Forbidden Blood

by R. L. Kenderson

  So far, he was acting like it had never happened. However, as with all the other times she’d thought about the incident, she caught herself subconsciously rubbing her neck where he had bitten her, which had taken over two weeks to heal. His tone, on top of her memories and sexual frustration, put her on the defense.

  “Stop looking at you like what? Like you’re a criminal, out committing a little B & E when you feel it’s necessary because someone doesn’t answer the door?” She didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she went back to the previous subject. “Why are you looking for Vaughn and Naya?”

  She could see the tic in his jaw, but he sensibly stayed on topic.

  “I think you’d better talk to Naya to get all the details, but they’re together, and no one knows where they are. If you see them, will you have Vaughn contact someone to let us know they are okay?”

  Kenzie narrowed her eyes at him, and he heaved a big sigh.

  “Please?”

  This was the nicest he’d ever been to her, and she was a little surprised. It probably wasn’t because his opinion of her had changed. He probably had something more important on his mind.

  Still, he’d said please, so she walked past him into the living room to grab her phone off the coffee table.

  “I’ll just send Naya a quick text to see if she responds.”

  Kenzie turned back to look at Sawyer. He was standing there with his eyes closed and mouth drawn tight. She raised her brow and then shook her head. He was strange sometimes.

  She unlocked her phone and went to messaging.

  Kenzie: Sawyer is looking for you and Vaughn. Are you together? Are you okay?

  Naya: We’re fine. Tell him not to worry.

  Kenzie: What’s going on? Are you sure you’re okay?

  Naya: Yes. I’ll tell you everything tomorrow. Call me after work.

  Tomorrow? The suspense would kill her, but at least she knew Naya was okay. That was the most vital part.

  Kenzie looked up from her phone. “Naya says…” She lost her train of thought for a moment when she saw the way Sawyer was staring at her so intently. “They’re okay.” She had to fight the impulse to shift from one foot to the other. What the hell?

  Sawyer didn’t respond. He just stood there, watching her.

  What’s his problem? Did she have drool on her face or something? She looked down at herself. She was wearing her standard pajamas—underwear and a tank top. She could see her nipples poking out in response to the cool air—and possibly her reaction to him—but she didn’t think there was enough light for him to see anything.

  She shook her head and chose to pay no attention to his actions. Besides, she didn’t have time to deal with his idiosyncrasies. She would have to get up for work soon, so she needed to go back to bed.

  She turned and headed for her apartment door with the intent of kicking him out. “Well, Sawyer,” she said with extra sweetness, “it was lovely having you visit this evening, but you really must go now.”

  She opened the door, but suddenly, Sawyer was standing right in front of her, slamming it closed. She hadn’t realized he could move so fast. He curled his lip and made a growling noise, and she swore his eyes were glowing. She took a small step back. She wasn’t afraid of him, but this was new.

  “I’ll let myself out,” he said with a snarl.

  Once again, he rubbed her the wrong way, but she bit her tongue. She told herself to focus on getting him out of the apartment, so she could go back to sleep.

  She held her hands up in surrender. “Fine. Whatever. It doesn’t matter.” She rolled her eyes.

  She seemed to do that a lot around him, but he knew just how to push her buttons.

  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and visibly swallowed. She realized he was trying to calm himself, and she almost snorted.

  What does he have to be mad about?

  Wisely, she kept her mouth shut. When he opened his eyes, they looked normal again.

  He managed to choke out the words, “Thank you,” before opening the door and slipping out quietly.

  Will I ever understand that man?

  She went back to bed, but she didn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night.

  “Are you still okay with this, now knowing there are two babies?” Naya asked Vaughn as they drove away from the clinic.

  He looked at her. “Nothing is going to make me change my mind.”

  His comment reassured her, and she smiled. She still had one more confession though.

  “I need to tell you one other thing.” She tried not to fidget, but it was almost impossible.

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  “You know how the doctor mentioned the bond I’ll have with the babies?”

  He grinned. “Yeah, that’s fricking cool as hell.”

  She bit her lip. “Well…I kind of have the same bond with you.”

  The smile fell, but he didn’t appear mad. He seemed more lost in thought. “Explain.”

  She might as well get it over with. “When I drink from you, I can feel you through the blood I’ve taken. I can sense when you’re near, and sometimes, I can feel your emotions.”

  “Can you tell what I’m feeling now?” he said, giving away nothing.

  She tried to get a read on him, but she really couldn’t pinpoint what he was feeling. “No, you’re actually a pretty good natural blocker, and I’m sure you’re trying extra hard at the moment. I know it seems like a violation of your trust, and it is, but I want you to know that I normally block you in return. It’s a technique vampires are taught from the time we begin feeding, and I don’t want to overstep my boundaries.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “I mean, any more than I already have. For the sake of honesty, I’ll tell you that the only time I really sensed your emotions was the second time we saw each other. I think it was because you were overwhelmed with a lot of feelings, and I was unprepared to feel you since you’re not a vampire. If it helps, I didn’t know exactly what you were feeling that night. I only sensed that your feelings were strong.”

  She was babbling, and she bit her lip, worried about his reaction.

  She was surprised when his only response was, “I was thinking I’d never see you again, and then there you were. I was relieved, happy, horny, and angry.”

  He wasn’t mad? Wait…

  “Why were you angry?” she asked.

  “Because we were in that stupid club rather than being alone together where I could be naked and inside you.”

  She swallowed. “Oh.” Wow.

  He didn’t say any more on the matter, and they rode in silence for a few minutes.

  “Vaughn?”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “Aren’t you angry with me?”

  He glanced at her and took her hand before turning his eyes back to the road. “Nah. I actually like knowing I’m inside you”—he smiled at her belly—“in more ways than one. As long as you don’t use it against me, I don’t mind.” He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “And I trust you not to do that.”

  “Wow. You’re amazing, you know that?”

  He chuckled. “I don’t know about that.”

  It didn’t matter because she did. Before she could tell him that, their conversation was interrupted by the chime of a text coming through on her phone from her purse on the floor.

  She bent over and grabbed her phone. It was Kenzie. “Hmm.”

  “Who is it?” Vaughn asked.

  “Kenzie. I guess Sawyer stopped by her apartment since no one knows where we are.”

  “Shit. I forgot that I have some messages on my phone I should deal with.”

  She extracted her hand from his. “I’ll tell her to let him know we’re okay and not to worry.”

  Naya texted Kenzie back and returned her phone to her purse. She leaned back to relax against the headrest and peeked at Vaughn. “I’m going to have to tell her about the babies. She’s my best friend, and it’s not like the pregnancy won’t be
obvious in a few months. So, I was wondering, would you care if I told her you’re a shifter?”

  “Does she know you’re a vampire?”

  “Yes, for almost four years now.”

  “As long as you trust her to keep our secret, I don’t mind. If you don’t tell her, she’ll eventually find out anyway.”

  Immediately interested, she lifted her head and asked, “What makes you say that?”

  Vaughn glanced at her, smiled out of the corner of his mouth, and shook his head. “Never mind.”

  She was curious, but she let it go as she laid her head back again. “Where are we going?”

  “I have an apartment in Minneapolis where we can stay.” He smiled at her. “No parents, no siblings, and no cousins.”

  She smiled back at him. She appreciated everything he had done for her, except—

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She chuckled nervously. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but how many windows are in your apartment?”

  Vaughn wrinkled his forehead for a second. “Oh, right. Vampire. Sun. What happens if you are exposed?”

  “I won’t turn into a puff of smoke or ashes like in the movies. Although it’s not visible to the naked eye, the sun burns me very quickly, and my body’s response is to heal it. It’s not painful, but all that healing drains my energy very fast and will speed up my need to feed. It also hurts my eyes. If I really had to, I could go outside completely covered with strong sunglasses on but not for any great length of time. Been there, done that. Unfortunately, UV rays come right through the windows. It’s just easier for us to go out at night and not risk exposure.”

  He grabbed her hand again. She liked that he liked to touch her.

  “Don’t worry. I have blinds and curtains on all my windows. I use the apartment when I have time off and need to get away from everyone. Also, I sometimes stay there if I’ve had a late night at work and don’t want to drive home. I’m not limited by the sun, but we do spend a lot of time out at night, so I don’t like the sun shining in the windows when I’m trying to sleep.”

  “I’m glad you don’t have to go to any trouble for me.” With that taken care of, she changed the subject. “You mentioned your family’s construction company when we first met, but you also said you were in security. Now that I know what you are, I’m guessing you don’t have the average security job.”

  Vaughn smiled. “You’re right. I’m one of my father’s sentinels. Actually, I’m head sentinel since I’m next in line to be alpha. Sawyer, Saxon, Zane, Reid, Phoenix, Tegan, and Camden are sentinels, too. We live in a bunkhouse on my parents’ property to be close to our alpha and keep him safe. If things need to be taken care of within the pride, we usually do it.”

  A pride made sense since he said he was a cat-shifter.

  “Why do you need to keep your father safe?” she asked.

  “Our hierarchy is not like yours. You’re the princess since your parents are the King and Queen. My father is the alpha and my mother his alphena, and true, I’m next in line because I’m their son. But if someone were to challenge my father and win, that male would become alpha. Or if someone assumed I was weaker, he might kill my father and then challenge me for the position. So, part of our job is to protect the alpha. It’s one thing if someone challenges him. Shifter law says we can’t stand in the way if the person has a legitimate reason, like if my father had wronged the pride in some way or abused his position. But it’s another thing entirely to attempt a sneak attack to kill him or to fabricate a reason to challenge his position. No one wants someone like that making all the decisions for the entire pride.”

  “Wow. Are you ever worried?”

  “About being a sentinel? Or being the next alpha?”

  “About being a sentinel.”

  “No. A lot of what I do, besides protecting my father, is keeping rogue shifters in line and making sure humans don’t find out about us. Honestly, more than rogues or human discovery, the economy and financial issues have posed the most problems in the last few years. From what I remember, don’t you have your own sentinels or some equivalent among the vampires? I would think the King and Queen have to worry about their safety as well as yours.”

  “Like you said, our royalty is by blood. We don’t really have to worry about someone taking over and killing us like you do. I suppose someone who is part of the royal line might want to be the king or queen, but the Vampire Council holds a lot of the power, really making it more about status than decision making. We do have our own equivalent, but they aren’t called sentinels. They’re called guardians. I haven’t had much contact with them in recent years. I know they attend the big vampire functions for my parents, but they’re usually incognito. However, I do remember them from when I was little, and my parents would leave the country. Arianna and I would have our nanny and two guardians with us. I remember them being big and imposing.” She looked at Vaughn and smiled. “Kind of like you.”

  As they drove along, she thought of another question for him. It was a little funny that they were just now getting to know each other even though they were going to be parents together. Of course, before, she’d thought she had to keep her identity a secret.

  “So, you have parents and can obviously make babies.” She smiled. “But can you turn anyone into a shifter?”

  “Nope.” He grinned. “Shifters are born, not made. Isn’t it the same for vampires?”

  “Yes, we can’t turn anyone into a vampire. Just like shifters, vampires are born, not made.”

  They rode in silence for a few minutes, and she thought of all the things they had discussed.

  One part stuck out, and she raised her head again. “Did I ruin your chance of becoming alpha? With the babies, I mean?” Tentatively, she added, “I’m sorry if I did.”

  Vaughn squeezed her hand. “Being alpha has nothing to do with who bears my children. And, Naya, I’m pretty sure you weren’t alone in that room when those babies were made. I made a choice. You didn’t force one on me. Whatever happens is not your fault, okay?” He gave her hand another squeeze. “Okay?”

  She nodded. “Okay.” She leaned back against the seat once more as she thought she couldn’t have found a better person to father her children if she’d tried.

  VAUGHN AND NAYA arrived at his apartment and parked in his underground spot before they grabbed her things and took the elevator up. Unlocking the front door, he made a mental note to make Naya her own key for her to come and go as she pleased when he wasn’t around. That thought also reminded him of something.

  “Is your car at your parents’ house?”

  “Oh, no. I didn’t even think about it when we were there earlier. Gah. I feel like I can’t think straight with everything going on.”

  He rubbed her back a little. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll go pick it up today while your parents are sleeping. Will Hans let me in to get it?”

  She stared at him, mouth open. “You would do that?”

  He smiled at her. “Sure.”

  Her eyes softened, and she returned his smile. “I’ll call ahead to make sure Hans knows you’re coming. It shouldn’t be a problem.” She laid her hand on his arm. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank me.” He opened the door and ushered her inside. “Welcome home.”

  He set her luggage by the door, and they walked into the big open room.

  “Wow, Vaughn. It’s beautiful.” She went over to the big windows overlooking the city. “You have a stunning view.”

  He felt pleased that she liked the place, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but she looked like she was ready to fall over. Instead, he grabbed her hand. “Come upstairs, and I’ll show you the loft.”

  The loft was large and open with the far wall built only halfway up to the ceiling, giving the option to look over the railing into the living room and kitchen below. It didn’t have a lot of privacy, but when he originally rented the place, it was just him. He would
have to learn to be quiet when Naya slept. And then there was the matter of the babies. They would need their own space. It was a good thing they had a few months to figure things out.

  The loft also had a bathroom and a walk-in closet. It was furnished with a king-sized bed, two dressers, two nightstands, and a TV mounted on the wall opposite the bed. His comforter was gray, and the furniture was black. The room probably needed a woman’s touch.

  “I love this place. It’s so airy and spacious.”

  “Glad you like it.” He turned to her. “How are you feeling? Do you want to sleep or eat? What can I get you?”

  She smiled. “I am a little tired, and after going to the doctor, a shower would be nice.”

  He dropped her hand to show her around the room. “Bathroom is right there.” He pointed to the open door as he walked by. “You can put your stuff anywhere. I have room in the closet,” he said, opening the door, “and that dresser is completely empty.” He pointed to the shorter one. “Feel free to put your things anywhere. I want you to be comfortable.” He looked around. “Crap, I forgot to bring your stuff upstairs.”

  “Thank you. Don’t worry about it. I can do it later.”

  “I have to go out and do a few things. I thought I’d pick up some groceries while I am out. Is there anything you want?”

  “I’ve been craving steak, but any red meat will do. I’d also like chocolate milk, but white is fine, too.”

  He laughed. “You sound like my mom when she was pregnant with my sister. Must be my babies telling you what they are hungry for.”

  She smiled, put her hands over her lower belly, and looked down. “Now that I know you’re a cat-shifter, my cravings make sense.”

  He watched her stand there with a happy look on her face. The knowledge that his babies were in her belly made him want to close the five feet separating them, so he could throw her down on the bed, strip her naked, and push his way inside her. He went hard, and he had to adjust himself a few times when she wasn’t looking.