."

I don't know what I was thinking telling Sydney that I'd wait for her that long. And I think that I would take her up on the offer to sleep apart for a while. We were too close. She was too convenient. And I wanted her more and more when she was there.

Maybe it would get easier.

"And maybe I'll learn to fly." I mumbled to myself.

"Well, you may have some sort of ability you haven't discovered yet." Sydney said from behind me.

I turned, one side of my mouth quirked up. "Hello, beautiful." I kissed her hard on the mouth. I'd never get over kissing her. "And you may be right about the abilities." I wrapped my arms around her waist and pressed our hips together. "Wanna try it out?"

She slapped me away and walked toward the coffee pot. "Not today." She poured some coffee into her cup. "Where is everyone?"

"Eddie's asleep on the couch. He looked exhausted. Leah will be up soon anyway. I can keep watch for a while." I reached for her again, but she stepped away.

"No, Adrian." She glared at me. "You can't tell me one minute that you want to wait and then grab at me."

"I'm sorry, Syd." I said softly. I turned back to the stove and took the omelet I'd made for her off the stove, transferring it to a plate. I handed it to her. "Here, please eat at least a couple bites."

She took it and sat down at the table. I watched as she put a bite in her mouth and chewed it slowly.

"Thank you." I turned around and started cooking for myself.

"You're a good cook."

"I've been working on it."

"You're going to be a great househusband." She teased.

I laughed. "You know, I do have a job."

"I know you do, sweetheart. My mom doesn't think being an artist is a real profession. And you don't have to work because your family is loaded." She took another bite.

I shook my head. "I hope you set your mother straight."

"Don't be offended, Adrian."

"I'm not." I smiled over my shoulder at her. "Your dad would have something to say, I think."

"I know he would." She finished the omelet and sat back with the rest of her coffee.

I sat down at the table across from her. "I'm going to take commissions from the people at Court for a while. And still do my own thing on the side. Maybe I'll sell some stuff to a gallery eventually."

"I think it's great, Adrian. I do." She reached across and put her hand on top of mine. "You're very talented."

"I'm glad you think so."

"Do I get to see the one you're doing of me as it happens?"

I smiled and shook my head. "Not a chance, honey. It's a wedding present."

"Well, I've got get one planned for you, too."

"I know what it's going to be." I smiled. "It will involve you living out all my fantasies."

Jill cleared her throat from the doorway.

Sydney blushed and took a sip of her coffee to hide her embarrassment.

I gave Jill one of my charming smiles. "Can I help you?"

"You and Sydney can talk about that stuff when you're alone." She said, opening the fridge.

"Sydney has to go to work." My fiancée said. She put her dishes in the sink and then walked around to kiss me. "See you this afternoon."

"Goodbye. I love you." I pulled her in for another kiss.

"Same here."

Once she was gone, Jill sat down across from me. She held out her hands. "A little help please?"

I took her hands and concentrated to pull up my healing magic. I took away the darkness that had leaked through the bond. I opened my eyes and looked at her. "Better?"

"Much." She got back up and went to the fridge once more. "Whatever happened last night was horrible."

"You should have been on my end of it."

"I was." She snapped. "My god, you'd think you'd be over it by now."

"You try being a guy in your twenties and tell me then to get over it." I put my dishes in the sink on top of Sydney's.

"I've seen enough of your dirty, lustful thoughts to know." She said.

"I'm sorry." I looked down at my hands. "I'll work harder to keep you out."

"You just work harder to keep Sydney happy. She feels guilty that it hasn't happened yet."

"How do you know?"

"She mentioned it."

"Then she and I will work it out. You don't need to worry about it." I kissed her forehead. "This is between the adults."

She shoved me. "You're an idiot."

I laughed. "I try."

"Look, I know you don't want me to talk about this with you, but I care about both of you. And I just want you to be satisfied."

"I'm satisfied, Jill. And now I'm done talking about this with you." I started washing the dishes as Jill finally sat down with a bowl of cereal.

"Can we spend a day just us?" She asked suddenly.

"We do spend the day just us."

"No, I mean, out doing something. And not thinking about Sydney or Eddie or any of it."

"We can't go out without your guardians, Jill."

"Just because they're there doesn't mean we have to think about…stuff."

"Okay. I'll take you out and show you Salt Lake City. I'd like to go to the art supply store and get some things." He sat down. "I started working on something and I don't have the right brushes. Or a canvass that's the right size."

"Can I see?"

"Sure."

She ate the last few bites of her cereal and then stood. I led her into the small utility room that I was using for this particular project. The lighting wasn't that great, but I could manage until Jill and the others were back in Pennsylvania.

"So this is what you're doing?" She picked up the picture I'd printed and looked at it. "She's amazing in this."

"She's amazing always."

Jill sent an elbow into my ribs. "Stop being so mushy. You're supposed to be a badass."

"I can be a badass and still be ridiculously in love with my fiancée." I pointed out. "So do you think she'll like it?"

"A picture of herself? You better do a damn good job."

"Have you seen none of my other work?"

She laughed. "It's just that Sydney has so many issues with her body image…"

"I know. But she's working through that. And I want this to help." I took the picture from her. "She doesn't realize how stunning she is without even trying."

She patted my shoulder. "So, about that spending-the-day-together thing…?"

"Get dressed. Wake Leah. We'll go out in a couple hours."