by Michele Hauf
Last time, he’d picked up ten quarts and stored them in the freezer.
Thinking about the emergency ice cream stores made Creed smile and release his worries. He’d tell her later.
“Soon,” he muttered. And he pushed the kitchen doors open and walked in. “Oh, horrors.”
The meat on her plate was pink and a pool of blood puddled on the white bone china. Creed was not in the least attracted to the blood, which had come from a dead, half-cooked beast.
“That looks more rare than usual.”
“I could rip a cow apart,” Blu said, forking in another bite. “I crave blood so much lately.”
“Really?” He wondered: Dare he interest her in a warmer, French vintage—like his own?
“It kills me my vampire husband has a problem with me eating bloody meat.”
“That blood has no life in it. You know I must have mine hot and pulsing with life.”
“You’re going to make me puke. And I’ve already worshipped the porcelain throne this morning. I hate morning sickness.”
“You could indulge in the occasional bite of moi?”
She waggled her brows. “You tempt me.”
“Really?” Now this was fascinating. Creed pulled up a chair beside her.
Blu pushed her plate aside and ran her tongue over her teeth. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Hot blood. Hot blood direct from the vein.”
“Is that so?”
She sighed and set down the fork. “You’re going to freak if I say this, but I think I want to bite you. In fact, I think I need it.” Catching her lower lip with her front teeth, she waited for his reaction.
“Oh hell, Blu. I…” He stood, but did not leave her side.
She grabbed his wrist and forced him to sit again. “I know the idea of me biting you turns you on.”
“Hell yes. Yet at the same time, I’m angry with myself for giving you that craving in the first place. It’s unnatural for a werewolf. Are you sure? You…crave blood? Beyond the stuff from that steak?”
“Maybe it’s the babies?” She nuzzled aside his neck and licked the vein, setting him to instant readiness for whatever she had in mind. “All I know is I need it, Creed. I need your blood. Right now.”
* * *
She’d been feeling the mutinous compulsion all morning. The craving for something dark and sweet that didn’t come nestled in crinkled tissue cups in a box. Blood. It smelled so strong as she got up from the table and walked Creed backward against the counter. She hugged her body up against his, her belly making it difficult to achieve a close snug.
He slid his hands over her hips and down her derriere. “Are you sure, mon amour?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. The idea of drinking blood—it freaks me out.”
“Thanks.”
“Creed, come on. You know how hard this is for me.”
“Then why did you bring it up?”
“Because. I might need it. For the kids, you know?”
She traced the vee of skin revealed between his crisp white shirt lapels. He wore a black velvet coat, which did things to her control. They’d survived the full moon last week by having sex—no shifting. But they hadn’t had sex since due to silly things like her sore back, and she’d been sleeping at odd hours lately. But she wanted him now in a way that was going to surprise him, because it really surprised her.
She leaned in and whispered at his ear, “When was the last time you bit me?”
“Seems a while. Before you got pregnant. Do you want me to bite you? Maybe that’s what you need instead.”
His mouth slightly open, his fangs descended, and she could feel her husband’s body grow rigid in anticipation. Drinking blood was the ultimate for him, and drinking her blood took him to a place she imagined was like where she went with orgasm, yet beyond, like some kind of nirvana. And yes, she could admit his fangs turned her on.
She breathed against his neck, delighting as his skin goose-bumped at the sensation. He stroked a palm up her thigh, lifting her dress to expose her derrière. Slipping his fingers under her panties, he cooed, “Ruffles? Christ, Blu, you make me so hard.”
“That’s my job.” She wiggled her butt. “Keeping you hot and hard.” A dash of her tongue stirred up a wanting moan from him. “You wanna bite?”
He breathed out heavily. And nodded.
Stroking a hand over his erection, she licked his neck, then met his eyes. Sliding a leg up along his thigh, she fitted herself to him, her belly not so round yet they didn’t make a nice wolf/vamp sandwich. She tapped his fang, tracing its sleek length, which she knew gave him a similar thrill as if she were stroking his cock.
Kissing him, she drew his hand up over her breast and he squeezed, tweaking her nipple until she moaned and pressed harder against his touch. Her craving was more a feeling for sustenance, she thought—she’d hoped—and yet she wanted to do it this way. All sexy and needy. Blood alone felt wrong, dirty. Blood with sex? Something right about that.
Pressing a hard kiss along his jaw, she then lightly rubbed her lips over the stubble there, loving the roughness, the way it abraded her softness. Raking her fingers through his hair, she dove to his neck and willed down her canines, pressing them to his skin without breaking through. Dancing her tongue over his vein, she tasted his heat and his rapid heartbeat.
Her sexy Frenchman hissed and swore and gripped her ass, crushing her against his erection and rocking his hips against her body to get off.
Without a cautionary thought, she bit into his skin. Creed’s growl hummed in his chest. It was, and it wasn’t, a sexual noise; she’d hurt him. As his body slid down against the counter, she wrapped her legs about his waist, going with him. She sucked in the hot blood that initially tasted like nothing, and then it spread a metallic tang across her palate.
Heartbeats stuttering, Blu sucked vigorously, feeling her husband’s body surge upward and his hips rock faster as she raced his pleasure to a climax. When he growled hoarsely in orgasm, she drew out her teeth from his skin, noted she’d torn large gashes, and then slipped away to sit beside him on the marble kitchen floor.
Head falling back against the glass cupboard doors, she closed her eyes and licked her lips. The blood did not offend, but it didn’t taste particularly delicious either. On the other hand, it had fulfilled some crazy craving she seriously hoped had been initiated by her babies because any other reason was too wrong.
She’d done it. Taken blood from another being whose heart beat. Werewolves didn’t do that. They had no need to do so.
“Blu.” He clasped her hand and drew it to his chest, but she tugged away from the possessive grip. It felt intrusive now.
Bowing her head, she avoided his gaze. The last drops of blood trickled down her throat, tasting not so sweet.
Creed went on his knees and leaned over her. “Blu? What’s wrong? I’m okay. It’s already healing.”
“It hurt though, didn’t it?”
“Yes, but I’m a big boy. And man, the pleasure that followed. Look at me.”
She twisted her head away from his attempt to turn her chin toward him. The something right feeling had fled. “Just leave me alone. Please?”
“Blu, what’s… Are you…? Ashamed?”
Tucking her head against her knees, she nodded.
“It’s all right, sweetie. I know it’s not natural for your breed, but you’re safe here with me. We trust one another. Hell, it’s what I do all the time.”
>
“Go away!” she cried. “I need to be alone. To…process this.”
He heaved out an exhalation. She’d hurt him more than physically. But she couldn’t look at him now. Not with the taste of his blood lingering in her mouth. “Fine.” He stood and padded out of the kitchen. He called as he left, “I’m stopping by Alexandre’s in the morning. I’ll kiss you good-night later?”
She nodded, but didn’t reply.
Chapter Five
Sitting on the bed, browsing through the new maternity and childcare apps on her iPad, Blu looked up when a quiet knock sounded on the door. This morning Creed had discreetly crept from their bed. It was afternoon now, and she wasn’t sure she was prepared to face him yet.
The blood had come between them. So stupid to have followed that feeling. Nothing in the manuals said anything about fetuses requiring fresh blood. Though she could argue that a vampire mother would infuse her unborn every time she drank blood.
The door opened and Creed popped his head in, followed by Bree’s blond locks. “She stopped by,” he said. He offered a guilty shrug and pulled the door closed behind Bree after she’d entered, leaving them alone.
“What are you doing here?” Setting aside the iPad, Blu patted the bed and her best friend climbed on beside her.
“Creed called me earlier. He said you were feeling down and wondered if I would cheer you up.”
“I hate that guy.”
“What?”
“Oh, Bree. I hate him because he makes it so hard to be angry with him. I love him so much. And when we’re not talking he knows exactly what to do by calling my best friend.”
“So you two are fighting?”
“Kinda. Maybe. I don’t know. Bree, last night I drank Creed’s blood.”
“Oh.”
“I know. It was a weird craving. Rare steak wasn’t doing it for me, so I thought maybe I needed the real thing straight from the vein. Tried to justify it by thinking the babies needed it. And you know he let me, because what vampire is going to turn down the chance to get bitten?”
“And you didn’t like it?”
“That’s the part that is freaking me out. I didn’t like the taste of it, but I think I enjoyed it still. You know the whole sucking on him and rubbing our bodies against one another. In the moment, I could relate to what it was like for Creed when he takes blood.”
“That’s either good or very bad.”
“I know, right? And then I made Creed feel like some kind of tick because I couldn’t get beyond the wrongness of drinking blood. And I haven’t talked to him since.”
“You needed time alone to process.”
“I did. Though I’m not sure where I’m at with it now. Do you think it’s a pregnancy thing? I mean, Creed has only bitten me half a dozen times in the few years we’ve been married. I have not developed a blood hunger.”
“It could be the babies. Look, don’t worry about it too much. It’s not like you’re turning longtooth.” Bree smoothed her palm over Blu’s stomach. “I brought along a surprise. You want me to bless the babies?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She dumped out her purse and told Blu to pull up her shirt to expose her belly. “You tell Creed about the bargain yet?”
“No.”
Bree cast her a sideways glance.
“Soon.”
“Like some time before the babies are born and some faery warrior comes to whisk one of them away from Creed’s arms?”
“Yes, Bree, like—hell. Some time this week?”
“How about today?”
Blu winced and looked aside.
“I can’t believe you’re running away from this, Blu. You’re always upfront about things. In your face and take me like I am. Fuck ‘em if they don’t like you.”
“Turned up to eleven, as Creed says.” Blu sighed.
“He’ll understand.”
“Do you think so?”
Bree laughed, and rubbed a tube of glittery substance between her palms. “Your husband loves you like crazy, Blu. Now, this is going to be drippy, so hold still. You make pregnancy look so sexy.”
“Thanks, I needed that. I feel like a porpoise. Which is probably why I spend so much time in the pool. My skin itches, and my bones ache. I want to shift so desperately. You know, shifting is like therapy. A good shift realigns my whole body, tenders the aches and pains. It’s a necessity.”
Bree patted Blu’s growing belly. “You’re more than halfway through this, sweetie. You can do it for the kids.”
“The kids.” Blu sighed and lay back against the pile of pillows, staring up at the ceiling tiled with rococo plaster. “But they’re not both mine. Bree, I’m the worst mother in the world and I haven’t even given birth to my children yet. What have I done?”
“You will tell Creed about the deal, and he will support you.”
“He might. He might not. I’m afraid of his reaction. Even though we’ll still get to keep a child, I don’t want him to hate me for having the capability to actually give away one of his children. How awful am I?”
“You were desperate. Mothers ransom things of value all the time to conceive.”
“Like what?”
“Like money. Mortals spend untold amounts trying to conceive.”
“True. But I wasn’t guaranteed to have twins. Though we did agree on children, so I knew I would have more than one. I should be thankful for this small mercy.”
“Faeries don’t do mercy, Blu.”
“I know, and that’s what worries me. Fuck, I can’t do it. There’s got to be a way around the deal.”
“You don’t want to mess with a faery bargain.”
“I know, but Bree…” She sniffed tears.
“Oh, sweetie.” Bree laid her head on Blu’s shoulder. “I’ll look into it. But I fear the only way to change the bargain is to offer something more valuable in exchange.”
“What’s more valuable than a child?”
“I have no idea.”
* * *
An hour later Creed knocked and Blu cheerily called him into the bedroom. Bree was finishing the design on her belly, and both women nursed goblets of white wine.
“Come in,” she repeated, sensing her husband’s reluctance. “I’m feeling much better now. Not so cranky. Thank you for calling Bree. You always know the right thing to do.”
“I was feeling badly for how things went last night, but we can discuss that later.” He strode over to inspect Bree’s handiwork. “Is that like the Indian mehndi designs Blu sometimes wears on her hands and feet?”
“Yes,” Bree said, leaning back to let Creed inspect Blu’s rounded belly. “But it’s infused with my dust.” He veered away at that revelation. Vampires and faery dust did not mix without someone—namely, the one with the fangs—becoming addicted. “It’ll dry and crinkle off by tonight, then it’ll reveal a pretty, pale woad design beneath that’ll last a month or so.”
“Nice. The babies must love the attention from their mommy and their aunt.”
“I get to be the aunt?” Bree asked.
“Of course.” Blu squeezed her hand. “Godparents, too? Will you and Rev honor us with that?”
“Of course we will. Oh, I can’t wait to tell Rev.”
Blu shifted on the bed and pushed up to kiss Creed when she saw the kiss coming. But Bree’s gasp stopped the twosome before their lips could touch.
Creed followed the faery’s gaze to Blu’s stomach. “W
hat the—? It’s all fallen away.”
“What?” Blu inspected her stomach. The faery dust concoction, which had been thick and goopy, had dried and fallen away, leaving her skin clean. No trace of the woad design that should be left behind. “That’s not supposed to happen.”
“Blessed be, I think I should leave you two.” Suddenly nervous, Bree shoved her things into her purse. “You know why that happened, Blu.”
She met Creed’s wondering eyes. Hell, the bargain must be repelling her friend’s faery magic. It served as a warning that she had better be honest with her husband.
“What’s going on?” Creed questioned as he followed Bree to the door. “Maybe it was a bad batch?” He turned and gave Blu a shrug. “I’ll walk her out.”
“Thanks.” Blu slid off the bed and clasped her hands over her bare belly. At that moment she felt a tiny inner nudge behind her belly button, but sensed it had been an admonishing kick. “I’ll tell him. Soon.”
Chapter Six
The storage room was packed more with Blu’s things than Creed’s. Though the man had walked through many centuries, he’d kept very little in mementoes. Their Paris estate stored more of his valuable collectibles, which made sense, because he’d lived most of his life in Europe.
Blu wandered down an aisle and spied the small, brightly colored box she had come to find, partly because she’d wanted to avoid talking with Creed, and partly because right now she needed connection to something that could ground her. Winnie the Pooh danced around the box. He had been her favorite character when she’d been a pup. The memory of her mother reading about Pooh and Piglet’s adventures didn’t bring a tear to her eye. Instead, she smoothed a hand over her stomach and promised she would read the same to her children.
