“I think it’s the best thing that could have happened.”
She turned her face toward his. “How can you think this is wonderful? I’ve got some sort of creature growing inside of me.”
He frowned. “Don’t call my son a creature.”
Christine leaped around the room and paced like a caged animal ready to strike. Her fingers clenched at her side, flexing hard. “Why didn’t you tell me this could happen?”
“Because I didn’t know myself, that’s why. “ He stopped her tirade and guided her back toward the bed where he sat her down. “You see, the only time a vampire and a human can make a baby is when the human is a Nosferim breeder or seeder.”
“You’re saying I’m this Nos-whatever breeder?”
“Nosferim,” he corrected.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“There’s no mark or designation that tells anyone who or what you are. We don’t know until it happens. The breeders or seeders are extremely rare and are only thought to be part of legend. Apparently, you’re proof they’re not legend, and therefore, you’re extremely important to vampires.”
Christine rocked back and forth on the bed. “So what’s going to happen to me?”
“First, you’re leaving this dingy apartment and moving into my house where I can keep an eye on you at all times. After that, you’ll see Dr. Levin who deals with vampires pretty exclusively. She’ll see you through your pregnancy and deliver the baby.”
“So in nine months, I’ll be giving birth—”
Drake grinned. “Try three. A Nosferim birth is accelerated. When our son is born, he’ll look like every other newborn except that within a month, he’ll be the size of a two-year-old child. In two years, he’ll be a full-grown man.”
Christine shuddered. “I—I can’t do this.”
Drake lifted her chin and gave her a loving smile. “Yes, you can, and I’ll be by your side every step of the way.”
She sat there for a moment, contemplating everything he said. She believed him, yet a modicum of fright still rumbled through her. She was so unsure. “I think I need to go to sleep.”
Drake smiled and eased her into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. He lay down next to her and pulled her resisting body to his. Drake draped his arm around her waist and tucked it around her, his palm flat against her belly. “My dearest Christine, go to sleep.”
She yawned. “Why do you have your hand on my stomach?”
“To let our baby know I’m his father and that I’m here to protect him.” He kissed her temple. “Sleep. That’s an order. I don’t want my son to be deprived of rest.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied in a surly tone and drifted off to sleep dreaming of the baby inside of her. What exactly would a human–vampire hybrid look like?
* * * *
Zakara lounged on a black velvet couch in the mansion she’d rented, stroking the sleek fur of the ebony panther at her side. The creature purred with quiet contentment, its sides heaving up and down at a rapid pace. The night had proved to be quiet, and she’d already fed. Several of her minions had fucked her nearly senseless, so that part of her body had been well satiated by them. What more could she ask for?
Darkness, her favorite time, fell with the quickness of an army advancing on an enemy with only the moon falling. Slivers of light drifted through the window and landed on the soft fur of the panther, turning the silky hairs a silvery-blue color.
“I have news, my Queen,” someone offered from the shadowy recess of the room.
“Come forward, David,” she purred, keeping in with the cat’s deep sense of satisfaction. “Tell me of what news you speak.”
David moved from beyond the confines of the dark void and stepped into a solitary beam of shimmering light through the window. “Christine is carrying his child.”
Zakara jerked up, her fingers curling against the animal’s fur. The cat lifted its head for a moment then lay back down and continued its contented purring. “Are you certain?”
“Yes. She smelled different than she usually did, and it wasn’t because she’d fucked him before she met me.”
Those words gave Zakara pause for thought. She rubbed her hands together in fiendish delight while her brain turned on the possibilities. So Nosferim breeders did exist! If she could find herself a few breeders and seeders, she could turn out new minions by the thousands and breed a brand new army ready to take on the world and bring it to her knees. She would be Queen of all mankind, for hers would control the earth.
Blood pulsed in her temple at the implications. “Is she willing to meet with you again?”
“Yes.”
Zakara resumed her place beside her cat. She nuzzled its warm neck for a moment, the thoughts in her head spinning in a chaotic whirl. “Bring her to me, for I have use for her.”
David tilted his head in submission. “I will, my Queen, but I have one thing to ask of you.”
“What is that?”
“She’ll not be harmed in any way.”
Zakara exuded her most confident and reassuring smile as she rose from her lounging position. With whisper-soft footsteps, she made her way to David and caressed the side of his face. “Of course not—at least while she has a purpose to me.”
“I am begging you not to hurt her.”
Fury bubbled inside, but she tamped down her rage for the moment. Best to keep her minions thinking she would honor her word. “I won’t, my darling child. She’ll want for nothing.” She put a hand on his shoulder and turned him toward the couch recently vacated by her beloved panther. “Come with me. I would like to show you something.”
* * * *
Christine awoke later in the day a bit tired but a little refreshed. Given her new condition, she phone Lou and explained she needed an extended leave of absence.
“Why? Is there something wrong?” A ring of concern echoed in Lou’s voice but she couldn’t go into any specifics of anything.
“No, it’s just that my nerves are very raw, and I think I’ll need to see a psychologist for a while to help me through David’s death,” she explained in a confident tone, trying not to alert Lou to any changes.
“So I guess you’re not investigating it on your own anymore?”
She exuded a fake sigh of resignation. “I never was. I thought I’d let that to the experts. I’ll be okay in a few months. Then I’ll be back to work.”
“Are you sure? Is there anything I can do for you at all?”
“No, I’ll be okay.”
“If you need anything, you just let me know?”
She was touched by his concern, but she couldn’t let on anything. “I will, I promise. When I get back, you’ll find a new and improved Christine McCall.”
“I liked the old one just fine.”
“See ya later.”
She snapped her phone shut and folded her hands in her lap.
“What else do you want to take with you?” Drake called from her closet as he busied himself packing some of her things.
“I don’t care.” She was too tired and too defeated to argue about moving into his house. They’d had a huge argument, which Drake had silenced with excellent lovemaking. Still, she had reservations about moving in with him despite the fact she carried his child.
Drake popped his head out the closet, his lips spread into a wide grin. “How about we take just a little and I’ll send the movers over to pack up the rest.”
An odd restlessness took over her soul, and she started to pace again. He was picking away at her control, and while sometimes it could be a good thing, it wasn’t in this case. “You know, I really don’t want to move into with you. I like living here among my own things and having my own space.”
Drake stepped out of her closet and strode toward her, every ounce of playfulness erased from his features. “I’m sorry, but this is the way it has to be. If any of the others outside of our coven knew of your gift, they would stop at nothing to use it. You would be bred like an anima
l.” His eyes darkened. “I can’t and won’t let that happen to you. It’s best for you and our son to be under my protection.”
Christine collapsed against him. What Drake said had a ring of truth. “All right for now. Maybe later we’ll make other arrangements.”
He grinned. “I knew you’d see things my way.”
* * * *
Christine counted down the days until her meeting with David along with a plan on how to meet him without Drake finding out. So far, Drake dogged her every step, and not just in the house. She couldn’t leave without him. And if he couldn’t be with her, one of the others of the clan would be. She often wondered if Drake had cajoled the girls into taking her out everyday just to keep her from being bored or if they did it out of their own hearts. With what little she knew of vampires, it was hard to tell.
Saturday night approached, making her anxiety rise higher along with her belly. So far, she’d grown to the size of a woman four months pregnant in just a few weeks. Drake delighted in rubbing her small belly all the time and feeling the baby kick inside of her. She barely got time to get used to one sensation before another one came along.
“He’s moving around,” Drake said lovingly as they lay in his massive bed after making love.
“How do you know it’s going to be a boy? Maybe it’s a girl.”
Drake chucked her chin playfully and gave her a confident grin. “Because I produce boys, not girls.”
Before she could retort, the baby gave another violent kick. She gasped.
Drake raised in alarm. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, your child is kicking me and not giving me any rest, much like you.”
Drake rolled her on her side and immediately started rubbing the head of his cock against her drenched slit. “And I don’t intend to stop. Let me showing you something.”
He slipped inside, lifting her leg slightly so as not to hurt her. Christine wasn’t sure how many mindless orgasms she could take, but she was willing to find out.
Drake fucked her slowly this time, taking the time to make sure she climaxed well before he did. Her nipples blushed a deep pink with every caress of his caring hands closing over them.
She couldn’t help crying out at the crescendo of one orgasm riding on top of another one, each one bigger than the last.
Drake followed with a grunt and burst inside of her again. “I don’t know how, but each time with you gets better and better.” He rubbed her rising belly affectionately. “How’s my son doing?”
She turned over and touched his angular jaw in a loving gesture. If she could get him to leave the house, she might be able to meet David and be back before Drake. “Hungry. He’d like some triple chocolate rocky road ice cream with lots of whipped cream and hot fudge.”
Drake’s brow rose. “You do realize it’s almost midnight and there’re no stores open?”
She kissed his forehead. “I know, but there’s has to be someplace open, Drake. Be a dear and get the baby some.”
His deep, throaty chuckle filled the room. Throwing back the covers, he went into the shower and took a quick one. He seemed to be back in flash dressed with his wet hair drawn back into a long ponytail.
“Thanks for doing this. I’m craving all sorts of things lately.”
“So I’ve noticed. Doesn’t seem like I can keep anything in the house,” he said good-naturedly and drew on his boots. Rising, he grabbed his keys from the nightstand. “Triple chocolate rocky road with whipped cream and hot fudge?”
“Oh yeah, and get something for yourself while you’re at it,” she joked. Blood was the only thing Drake consumed. He hunted at night sometimes, but only if another one of the clan agreed to stay with her. Even during sex, he refrained from biting her because he didn’t want the baby to go without.
“Funny.” He bent and swept a kiss across her forehead. “Promise me you’ll not leave this bed and will be here when I get back?”
She nodded. “I’ll be here.”
His expression hardened while his eyes took on a menacing glow. “Promise.”
“All right,” she snapped back, the fury beginning to rise. If she sent Drake on a long enough hunt, she’d be back before he even knew she’d gone. “I’ll be here.”
“In that case, I’ll be right back with your ice cream, whipped cream, and fudge.” He stopped in the doorway with the hunger burning in his light pupils. “Oh, if I weren’t a vampire, I’d be showing you what hot fudge and whipped cream are really for.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh, a sliver of unabashed delight dancing along her spine. He definitely showed her different uses for his tongue. “Hurry back, though. The baby’s really hungry.”
“Back in a flash.”
She listened to him stomp down the stairs and out the door with a whistle on his lips. Distantly, she heard the purr of the Jaguar engine then the wild sound of the slick machine revving. He took off and hopefully would be gone for a long while.
Christine bolted out of bed and ran for the bathroom. Pinning her long chestnut curls up, she turned on the taps and took the quickest shower of her life.
She pulled on an old pair of sweats along with a sweatshirt to hide her bulging belly along with her favorite Skechers. Grabbing her keys and cell, she bounced along down the stairs straight out to the Mustang amid the uneasy beat of her heart. Sliding behind the wheel, she sat for a moment and thought long and hard about her promise to Drake. He wanted her to stay here, under his protection. Right now, he was out looking for the ice cream she actually did want. He never asked that much out of her except her loyalty. How in the hell did this get so messy?
Christine slammed her head against the wheel, her knuckles taking most of the impact. She wanted to go—hell, she needed to go and see David, but an entirely different emotion tugged at her. What was it?
She relaxed into the deep leather seat and leaned her head back. She stared at the iridescent glow of the orange-colored streetlight near Drake’s house, watching the way the light turned everything it touched to a dark sepia glow. Her thoughts turned like cogs in a wheel mechanism, trying to rationalize every emotion inside of her. She shouldn’t have gotten as close as she had, but it was far too late to change that now.
The baby inside her kicked again, a little harder this time. “All right, little one. I promised your father I’d stay put, and well, it looks like I’m going to.” Her child made her decision for her. She wanted to stay here, with Drake, and be safe. Somehow, she’d get a message to David and let him know that she’d find a way to meet him somewhere.
Just as she opened the door, Drake nosed the Jaguar up the circular driveway in front of the house and stopped in front of the door. He killed the lights and got out with a huge plastic bag of everything imaginable. The black look of anger resumed its normal position, his eyes glowing with a dark red striation in the iris.
Nips of fear attacked her resolve, but she remained staunch in her emotion and walked toward in a friendly stride. “What did you get me?” she asked, grabbing for the bag.
Drake held the goodies far beyond her reach. “Where were you going?”
She took a step back and crossed her arms, hoping this would ease his tension. “It was the strangest thing. After you left, I got this weird craving for a hotdog. Just as I got behind the wheel, it disappeared.”
His anger seemed to inflate with the flare of his nostrils and the V-shape of his thick eyebrows. “Likely story. I specifically told you to stay in bed and I’d get whatever you needed. You could have called me on my phone.”
She shook with her own out of control rage, but she tamped her emotions down for now. No good fighting with him outside. “I’m sorry I’ve injured your Viking sense of pride,” she said with a sarcastic tone, her fingers curling into fists at her side. “But it’s the truth.” She hated lying, but it would save her hide for now.
His expression didn’t change at all. “Get in the house,” he commanded in a danger laden voice. “I want to talk to
you.”
She held any fear in check and walked into the house with Drake, swatting her ass in a somewhat playful yet an I-own-it sort of way.
Drake stormed into the kitchen and put all the ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream away. She sifted through the bag and found he’d picked up nuts as well as cherries. She licked her lips. This would make a hell of a sundae.
Once he finished, Drake laid a palm on her shoulder and spun her around to face him. “I know where you were going tonight and it wasn’t for any hotdog. You were going to meet David.”
She tried to control her expression but it escaped her before she could stop it. “How did you know?”
“I know a lot of things,” he said, his expression dropping a little. “There’s one thing you don’t know about David.”
“He’s been kidnapped by a band of vampires who drain his blood to keep him weak. Yes, I know all that.”
“But did he tell you they turned him into a vampire?”
Christine raised her hand to her lips the minute Drake’s revelation hit her ears and her mind processed the words. How could this be? David did appear normal with no fangs or any indication he’d become a vampire. The only difference was he smelled like long decayed earth and mold…dear Lord, why didn’t she see it? “Oh, my God, I almost met him tonight because I thought he needed me.”
“He does need you.” Drake’s big hands slid over her shoulders, and he pulled her against his hard, comforting form. “I think he knows about the baby, and if he knows, Zakara knows it as well. You’ll be valuable to her as a breeder.”
Hot tears pricked the inside of her eyelids, a mixture of fear and hormones threatening to fall. She sniffed them back. “Why didn’t I see it before? The only thing different was that he smelled awful.” She paused for a moment. “How come you don’t smell like that?”
Drake kissed the top of her head, his hands circling her waist before coming to rest on her rising belly. “What do I smell like?”
“The way a hot and sexy man should smell.”
His laughter rumbled through her. “I’m glad you think so. You see, the older a vampire is, the more the smell dissipates. I’m almost a thousand years old, so mine is long gone.”
Ranson, Tracy L. - Prince of Darkness [Bloodborn 3] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 15
