16. Rena #2
“Historically, Vampires haven’t been willing to test medications on their mates, for obvious reasons. So yes. I’ll take it.”
“And if you don’t?”
“Then you’ll have as many babies as you want in those ten years.” He shook his head. “I’ve only heard of a few sets of twins. They’re not common. So one baby boy at a time. Vampires don’t produce female offspring.”
“How many kids do you want?” I asked carefully.
“As many as you do.”
“Be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious.”
“What if I said I want as many in that time frame as we could have?”
“Then I’d say your limit is five, and that’s pushing it. Carrying a child will be hard on your body, and I’m not willing to put you at risk.”
“I’ll be immortal.”
“Immortal does not mean invincible. You’ve seen that firsthand.”
My stomach lurched in memory.
“Your mother had five.”
“My father didn’t have access to birth control,” he replied easily. “If he had, I think it would’ve been different. She’d already given birth twice before they met. If he’d had a choice, I don’t believe he would’ve allowed her to carry all of us.”
“She already had two babies?” I whispered in horror.
If Mattie had already been a mother before she met Erik, that would mean that two of her children hadn’t been Vampires. She would’ve had to watch her children grow old?—
“My sisters died before my parents met,” Chance replied.
“Your poor mother.”
He nodded solemnly. “So five babies, yeah? Less if we have to.”
“I decide?”
“Unless it comes to your health,” he replied softly, his hands gliding wetly over my back. “Then we discuss.”
“That seems fair.”
“I’m a fair mate.” He smiled crookedly. “Anything else you’d like to discuss before this water gets any colder?”
“Will it hurt?” I asked, watching his expression for any change.
“Childbirth?”
“Cementing the bond.”
“No, love.” He shook his head. “No, it won’t hurt.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m positive. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”
“And it won’t make me, like, pass out or anything like that?”
Chance’s head jerked back, like I’d slapped him. “Where the hell would you get an idea like that?”
“Nowhere.”
“It must’ve come from somewhere.”
“I don’t like feeling out of control. Like, I’m not in charge of myself.”
“Does anyone?”
“I guess not.”
“Baby, where is this coming from?”
I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it again.
“Rena,” he said softly, cupping my cheeks in his palms. “Have I done something to make you think that I’d?—”
“No,” I cut in firmly. “No. The opposite.” I took a deep, steadying breath. “Did Reese ever tell you that she spent a year in juvenile detention?”
Chance’s eyebrows rose nearly to his hairline. “She hasn’t shared that little tidbit.”
“She did,” I continued. “When we were sixteen, I had a boyfriend. He was cute and popular, and because of that, I overlooked the red flags—no, honestly, I didn’t even see them.
He made me popular by association, and that was a pretty big deal for a girl who’d been on the fringes for years.
Suddenly, I was being invited to things—football games, parties.
Reese wasn’t really interested in all that, but she tagged along once in a while, and they had to let her because I put my foot down. ”
Chance’s hands paused on my back, then started again.
“One night we went to a party. Someone’s parents were out of town, and we took over their house.
It was all very exciting. For some reason, Reese had decided that night to come with me.
Neither of us was drinking. We knew what kind of trouble a couple of foster kids could get into if we were caught.
The other kids had parents who would smooth the way.
We didn’t. So we were drinking sodas. Just sodas.
But at some point, we got separated. The details are still foggy, but I know that much. ”
Chance froze beneath me.
“She found me in an upstairs bedroom, completely out of it. My boyfriend at the time was in his underwear, but he hadn’t started taking my clothes off yet.
Thank God.” I smiled. “She beat the absolute shit out of him. He was twice her size, but he’d been drinking, and she hadn’t.
By the time someone heard the commotion and came into the room, she’d somehow dislocated his shoulder, broken his jaw, cracked three of his ribs, and smashed a lamp over his head. ”
“Good,” Chance said grimly.
“When I woke up the next day in the hospital, it was to two police officers who lectured me on underage drinking, a supremely pissed-off foster mother, and a missing best friend. It didn’t matter that she’d been defending me.
They assumed I’d been drinking and passed out.
As far as the adults were concerned, I’d put myself into that position—and remember?
Reese and I didn’t have parents to advocate for us, but the other kids did. ”
Chance stared at me, his eyes dark with sympathy and rage.
“I didn’t see Reese again for a little over a year.”
“They failed you. Every single one of them.”
“They did,” I agreed. “But Reese didn’t. So that’s why I don’t like being out of control. I’ve never done drugs. I’ve only ever been drunk with Reese.”
“I’d like a name,” he said, very precisely, as if he was trying to control every letter.
“I don’t even remember it.”
“Liar.”
“He already got what was coming to him,” I assured Chance. “He drove drunk in the snow our senior year with two of his friends and crashed down an embankment. Only one of them survived, and it wasn’t my ex-boyfriend.”
“I knew you liked control,” Chance said, his fingers tracing over my face—smoothing my unruly eyebrows, running down the bridge of my nose, pulling my bottom lip down gently. “But I didn’t think it was because of something traumatic.”
I let out a hoarse laugh. “It wasn’t just that,” I clarified. “I didn’t have any control for most of my childhood. Once my mom was gone, I was at the mercy of adults who barely knew me and barely cared. Once I became an adult, I made sure I was never put in that position again.”
“I think that’s why the heat hasn’t been as bad for us as the others,” he said, his lips pulling up on one side. “Making you feel trapped would’ve been the absolute worst way to convince you.”
“You think the heat is sentient?” I asked, horrified.
“No.” He chuckled. “More like it’s catered specifically to each Vampire and mate.”
“Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted you to tie your life to mine because you couldn’t help yourself,” Chance said darkly. “And you would’ve balked at the first sign that you weren’t in control of it. Think about it, you would’ve taken off if you hadn’t been recovering from the accident.”
“Oh, how a week can change things,” I said wryly.
“There’s something to be said for knowing that you’ve found the person you’re supposed to spend the rest of your life with.”
“Definitely takes the guesswork out of it,” I agreed.
“Enough of this,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Hold on.”
I twined my arms around his neck and tightened my knees on his waist as he curled forward, got his feet under us, and rose from the tub.
“Impressive,” I praised, laughing as he shook his head, flicking water from the damp ends of his hair.
“It’s all part of my plan,” he said, carrying me over to the bathmat. “Step one, mesmerize you with my physical strength.”
“How many steps are in this plan?” I asked as he set me down and grabbed a towel from the rack.
“So many,” he replied.
I stood silently while he dried me off, starting at my arms and working his way down. When it was his turn, he shook his head at me when I reached for the towel. Instead, he briskly toweled himself off, then grabbed me by the hand.
“We should have candles,” he said, stopping in the center of the room. He glanced at me, at the door, then back to me.
“If you leave to get candles, I’ll kill you,” I warned. “What’s your deal?”
Chance froze for a moment, opened his mouth like he was going to answer, then shook his head. “Nothing,” he finally replied.
Then he pulled me closer and tossed me onto the bed.