Lucy
“Are you really going to eat that?” Dominik wrinkles his nose as I dip a pickle into some low sodium soy sauce and lift it to my lips.
“You don’t get to comment on anything I eat given your diet,” I retort, taking a big bite.
The group chat is blowing up with news of Grace’s birth. Plans are being made to come to Budapest to visit her.
I run my hand over my pregnancy belly. I’ve really popped in the last few weeks, and I look very, very pregnant.
The doctor is happy with my progress, or rather the baby’s progress. She is less happy with mine, so I have had to remind her I am living with Dominik, and he is very annoying.
Admittedly, the last part isn’t true. Dominik remains pompous, overbearing, always right…I mean a vampire can’t change his fangs, and I wouldn’t expect him to, but he is also doting, caring, and willing to tend to all my needs.
Needs which include being railed by a vampire on a regular basis. I don’t think I’ve ever been so horny in my life as I am now with a baby on board. I expect…I demand sex multiple times a day, and Dominik is only too willing to provide what I need. And more.
And as for feeding him, I have to admit, I probably get as much out of it as he does. The feeling of him pulling on me, of taking what he needs and no more—I’m absolutely sure it’s one of the reasons I want to jump his bones as often as I do.
He is as reliant on me as I am on him. Save for the fact he regularly makes sure I know whatever I want, he will provide.
Even if it means I leave my current life with him.
Dominik does not want to trap me, and he also wants me to see what he is.
Who he is.
My big, bad vampire mafia boss is not a monster. But then I already knew that.
“Grace has had her baby,” I say, dipping another pickle into a jar of peanut butter and making Dominik wince.
“So, the werewolf finally has his pups.” Dominik smiles wryly.
“Three, as it turns out. I can’t imagine Grace enjoyed that much.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” Dominik slides onto the bed next to me and glances at my phone, the screen filling with notifications.
“There’s something the great vampire king doesn’t know? Will wonders never cease?” I bite into my pickle.
Dominik snorts but doesn’t bite (literally or metaphorically).
“Werewolves fuck their mate through the birthing process,” he says, as if he’s discussing the weather. “His knot is supposed to assist.” He raises his eyebrows at me.
“Oh,” I respond. I wasn’t expecting him to actually know.
I want to text Grace immediately to ask if it’s true. But at the same time I still haven’t told her I’m in Budapest. For a lawyer, I’ve singularly failed to find the words. But with her having given birth, and all the chatter about visiting from my friends, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“Oh? Is that it? No put down? No comparison between vampire and werewolf anatomy?” Dominik says in a hurt tone.
“I’m sorry I can’t verbally spar with you this morning.” I finish up my pickle, but the taste is wrong in my mouth. “Ugh, why do you let me eat this?”
I push the tray aside.
“What’s wrong, little dove?” Dominik slides his hand over my distended belly and leaves it there in a proprietorial manner.
“Nothing,” I grumble.
“Nothing?”
“Nothing.”
“You do remember I’m a vampire, right?” he says. “Which means I have a bullshit detector.”
I look up from my phone and glare at him.
“When I say nothing, I mean nothing.”
“You mean everything. Is this about your friends?”
“I want to see Grace,” I blurt out. “I know I’m supposed to be keeping a low profile here, but she’s my friend. She’s just had babies. I miss my friends, and I want to see her.”
“Then you should,” Dominik says evenly.
“I can’t! Look at me! I’m six months pregnant.”
“And that would make them think less of you? If they are your friends, they shouldn’t care.”
“But if they find out, it gives the Monster Force a reason to…interrogate them,” I wail. “I can’t put any of them in that position.”
“But your friend Grace has her pack. The Monster Force will not touch her,” Dominik says. “And she is in Budapest. There is no reason why you should not see her.”
“I’ve been telling her I’m working away all this time,” I say quietly. “I hate I’ve been lying to her, and she would have every right to hate me back.”
“Again, is she really your friend if she does?” Dominik says fiercely.
I feel tears prick the backs of my eyes. Whereas once I was the master of my emotions, now I have zero control.
“I wasn’t able to have friends, not until I left home,” I say, staring at my stomach while those tears drip onto my dark T-shirt. “Grace was the first real friend I ever had. She introduced me to the others. I thought I’d spend the rest of my days alone, until her.”
“And until me,” Dominik says with a flash of fang.
“Until you.” I laugh. “Until I found an immortal vampire who would put up with my shit.”
“I’ll put up with so much more.”
“Are you telling me I can’t get rid of you?”
“Not a chance, especially if I can arrange for you to meet up with your friend.”
“I can’t hide this.” I tap my stomach. “And I’m not sure I’m ready to explain…everything.”
“When is a good time?” Dominik asks. “You’ve got two months, and you’ll have a newborn yourself.”
A shiver runs up my spine when he puts the timeline this way. I still don’t know what’s going to happen after I’ve given birth. I remain terrified of the birthing process itself.
I need to see Grace. I need my friends. I can’t hide from this forever.
“Okay,” I say finally.
Dominik grins at me. For such a possessive vampire, I would have expected some push back on meeting up with Grace, especially as no doubt her mate will be present. But I get no sort of vibe from him as he pulls out his phone and starts making calls, every inch the mafia businessman.