Tear Down These Walls (53 page)

“No,” Kellen laughs. “It’s not that.” He pauses and then murmurs, “It’s your
birthdate.”

Shocked, Teagan gasps, “What!?”

“Celine would never have guessed it,” Kellen states, giving her a huge
smile. “It’s actually backwards, but yes, it’s your birthdate.”

“Wow.” Teagan can’t find anything else to say but that.

“Creeped out?” Kellen asks, grimacing.

Teagan shakes her head and says, “No.” Now, she starts laughing. “Want to
know the password to my computer?”

“What is it?” He inquires. She turns a nice shade of red and opens her mouth. 
Quickly, she shakes her head and closes it. “Come on, you need to get to class.
Spill the beans.”

“I am going to die of mortification,” Teagan giggles. “BUT….the password
is…Teagangrayson.”

A glint forms in Kellen’s eyes. “I like the sounds of that.”

“Oh shush,” Teagan laughs. “I have to go.”

Bending over to her ear, Kellen pulls her against him. “You know,” he
whispers. “We can always ditch our responsibilities and christen your
apartment.”

She turns her face to his and exhales a swirl of white. “There is also
the back of your truck. I still have a half an hour.”

“I thought there was some hot beverage calling your name,” Kellen
murmurs.

“I much rather be calling out your name,” Teagan emphasizes.

With a growl, Kellen pulls her closer. Suddenly they hear, “Mr. Grayson,
may I speak to you about your wife?”

“Wow,” Teagan exclaims. “MOOD KILLER.”

Kellen looks at Detective Adams, “I will be right there.” He smiles down
at Teagan.  “I will make you scream all sorts of things later tonight.
Have a good day at school.”

“Don’t get into trouble today,” Teagan teases. “I will see you later.”

“Bye, Baby.”  Kellen bends over and gives her a deep kiss.

Letting go, Teagan says, “Bye.” She takes the keys and goes to the
driver’s side of the truck.

Later that night, Teagan pulls into Kellen’s driveway. There is a black
SUV already in one spot. After parking, she yawns and shakes her head 
Grabbing her backpack and stuff, Teagan makes her way into the house. She is
very quiet because she knows Kya is probably in bed. The alarm isn’t set, but
most of the house is dark. Teagan furrows her eyebrows.  “Kellen?” She
barely calls out.

There isn’t an answer, so she heads upstairs. The bedroom door is shut.
She sees soft light from underneath it and it intrigues her. Teagan opens it
and walks in. A face splitting grin passes over her face. There is a fire
roaring in the fireplace and a hundred tea light candles are lit all over the
room. Happily laughing, Teagan sets her bags down. “Kellen?”

He appears out of the closet. “Hey,” he whispers, startled to see her.

“What is all this?” She asks, smiling up at him

Kellen walks over to Teagan and pulls her against him. “Well, I know you
had a rough day, so I am going to pamper you tonight.”

“I have to get my suitcases,” Teagan laughs. “But this is awesome.”

“No, no, no suitcases,” Kellen replies. “I will get that. You are right
on time, so your bath is still warm.”

“What are talking about?” Teagan asks curiously.

“Go into the bathroom, take off your clothes, and get into the bathtub,”
Kellen says softly. “I am going to show you how much I love you tonight.”

Not knowing what to say, Teagan shakes her head. “Okay. Is Kya asleep?”

A mischievous grin crawls across Kellen’s face. “She better be, but my
sister is a naughty aunt.”

“She isn’t here?” Teagan squeaks. He gives her a very heated stare and
mouths, no.  She instantly grabs his pants and yanks on them  “On
that note, take these off.”

“Later,” Kellen laughs. “Go…get in the bathtub. I will bring in your
suitcases.”

Bewildered, Teagan says, “Okay.” She takes off her jacket and lays it on
the bed.  Turning to him, she asks, “Are you sure you don’t want help?”

“No,” he chuckles. “Take off your clothes, slide into the bathtub, and
relax.”

“Okay,” Teagan agrees with a grin. She starts to make her way into the
bathroom, stripping off clothes as she goes. The only light in the bathroom
comes by candlelight. “This is so sweet,” Teagan whispers to herself. She takes
off the rest of her clothes and gets into the bathtub. The water is hot, and a
moan escapes her lips.

A few minutes later, Kellen appears in the doorway. “I am going to hang
up your clothes.”

“NO!” Teagan yells. Kellen raises his eyebrows. “I mean, leave it for me.
You should come in here.”

He saunters over and sits on the ledge of the tub. “No, you are supposed
to be relaxing.”

“It would be much more RELAXING with you in here with me,” Teagan
murmurs.

Kellen grins. “Oh, I bet.”

“Come on,” Teagan says, moving over by him. “Come in here with me.” He
shakes his head. She gets up on her knees. Steam rises from her skin. “I am
naked and wet.”

“I know,” Kellen teases. “You are supposed to be relaxing. There will be
ravishing this evening, trust me.”

With a happy sigh, Teagan slides back into the tub. Kellen reaches down
and turns on the jets. Humming to herself, Teagan relaxes against the jets. She
looks up at Kellen and smiles. “This is nice.”

“I am glad,” Kellen replies, swirling a finger in the water. “So, how was
your day?”

“I now have a surprise test on Friday,” Teagan groans. “Work was boring
and pointless. No one came in. The study group went well and will help with
said test.”

“Awesome.”

Looking up at him, Teagan asks, “And you?”

He exhales heavily and says, “I did paper work, A LOT of paper work. I
will be doing the same thing tomorrow.”

“Awwww,” Teagan replies. “Poor baby. You know what you need?”

“What?”

She gives him a seductive look and whispers, “You need to take a relaxing
bath.”

“You know what will happen if I get in there.”

“Exactly!” Teagan exclaims. With a devious smile, she notes, “Remember
the last time we were in a Jacuzzi together?”

“I don’t think I will ever forget that,” Kellen states contently. “But
this bath is for YOU.”

In a sudden rush, Teagan splashes Kellen with a wave of water. He stands
up in shock. “Oh…I am sorry. Geez, now you need to take your wet clothes off.”

“You really aren’t you going to relent, are you?” Kellen asks. Teagan
shakes her head and pulls her hair up off of her neck, securing it in an
elastic band she grabs off of her pile of clothes. Rolling his eyes, Kellen
pulls off his shirt. 

Gleefully, Teagan yells, “Yeah!” He continues to take off all his
clothes. “My, oh my, I have a hot boyfriend.”

“Well,” he starts, as he takes off his socks. “I have a gorgeous
girlfriend, who is, as she noted, naked and wet in a bathtub, urging me to join
her.”

Teagan slides forward as Kellen gets in behind her. When he is ready, he
pulls her back against him. She grabs his arms and wraps them around her.
Teagan leans her head against him and whispers, “NOW, this is relaxing.”

Kellen kisses the top of her head. “It really is.”

They sit there for a little while, just enjoying each other. Finally,
Teagan says, “Tell me something.”

“Like what?”

“Why did you get into your first fight? If you were such a mean
scrapper.”

A deep chuckle comes from Kellen and vibrates her back. “Well, I was in
the seventh grade and already taller than my entire class. I was probably as
big as most freshman in high school.”

“I must see pictures.”

“Well, when I take you to meet my parents, my mom will spend hours
showing you her scrapbooks,” Kellen laughs. “It’s her hobby.”

“You want me to meet your parents?” Teagan turns to face him.

“Of course, I told them all about you,” Kellen replies. “They’re elated
that I met someone that I actually care about. My parents are the kindest
people, but they still hated Celine. Needless to say, they are very eager to
have her out of our lives.”

Teagan turns around and looks at him. “Do you think she will want to see
Kya?”

Kellen shrugs, “I stopped by there to pick up Kya’s stuff. She just asked
about when the money was going to end. Celine didn’t say anything about wanting
to see her.”

“She will,” Teagan states. “It’s her daughter.”

“Well, Celine isn’t allowed in this house without me being here,” Kellen
states, looking at Teagan. “She has no say so in my home. If you need to call
the police because she is causing a problem, call the police.”

“Can I just tase her?” Teagan giggles.

With a big smile, Kellen says, “Sure, go ahead.”

“I was joking,” Teagan retorts, rolling her eyes. “Let’s not talk about
her. I want to hear more about you.”

“Ah yes, my first fight. Well, that was with a freshman in high school. I
don’t actually recall his name.” Kellen looks up. “Gosh, I should remember the
poor kid’s name. I laid him out.” After a minute, he shrugs, “I don’t remember.
What I do remember is that he was trying to push himself on this girl. She kept
asking him to stop. He just kept pressing the issue and laughing. I pulled him
off and said he needed to stop. He looked at me and scoffed.  This kid
turned around and grabbed at the girl again. Well, then I was pissed off. I
grabbed him and punched him, which inadvertently knocked him out. My uncle made
sure I knew how to defend myself…thoroughly.”

Teagan smiles. “Well, the first time I ever punched someone, my boyfriend
had to step in and finish it for me.”

“He was more than happy to do that,” Kellen states.

Getting a very serious look on her face, Teagan says, “I want us to amp
up my training.”

With a curious expression, Kellen asks, “In what way?”

“I really want to know how to fight,” Teagan declares. “Not just defend
myself. If someone is coming after me, I want to finish the fight. You can
teach me that.”

Kellen gives her a kind look. “Teagan, I know you’re worried.”

“Kellen,” Teagan interrupts. “I’m serious. Either you teach me how to
fight, or I go somewhere else to learn. I don’t want to live in fear because
what if the Taser or pepper spray is knocked from my hand, or doesn’t work?
What am I going to do?”

He nods his head. “All right, we can get up early and start in the
morning. It will be grueling.”

“I don’t care,” Teagan replies. “I need to learn.”

“You definitely have the right boyfriend to teach you that,” Kellen
replies, rubbing his fingers down her arms. “I want you to know. I will do my
damnedest to make sure nothing happens to you.”

“I know,” Teagan sighs. “But I think this is a good thing either way.
It’s awesome exercise.”

Pulling her against him, Kellen replies, “I have some other good ideas
for exercise.”

“Mmmmm,” Teagan hums, putting her arms around him. “What new skills can
you teach me?”

In a throaty growl, Kellen says, “I can think of a few things.” With that,
he pulls her down for a passionate kiss. Teagan moans and presses herself
against him. It doesn’t take long before they are both panting. “This is why my
getting in here was a bad idea,” Kellen exhales. “You’re supposed to be
relaxing.”

“I am…in your arms,” Teagan replies. “Do you know what relieves tension?”

With a chuckle, Kellen says, “We need to get out of the water then.”

“No, let’s stay in here,” Teagan whispers, maneuvering herself over him.

“Teagan,” Kellen sternly retorts, holding her back. “We will talk about
birth control, but I know all too well how easy it is to get someone pregnant.”

“Okay, I will go to the clinic tomorrow after class,” Teagan murmurs. “We
need to revisit this bathtub sometime soon.”

Brushing his lips against hers, Kellen murmurs, “That sounds wonderful.
For now, I am going to ravish you across every inch of this house.”

A big grin spreads across Teagan’s face. “Across the house?”

“Kya’s gone,” Kellen states mischievously, shifting himself against her.
“We have the whole place to ourselves. I am going to use that to my benefit.
Where do you want to start?”

“Why don’t you come and find me,” Teagan teases. “I will make it worth
your while.”

“Do you want me to close my eyes and count to ten?” Kellen laughs.

Getting into a squatting position, Teagan says, “Make it twenty.”

*            
*            
*            
*             *

Kellen holds up the pad. “Right, left, kick.  Got it?” Teagan nods.
“Go!” She does the three movements. “Again!” Exhaling, Teagan punches and then
kicks as hard as she can.  “Good,” Kellen praises with a smile.

“What’s next?” Teagan asks.

“More of the same, but with your other leg,” Kellen declares. Teagan nods
and holds up her hands. He grins at her enthusiasm. “I’m very proud of how far
you have come in three weeks.”

“Well, I plan to go back to my apartment soon,” Teagan states. “I need to
learn as much as possible.”

With a scowl, Kellen stands up straight. “Why would you do that?”

Sighing, Teagan replies, “Celine hasn’t seen Kya this entire time. You
know that Kya keeps asking for her. My living with you is going to confuse
her.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Kellen murmurs.

“No, no, no, stop,” Teagan says. “I love you both with all of my heart. I
just don’t want us to get in over our heads. What if we overdo it? We only
started dating seriously for a little over a month now.”

He nods. “I understand. I only worry about you being there by yourself.”

“Kellen, I’m not going back to my apartment today. I
know
I am
safe with you. I also know that you love me and how much I love you. It’s just
that I am paying rent and not living there. My grades are slipping because I am
preoccupied all the time,” Teagan sighs.

“Kya bothers you a lot, doesn’t she?”

Teagan smiles and shakes her head. “No,
but
she is a distraction.
I want to play with her all the time. She looks at me with those big doe eyes
from afar, and I have to put down whatever I’m doing.”