“Do not hesitate to ask me anything, Teagan. You are my other half.”
“I like this. You holding me like this. Would it be too much trouble, before you have to go sleep in the ground, however you do that and please tell me coffins are not involved . . .”
“No coffins.”
There was a trace of amusement in his voice. She liked that she put that there. He wasn’t a man who laughed or found amusement in many things. She’d been in his mind. She knew that, yet he seemed to be on the verge of laughter a lot around her. She was grateful she could give that to him.
“Since we can’t sleep together at night, would you be able to hold me like this until I fall asleep?” She felt a little silly asking, but it was the most amazing feeling. She’d never felt so safe in her life. Andre made her feel as if he’d walk on water for her.
“I sleep during the day, Teagan. You will, too.”
“Some of the time,” she agreed. “Because, of course, I want to spend most of my time with you, but there are things that can’t be done at night.”
He sighed and brushed his mouth over her hair. “Csitri, did you not hear me when I said you cannot go anywhere without me?”
She stiffened. “No. I heard you say not to leave this cave and your protection, but we aren’t living here.” She took a breath. “Are we? Permanently? I mean, we’ll have a home. A house. Somewhere my family can come and visit.” She was beginning to panic. “I don’t know where I got the impression that you wouldn’t mind living in the States if it was important to me.”
“If something is important to you, Teagan, then we will do it. Mataias, Lojos and Tomas are in the States and I like to keep my eye on them. Knowing I found you will allow them to hold on a little longer. I have been a nomad for centuries, but we can have a home base if that is important to you as well.”
She winced. There was that word centuries again. She was beginning to accept that he really was from another race and that he’d lived centuries, but still, it was difficult to process. Nearly immortal he’d said.
“When I grow old and die, what do you do then? You said there would be no other woman. In terms of your time, even if I live long, say, to ninety, that isn’t long in your years.”
“You will not grow old.”
She turned in his arms to look up at his face. “Of course I will. Even you can’t stop that, Andre.”
She pressed her hand to her stomach. She hadn’t eaten anything all night, which should have been her day. The thought of food made her sick, but her stomach was definitely hurting and getting worse by the moment.
“Honey, I think I’m going to get sick. I don’t feel so good.”
She tried to roll away from him, afraid of getting him sick, but his arm turned to iron. It was coming on fast. Her stomach felt as if she had a thousand razor blades cutting through her insides. Her hair was everywhere, a terrible mess and heavy on her head, pulling at her scalp. Her eyes burned. Her skin went hot. Not just hot, but so hot she began to sweat.
“Seriously, Andre, this isn’t good. I’m really sick and I don’t want you to get this.”
“You are not ill, Teagan,” he said.
The gentleness in his voice warned her something was off. He knew something she didn’t. He was also very calm about her feeling so awful. She’d come to think of him as protective about everything—even something so mundane as her getting sick.
She licked at her suddenly very dry lips. They were already cracked as if she’d been running a high fever for days. Her stomach cramped and she bent nearly double.
“You can’t touch me. Everything feels too heavy and too hot. My hair is driving me crazy.” She was beginning to panic. They were far from medical aid. She had to have contracted some foreign bug. A nasty one.
Immediately her hair was back in the braids, not as intricate, but still, off her face, shoulders and back. A cool breeze swirled through the chamber. He sat up, a cool, wet cloth in his hands.
“I’m ill. I need a doctor.” She tried to push his hand away. He had to get away from her before she infected him.
“You are going through the transition.”
The explanation barely penetrated. Her brain even hurt. Her entire body cramped, every single muscle. She cried out, unable to stand the pain without an outlet. She’d never hurt so bad in her entire life.
“I don’t understand.”
“Teagan, look at me. Follow my breathing. Get on top of the pain.”
“I’m not having a baby,” she hissed.
But the pain came in a huge wave, overpowering her. Her body convulsed, her bones threatening to snap under the pressure. The convulsions were so severe she nearly came off the bed. Only Andre’s strong arms kept her from rolling to the floor.