by Rena Marks
“You can’t be,” Julian said, confusion tainting his voice.
“I haven’t bled in over two months. My breasts have grown and are tender. My stomach is rounding, which does seem kind of early, and I’ve been sick in the mornings. Easier done at the vampire quarters when you’re dead first thing in the morning, Julian. Although, Leo sleeps late also, so lots of times he didn’t know, either.”
They both knew I hadn’t been to a doctor because months ago we’d agreed that I could no longer see human doctors. Not now that my DNA was changed with the werewolf virus and the fact that I carried vampire blood in my veins.
Werewolves avoided doctors. They tried as hard as they could to keep their existence a mystery. Since they’ve been around since the beginning of time, they had it down pretty well.
“Anjelia, why didn’t you share this with us weeks ago?” Julian asked, with something indefinable in his voice.
I shrugged. “I’ve been in the same stunned state that you’re in. You both told me it’s impossible, yet I see the symptoms. And I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I’m still not sure.” I looked him directly in the eyes. My mirrored, matching-amber eyes. “Because when was the last time you called me by my name?” Why did he suddenly use it now? Was he appalled at the turn of events? How would this change things?
Julian moved so swiftly, I never saw the movement. Before I knew it he was on his knees before me, pressing his cheek to my slightly distended belly.
“Vampires haven’t been around young. Many, for centuries. I’m excited for this but how do you feel? An infant in the care of blood-thirsty vampires?”
He spoke the prejudice that many humans repeated, because that was how a prejudice became true. It was repeated so many times, no one thought otherwise. I knew otherwise.
I stroked his silky, black hair and watched his lips connect gently with the skin of my belly. He pressed soft kisses to me as though he could kiss the infant through the barrier that separated them.
Over his shoulder I reached for Leo. Because he had been silent, letting Julian have his moment. Leo knew he could afford to be generous since apparently this was his child. It had to be, whereas Julian was the surrogate father with his non-viable sperm.
We stood that way for a long time, me stroking Julian with one hand and gripping Leo’s hand with my other.
“I don’t see how it’s possible,” Leo said.
“Maybe it had something to do with my death in the coffin? Recuperative powers while I am dead?”
“Do you still die while you two are in there?”
“Yes. Although it’s never again been like that first time.” It had been months earlier when Julian and I both died in his coffin together.
“You’ve died then, since carrying this child?” Leo asked, concern etching his voice.
“Yes,” I said simply, not wanting to go there.
Leo and I both knew that since his imprisonment in a coffin by Danielle, a vampire he’d killed, Julian would more than likely never go into another coffin without me.
“You’ll stop,” Julian decided suddenly. “We must take the utmost care with this pregnancy.”
“We won’t,” I said, laughter tingeing my voice as I tilted his head up with a finger under his chin. “The infant has been through it countless times already. He’s fine.”
Julian rose. I watched joy flutter briefly over his face before he hugged me to him. And then there was Leo, on my other side, hugging me too.
“Guys,” I said laughingly. “I’m squished. Let’s sit.”
Sitting didn’t help. They scooted their chairs so close that I had no personal space left.
“He needs a nursery,” Leo said suddenly, looking at Julian. “I’ll call my wolves. We’ll build him one.”
I rolled my eyes. “They’re going to love that. They just finished the basement remodeling.”
“Perhaps they can also help with the nursery in our quarters?” Julian asked Leo. “We can get both of them done in half the time if we have the vampires working at night and the werewolves working during the daylight hours.”
Half the time? Because the infant needed two nurseries while he basked in my womb? I smiled and kept the comments to myself.
Leo nodded, excited. “We’ll have them both done to match. The baby won’t be confused as to which of his nurseries he’s in. Where will you put yours?”
“Definitely in our quarters. We’ll knock out a wall, connect to the quarters beyond. Steal a small section.”
“That’s Chen’s quarters,” I reminded.
“He won’t mind,” Julian said arrogantly. “Come on, let’s go see what we have.”
He drew the drapes back to expose the bar. It had filled up while we had our visit and several local werewolves were present. Julian made a quick glance at the occupants before striding across the stage with Leo and me trailing behind him.
“Attention, please,” he said into the microphone. “Cut the music.”
The bar was strangely hushed without any sound. “Leo has an announcement to make,” Julian said, and handed the mike over.
“Wolves,” Leo said. “The bloodline continues.”
It was an ancient saying, one that told of an impending pregnancy. The wolves were understandably astonished, before the cheering and clapping began. With a wave of Julian’s hand, the music started again and they pulled me from the stage to head downstairs, my hands enclosed in both grasps.
I didn’t need to worry about the humans in the bar. There were “forgetfulness” and “remembrance” symbols painted on the entrance and exits of Bang’s. Humans could enter, and learn about werewolves, but the knowledge ended when they passed through the doorway, only to be remembered again the next time they passed the same symbol.
Back in our quarters, I sat on the bed watching as they talked excitedly back and forth with hands roaming over which walls were to be demolished. Suddenly, I was exhausted. The trauma of my ordeal was over and why I had ever been worried was totally beyond my comprehension.
“This is the wall,” Julian was saying. “Knock it down, extend it eight or ten feet, and enclose it with a door in case Anjelia’s tired. Then I could sit in here and feed him while she rests. Actually, I have Chen nearby as protection for Anjelia, from back when Nico was here. But I could do a connecting nursery door, both ends, and if you ever wanted to stay a night or two you could have his quarters just beyond. Same rules apply, though.”
I smiled, just before dozing. “Same rules apply” meant that the two weeks while I lived at Bang’s, I was Julian’s. The vampire mistress. Not the werewolf queen, so no hanky-panky.
I opened my eyes, slowly. It seemed like just a couple of seconds passed. But now Leo was stretched out alongside me, watching while I slept.
“Where’s Julian?” I asked.
“Back at work. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“My son.” He kissed me.
It wasn’t a thank you kiss. The kiss reached deeply and I tasted his need, the urgency on his lips.
I loved him. And wanted him just as badly. It was always this way between Leo and me, just as it was the same way with Julian.
I moaned and accepted his tongue. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my sensitive breasts against him.
“I want you,” he whispered, his voice husky with need.
“We can’t,” I whispered, regret full blown in my voice. “It’s not fair to Julian. He’ll come back down here to find the scent of us together.”
“I know,” he muttered, between kisses that he pressed down my bare throat and shoulders. “I just want a taste before I have to leave.”
With one hand, he deftly untied the ribbon that kept my corset closed. It burst open and my breasts, ripe like melons, fell into his hands.
“God,” he muttered, as he laved a nipple. I arched my back, encouraging him to take more into his mouth. I quivered beneath his electrifying touch, needing the wet warmth of his magical mouth.<
br />
“Hello,” Julian said from the doorway.
We were so distracted we never heard his arrival.
Under normal circumstances any lover might have covered me, but Julian was my lover also and saw all that I had to offer. So Leo didn’t bother.
“Nice timing,” Leo said.
He leaned over and kissed me briefly, then pulled me to my feet as he rose from the bed. “Two weeks, love.”
“I’ll escort you out,” Julian said calmly.
I showered the scent of wolf from my skin when they were gone, making it fast. Ten minutes under the pounding spray, and I stepped from the shower to Julian’s brooding gaze.
“I’m sorry,” I said, meaning it. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It’s fine. I know I’ve wanted you while you were at the wolf quarters.”
“Yes, but it was inconsiderate. And it was your time.”
He pulled my towel-clad body to him. “We’re trying to get over that, remember? You smell sweet and womanly again.”
He tugged on the towel, leaving me bare before him. “Will you think of him if we do this?”
“Make me think of you only,” I whispered, and watched his golden gaze darken as I brought my hands up to cup my breasts for him.
His chest rose as he sucked in air and then expelled it. “You’ll drive me insane,” he muttered, as he dragged me to our bed.
“Actually, that’s Leo,” I said impishly and climbed naked on top of him.
Without his wolf queen, who carries the wolf power in her mark, the werewolf king literally goes insane. As his mate, however, eventually my sanity would follow.
I straddled Julian's body while he was fully clothed. He was already bulging against me. Rubbing the center of my body against him, I brought his hands up over his head.
“I want you my way tonight.”
“Which way is that, my sweet?”
I separated the folds of his shirt, exposing the smooth perfection of male muscles. “I want you to hold still, for once.”
“For just a little while, I will allow it,” he agreed.
I smiled. He wouldn’t hold still for long. While I had him, however, I’d take advantage. I kissed down the undersides of his outstretched arms, then across his shoulder and finally to his chest. I flicked his nipple gently with the tip of my tongue and I traced his ribs with my fingertips.
His abs quivered beneath my breath as my mouth lowered over him. I placed gentle, wet kisses on every inch of his skin. When I reached his cock, he cried out.
“Anjelia, stop. I cannot take this.”
“Yes, you can,” I encouraged, licking his length. His erection was long and hard, and just as beautiful as the rest of him. I placed my palms flat on his abdomen, pressing him down and continued to pleasure him with my tongue.
I traced swollen veins with the tip of my tongue, and then ran my lips wetly over the side of his shaft.
“Come here to me,” he argued, his voice thick.
“Uh-uh. Stop making me talk. I’m busy.”
He tried to pull me up, desperation in his movements. His hands quivered. I enclosed him in my mouth, rolled my eyes up to watch him. I sucked hard and cupped his testicles, sending him spiraling into a sudden explosion.
Julian never lost control during lovemaking before. His hand bunched in my hair and he groaned as he came, spurts I swallowed down my throat. His body quivered uncontrollably as he fought to catch his breath.
“Witch,” he panted.
I grinned. “You need to let me do that more often.”
“Absolutely not. Come here for your turn.”
This time I let him pull me up.
“You smell divine.” He leaned closer and licked my collar bone.
“Julian.” My head fell back as the desire roared back. His head moved lower, licking and biting at my skin, drifting to one breast, then lower to my nipple. Gently he lapped at the stiffened peak before taking it into his mouth and suckling.
I trembled, the sensations overwhelming. I thrust my fingers into his thick, glossy hair. He lifted his head and his eyes had switched, glowing a deep red. He sank his fangs into my throat, while cupping my breasts, letting the hot lust whip through my body instantaneously.
“I love you,” I moaned, before he took my breath away. He parted my legs and positioned the head of his cock at my entrance, rubbing it slightly in the slick moisture gathered there and spilling from my sheath. He entered me in one swift thrust and my body responded, absorbing the feeling of him deep inside me, so large and deep, caressing muscles and hitting nerves that were so sensitive I exploded, leaving me quivering as I screamed out.
His rhythm began after I came, groaning as he pulled out and my sensitive pussy clenched his cock. Slowly he plunged in again, and his hips began to pump faster, harder. Sweat dampened his brow as he clasped my hips and tilted my pelvis higher, giving me a deeper penetration. We were one being, and it always felt this way together.
The pressure built deep inside, stronger than before. Tension wrought the air as his vampiric powers spiraled out of control right before he flung his head back and roared. Then he clamped onto my neck, sucking the light bites from earlier. He shuddered over me as he reached orgasm, and his bite brought me to the edges of lust before the tendrils whipped me into another bone-tingling orgasm. At last, I lay replete.
Each time I thought the lovemaking was the best ever, he outdid himself. I panted, allowing myself to slowly calm.
“Sleep, my sweet,” he murmured, bringing the blanket up over us.
Chapter Three
When I woke, for the briefest moment I wondered which home I was in.
The sheets felt the same in either place—a good quality, high thread count, so there was no clue there. My tired brain refused to let me poke my head out from the comfortable bedding to check.
But the darkness was enough to clue me in to my location. Bang's.
I peered blearily at the glowing numbers of the clock, and then jumped out of bed when I saw the time. I showered quickly. By the time I headed upstairs, Julian was seated at a table with Johnny, his second in command. Serious expressions on both their faces told me another issue was already underway.
“What’s going on?”
“I have to go to France to put Nico’s kingdom in order.”
Nicodeme Budois was Julian’s sire, killed by Leo in a fit of rage when Nico attempted to rape me. Leo had done Julian a favor. Had Julian killed Nico, he would have been executed for treason instead of inheriting the crown, so to speak.
“Will I go with you?”
“Not carrying, you aren’t.”
“I’m pregnant, not an invalid.”
“I want you safe. I’m just torn between needing Johnny and leaving him here to watch over you.”
“Chen usually watches over me.”
“With Johnny and me still in the vicinity. Maybe I can send you off to Leo.”
I wrapped my arms around his middle. “Maybe I’ll just stay with you.”
“I am not taking you into a kingdom full of strangers when you’re not even out of your first trimester. It’s too risky.”
“How about if I bring along my own doctor?” I grinned.
I could see on his face when my suggested solution sank in. We could make this a family getaway.
Slowly, he nodded.
We flew on a private plane. It was the only way to travel with vampires. The windows could be shut during the daylight hours.
I studied pictures on the plane. The countryside at the location of Nico’s kingdom was old world. He lived in an actual castle. A creepy, huge, stone castle. There was even a turret. There was nothing modern about it. It was an ancient monstrosity.
As soon as the sun went down, we left the parked aircraft. The French vampires had been told was that I was Julian’s human servant and had been impregnated with a surrogate sperm donor. A wolf, to explain any scents lingering in my body.
Wolves and vampires did
n’t get along any better in France than in the States and while we had definitely made strides back home, we weren’t pushing it until we knew how receptive the French Council would be.
Leo would arrive later, because he couldn’t get away on such short notice. He’d be arriving with Nicki, Anna and Lily. Only Anna would return to the States with Julian, Leo and me. The rest would stay behind to begin their tours of duty. Julian had decided each trusted member of his team would spend a six month tour, so we wouldn't have a shortage of trusted personnel.
Julian never knocked. He simply pushed open the ancient door and in we walked.
We'd arrived to find a vampire-style feast in the first room of the castle. Half naked humans lounged on velvet sofas, eagerly hoping against all hope to be served as the evening's dinner. Some had excited looks on their faces, while others played it cool, trying to be as expressionless as the vampires. Sadly, there were wannabe's in every country.
“Master,” said a voice. “Welcome. It’s been too long.”
The vampire's hair was so blond it was nearly white and hung in a shimmering curtain to his waist. His skin was just as pale as his hair, and if he didn’t happen to have piercing brown eyes, he would have looked colorless. Instead, it was a striking backdrop. Of course, I hadn’t met an ugly vampire yet.
“Two decades, Marcus. You’ve been well?”
The vampire inclined his head gracefully, and then turned his gaze to me. I stood ramrod straight and the cape I wore parted slightly in the breeze to reveal my prematurely swollen belly.
Maybe it was the air in France, but I seemed to have swelled up overnight. I was definitely pregnant, good thing I was out of the country and not having to explain the condition back home.
Marcus’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared. “So it is true? The vampire mistress is with child?”
“She carries my young,” Julian acknowledged, raising my hand to kiss.
Marcus sniffed delicately, his slender nose barely wrinkling in the process. “Wolf? Maybe? It’s very faint, I can hardly tell.”
“It is. Marcus, my old friend, meet Anjelia. My sweet, this is Marcus, Nico’s right hand.”
I held out the hand that Julian had just kissed and Marcus murmured, “Now Julian’s, I hope.” The vampire studied Julian slyly from underneath his lashes. “The rest of the entourage that traveled with Nico?”
