A New World: A Vampire's Obsession: Book 3

by Stephanie Rylai

  “Gabriel…?” she finally let out, her other hand resting on his arm.

  He remained still, seemingly focussed on his breathing.

  Once his breathing leveled out finally, he slowly removed his hands from his face. Turning to her slowly, her eyes roamed over every detail of his face. The bit of pink he had to his complexion was gone, leaving his skin a ghostly white. He still looked pained, but nowhere near the level he had been just minutes ago. Gabriel leaned into her, his forehead resting on the side of her neck. Her hand went into his hair, combing through his raven locks. His nose pressed into her skin, inhaling her scent. She stayed perfectly still, her head tilted a bit to watch him. Hesitantly, his nose traveled the length of her shoulder. Then, with no other warning, his fangs sunk into her flesh. The abruptness of it caused her to flinch.

  He took long drinks from her, his hands gripping her tightly. The same burst of hormones ran through her body from the act but after literally hours of sex, her body was exhausted. Gabriel drank and drank from her until she started to feel a bit woozy. His grip on her tightened, holding her to him as he stayed latched to her neck. She assumed the harsh transitions had drained him. But as he kept drinking, her vision started to spot. Reaching a hand up, she touched his cheek. Gabriel stopped then, withdrawing his fangs from her shoulder. Before anything could be said between the two, his eyes rolled back and his body collapsed back against the bed. Olivia gasped and hovered over him, a hand on his chest. He was blacked out, but still breathing. Her heart ached for him. She knew he had pushed himself too hard that day, but also knew he wouldn’t have done it any other way.

  Olivia laid next to him, her head feeling light from all of the blood loss and her body exhausted from their activities earlier that evening. Grabbing one of his arms and draping it over her, she finally let her eyes close. As she relaxed into the bed, she felt the anxiety starting to settle back in. She worried it would have all been for nothing, that he had gone through such horrific transformations for nothing. He said it would be worth it for just trying, but she wasn’t so sure. She tried to ease her mind, letting her body give into the exhaustion she felt. Never did she think that at the age of twenty-one she would be so stressed about trying to start a family, but to be with Gabriel it was worth it.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The next two weeks dragged on for Olivia. She was constantly torn between believing it worked and thinking it hadn’t. About a week into the wait, she had started to vomit but she was sure it was just from the anxiety and pressure the whole thing had put her under. As the day approached for her to take the pregnancy test, her stress levels were at an all-time high. She didn’t want to take it, almost expecting some bad news. The morning of, Olivia laid in her bed, feeling miserable. Gabriel was over for the day, wanting to be there when she found out. He was trying to be patient but also just wanted to get it over with so they could move on and start planning for their future.

  “Come on, babe. We need to find out,” he pressed her, sitting on the edge of the bed, rubbing her leg.

  Olivia didn’t move from her spot, arm tossed over her eyes. “I don’t want to find out,” she grumbled.

  He gave her a soft chuckle, “Yes you do. You’re just psyching yourself out. I’ll go in the bathroom with you if you want.”

  “I don’t want you to watch me pee, thanks,” Olivia mumbled.

  “Well, if you are pregnant, I’m going to be seeing a lot worse,” he proposed.

  Olivia wasn’t budging.

  Gabriel let out a sigh, “The worst that it can tell us is that you aren’t pregnant. It’ll sting, but it won’t be the end of the world. Neither of us will die just because you aren’t pregnant. It just means that perhaps it wasn’t the right time for it. Hell, we already know the timing isn’t ideal. Besides, nothing is saying we will never get another opportunity. Kahlil made enough progress to let me become human for an evening. Who knows, maybe in a century’s time, someone will have perfected the technique enough to turn you back human so we could try again. This was just the first opportunity we had; try to think of it like that.”

  Her arm lifted from her face, looking over to Gabriel. He was right. There was no point delaying the moment of truth. Letting out a heavy sigh, she sat up and tossed her legs over the bed.

  “Fine. I’ll be back,” she said.

  Walking out of her room, she stepped into her bathroom. Grabbing the box out from under the sink, she carefully tore into the packaging. Olivia did her best to turn off her brain as she took the test, trying to tune out all of the thoughts that were racing through her mind. Putting the cap back on the test and setting it on the counter, she washed her hands.

  There was a light knock on the door. She opened it a bit to see it was Gabriel. She let him in and he shut the door behind him. Gabriel’s arms wrapped around her waist.

  “You don’t need to wait alone,” he told her, kissing the top of her head.

  Both of their gazes were fixated on the plastic test sitting on her counter. Within a minute, two blue lines appeared in the window.

  Her knees felt weak as her eyes widened at the sight. “Oh my god…” was all she could manage to utter.

  She was actually pregnant? After stressing so much over it, it didn’t feel real.

  Gabriel immediately turned her around and lifted her high in the air. He covered her face with kisses.

  “I can’t believe it,” he grinned to her. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this.”

  Olivia felt more relief than she had ever experienced before. All of the waiting and not knowing had been absolutely horrendous to her. As Gabriel placed her back down on the ground though, a new reality started to sink in. She had spent too long worried whether or not they could get pregnant that she hadn’t spent much time on what would happen if she was pregnant. Suddenly the full gravity of the situation dawned on her. There was a living being that was growing inside of her, a life that depended on her to live. She felt weakened at that realization, unsure with what to do with herself. Olivia was happy but overwhelmed. Gabriel, on the other hand, looked like he was about to burst at the seams with joy.

  “We need to celebrate somehow,” Gabriel grinned, still holding her against him.

  Olivia let out a nervous laugh, “With what? Sparkling juice?” she teased, realizing then she was no longer in a spot in her life where she could do anything she wanted.

  He chuckled at her notion, giving a shrug, “Well I was thinking a nice dinner or something, tell Emily and Matilda…”

  “Tell people already?” Olivia frowned.

  Gabriel’s face fell slightly, realizing she wasn’t as excited as he was. It was understandable, though. She was young.

  “Well, we need to make the announcement within the next couple of days. Ethel’s deadline is two weeks away, and the nest is already starting to build tension over it…”

  She let out a sigh, nodding then, “Okay… Uh, yeah. I’ll text Emily and see what she’s doing for dinner.”

  Walking out of the bathroom, Gabriel was right on her heels. Even though she was a little overwhelmed, it warmed her heart to see how thrilled he was about it. Gabriel had always been loving towards her, but still had an air about him when he tried to maintain that cold exterior of being a vampire leader. That wall was crumbled, and all that was left was sheer joy.

  That evening they went to dinner with Emily, Isaac, Matilda, and Ezekiel. It was strange to see the two worlds she had been a part of interact with one another. Of course, Matilda and Emily hit it off and fed off each other’s bubbly attitudes. Then when Gabriel made their announcement, both females were gushing over Olivia. She didn’t think her face could have been redder. It had been reassuring to see the people closest to them were excited about it as well. Ezekiel had shown no reaction, just sitting quietly to himself as they celebrated. Olivia hadn’t expected anything else from him, though. He had always been quiet around her.

  After dinner, it was time for Gabriel and the other
s to head to the bar. Olivia was going to head back with Emily and Isaac, but Gabriel asked her to come along. At first, she didn’t understand why but with one look from him she realized. He wanted to go ahead and tell the nest. And by nest, he meant Ethel. She would be the one to react the worst to it. Olivia’s heart was racing just at the idea, holding tightly to his hand as they walked towards the bar. No matter how much he assured her that Ethel wouldn’t attack her if she knew Olivia was pregnant, it didn’t calm her. If the woman hated Gabriel as much as she seemed to, why would she hesitate to end his family? Wouldn’t that give her more motive?

  They walked into the bar, and Gabriel led the way to his usual booth. He pulled her into the booth with him, an arm going around her shoulders. The nest was already there, mingling with the humans as they chose their meals for the evening. When the waitress came around, Olivia ordered herself a club soda with lime, her stomach a little upset from dinner. Gabriel ordered his usual drink as he was distracted by looking around the bar.

  As the waitress walked away, the door to the bar opened and Ethel stepped inside, wiping the corners of her mouth. The woman started to head to a table when she looked around and happened to lock eyes with Gabriel. Lifting his other hand, he motioned for her to come to him. She paused for a moment, gazing around the room before making a beeline for Gabriel. Matilda and Ezekiel promptly stood from their side of the booth and headed to mingle with some of the others while Gabriel handled Ethel.

  She slid into the booth, Ethel’s gaze not even falling on Olivia but instead locked onto Gabriel.

  “What do you want?” she asked tersely.

  “I have some news regarding the deal we made about six weeks ago,” he started vaguely, but it perked Ethel’s interest. “Of course, I have decided to change her into a vampire. There was never a question about that. However, there will be a definite delay in doing so.”

  “No there won’t be. I gave you two months, Gabriel. That was generous enough. Especially when I could have killed her then and there,” Ethel spat angrily at him, her eyes finally going to Olivia and looking her over with a look of disgust. “You have two weeks still, or else I’ll kill her.”

  “Well, there’s where the problem lies,” Gabriel sighed, “If you do, you won’t just be killing her.”

  Ethel’s face carved into an expression of sheer confusion. “What are you talking about?”

  “The details are unimportant, but, essentially we found a way that allowed me to be fertile for a short amount of time. We weren’t sure if it would even work, but apparently, it did. She’s pregnant.”

  Silence was the only thing that followed for a few brief, terrifying minutes. Olivia was completely frozen into place, terrified of the woman snapping and lashing out at her.

  “Do you want to run that by me one more time?” Ethel asked through gritted teeth as she sat across from them.

  “I said Olivia is pregnant, and it’s my child,” Gabriel spoke calmly. “So you can’t turn her, or kill her, without killing my child.

  Ethel’s jaw clenched, furious eyes darting from Gabriel to the human standing before her.

  “This isn’t over, Gabriel. Even though you cheated me, don’t think the nest won’t turn on you for dragging them down.”

  “I’ll handle them, rest assured,” Gabriel smiled to her, acting ridiculously collected considering the situation they were in. “Nothing they can say or do will stop me from having this family. You should know just as well as the others how long I have waited for this.”

  “And you don’t think the older members will get jealous?”

  Ethel let out a cynical laugh. She shook her head, “Believe me, Gabriel. This is far from over. You’ve only created a nightmare for yourself.”

  Her gaze fell to Olivia, a creepy smile spreading across her lips, “Congratulations, Olivia. I’m sure this will turn out just as you think it will.”

  Olivia couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic, or just flat out creepy. She stayed glued to her spot, watching the woman intently. On that note, Ethel slid from the booth and stormed from the bar. A few others stopped what they were doing and followed her out.

  Olivia’s eyes slid back to Gabriel. “Well that went well…” she mumbled sarcastically.

  “I thought it actually went pretty well,” Gabriel said, pressing a big kiss to the side of her cheek.

  Olivia only looked back at him like he was crazy.

  “She could have easily lunged across the table at me, or worse, at you. But she didn’t.”

  Olivia’s eyes widened at the notion, “You genuinely think she would have done that?”

  “No, I wouldn’t have brought you if I thought she would have. I’m just saying she could have. You saw how angry she was…”

  “Do you think she was right, though? Do you think your people will turn on you because of it?”

  Gabriel shrugged, “Anything is possible. I’m sure some will be upset. Most of them will be happy for me. They know how long I’ve been waiting to have a family. She’s right that some of them will be jealous. I actually thought Matilda would have been jealous, since she’s one of the older vampires.”

  Olivia frowned. She hadn’t even thought of that. It made her feel a little bad, having not thought about anyone else’s feelings in the matter. Would it upset Matilda enough not to be their friend anymore? She had seemed excited about it, so perhaps she didn’t care. Leaning into Gabriel’s arm, she took a sip of her club soda.

  “Well I hope she’s happy for us like she seems… I don’t want to upset her in any way.”

  “She wouldn’t be upset with you,” Gabriel said, a hand shifting through her strawberry blonde locks. “She would be happy that we have the opportunity, and jealous that she doesn’t. I hope that in time, though, people like Kahlil will be able to help vampires like her. Don’t worry about all that. Right now all you need to worry about you and what’s in here,” he purred to her, resting his other hand on her lower stomach.

  Olivia looked up to him, catching his lips in a kiss. She supposed he was right. Other people’s opinions didn’t really matter at that point. All that mattered then was Gabriel, her, and their child. It was still a strange thought that they would have a baby in their arms in just eight months.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Two months passed in a blur. It seemed like someone hit the fast forward button on her life. Once she notified everyone in her life that she was pregnant, it seemed to be a constant flow of people filtering in and out to congratulate her and check up on her and see how she was doing. Her mother and aunt had actually been to town to visit and meet Gabriel, both finding Gabriel to be irresistible and charming. It was a general consensus among everyone that they were happy, but felt it was very soon in hers and Gabriel’s relationship. Meanwhile Olivia couldn’t believe it had nearly been a year since they got together.

  On top of the chaos of everyone finding out, Olivia was horribly ill with morning sickness. Most days she could hardly get herself out of bed, let alone out of the apartment. As the days went on, her sickness seemed to get stronger and stronger. Gabriel basically had to force feed her food when he was over. She couldn’t even begin to count number of times she heard the lecture about ‘if you don’t eat then the baby doesn’t eat’ from Gabriel, Emily, and even her mother. Olivia, of course, understood where they were coming from, but she couldn’t help it. It was like her body instantly rejected the food as soon as she ate it. It had been so bad that she called out of work constantly, the smell of the food being too much for her. She had been distraught, crying her eyes out with stress. Gabriel took it in stride though, telling her not to worry about finding another job. He took over paying her bills, even with her resistance. Olivia didn’t want him paying everything for her, but he said he would rather her not have the stress of working.

  Olivia became housebound, not doing much of anything but staying nauseous and waiting to hang out with Gabriel or Emily. It surprised Olivia how excited Emily was about the b
aby, Olivia having feared Emily would think it was taking away from her upcoming wedding. But, Emily juggled everything with style. Even though Olivia was only three months pregnant, Emily wanted to help her pick out everything for the baby. They had several late nights of scrolling through blogs and websites to get ideas for the nursery. When they weren’t researching for the baby, they were looking up ideas for the wedding. Olivia was so happy to have a friend like her.

  On a rainy morning, Emily and Olivia woke up early for a doctors appointment she had. She hated that Gabriel couldn’t go to any of them, but it was always fun to inform him of everything that happened. His eyes always lit up, hanging on her every word. Typically she went alone because Emily had switched to first shift after Olivia was let go—but luckily she had the day off. Olivia woke Emily up before showering herself and getting dressed. Her stomach had started to bloat which made it uncomfortable to wear her normal skinny jeans, so she stuck with sweatpants most of the time. It made her feel like a slob, but at least she was a comfortable slob.

  Once both girls were ready, they headed outside and caught a cab to the doctor’s office.

  “Do you finally get to get another scan?” Emily asked with an excited tone. “I want to see the baby,” she added with a slight pout.

  “I think so. They mentioned it at the last appointment,” Olivia responded.

  Emily clapped her hands and made an excited squeal, “I’m so excited! So glad I finally get to go with you.”

  Olivia couldn’t help but smile. It was so awesome to see her friend so excited to be a part of her child’s life; but she wasn’t sure what the future held, with Gabriel’s nest growing more and more impatient as the weeks ticked on. They wanted to move, but with Olivia being pregnant and needing to stay with the same doctor it complicated things. Olivia was dreading the day they had to move. She wanted Emily to see the child grow and be an aunt to it, and for her parents to be able to be involved as well. But once they left, the only communication they would have would be Skype and the phone. It broke her heart to think about, actually crying over it rather frequently. Olivia liked to blame it on her hormones, but she knew it was more than that. Her place was with Gabriel, and she never regretted committing to him. But it didn’t make it sting any less to leave the life she had built behind.