Chapter 30 – Rorik
I’m alive.
Literally.
But still a vampire. Still immortal.
I have fangs and my shadow tendrils are still there. But my heart beats, and now I can die like any normal vampire: by stake, beheading, or removing my heart from my body. I just can’t burst into flames in sunlight. I will, however, age, but slowly, and alongside my beautiful mate.
Ciara wrote all this down. She said if my curse was ever broken, I’d be a nearly normal vamp.
We were concerned that when my heart stopped beating in that field, every other vampire in the world would drop dead as well. My lineage, gone.
But that didn’t happen.
Though, supernatural and human scientists alike want to test my blood, see if there’s some sort of reversal for vampirism. Give the monsters of the night a chance to live again.
Since our existence was made known, there have been advocates working on legislation for humans to have the right to become a vampire if they’re diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Our rules currently state that we can’t turn humans just to save them from permanent death.
We must get approval for every human turned vampire; otherwise, the world would be overrun by us.
We’re limited to the number of vampires we can turn.
But if there was a way to reverse vampirism, turning new vampires wouldn’t be as selective.
I’m not confident in a so-called cure. Ingesting our blood also won’t ‘cure’ ailments, injuries, or disabilities. Even witches don’t mess with that. They can cast spells to help with pain management, but they’re not gods. They refuse to be. That’s when it draws a line with dark magic.
It’s been a couple months since Aurora killed her mother. She had mixed reactions about it. Relief, anger, sadness (only for the good memories), but most of all, contentment.
Ciara’s body was burned in the same field she took her last breath. Witches from all over the world gathered for the ceremony, which included warding the ashes with several layers of magic so there’s no chance Ciara’s soul survived.
Aurora didn’t want to keep any of her mother’s belongings from the warehouse, so we spent a few days going through things and sold most of the items to historians, museums, or antique collectors.
As for me, it took me a few days to come to terms with the fact that Brynn and Eden were never my true mates. Ciara claims she forced our love. I don’t believe that to be true. My connection to them was a result of Ciara’s spell, but our love was stronger than that ethereal bond forced upon us.
Their deaths were still the harshest pain I’d ever experienced.
Aurora has been using her magic more. She’s able to experiment and practice without fear that her mother will appear. Still, my little lamb has made it clear that she has no plans to do big spells. She says the pull of power is too enticing. She understands how it can quickly become addicting.
Instead, she’s opened her own store in the East Village, like the one she owned in New Orleans. Vara found her a space to rent, and I hired her staff to get everything up and running as soon as possible for her. I know she likes having a space of her own to escape from me.
I don’t tell her that I’m always nearby, watching and protecting her.
This past week, she’s been meeting with her long-lost relative, Saoirse. They’ve bonded over trauma and shared their lives, filling in all the years they missed because of Ciara’s isolating motives. Saoirse says they knew about Aurora, but Ciara refused to let anyone see her.
Aurora learned that her mother was once married to another witch, long before she cursed me.
She gave birth to two sons, two powerful witches who she raised lovingly, unlike what Aurora experienced.
She taught her sons how to access their magic over the years.
They then went on to have families of their own, keeping Ciara’s magical bloodline alive.
But Ciara never forgot what the humans did to her parents and sister. She wanted more power. She wanted to end human lives. When she asked her sons to help her, they refused. So she abandoned them and turned to dark magic.
Aurora and Saoirse are now the last living witches of Ciara’s bloodline.
Saoirse also plans to help my mate track down her father… if he’s still alive. Fae are difficult to kill, so the witches are confident that even Ciara wasn’t able to end his life, even if he is only half fae.
It’s about three hours before sunset. My little lamb is fast asleep beside me. It’s time to wake up. We have guests arriving when the sun sets.
She’s on her side facing away from me so I adjust myself on the bed to spoon her. She stirs but doesn’t wake. Slowly, carefully, I pull down her sleep shorts and panties.
Her breathing doesn’t change.
Still in dreamland.
We were together there just minutes ago when she begged me to fuck her awake. A fantasy. A kink.
Something she’s mentioned to me before.
I won’t deny my mate what she desires.
I fist my cock up and down, and lift her leg, resting it on my hip to allow me to reach her slick opening.
And I thrust inside her.
She jerks awake, slightly frantic. I wrap my arms around her, my mouth next to her ear.
“Shh. It’s me. It’s me.”
I move my hips, pumping into her and turning her squeals into moans.
My fangs drop, and I scrape them over her neck. She groans and pushes her thick ass toward me. Permission to go harder.
I do.
My hand slips underneath her pajama shirt to find her nipple. I take it between my fingers and squeeze and pull. She arches her back and screams her pleasure.
“Are you going to come for me, sweet lamb?”
She nods.
“Tell me. Let me hear your words.”
“I’m going to come. Please, Rory, make me come.”
I can’t reach her clit in our position, not without releasing my hold on her neck or nipple—she responds so well when I play with them. So I send a shadow tendril to her sensitive bundle of nerves, willing it to press down and massage.
That does it.
Aurora’s body convulses with her release.
I pause, letting her walls spasm around my cock. Once her orgasm wanes, I remove myself.
“Did you—”
She gasps when I press the tip against her asshole.
“Do you want me here?”
“Yes, fuck, please.”
“Such a good girl.”
We’ve been stretching her out for the past few weeks. She’s been so needy. So ready for my cock here.
My length is still coated in her cum, allowing me to easily push into her, past the first ring of muscle.
“Relax,” I say when her body tenses. I push in more, slower. “You’re doing so well.”
Once I’m fully inside her, I pause, letting her stretch around me.
“How does that feel?”
“Good. Start moving.”
I chuckle but comply with my mate’s command.
I love it when she’s bossy.
I move casually at first, but she slaps my thigh, telling me to go faster.
When I do, she moans louder than I think I’ve ever made her moan. I piston my hips, roughly fucking her tight little hole.
But she needs more.
I use a shadow tendril and fuck her sweet cunt in tandem with fucking her ass. Another tendril teases her clit and the walls of her pussy clamp around my shadow.
Fuck. I'm not going to last much longer.
Aurora’s hand finds my hair, and she fists the strands, tugging hard enough that jolts of pain shoot down my body.
It’s too much.
Too good.
But I need to taste her.
I sink my fangs into her neck and drink. She erupts with pleasure. One final thrust and I join her.
We lie there, me deep inside her, for minutes, while we catch our breath.
Breathing.
I stopped breathing the moment I was turned into a vampire, but I’ve always pretended to do so around humans, so as not to out myself as different. When I began breathing again after bonding with Aurora, it was like riding a bicycle. I never forgot how.
“Let’s go get cleaned up,” I say and slowly remove myself from her asshole. Then I give Aurora a kiss and crawl out of bed.
I lift her up bridal style, causing her to giggle.
The best noise in the world.
We shower and fuck again, then once we’re out and dried off, I dress my mate. She wanted to wear something comfortable but dressy tonight, so I choose one of her favorite cottagecore dresses. A pink flowery one that showcases her breasts amazingly.
I leave her while she puts on some makeup, even though I tell her she doesn’t need it. She doesn’t wear it often, only when she wants to ‘feel pretty.’ Her words, never mine.
Because to me, she’s always pretty.
We cook tonight’s dinner together. One of Aurora’s new favorite things to do. She said her mother never taught her how to cook, and she didn’t feel like learning herself, so she always cooked the easiest meals possible like pasta or salads.
Tonight, we’re preparing pulled pork and chicken in two separate slow cookers. I woke up two hours ago to put the meat in there, then went back to sleep. They should be done any minute.
We set out a few barbecue sauce flavors.
Aurora said she’s been craving barbecue sandwiches lately so that’s what we’re making. We put some fries in the oven to bake and set out some chips and salad too, giving the monsters who eat human food a variety of choices.
Aurora grabs the coleslaw from the fridge and a jar of pickles, then heads out onto the balcony.
It’s a beautiful October night, allowing us to eat outside under the night sky.
She stares at the spread on the table and smiles.
“It smells so good. I can’t wait!”
As if sensing a potentially hangry woman on their hands, the doorbell rings. Our first guests arrive.
Millie and Teddy. The sun hasn’t set quite yet, but both Millie and Teddy can withstand the sun’s rays because of the blood mate bond.
Teddy walks to me and pulls me into a hug. I actually hug him back this time. Millie has Aurora at arm’s length, smiling and laughing about who knows what.
Unfortunately, the ability to hear thoughts did not go away when my curse was broken, but it’s okay. All I need is my mate by my side to keep the world silent. She’s learned to create shields in my mind to help keep others’ thoughts at bay.
Vara, Thorne, and Layla arrive once the sun sets, followed by Xander, Evangeline, Locheran, and Farrah.
Our little found family.
Joyful chatter fills the apartment, something that has never happened here. I never had guests the entire ten years I’ve kept this penthouse. Now it’s where I plan to live the rest of my life with my mate.
We all make our way outside and sit around the glass table. We have blood for Millie, Teddy, and Layla. Everyone else piles food on their plates and digs in.
“How’s PR going following the fallout from Ciara’s attempted reign?” Locheran asks Vara after a few minutes of us all enjoying our meals.
She narrows her eyes at him, but answers. “Fine. It’s no longer the lead on the network news channels. I think the funerals we held for the supes who were killed and the obituary pieces we put together for the news to run helped. It made us seem more human.”
I must make a face because Vara raises a brow at me and Locheran snorts.
“Bro,” Teddy says, apparently also catching my scoff. “You’re basically human now.”
“Take that back.”
Teddy holds up his hands, chuckling with everyone at the table.
Fucking rude!
All of them.
Aurora loops her arm through mine and rubs my thigh. She knows exactly how to calm me down.
“So, what now?” Farrah asks.
“We live,” Evangeline says, smiling and staring up at her gargoyle king.
“We live until another evil threatens the city,” Xander adds.
“Then we’ll kill them too,” Thorne says.
“And now we don’t have to hide in the shadows,” Layla says, smiling.
“It’s a new era,” Millie says.
“We should toast,” Teddy adds, his face lighting up.
We pick up our glasses, everyone drinking wine or beer or some other alcoholic beverage. Well, everyone except my little lamb.
She has… soda?
Huh.
“To the Manhattan monsters,” Vara says.
“The Manhattan monsters,” everyone says in unison.
“Just Manhattan? Why not the other boroughs?” Teddy asks.
“Well, we all live in Manhattan.” Locheran answers. “Manhattan Monsters is catchier.”
They go on about that, but I pay no attention to the bickering. I look at my mate. She’s biting her lip.
“What is it? Why aren’t you drinking?”
Her heart beats fast, so fast it almost echoes. No, wait. That’s another…
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers.
But there’s no whispering around supernaturals.
The conversation at the table screeches to a halt. Everyone stares at us, wide-eyed. It takes a few more seconds for the shock to wear off before everyone cheers. The men stand and pull me to my feet to shake my hand. The women huddle around Aurora and embrace her in excited hugs.
I’m… I’m not sure what to do.
I didn’t think it was possible for me to have children.
Not only did I find love again, but I get to have a family too?
I walk to Aurora, like a clumsy zombie, and take her face in my hands.
“Really?”
She nods. “It happened the first time we had sex.”
“Is that why there are so many pickle jars?” Millie asks.
Aurora blushes. “The baby really likes pickles… especially dipped in yogurt. And steak. Very rare steak.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
And how did I not notice this before? I’ve worshipped her body plenty of times since that first night we fucked. And certainly I would have heard the heartbeat…
“I wasn’t sure what was happening. I actually had no idea I was pregnant until a few days ago when I felt movement in my stomach. I thought it was gas.
“I called Evangeline, and she brought me to Claudia. She said because you’re a vampire, and because I have fae blood, the baby isn’t gestating like a human. It’s growing faster. It’s also why I had cravings so soon after conception. Claudia said I’ll likely have the baby in two months.”
“But the heartbeat. I should have heard it. I should have known.”
Aurora shakes her head. “Evangeline thinks because you can’t hear my thoughts, I somehow unknowingly masked the sounds of the baby. A maternal instinct maybe.”
“Or you’re just used to blocking out human noises like heartbeats,” Xander offers.
Possibly. My shields are pretty strong. I’d go mad if I let in every noise around me.
It doesn’t matter.
I’m going to be a father.
I kiss my mate. A consuming kiss. A loving kiss. A thankful kiss.
Then I drop to my knees and press my ear to Aurora’s belly. I can hear it! The baby’s heartbeat. The swooshing around.
And I cry.
I cry and wrap my arms around the woman who saw past the bad.
She bewitched me.
Or maybe I bewitched her because she agreed to be mine.
Forever.
Or until we die.
Because now I can.