He laughed when he saw how she was dressed, slowly closing his book and setting it next to him. "That shirt is too small for you."
"Christian?" Addison climbed up onto the bed, walking on her knees over to him. She sat down on his hips, her bulging belly hiding her underwear from his view. "Why won’t you let me see Emmie perform?"
"You would not like it." Grabbing the tie, Christian playfully pulled on it. "Now get dressed. I have a surprise for you."
"You don’t like it?" An over-exaggerated pout appeared on her face, her hands resting on her knees.
Letting out a small chuckle, Christian slowly undid the tie. "I see where this is going, and I do not like it." He let the cool fabric slide over her neck, pulling it inch by inch off her like pulling a rope. "I don’t like big-breasted women wearing my ties." He balled it up and threw it across the room. "Or…" His finger slowly undid the first few buttons on the dress shirt she was wearing. "My shirts."
Crumbling from his rejection, Addison’s eyes filled with tears. She tried to get him to look at her, but his gaze was focused on unbuttoning her shirt. "Christian…"
"I don’t like any of that." There was a fatherly look in his eyes as he took in her pouting face. His hands slid under her shirt, going to rest on her bare shoulders.
"Then what do you like?" Sitting up on her knees, Addison bounced a little on him, a sad tone to her voice.
"I like…" He slowly slid the shirt off her shoulders, and it fell behind her. "Pure bare…" His hands found their way to her hips, letting them rest there as he enunciated his last words "Addison Vallore."
"Really?" Cocking her head to the side, Addison spoke in a semi-whiney voice as she looked into his handsome face. "You don’t like it when I dress sexy for you?"
"It’s not that, my love." He pushed her down into a sitting position on top of him, a calm, velvety tone to his voice. "It is not the packaging that I like, but what lies beneath it." His hand slowly slid up her side and paused over her heart. "It is only you. Even in rags, you would still make my heart race in your presence, make my me want to savor every inch of your sweetness."
His hand slowly moved up her neck and rested on her cheek. "The bareness of your skin against my own is the sexiest thing I have ever known. All there is is you, Addison."
Biting her lower lip, Addison had a shy happiness on her face. He could still make her blush under his touch. She leaned forward and hugged him slowly before pulling away and looking into his face. "But I still want to go see Emmie perform."
"No." Letting out an annoyed sigh, Christian slowly pushed her away. "You will not like it." He slapped her butt playfully. "Get dressed."
Addison crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a slightly angry look. Her arms were resting on top of her bulging belly and made her look a little silly. "Christian."
"What?"
Looking down, her angry face slowly melted into a frown. "I saw a lot of pictures of you with other women, and…" Pausing, she felt his hands slowly rub her hips, but he didn’t say anything and waited for her to finish. "It hurt. A lot." Her stare slowly met his, her voice coming out low and hesitant. "Especially with Amanda. We were initiated at the same time, and we…you and me…we were…"
"Addison." There was still a calm look in his icy eyes, Christian’s tone maintaining it as well. "After you, there has been no one else." His hands sprung to her face and squeezed her cheeks together, making her look like a little chipmunk. Warm tears fell onto his fingers. "Amanda was before you. And before her were a lot of women that I cared as little for as any other donor. It was just sex and not love."
"Amanda was before me?" Addison reached forward and quickly grabbed his hands, linking her fingers in his and playfully raising them in the air between them.
"Yes."
"How much before?"
Christian chuckled, shaking his head as he looked away. "It does not matter."
"Yes, it does."
"No, it does not." He unhooked his hands from hers and motioned for her to lay down next to him. With a heavy sigh, Addison did, and Christian lay behind her and held her in his arms. "I was quite angry with myself that night I took you home from the club."
"Angry?" Addison pulled his arms tighter around her.
"At first, it was a game. A game I had played with every woman I have initiated." He moved his head closer to her, letting it rest on the side of hers. "But you, you beat me at that game. It’s taken me a long time to accept that defeat. To not take my anger at myself upon you."
"But you loved me, right?"
"Oh yes." Christian laughed. "Very much. But you must understand, my love. Before you, I had never even considered taking a mate." Christian rubbed his cheek against Addison’s soft curls. "I never understood the attachment of mates. It seemed silly to me, this ritual of sharing each other’s blood and forming a bond with one woman for a lifetime.
“Love. I thought it was an emotion carried over from our human lives, one that I could never understand. I enjoyed the physical aspect of it and knew well how to manipulate women with its power. I liked the challenge, but once that was gone, I would become bored and move on to the next."
"Will you grow bored of me too?" Addison frowned, slowly turning his wedding band around his finger.
"Never." He pulled his hand from her and held her tighter. He kissed her cheek then snuggled his head deeper in her hair. "I have accepted my defeat and am now enjoying the calmness being in a mate’s arms brings. I now understand why this bond is so important to my elites."
"I like you here." Addison slowly turned around in his arms, reaching her hand up to his face and looking loving into his eyes. "And I want you to stay here forever."
"Yes." He leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. "Now get dressed." He pulled away from her and sat up in bed, buttoning his shirt and tying his tie. When he saw her slightly pouty face, he tapped her leg and motioned for her to sit up as well. "Hurry now. We will be late for dinner."
"Dinner?" Sitting up on her knees, Addison looked at him suspiciously.
"Go." Christian planted a firm slap on her backside, making her jump. He pointed to the closet. "Get dressed."
* * * *
Awkwardly getting into the limo, she sighed. She was having a hard time doing anything now that she was very pregnant. Christian walked up behind her, grabbing hold of her hips, and shoving her in. She fell into the seat, and he jumped in after her. She was going to say something to him, but her eyes caught sight of a few men sitting inside. The limo was packed with people, and there wasn’t much room.
Christian saw her stare, her face filling with an excited, yet fearful expression. "Sit, my love." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Do you like my surprise?"
The ride was tense, Addison’s eyes glued on the calm smile of the man sitting near a few of the elites. Pressing her lips together tightly, a slow tear fell down her cheek as she looked at him. She waited patiently for the other vampires to all file out before she and Christian followed suit.
They walked inside Club Sin, Addison’s worried eyes scanning all the faces as she passed. She slowly let Christian’s hand slip out of hers, her other paused on her stomach as she turned her head around sharply to look behind her.
Christian sat down at a nearby table, watching her for a few seconds before turning to a few women that came up and started talking to him. Darien made a few of them move so he could sit down, his hand grabbing two of them and shoving them onto his lap. The girls were a little surprised at first, but soon they started giggling as he held a firm arm around each of them.
Addison looked back at Christian, seeing Emmie now talking to him. She could see the devilish grin on her face as the elite leaned close to him. Her hand rested on his, her lips brushing against his ear as she tried to speak over the loud music. Then, her eyes fell on Addison, and Emmie licked her lips as she leaned closer to him to intentionally make Addison jealous.
"Addy."
She turned away from
them when she heard a familiar voice, her jaw dropping when she looked into her own eyes. "Josh!" She hugged him, a flood of tears falling from her eyes as she held him tighter than she had ever done. "You’re alive! Josh..."
"Aww…come on, Addy." Josh pushed her away. "You’re embarrassing me." He looked different, half of his arm missing from the chop of Zak’s axe, but he was alive. He was dressed in a suit, something that always looked awkward on Josh’s tall, lanky frame.
"Here." Sniffling, she tried to push away her tears as reached up to his tie and undid it. Her fingers were shaky as they fumbled with the smooth slippery fabric. "You have this all wrong."
"Addy." Reaching up his hands to hers, Josh stopped her. Their eyes fixated on each other for a few seconds, a great tenseness hanging in the air between them. "Stop." He slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders, Addison breaking down and crying into his chest. "Hey, it’s okay." Josh slowly rubbed her back, her giant belly keeping them apart. "I’m okay."
Looking up at him, Addison ran her hand over his flawless face. "Where have you been?"
"Recovering." There was a sad smile on his face as he lifted up his nub of an arm. "The Master said I can’t be a hunter anymore."
"Oh, I’m sorry, Josh. I know how much you loved that." Addison frowned too, wiping away some of the tears that clung to the tip of her nose.
"Yeah."
"Why’d you wait to tell me you were okay, Josh? I was worried sick about you the past few months. You just disappeared…”
"I didn’t want you to see me like this. I’m a failure. If it wasn’t for the Master coming when he did, you’d…" Swallowing the lump in his throat, Josh continued to avoid her eyes. "You’d be dead."
She reached forward and shook one of his shoulders. "Well, I thought you were very brave. You were up against a bunch of hunters. You didn’t have a chance. No one would’ve."
"The Master did. He killed all of them. He can protect you from anything, but I…" Josh looked up at her, his gaze briefly wandering over to Christian. "I couldn’t even protect you from one of them." He looked back down at his arm, his voice low. "I’m a failure."
"Stop it." Addison narrowed her eyes on him, a firm tone in her voice. "You’ll always be my hero, and I know you’ll get to hunt again. You just have to work hard and really show the Master you can do it."
"I guess." Josh shrugged his shoulders. "But I don’t think it’ll work."
"Ah…" She looked back at the table, seeing Christian going to bite Emmie’s wrist. "That stupid—"
Addison felt her panties soak, water dripping quickly down her leg. "Oh shit." Holding her tummy, Addison had a fearful look on her face as she looked up at Josh.
Josh stared down at the small puddle forming on the tile under Addison’s feet. The room was dark, and on the black floor, it was hard to see. "Did you just piss on the floor?"
"I did not." She shoved him hard in the shoulder, almost knocking him over. "You ass!"
She looked back over at Emmie, who had a very pleasured look on her face as she ran her tongue slowly over her lips. Her head was tilted backward, her long brown hair falling down her back. Christian was holding her wrist to his lips, but she could see both of his hands, and he wasn’t doing anything naughty that she could see. On closer inspection, she saw Emmie doing something to herself under the table, her arm shaking furiously.
"Ah!" Holding her stomach, Addison glared at the sight. Her eyes were open wide, a deep anger showing on her perfect features. "That bitch!" Addison felt a pain in her stomach and almost fell to her knees as she let out a small whine. "Oww…" After the pain subsided, her eyes focused on Emmie. "Christian, you are in trouble."
Holding her stomach, Addison briskly walked toward Christian and Emmie. She planted a firm slap on Christian’s face, making him quickly look up at her and pull away from Emmie’s wrist. "Reformed my ass!" She shoved Emmie hard, almost knocking her off the chair and making her fall into Christian. "Asshole." She stormed off, Emmie getting off the chair and trying to follow Addison. Addison’s hands were placed firmly on her stomach as she breathed heavily, trying to calm herself down.
"Hey, what the hell?" Emmie put her hand on Addison’s shoulder and tried to stop her. "Why’d you do that?"
"Don’t touch me." Glaring at her, Addison spoke through gritted teeth as she shoved her hand off her.
"You—"
Emmie tried to grab Addison again, but Addison quickly lunged forward and seized her hair. She plunged her fangs into Emmie’s neck, ripping them intentionally from her ear to the middle of her neck under her chin. Then, Addison shoved her away, Emmie quickly placing her hand over the deep gash, blood trickling through her fingers. Emmie grabbed Addison by the hair and was going to bite her, but her action was quickly halted.
Christian got between them and pulled Addison’s hair out of Emmie’s hand before shoving Emmie away from them. He went to grab Addison, but she reached forward and gave him a firm shove away from her, walking briskly away in the other direction.
"Addison." Josh stood in front of her and grabbed her by the shoulders. He looked over at Christian, who was glaring at them. There was a great anger on his face as he narrowed his eyes on him. "Stop. You have to go to the hospital."
He motioned for Christian to come over. "Master, she—" Quickly, he turned back to Addison when he heard a painful whine escape her lips and saw her fall to her knees. Closing her eyes, Addison held tightly to her stomach as she sat on her knees.
"Hey." Josh dropped next to her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "You okay?"
Christian tried to touch her, but she slapped his hand away, a venomous look in her eyes. "Don’t you dare touch me, Christian."
"I dare." He swooped her up in his arms and carried her toward the exit.
Josh quickly followed but was having a hard time keeping up with Christian as he walked through the crowded club. They both hopped into the limo and drove back to the manor, Christian calling her doctor, who was going to meet them there.
Christian took a now very angry and in pain Addison up to their room and made her sit down in a nearby chair. She was yelling at him through her quick shallow breaths, her hands holding her stomach. Josh stood in the corner of the room, turning his head as Christian began to undress her.
"You stupid jerk!" Addison was yelling at Christian as he took off her shoes. He was calm, a small smile on his face as he slid each one off her feet. "I hate you! Why didn’t you let me kill that bitch?"
Christian grabbed her hands gently, his voice soft and smooth as if Addison wasn’t screaming in his face, "Stand up for me, my love."
"You’re a cheating jerk, Christian!" Addison rose, Christian reaching behind her and unzipping her dress, which was now wet from her water breaking. "You don’t think I’m pretty anymore, do you? You think I’m fat, and—Owww!" She began to cry as she held her stomach, another contraction bringing her to her knees.
"Shh…" Speaking softly to her, Christian knelt down on the floor near her. He held one of her hands as he watched her close her eyes as tightly as she could. "It’s going to be all right, my love." He motioned with his other hand for Josh to leave the room and go see if the doctor was there yet.
"Christian, don’t let go." Opening her eyes, Addison’s voice was low and tearful as she gazed into his calm face and squeezed his hand as tightly as she could.
"Never, my love." He ripped off her dress and wet underwear. He grabbed the nearby white dress shirt she had been wearing earlier and put it over her bare shoulders. "Come. Let’s get you to bed." He helped her in then hopped up next to her. He pulled the sheet over them, pulling her close to him and letting Addison lay in his arms.
About ten minutes later, the doctor and nurse arrived, and Josh led them upstairs. When they came into the room, Christian was whispering into Addison’s ear as she sniffled. They were in a tight embrace, Addison’s hands gripping the fabric on his shirt firmly as she closed her eyes and fought off another contraction
.
He sat with her for the next few hours until their son was born, never once leaving her side. Soon the manor was filled with people, but no one was allowed upstairs. They were all excited to see the Master’s son, something that was a very big event for the family.
After checking the baby over to make sure everything was all right, the doctor and nurse left, leaving the Vallores alone. Addison was very pale, her skin taking a sort of grayish tone. She was sitting next to Christian as she held her baby in her arms, both she and Christian admiring their new arrival.
Knocking, Darien’s voice came from the other side of the door. "Hello?"
"You may enter, Darien."
Darien slowly opened the door, pulling on the hand of a young woman in a trance. "I thought maybe the princess and her prince might be a little hungry."
"Yes!" Addison let out a small laugh, her face filled with a giant smile. She looked over at Josh, who walked sheepishly into the room behind Darien. "Josh, come here and see your nephew." Her eyes quickly looked down at her son, as she stroked his small face. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned and showing a glimpse of her cleavage.
Addison watched Christian jump off the bed and walk over to Darien. She knew her son was a vampire as well, and he needed blood to survive, but she wasn’t prepared for how he would get it. Christian went through the drawers, opening and closing each one quickly as he searched for something.
"Here." Darien brought the woman over to Addison. "You take a drink first."
"Josh." Addison motioned for him to come closer to her, a smile on her tired face. Josh walked over to her reluctantly. "You want to hold him?"
"Of course." Josh’s smile grew a little as he reached his arms out to her, Addison carefully setting the small baby in his arms.
It was a little awkward for him at first because he was missing part of his arm, but he managed. He looked down at the little boy, who had very soft black hair. It wasn’t thick, and Josh could see the skin beneath it. He was a perfect child, his little hand latching onto Josh’s finger.
Seed of the Master (Christian’s Kisses Book 2) Page 17
