Addison hated watching another girl lie in Christian’s arms, watching his gentle hands hold her and speak softly into her ear. She could see the girl giggle and blush as she looked lovingly up at him. Addison made a sour face and looked away.
"Jealous?" Josh’s voice was teasing as he whispered into Addison’s ear. She only responded to him by rolling her eyes.
"Move." A heavy hand fell on Josh’s shoulder, and his smile slowly melted away. He nodded then scooted a few feet to the right of Addison.
"Darien." Making a playful pout, Addison was trying to keep her voice a whisper, but many of the other vampires heard her. She soon became the center of gossip, all of the women talking amongst themselves about her.
"Hey, princess." Darien sat down next to her, sending her a brief smile before glaring at the other vampires and motioning for them to look forward instead of at him. He leaned close to her ear. "I get to share dinner with you tonight."
They watched Christian interact with the new initiate, his hands slowly running down her arm. His cheek rested against hers as he told her what she was to do. It was a very intimate ceremony and would be one of the few times a vampire would get this close to the Master.
There was a woman kneeling in front of them, and Christian raised the woman’s hand and bit her wrist. He held her bleeding arm up to the initiate’s lips, letting her drink. He rubbed the initiate’s back as he watched her, the whole room silent as they watched as well.
After letting her drink for a few moments, Christian pulled her away slowly. The initiate smiled at Christian with a dazed look on her face. His body was pressed against hers, his hands cradling her waist. He moved her hair slowly away from her neck before lowering his head and placing his lips on the soft surface on her neck.
Addison was having a hard time sitting still, her teeth holding the corner of her bottom lip hostage as she watched what he was doing with great intensity. She saw him bite down on the initiate’s neck, a look of great pleasure on her face. The initiate licked her lips as Christian drank from her, running her hands slowly up her thighs as she caressed her own body. One of her hands went to rest on Christian leg as she took in the heat of his kiss.
"Hey," Darien leaned close to Addison again, whispering so no one could hear. "Curb that jealousy princess." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting Addison rest her head on his chest as they sat side-by-side. Addison bowed her head, a sad look in her eyes as she stared at the white fabric of her dress.
Soon the first initiate was taken from the room and the next was brought up. During the transition, Christian’s glared at Darien, who quickly removed his arm from around Addison’s shoulders and made her sit back up. Christian performed the same ritual with the second girl. When the last ritual was completed, Belle took the initiate out of the room, the rest of the vampires going to feed with their mates.
Making a come hither motion with his index finger toward Darien, Christian motioned for him to come over. Darien got up from the floor, Addison following.
"You forgot to initiate this little princess." Darien held onto Addison’s shoulders and shoved her forward, Addison’s shy eyes looking down at the floor instead of meeting with Christian’s.
"Oh, yes. This one." Christian motioned Addison forward. She slowly sat on the floor between Christian’s legs. "Are you hungry, my love?" He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, his cheek resting against hers.
She turned her head to the side so she could see him, a small pout on her face. "Yeah."
Christian kissed her cheek. "Then I will feed you." He picked up one of her hands, linking her fingers in his. "But first…" He paused, his gaze settling on her large diamond. "There is something we must discuss."
"Okay."
"I want to talk about the vampire…" His lips brushed against her ear, his words like smooth velvet. The tickle of his breath made her giggle. "We have initiated together."
"Are you talking about our baby?"
"I’ve been keeping a secret from you."
"What kind of secret?" Addison’s eyes scanned the room, taking in the other vampires that were feeding. Some of them were watching Addison with Christian, the more gossipy women whispering amongst themselves.
"About this child." His hand stopped on her stomach, rubbing it in a small gentle circle.
"What about him?" Addison tried to turn around in Christian’s arms, but he had a firm grip on her and wouldn’t let her move. Her voice came out low and scared as she looked down at his hand.
He stopped rubbing her stomach and wrapped his arm around it instead, pulling her body closer to his. "When I came for you in Jenson, the nurse told me something. I wanted to wait until you were feeling better to tell you, and it is my hope that my blood inside you will fix everything that may have been wrong."
His cheek was warm against hers, a kiss of his lips brushing against it, "In the past months, there has been tremendous strain put on your body, and there may be a chance our child is dead. They said they couldn’t find a heartbeat."
He could feel Addison’s face scrunch up as she tried to stop the flood of tears that were burning her eyes. "Christian…"
"Do not cry, my love." Finally, he let her turn around in his arms, and she clung to his waist as she cried. "Come, let us talk more in private."
Holding her tightly, Christian slowly stood up, pulling Addison to her feet. He picked her up and carried her in his arms, walking past a few confused vampires. He spoke softly to her, his smooth voice and calm words soothing to her. They were gone for about an hour then returned.
The furniture had been brought back into the room, the vampires now all talking amongst themselves. Addison walked side-by-side with Christian, her head hung low, but Christian still carrying the same regal stance as always. She was shuffling her feet a little and most of her weight seemed to be supported by Christian. She was wearing different clothes, her arm wrapped around Christian’s waist and lying inside his suit coat.
They took a seat near the fireplace on an empty couch near Darien. As soon as Christian sat down Addison’s body melted into his as she lay down in his lap, her body spreading out over the remainder of the couch. He had a healing bite wound on his neck below his ear, something a few of the women sitting near them quickly turned to look at.
"Hey." Darien looked down at Addison, who had snuggled into Christian and was quickly falling asleep.
Nodding his head slightly in recognition of Darien, Christian had a small, fragile smile on his face. His weakness for Addison was showing through, his normally calm expression anything but.
Chapter Thirteen
Heartbeats
Sitting on an exam table, Addison was nervously shaking her crossed legs. She was wearing only a hospital gown, her bare feet showing a fresh coat of pink polish. Her hands were rested on her knees as she looked at the door, waiting for her doctor to come in.
Christian was sitting in a chair, a hand poised above his lips as he watched her. He knew she was upset, but she was doing a good job masking it. A few minutes later, a doctor entered. She was a kind-looking woman with graying hair and a friendly smile.
"Hello, Addison." The doctor held out her hand. "My name is Dr. Nolan." She looked down at Christian briefly then back up to Addison. She checked Addison’s vitals then prepared to check for the baby’s heartbeat. "Can you lie down for me?"
Addison nodded, her hand shooting out to the side and her head bending in a very odd direction as she turned to look at Christian. He smiled at her before getting up from his chair and walking over to her. He gently took her outstretched hand in his, briefly leaning down to give her a kiss on the forehead.
Dr. Nolan turned on the ultrasound machine, messing around with a few dials while Addison watched her nervously. She was looking at the screen, something that Addison and Christian couldn’t see. "Let’s see what we can find here." Dr. Nolan squirted some warm jelly on Addison’s stomach then placed the monitor on it. She slid it around, some static noise
s coming from the microphone.
"Hmm…" She smiled. "Oh!" Laughing, she quickly moved it around to the spot she wanted, letting them hear a strong, steady heartbeat. "Here’s the little one." She looked up Addison’s surprised face as she turned the screen a little, so that they could see too. "See?"
Picking up her dropped jaw, Addison let out a chain of giggles as she looked at the fuzzy screen, grinning widely. "Oh, I can hear it." She squeezed Christian’s hand, turning to him as she gushed. "Christian."
"How far along is she?" He smiled too, his eyes looking over at the doctor.
"I’d say about—"
"Three months?" Addison interrupted her.
"Four," Christian countered.
"He’s right. My guess is you’re about seventeen or eighteen weeks." Dr. Nolan chuckled. "This little guy’s a good hider, huh?"
"Guy?" Christian searched the screen.
"Yep."
"So, is he okay?" Addison’s eyes were glued on the screen, her hand squeezing Christian’s.
"He looks pretty normal to me." Dr. Nolan moved the monitor around Addison’s stomach a little more. "We’ll do some blood tests to—"
"No," Christian laughed.
"No?" Looking at him like he was crazy, Dr. Nolan’s smile slowly melted.
"Umm…" Addison tried to remedy the situation but Christian cut her off.
"That won’t be necessary. We will not be staying here long, so I will have Addison’s regular doctor do those when we return home."
Dr. Nolan finished the ultrasound and said goodbye to the Vallores. She found them to be very pleasant people. After she saw a few more patients, she looked in Addison’s file and called her regular doctor because she wanted to speak with him about the few tests she wanted done.
The doctor’s secretary answered the phone. "Mercy Family Practice, this is Jessica."
"Hi, Jessica, this is Dr. Nolan from Mayer’s Memorial Hospital in Venetia. I’ve just seen one of Dr. Monroe’s patients and would like to speak to him about her."
"Of course. Let me transfer you to him."
"Thank you."
Zak picked up the phone, a slightly bored tone to his voice. "Hello, this is Dr. Monroe."
"Hello, doctor, this is Dr. Nolan from Mayer’s Memorial. I would like to talk to you about your patient, Addison Vallore."
Zak sat up straighter in his chair and dropped the sandwich in his hands, letting it fall to the container beneath it. "Addison Vallore." He looked over at a framed picture on his desk that Addison had drawn. "Yeah, she’s one of my patients. Why?"
"She recently fell on her vacation here and was concerned about her baby. I performed an ultrasound and everything looks normal. I’d—"
"She’s in Venetia?" Zak wiped the corner of his lips, some mayonnaise from his sandwich still lingering there. "Did she come alone?"
"No, her husband was with her."
"Her husband—okay." Zak looked out his office window at a few people walking down the hallway. "Do you have a contact number for her? I’d like to speak with her."
"Oh, of course, it’s…"
* * * *
After coming home from Addison’s appointment, Christian took her to a ballet. Intermission had just started, and Addison looked back and waved at Josh, who was sitting in the back row as she sat in the front. Christian sent Josh an annoyed look before poking Addison in the shoulder and forcing her to face forward. Addison happily obliged, snuggling into Christian’s chest as she wrapped her arms around him.
Zak, who had come to town to look for Addison, crashed the ballet when he heard there were vampires nosing around the theatre. His gaze wandered up to the balcony now that the lights were on and settled on a sight that made his heart break.
Addison was laying in Christian’s arms, his head laid against her perfect curls as he whispered to her. He held her hand up to his face and slowly let each finger run over his lips as Addison looked up at him lovingly. That look on her face made Zak’s blood boil. He had never seen them together, and now that he was witnessing the great love between the Master and his mate, he couldn’t stand it.
Christian slowly dropped her arm and took her hand instead, staring like they were in an entirely separate world from everyone else. He spoke softly to her, whatever he was saying making Addison giggle, a childlike shyness in her eyes that made her irresistible to Zak.
He wanted her to look at him like that. His obsession with her had become more than a crush, and after getting a taste of her sweetness, he wanted to hold onto it forever, even if it took taking her away from the man he knew she would always love.
Christian placed a gentle hand on her face and began kissing her. He watched them for a few minutes until he saw Addison stand up. She squeezed past Christian and went downstairs with Josh. He could see Christian turn to talk to Darien and thought this would be a great time to go after her now that she was separated from two of the most dangerous vampires.
Pulling up the hood on his sweater, he slipped out into the lobby and looked around. He caught sight of Addison heading toward the bathroom, talking happily to her brother. Zak watched them for a few more seconds before Addison slipped into the ladies room.
Josh was his only obstacle now, and Zak knew what to do. Venturing deep into his pockets, his hand wrapped around the handle of a knife.
Addison came out of the bathroom and was looking down at her dress, making a sour face because she had gotten a little water on it.
"You can’t even see it, Addy." Josh laughed as he studied the wet spot on his sister’s white dress. He had a pack of cigarettes in his hand, tapping the box on the palm. "But…" Josh laughed, pointing to a quickly healing bite wound on her neck. It looked like a small hickey now. "I can see that." His face was filled with a devilish expression as he looked into her angry eyes. "And I saw that little show Christian was performing in the dark."
"Shut up, Josh. We weren’t doing anything."
While Addison was looking down, Zak sprang forward and grabbed Josh, whisking him out a nearby door. No one had seen because he had done it so quickly, not even Addison. She could hear the door slam and immediately looked toward it. She figured Josh had gone outside for a smoke, so she went outside to check on him.
Addison scanned the alley, her breath escaping her lips in a cloud of white smoke. "Josh?"
"Addison." Zak grabbed her from behind. "Hey there."
"Let me go!" She struggled in his arms, trying to punch at him, but he quickly grabbed her arms and held them tightly.
"Hey." Zak laughed, getting a firm hold on her and no longer letting her struggle. "You’re missing the show."
"No!" Addison’s eyes were open wide, her focus now on what was happening a few feet in front of her. "Please!" Two hunters were holding Josh, his hands tied behind his back as he struggled to get to his sister. "Josh!" Fear overwhelmed her, Addison now kicking and screaming. Her legs were off the ground as she frantically tried to break free.
Zak laughed as he pulled her along and away from the theatre, the other hunters dragging Josh. "He’s one of the Master’s hunters. He’s a vampire. He must be killed."
Addison began to sob, her body going limp in Zak’s arms. "Please, Zak, please don’t hurt my brother."
"Come on." Zak pulled her into a waiting truck, Addison watching in horror as the hunters threw Josh into the back, along with a few other vampires they had captured. Zak held her in the backseat as another one of the hunters drove. "See that?" Zak motioned with his head toward what was going on the back of the truck, one of the hunters stabbing a vampire they had caught in the chest. "That will be you back there, if you don’t behave."
He turned her around, and Addison did not say a word as they drove down the road and into a small wooded area. When they got there, the truck stopped, Zak yelling through the small, open window that separated the bed of the truck from the cab. "Hey Jon, bring out that little omega." Zak pushed Addison outside, motioning for one of the other hunters to hold onto h
er.
"Stop!" Addison watched as one of the hunters pulled out Josh, struggling to get to him. "Please! Don’t hurt him! Stop! I’ll do anything you want! Don’t hurt Josh! Don’t!"
"Addison." Zak walked over to Addison, getting close to her face and showing her the large knife in his hand. "I told you to be quiet." Addison recoiled when she saw the blade, Zak’s smile growing when he saw the effect it had on her. "Good." He took a bandana from his pocket and stuck it in Addison’s mouth, tying it around her head so she couldn’t speak. "There’s my girl." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, his lips tasting the saltiness of her tears.
"Okay, enough of this." He handed the knife over to another hunter and took an axe from his hand instead. "Hey, little Omega." A happy laugh escaped Zak’s lips as he watched the hunters tie Josh to a nearby tree.
"You bastard!" Josh pulled angrily at his restraints, but he couldn’t break free, a beastly yell coming from his lips before he screamed in Zak’s face. "Keep your hands off my sister! I’ll kill you!"
"It isn’t so fun being on the receiving end, is it, Omega?" Zak playfully bounced the handle of the axe against his open palm.
"I mean it!" Josh’s face was twisted in intense anger as he bared his fangs at Zak. He pulled harder at his restraints, shaking the tree and making its leaves rain down on him. "Let her go!"
Addison was sobbing, but she couldn’t speak, the hunter pushing her forward and forcing her closer to Zak. Josh pulled even harder now, the base of the tree creaking a little. He could see her tears, her face squished together as she cried. She periodically choked on some of her tears because of the gag.
"What are you going to do?" Getting close to Josh’s face, Zak cocked his head to the side, holding the weapon up to him menacingly. "Huh?"
Screaming, Josh’s face turned beat red as he yanked harder. The ropes were digging into his hands, a few drops of blood falling down his fingers.
Seed of the Master (Christian’s Kisses Book 2) Page 15