Paris helped Sue and Charlie clean up after the wedding, and it was close to midnight by the time the last of the tables and chairs were put away and the dishes were washed and stacked. Seth offered to take her home. She leaned against him as they walked to his truck, exhausted but happy. It had been such a joyous day that she hated for it to end.
Apparently, Seth felt the same way. He hesitated before opening her door, then surprised her by pinning her against the door with his body, leaning his right hand on the truck and bending down to kiss her softly. She responded by wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing him back enthusiastically.
Seth moaned softly as he kissed her cool, smooth neck, harmlessly nipping at her marble skin. She reached under his shirt to caress the warm, soft skin of his back. "Welcome home, Seth," she murmured, then gasped as his searing lips grazed the top of her breast above the low-cut neckline of her dress.
He stepped back and touched her cheek with his hand, his face without expression. "I think it's time I took you home." They climbed into the truck and rode in companionable silence, Paris pressed against his side as close as she dared without hindering his driving arm.
As he parked the truck, she kissed his shoulder and then looked into his eyes. "Just so you know, Seth, I'm ready whenever you are to…umm…take the next step in our relationship." Seth didn't reply right away.
Finally, he turned to her, a frown marring his boyish features. "I've given this a lot of thought, Paris, and I'm not sure I can be the man you want me to be. The guy you fell in love with is gone forever, and I don't want you to stay with me out of pity." His voice trailed off as he looked away.
Paris looped her arms around his neck and waited for him to look at her. When he met her gaze, she kissed him softly, then spoke quietly. "Do you really think I fell in love with your left arm, Seth? I love your kind, warm heart and your pure, generous soul…neither of which has been amputated. So knock it off, okay?"
Again he failed to reply, and with a quick, solemn kiss he left her standing by the door. She watched thoughtfully as the taillights of his truck disappeared in the distance, thinking that he had a long road ahead of him before he became his old self again. She refused to consider the very real possibility that it might never happen at all.
Seth was surprised to find Sue in the kitchen when he quietly let himself in the back door. "Mom, aren't you ready to get some rest? You've been going since the sun came up this morning!" She smiled and motioned for him to sit.
"I'm just giving myself a few minutes to bask in the memories of a beautiful day," she sighed. "It was lovely, wasn't it?"
Seth smiled. "It really was perfect," he agreed. "I've never seen Leah happier."
"You look tired, honey," Sue observed. "It wasn't easy for you, was it?"
Seth looked serious. "No, it wasn't, but I finally made the right decision. And Mom? Thanks for being so patient with me. I'll try to be more agreeable from now on."
Sue smiled gently at him. "I think Paris had a good time today, son. She was almost as happy to see you as Leah was."
Seth looked troubled for a moment, then let it pass. "She's a special girl, Mom, and she deserves to be happy," he remarked cryptically.
Sue wrapped her arm around his waist as she turned out the light and they walked through the darkened living room toward the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she gave Seth a quick hug before she turned to enter her room. Charlie smiled and put his book aside, watching appreciatively as she shrugged out of her dress and slipped into a nightshirt.
Sue grinned at him. "Enjoying the show?"
He smiled back, linking his hands behind his head and leaning back against the headboard. "Always." He patted the bed beside him, and Sue climbed in, kissing him softly as she nestled into his side. "Did I hear Seth come up with you, Sue? How's he doing?" Charlie asked in a whisper, always aware of Seth's superior sense of hearing.
Sue sighed. "I can see the strain in his face, even though he's trying to hide it. I don't know how all this is affecting his relationship with Paris, but it's bound to."
Charlie moved his hands to her shoulders, gently massaging. She moaned softly, relaxing as he worked the tight muscles. Sue smiled to herself as she acknowledged that at some point she had stopped identifying Charlie in her mind as Harry's best friend. She realized that she finally thought of him simply as her husband.
The next morning, Sue left early to run some errands as Charlie left for work. She hoped that Seth was sleeping in, but in her heart she knew he would be sitting in front of that damned aquarium.
He came downstairs about ten and poured cereal and milk in a bowl. He had promised Sue he'd really try, so he forced about half of it down. Just as he was dumping the rest off the back porch, Paris came around the corner. He smiled at her and sat on the porch swing, patting the seat beside him.
"Morning, sleepyhead," she greeted him with a grin. "Your hair's a mess, but you feel so wonderful and warm!" She tried to tame his dark wavy hair with one hand as she nestled up against his side.
Seth leaned over and kissed her softly. "I was just thinking about you," he admitted with a slow, tentative smile. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, pulling her cool body closer to his and kissing her again. "Kind of a nice way to wake up."
Paris smiled up at him. "I'm looking forward to waking up beside that warm, sexy body of yours one of these days," she teased.
Seth tensed slightly. "Are you…I mean have you…" he stammered.
"You know I've been 17 for a very long time, Seth," she replied to his unasked question. "I was in love with a human years ago and we had a physical relationship, but it didn't end well." Her face clouded over, and that's all she would say on the subject. She rested her head against his chest and murmured, "I love you, Seth Clearwater. You do know that, don't you?"
He sighed audibly. "Yes, Paris, I know. And I love you too. It's just…" his voice trailed off.
She smiled against his chest. "It's all right, Seth. We have all the time in the world, and I have no intention of rushing you. Baby steps, okay?"
Seth relaxed slightly before answering. "Deal. So what's the first step?"
Paris looked up at his face, smiling. She took his hand and deliberately placed it under her shirt, then laughed softly at his shocked expression when he realized there was nothing between his hand and the cool, satiny skin of her breast. He colored slightly, then tentatively began to explore. He didn't have much experience with girls' breasts, but he found hers to be surprisingly cool and breathtakingly smooth. She gasped involuntarily as his fingers continued their exploration.
She smiled up at the look of wonder on his face, then murmured "My turn," as she slipped her hand under his shirt and felt the incredible warmth and rippling muscles of his chest under the smooth, tight skin. He hardly noticed, still engrossed in his exploration of her body and enchanted by each newly discovered curve.
As Paris ran her hands over Seth's unusually warm chest, her right hand made contact with his left shoulder. Moving almost as quickly as a vampire, Seth clamped his hand over her wrist. Still smiling, Paris made a serious error in judgment. With blinding speed, and faster than the single word "No!" could issue from Seth's lips and reverberate through the yard, she yanked his tee shirt over his head. As it fluttered carelessly to the porch floor, all hell broke loose.
As if in slow motion, Paris froze as she realized that she was staring at a sight no human being had ever seen: the smoothly scarred stump of Seth's left arm. It was followed immediately by a rippling of the warm air and a ripping, tearing sound as Seth vaulted over the porch rail and landed among the azaleas on the other side, now a furious, snarling, gigantic wolf. His eyes glittered madly as he tried to take a step and collapsed on the stump of his left foreleg. His whine broke Paris's heart as he regained his footing and limped off into the surrounding forest.