This was totally and utterly the most shocked she had felt in her entire life.
Chapter 3
Gabe stayed very close to her as they returned to the lounge, finding Kyle and Sabrina sitting on one of the sofas. The cold food had been loaded back onto the trolley and covered with cloches, which she was glad for. She thought if she saw cold, congealed food, she would throw up again.
The orange juice and coffee thermos were still on the table, gratefully taking the glass from Josef. Turning, she saw Sabrina staring intently at her. She blushed slightly, wondering what the woman must think of her – rushing out and throwing up and not coming back out for ages. Not exactly the hostess with the mostest.
She moved to one of the sofas and sat down, Gabe joining her and pulling her onto his lap.
“Are you okay now?” Sabrina asked.
Peri nodded her head. “Yes, thanks,” was all she said, though.
“Sorry, babe, we think Peri’s pregnant!” the Wolf said with such pride in his voice that Peri looked deeply into his eyes. His glee and glorious happiness were there for her to see, sense, feel. She relaxed slightly, realizing that he truly wasn’t angry at her possible pregnancy.
“I thought so! I have to agree – call it cop’s intuition, or woman’s intuition, hell whatever you like, but I would say you are, too. Congratulations.” Sabrina’s smile was warm and wide, joining in with Gabe’s.
“A baby? You going to do the dirty diapers, Josef?” Kyle nearly choked on his laughter at that thought.
“I think you forget how rich I am – there will be the appropriate people around to help Peri, and us, with the baby.” Josef’s nose wrinkled a bit, not liking the thought of doing that duty, he would make sure someone else was there do to it.
Peri’s tone was quite firm but full of longing, too. “If I am...and we don’t know for certain...but if I am, I want to be a hands-on mother. I don’t mind some help, but mostly I want to do it myself. I want to make sure the baby is loved and looked after, always knows I’ll be there for them.”
“Of course, whatever you want, baby. Jo, why don’t you go and get that appointment?” Gabe was desperate to find out for certain what he dearly hoped was the case. A baby...a pup...of his very own.
Josef stood up, disappearing down to his office, but was back very quickly. “Got an appointment, we’ll take Sabrina and Kyle to the airport, then go onto the doctor’s office. We’ll leave soon, if you two don’t mind being a little early at the jet?”
Peri could feel upset, anger, fear, and a host of other emotions coming from the couple, and she hoped that everything went okay. She actually liked Sabrina, even if she found her hard to understand sometimes with the Scottish accent, and hoped they could be friends.
“That’s great, Josef, we’re all ready anyway.” Kyle nodded towards their suitcases near the door.
“Ah good, I’ll check everything is fine with Donovan before we leave, but I’ve not felt anything from the alert spell that Peri cast. Hopefully we’ll manage to get out without him knowing that you’ve left. Peri will sit up front with me, Gabe will be in the back with you two. As we leave you need to get down low, so that if he’s got eyes on the area he won’t see you. The glass is tinted, too, so that will help hide you. Once we’re away, then you can sit up. I know it sounds a little dramatic, but he may have accomplices that we don’t know about. They may not be able to sense you, but if they have eyes on the place, that’s defeating the purpose.”
Kyle didn’t look too happy and took a moment or two before answering, Sabrina also had a frown on her face.
“That’s probably for the best, even if it’s not something I would normally do. I need to keep Sabrina safe, so yes, we’ll do as you say.” Kyle’s voice was clipped as he spoke, obviously unhappy.
The next couple of hours went by with general chat, well, mostly Peri and Sabrina chatted while the men listened. They were getting on well and she was more than a little interested in Sabrina’s past as a cop in Glasgow.
Sabrina’s stories were colorful, some humorous, but Peri guessed there were other stories, ones that weren’t so funny or nice. She was also surprised to learn that cops in Scotland – in fact all of the UK – didn’t carry firearms as the norm. Sabrina had explained that only the Armed Response Unit had guns. Being a cop in the UK must be hard and scary, not having a gun to protect yourself with.
Before she knew it, Josef was checking his watch, standing up, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Donovan, all clear? We’ll be down shortly then.”
Her Vampire turned and nodded, helping her up, walking to the door with her at his side, Gabe very close to her back. As they neared the door there was a knock, and a large male stood there. Josef motioned to the suitcases, which the man retrieved then went back outside into the hallway and towards the elevator.
Sabrina and Kyle followed last and she thought she heard him whisper, “It’ll be okay,” but wasn’t certain.
The journey down to the parking area went quite quickly, but she was pretty sure everyone could hear the quickened breaths of Sabrina, she was obviously very anxious.
The elevator stopped, everyone moving towards the SUV waiting on them, suitcases being placed in the rear. Josef helped her into the passenger seat and Gabe got in back.
Sabrina and Kyle went into the back, too, though they were down low, almost sitting on the floor behind the front seats. Josef pulled away and they were soon on their way to the airport. Nobody spoke, there was utter silence in the cab, only broken about ten minutes later by Josef saying “Okay all clear,” at which time Sabrina and Kyle got up and sat on the seat.
The atmosphere was quite strange with nobody speaking, and that’s how the rest of the journey went until they were through the gates leading to where the jet was. That was when Josef broke the silence in the vehicle.
“My pilot is readying the aircraft, but there’s food and drink on board, Wi-Fi access, a laptop, TV and some DVDs. The Wolf likes to amuse himself if we’re on a long flight. This one has far more amenities than the other...”
Sabrina interrupted, “The other? You have more than one private jet?”
“Of course, this one can do the longer, transatlantic type flights. The other is just for trips within the US, or to Canada or some such. It doesn’t have the flight capability to make the longer trips without stopping to refuel. This one does those trips with ease, that’s why it has more on it to pass the time – it’s set up for long flights. I would never get any work done if Gabe didn’t have things to amuse himself, so it’s kind of for my benefit, too.”
Gabe laughed. “Yeah, yeah, blame me for all your gadgets and gizmos. He has that jet pimped out like you wouldn’t believe. If there’s a gizmo or gadget available, it’s on that bloody plane. There are a couple very high tech laptops, the latest in tablets and mobile phones, a huge flat screen that can be used just to watch TV, play DVDs or stream stuff from the internet, if he wants to see something on a big screen. There’s two bedrooms, too, complete with full bathrooms, this flight’s gonna be long, so you could use those. There’s a full bar and small galley that is always stocked with everything imaginable, even though he doesn’t bloody eat. Don’t blame me for your weakness for technology, Vampire!” Gabe’s tone was a little offended and annoyed.
“Whatever you say, Wolf. Here we are.” Josef pulled to a stop at the entrance to a very large hanger, his jet inside.
A man was looking over things on the outside of the plane, but stopped and walked over. “Good afternoon, sir.”
Josef addressed the man through his now open window. “Afternoon, Andrew. These are my guests, you have their destination and after you see them to their driver, you can rest there before returning. I may need you in a few days, but after this, you can take some time off.”
Josef then turned in his seat to all of them still sitting in the SUV.
“Okay, I’ll leave you here,
good luck Kyle and look after your mate. Please keep me updated, I’ll be very interested to know how things turn out.”
Kyle opened the door and helped Sabrina down, the pilot already retrieving their luggage from the rear of the vehicle.
“Thanks for everything, hope to see you all soon, and good luck at the doctor’s, Peri,” Sabrina said into the open back door.
“Thank you, hope everything goes okay and you get home soon,” Peri replied. Sabrina nodded her head before closing the door.
“Thanks, Josef, I owe you,” Kyle said through the window.
“Hmpf, this bonding thing must be making me soft – you don’t owe me anything.”
Kyle laughed at the rather confused look on Josef’s face, as if he hadn’t expected those words to come from his mouth.
“A bonding certainly changes us. Thanks again, for everything.” Kyle was still smiling as Josef pulled away.
“How are you feeling?” Josef asked Peri, and she sat pondering for a few moments.
“Fine, I think, I was more worried about how you two would feel if I was pregnant. I mean, we’ve not been together long, I thought you might be annoyed or something.”
Her heart sped up as she thought on being a mother, and she dearly hoped both her men were okay with that.
“What?! Christ, Peri, it’s every Wolf’s dream to make their mate pregnant at the time of a mating – that’s why our seed becomes so much more potent. I, for one, am over the moon, I’ve never felt happier in my life, babe, never.”
Gabe’s words eased her worry a little and she sneaked a glance at Josef, her strong, silent, hard Vampire...wondering how he felt. She noticed he usually had some sort of mild block on his mind, so she found it hard to read him most of the time.
“I’m very happy, too, even though I find it hard to envision. The penthouse has never housed anyone other than myself and the Wolf, and now we have you and possibly an infant. It’s giving me some very strange feelings inside, ones I’ve never experienced, but never think that I am upset with you or about the pregnancy.”
Josef turned his head and gave her one of his smiles, the one that could melt her insides and she returned it with a small smile of her own. She only hoped she would be a good mother – after all, she hadn’t the best role model to go on in that department. Her thoughts drifted to her own mother and how weak she was, allowing her father to carry out unspeakable acts on her only child. Peri was more than certain that if anyone ever tried to hurt her child, she would do everything in her power to stop it.
“Stop!” she shouted loudly and Josef applied the brakes in a perfect emergency stop, pulling to the side of the road and turning quickly.
“What’s wrong?” both of her men almost yelled as she opened the door and jumped out, falling to her knees in the grass at the side of the road.
Her head ached and her stomach roiled as she vomited violently into the dirt, her body spasming with the retching. She felt one hand move her hair and another rub her back, her men on either side of her. After nearly five minutes of being sick, she was down to dry heaves and the arm that was rubbing her back left her and was soon back holding a bottle of water.
“Here, clean your mouth then try a few sips.” Gabe was looking worried, and she tried to smile and let him know she was okay, but barely managed it.
The truth was she felt bloody awful. She took the opened bottle and swirled some in her mouth before spitting it out and sipping slowly a few times. Josef picked her up and carried her back to the SUV, placing her gently in her seat and fastening her belt before he went around and got in to drive. Gabe was already in the back and leaning forward, placing his hand on her shoulder and murmuring to her, telling her she would be fine, they would look after her.
By the time they reached the doctor’s office she felt a little better, having drunk and kept down some of the water. Gabe moved quickly to help her down, and for a moment she got the feeling he was going to pick her up but changed his mind. Just as well, she would be totally embarrassed at being carried around. She was pregnant, not ill…or was she? She realized she had already come to the decision that yes, she was carrying Gabe’s child, and the thought that maybe that wasn’t the case had her heart aching more than a little.
Well, she would find out soon enough. Josef opened the door and she went in closely followed by her Wolf, towards a reception desk where a young plump woman sat. She lifted her head as they entered and gave a friendly smile.
“Ah, you’re the emergency appointment. Doctor says to go right in, second door on the left.” The woman indicated a short hallway to the left of the desk as she spoke.
Peri’s heart rate picked up. She would know very shortly if indeed she was pregnant with her Wolf’s child.
Her men at either side of her, they took one of her hands in theirs and walked to the door and the doctor who would give them the news.
Chapter 4
Her feet suddenly slowed, the next few minutes could change her life forever, and she was a little scared. Josef’s hand moved from holding hers to her back, gently guiding her towards the door. Gabe was almost tugging her forward at the same time. She could see the excitement in her Wolf and hoped he wasn’t disappointed. He obviously wanted her to be carrying his child.
Gabe knocked on the door once and then opened it, pulling her in after him. A man sat at a desk, working on a computer, he had a white coat on, so she guessed he was the doctor. He smiled and stood up, coming to shake their hands as he spoke.
“Hi, Peri, is it? I’m Doctor Allen, I understand you may be pregnant?”
Peri nodded her head and had a good look at the man, if she was going to let him near her at any point in time, she wanted to get a ‘sense’ of him. He was so much smaller than her own men, only about five feet eight – not that much taller than her – with blue eyes and salt ‘n’ pepper hair. His demeanor was friendly, and he seemed confident and polite, both attributes that she wanted.
Gabe said, “Yes, I’m a Wolf. I understand my friend Josef here told you that, and she’s not had a period since we mated...”
“Gabe!” she almost shouted, her face turning red, at the way he had just come out with that information to a stranger.
“What?” Gabe asked puzzled, and the doctor intervened.
“That’s okay, Peri, it’s relevant information, and I deal with quite a few Wolves, so I’m familiar with the significance. Their sperm is highly potent at the time of mating, it’s information I require. First things first, though, can you please use the bathroom opposite and get me a urine sample? An initial test is pretty straightforward and I can do that now. Once it’s established whether you are indeed pregnant, we can discuss things further.”
Doctor Allen gave her a sample bottle and she took it quietly, moved towards the bathroom, managed to pee, then came back into the room. Her men were obviously giving the doctor more information as she heard both their voices.
“She’s been sick a few times now, today has been quite bad with it,” said Gabe.
Josef entered the conversation. “She has been through a lot lately. Her body is only just recovering, she can’t afford to be sick all the time, and not eat...”
She could clearly hear the worry in his words and a small smile appeared on her face, she loved the thought of her Vampire caring about her so much.
“Please don’t worry, I’ll take care of her.” Doctor Allen stopped as she appeared in the room, holding out the sample in his direction.
“Good, now, I won’t be long, just sit tight and try to relax.” He took the sample from her and walked out of the room.
Gabe looked like an excited puppy, apart from being huge and full of hard muscles. “Shit! I’m so excited…is this normal? To feel like this? My skin feels all prickly as if I want to shift, and my heart is beating like a bloody drum!”
“I have no idea, young Wolf, a bit more decorum may be in order, though.�
�� Josef was smiling at Gabe as if he was an errant child, and she had to stifle a laugh at the two extremes of her men:
Gabe so high and excited, Josef seemingly calm and mannered.
“I feel sick,” she managed just before she turned and ran from the room.
She didn’t even have time to close or lock the bathroom door, only flinging it open and rushing to the toilet, to once again get on her knees and puke. Gabe was right beside her, and she guessed Josef was also nearby, her Wolf holding her hair as she emptied the water that she had drunk earlier into the toilet bowl.
Gabe pulled some paper towels out of the dispenser, turned the tap on at the sink, wetting them slightly, then placed the damp towels across her forehead. They felt real good and she placed her hand over his to hold them in place. She really wasn’t liking this sickness business, not at all.
A couple of minutes later, she felt okay enough to stand back up, seeing Josef standing at the doorway. Gabe grabbed her close to him as soon as she was on her feet. “You okay, hon, is there anything I can get you?”
The worry in his voice made him sound different, she shook her head. “No, I’ll be fine,” she murmured, and they all went back into the doctor’s office.
“Sit down, Peri.” Josef held a chair out and she gratefully fell into it, her legs a little shaky. She had noted the command in his tone but let it go, needing the seat more than an argument. As she saw the worried look on his face she let it go completely. She had learned her Vampire didn’t deal with that particular emotion very well.
“You sure you’re okay?” Gabe’s tone was full of worry, and she tried hard to smile, only a small one making it onto her face.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, women get morning sickness all the time...”
Josef interrupted her, “That may be so, but you have gone through a lot recently. We don’t want a setback of the health we have only just restored. We’ll see what the doctor says.”
The Witch, The Wolf and The Vampire Series Boxed Set Page 35
