Cured By Blood: A Vampire Pregnancy Romance

by Samantha Snow

  “Wow, is this yours?”

  “Yes, I…acquired it, a long time ago, from a Jarl in present day Norway.”

  “It’s so well preserved; it looks like something you would by at one of the sword shops in the malls.”

  “I tend to them. I have several pieces that need attention at least on a monthly basis. I have to oil the wood, keep the dust off them, and make sure the humidity and temperature is well regulated in here.”

  Tara began floating around from the bookshelves to the display cases. There were so many books with faded spines, real leather covers, and in languages should couldn’t even begin to guess at. The cases held necklaces, rings, daggers, swords, and chalices, silver dishes with beautiful and elegant designs. The price tag of Dru’s collection had to be immense, and she could only imagine how desperate a museum or college would be if they knew he had this.

  “Thank you so much for letting me look at all of this. I could stay in here for ages.”

  “Well, that is why I wanted to give you this. Please, please do not misplace the card. The pin is written on the back. That will get you passed the security door on this room. It also can access other areas of the house that are closed off.

  Though I do ask, please do not go into the room at the end of the hall, past my chambers, on the second floor. I know curiosity will drive you mad, but the room contains personal items of people in my past, and I would rather you not go in there without me.”

  Tara nodded. She was intrigued, and hoped he would take her in there, but he was already sharing so much of his life with her that she felt obligated to keep this promise.

  “I won’t. I promise you, Druian.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tara smiled and walked up to Dru. She leaned up on her toes and kissed his lips. She could feel his mouth curve into a smile under her own as the kiss intensified. Just as her hands twined around his neck, there was two dull gong noises coming from somewhere deep in the house. Dru stood back and frowned as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. Activating an app, his frown deepened into a scowl as he watched what looked like video footage.

  “I need to go take care of something. Please lock the door behind you and meet me in the library in about twenty minutes?”

  “Yeah, of course. Is everything alright?”

  “I hope so. Just an unwanted visitor.”

  Dru turned and left the room. As much as Tara wanted to look through the amazing contents even more, she was curious about his visitor. She felt a pang of jealousy, wondering if it was one of his volunteers that helped fulfill his needs. Tara wondered if she was going to witness him feeding from someone, especially if he was giving her his own blood to substitute her medications.

  She also knew that vampires had a high sexual appetite and was more curious if that was why someone was here, maybe he typically invited certain people over on certain nights of the week to satisfy those needs as well.

  Tara waited a few beats before exiting the room, locking the heavy door, possibly steel with a wooden outer shell, and headed down the hall. She hurried around to the stairs and took the three flights down to the ground floor. The entry way was down the hall from the staircase and through an archway on the right.

  Tara hurried along the path, already hearing the voices of Dru and a woman. She leaned against the wall on one side of the entry and strained her ears trying to hear the conversation. Guilt plagued her, she had no right to be eavesdropping on Dru’s conversations, but she couldn’t help but want to know more about this man, the good and the bad.

  “So you are just going to toss me to the side? You find someone else to fill your bed and belly or you just done using me?”

  “Blaire, I have told you before, it was a few fun date nights, but I was not interested in anything long term. I also made it perfectly clear that you cannot come to my home unless invited.”

  “Why? You’re the vampire, not me, I can go wherever I want.”

  “Trespassing applies to all species.” Tara heard a dark tone from Dru she hadn’t experienced yet.

  “You know what, help me get turned, and I will never, ever bother you again.”

  “You need to leave.”

  “After all I did for you? I let you bang me and drink me and I get nothing in return?”

  Tara felt like she was going to be sick. She turned to walk away when she heard a grunt from the door.

  “Don’t shove me! I’ll call the police. You can’t push me around!”

  “I am guiding you to the door. Leave or I will call the police.”

  “You do that, I’ll tell them that I found out you drank from me when I was unconscious and you use me. I’ll get your ass for rape!”

  “Very classy, except you signed an agreement that you were allowing me to feed from you. And being all of this happened over six months ago, I want you to leave before I call them. I’m serious Blaire. Leave now!”

  “I’ll get you! I’ll find away. Assholes like you get put away for anything!”

  “I’m sure they won’t arrest me because I wanted you to leave and you were trying to fabricate blackmail to get turned illegally. This is the last time, leave or I will call the police.”

  “I hate you. You pompous ass!”

  Tara jerked away from the door and hurried down the hall as she heard the front door slam shut. She ducked into the library and sat in the chair, trying to steady her breathing. Within moments, Dru came around the other side and sat in the spot he had been using the past two days.

  “I’m sorry you had to hear that. She has been trying to cause me problems for months.”

  “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”

  “Well, I can’t say I am fond of the activity, but I have been asking you about being turned, so I want you to know all you can about me, in case you change your mind.”

  “But she wanted to be turned and you refused?”

  “Exactly, she doesn’t need to be a vampire. A person like that, the power it would give them, especially someone so undeserving and repulsive. I’m afraid I was weak in even allowing her to come to my home, but it is the safest place to feed. She volunteered, signed the papers, we had sex and I fed. She then left. It occurred two or three more times when I was in need of a feeding and didn’t feel like going into the centers in town, and now she will not leave me be.”

  Tara sat in thought for a bit. She was confused, but then again, deep down; she had to acknowledge that she did understand. She understood the implications of being changed, knew what it meant, and took everything seriously. Women like that wanted to be changed for eternal beauty and power and nothing else. Already, the world had more than enough people with too much power being changed, and she could see Dru’s point.

  “Have you thought any more about it? About being changed?”

  “I don’t know, Dru. I mean, yes, I have thought about it, but I still haven’t decided if it’s for me.” Tara felt a drop in her stomach as Dru gazed at her with a deep sadness, “what?”

  “How long do you think you have, Tara?”

  “Several months, they believe…why?”

  “Tara, you have, at most, three weeks.”

  Tara felt the world disappear around her, her mind struggled to grasp the meaning behind the words. She shook her head, sure that he was messing with her, trying to get her to make the decision or something.

  “I can smell it, Tara. It’s why I wouldn’t dare drink from you. It’s why half a cup of my blood makes you feel as good as a few drops does for anyone else. Your blood is compromised and your organs are failing. I can see and smell and hear better than most doctor’s and the basic office equipment. There is a barely perceptible yellowing to your skin. Your liver is already struggling.”

  Tara felt the tears, again. She was perpetually crying in front of this man! Her heart hurt and the panic was bubbling up and beginning to consume her.

  “Tara, I need you to start making a decision, a final decision, in case something happens so I can act i
n a way that you want me to. I won’t do anything you don’t want, but I am telling you, I will be surprised if you make it another three weeks.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Dru didn’t say anything as he watched her face. Once again tears were filling those beautiful sapphire eyes. His want to turn her was growing by the moment. He wanted to know more about this creature, wanted to learn about her and teach her all that he knew of the world and experience the rest of his long life with her. Never had he met a woman that intrigued him as much as she did.

  Her intellect and compassion were refreshing, her intelligence and wit, exhilarating, A woman like Blaire never deserved more than being a play thing and a food source, never a lifelong companion. Tara, she deserved the world. He knew the risks he would be taking on, the trouble that they would both get into, but he didn’t care.

  He could pay for the registration, but she would still need to apply and be approved which could take anywhere from six months to a year or more, depending on how picky they felt like being.

  It infuriated him that a pretty bobble headed actress could get registered to turn at the sign of her first wrinkle, but an amazing human whose life was fixing to be cut short couldn’t get the same treatment.

  “You’re sure,” her whispers were fragile, frightened.

  “Yes, I’m sorry, but yes.”

  Tara nodded. She wiped away the tears, straightened up, and took a deep breath.

  “Well, OK then. So I need to think. I can’t just decide something like this on a whim. You understand?”

  “Yes. That is why I so willingly offer it to you.”

  “How would we forge the papers? I have a license and prints on file; I work in the medical field. How am I supposed to pass as someone born nearly 80 years ago?”

  “I know people, people owe me favors. You would be shocked to learn the amount and gravity of the promises and favors I have racked up in my time.”

  “Probably, but then again, probably not. You're intelligent, wealthy, and have friends in high places, it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine the lengths you went to do that.”

  Dru nodded, staring into the fire. He was fighting the urge to beg her, to get on his knees and plead for her to let him change her. He didn’t know how to convince her without pushing her. He wanted it to be her choice, but he also wanted her to choose this, to choose him. His frustration, along with his growing need to feed, was starting to get to him.

  His patience could be rather short and under stress, quite unpredictable. He didn’t want to go into one of his mopey states and hide away in his room of memories to slide into a depression, and he also didn’t want to get angry and start yelling or demanding like a Viking lord into battle.

  “I would like to show you something.”

  Dru stood and offered his hand to Tara. She allowed him to gently pull her to her feet and held his hand as she followed him out of the library and to the end of the hall. There were so many doors off to each side; she couldn’t even imagine what was behind all of them. Dru pointed out his office, a meeting room, bathrooms, guest rooms, and at the end of the hall, a ballroom. Her curiosity had been peaked, since she had a rough idea of the size of the place, she knew there had to so much more than she had seen inside.

  Dru opened one of the two doors enough for them to slip in. Tara stood still as she heard him go into an area to the side of the door. Within a few moments, dim lights began to gently light the room, but stopped before being fully on, giving the room a candlelit glow. She saw the room he was in had no door, but did have two swivel chairs and a large electronic board.

  As he fiddled with the knobs, she heard the gentle sounds of violins flow through the room. The music was soft and gentle, haunting almost, filling the large room with the soft, sweet melodies. A giant chandelier hung above the center of the floor, over the ornately patterned marble floor. Swirls of color streaked through the dark stone surface, as if the ghostly lines of previous dancers had etched themselves into the marble.

  The walls were darkly carved wood with windows spanning over ten feet tall and only three feet wide were set at increments around the perimeter. The ballroom was two stories tall. A staircase on the other side of the sound room curled up to a door above the one they had entered through and led to the second floor.

  “Would you like to dance?”

  Tara couldn’t suppress the giggle as he took her hand and kissed her knuckles before deeply bowing. She squealed as he suddenly spun, pulling her along with him and twirling her around before guiding her back to him. He then slowed his pace, small twirls and fancy footwork causing Tara to worry about stepping on his feet or tripping and falling. Dru, though, proved her worries in vain, His experience was obvious as he guided her expertly around the room.

  His eyes looked into hers, pulling at an imaginary cord in her stomach. She felt the walls fall away and the lights seemed to dim and she drowned in his gaze. His hands held her as if she would break at any moment, and yet they never let her falter.

  “I’ve never danced like this before.” Tara was breathless, captivated, and amazed.

  “You are doing very well, then, for a first timer.”

  Never missing a beat, Dru leaned down and captured her mouth with his own, one hand on her lower back, the other cradling her outstretched hand. As the kiss deepened, he swirled faster, the world becoming a blur around them. A fog filled her mind, and a perfumed air of lilacs and hydrangeas seemed to fill the room. His mouth trailed along her jaw and down her neck to her shoulder before he looked back up at her again.

  Her mouth was parted, eyes glazed over as he met her mouth again. The spinning was beginning to make her dizzy, but she felt as if she had never been safer than in the arms of this man.

  Her heart soared as he released her and spun her away from him before pulling her back, curling his arms around her as she was pressed with her back against his chest. He nuzzled her neck, swaying to the soft music.

  She closed her eyes and tried to let all thoughts vanish from her mind. Nothing else existed, there was no one or anything left but Dru and her spinning on a cloud in the middle of nothingness.

  “Are you still with me, Tara?”

  The voice seemed very far away, and yet so close it almost seemed to come from within her. Her eyes flickered open. Her hands were on Dru’s chest, his arms bracing her around her back. A small smile rested on his beautiful lips, his eyes searching her face wondering what she was thinking, as she regained her bearings.

  “I don’t know.”

  Tara saw the flicker of pain in his eyes. How could someone who had lived hundreds of years be so caught up, so attached, to someone he had only met a day or two before. Tara wasn’t even sure of the time anymore. Everything had begun to blur together. She felt as if everything that existed before Druian was beginning to fade away and a whole new life of memories had started the moment she had seen him sitting outside of the gallery on the bench.

  She had started going over her initial reasons why being turned was something she didn’t want to consider. She wasn’t religious, had nothing against being a vampire, most of her reasons lay in the unknown regions of what her life would become. He would pay for her registration, granted he would also be forging papers to make the registration reflect a much older vampire. He would protect her and care for her and she would spend decades or centuries with him.

  She could see warming up to the idea of surviving off blood, and Cyndi was the only close friend she would watch age and die. As hard as that would be, she would be there for her friend, and that was so much more than what she had now.

  Her biggest reason, at this moment, was that she was afraid to make a decision that meant a life with someone who may or may not be who she wanted to spend forever with. What if they grew apart? What if things from his past came between them? How would she cope with the other women in his life showing back up, or the fact that he would need to feed from them?

  Of course, they could always go to the
centers and get blood, granted it was mostly synthetic blood or contaminated blood that wouldn’t hurt vampires but was unsafe for human transfusion. Then again, that matter seemed like something they could work out. The biggest issue was forever with a man she had just met. And the small detail of technically being illegal.

  “I’m scared, Druian. And, I don’t know what to do.”

  “Do what you want, what your heart and mind wants. Nothing more, nothing less.” His eyes seemed so sad and pulled at her heart with their need.

  “Can you drink from me? Or is my blood too bad?” The question had been lingering in Tara’s mind.

  “I could, if you weren’t so weak already. The blood wouldn’t be the best tasting, but it wouldn’t harm me.”

  “Could you, I don’t know, drink from me and then I drink some of yours to keep me from getting too weak?”

  “I could, but that can be risky. If I do that a few times, your decision will be made.”

  Tara nodded, she stood still, her hands pressed to his chest, thinking. She reached up and pulled her hair over one shoulder and tilted her head.

  “I want to know what it’s like.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Just a little bit, just enough to understand how it feels.”

  Dru’s eyes searched her face, making sure that she wasn’t doing something she may regret later. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, deeply. His mouth then trailed kisses along her jaw and over her neck, but this time, when they paused over her pulse, she felt a surge of adrenaline and the zing of anticipation.

  His kiss deepened on her neck, gently pulling at the flesh. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain, like a needle going in, and her body tensed before his saliva began to do its work. The pain disappeared as quickly as it had come, leaving her in a state of mild euphoria. She felt drunk, almost, and as he drank she could feel the pull of his mouth and the odd sensation of the blood being pulled out of her. The feeling eased up and she felt his tongue flick out over her neck before planting a kiss and pulling back to look at her face.