Conception

by Sarah McCarty

  She took a step back, not liking that gleam of amusement in his eyes. “I woke up and he was like that.”

  His right eyebrow rose to the height of his left. “You think he’s dead?”

  “He’s not breathing.”

  “He’s sleeping.”

  “People breathe when they sleep.”

  “He isn’t people. He’s Chosen. All their functions slow to near stop when they sleep.”

  The relief that flooded through her took out her knees. Dak caught her arm. “You’re still ill.”

  She noted that he didn’t pose it as a question. “I’m fine.”

  He steered her back toward the bed. “You need to rest.”

  Eden planted her feet. She didn’t care if she was on her last breath, she was not getting back into that bed with what, for all intents and purposes, amounted to a corpse. “I’m fine. I want to see my daughter.”

  Dak glanced at the bed. Then at her. “He won’t be happy to wake and find you gone.”

  She didn’t really care. Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “I want to see my daughter.”

  He released her arm and rested the muzzle of the gun in the crook of his arm. “You’re feeling strong enough?”

  She shrugged. “For now.”

  “Bohdan will heal you.”

  Eden wished she had his confidence. “In the interim, I’ll just take advantage of the good moments as they come.”

  Again he stared at her with those piercing amber eyes, then he smiled and stepped back, motioning to the door with his free hand. “She’s upstairs. Marlika is watching over her.”

  Eden gave him as wide a berth as possible, pressing her back to the door as she slid past into the hallway. He made her uncomfortable the way he watched her with those predator’s eyes. She waited for him in the richly carpeted hall, the electric sconces on the wall softening the dark wood to a mellow glow. She didn’t know which way to go.

  “The stairs are to your right.”

  “Thank you.”

  He watched her the whole way down the hall as she approached the stairs. When her legs tired on the fourth step, his arm circled her waist, forcing her to lean on his strength. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, though I would feel better if you waited for Deuce or Bohdan.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Three o’clock.”

  Eden forced herself up another step. “If my vampire lore is correct, I’ve got another three hours before they’re awake.”

  She felt rather than saw Dak nod.

  Turning to meet his gaze dead-on, she winced at the pull in her abdomen. Pain she hadn’t recognized before was slowly creeping into her consciousness. “I am not waiting three hours to see my daughter.”

  She hadn’t expected an argument, and didn’t get one, which was good since she could be dead in three hours. Her strength wasn’t as long-lived as she had hoped. The oversized neck of the too big T-shirt slid off her shoulder. The shorts made a dive for the floor. Stopping suddenly, she grabbed both. Dak didn’t comment, just waited. Eden straightened her clothes and breathed a sigh of relief. Two more steps to go.

  “Which way?” she asked as she got to the top of the stairs.

  “First door on the left.”

  She tried to slow her breathing as she approached the door, but it was hard. Very, very hard. Up until this moment, she hadn’t allowed herself to think of the baby as anything other than a package she had to deliver, but now… Eden paused. The cool metal of the doorknob warmed to her touch as she beat down the hope that popped up. Now was no different than before. The only thing she was to her daughter was a threat. A blur of khaki entered her peripheral vision—Dak’s arm. Three sharp raps on the door punctuated the finality of the realization.

  Taking a deep breath as the handle turned beneath her hand, she closed her fingers into a fist to cover the tremor that radiated out from the core of her uncertainty. The door swung in and a stunning woman with long, flowing black hair and an air of contentment stood before her. In her arms she held the baby, swaddled in a fluffy pink blanket. All that was visible of her daughter was the wispy blonde of her hair. The woman smiled at her.

  “You must be Eden. The Others welcome you.”

  Was everyone here so formal? “Thank you. I came to see my daughter.”

  “As you can see, the little one has arisen.”

  Where she came from babies just woke up. “Oh good.”

  Dak performed the introductions. “This is Marlika, daughter of Drakor.”

  “Thank you for taking care of the baby.”

  “You are very fortunate to have a healthy child.” There was an agony of want in the woman’s soft voice, putting a face to the desperation of a people battling extinction. A beautiful, gentle face that reflected love for a child, and welcome to a stranger. But no resentment. Maybe this part of her plan really was going to work out.

  “She’s been well?”

  “Oh yes.” Marlika kissed the baby on the top of her head. “She’s a very contented child.”

  Eden observed the care with which the other woman held her daughter. It was obvious that the infant’s every need was being seen to with total devotion and joy. “Good.”

  “She’s ready to feed.” Marlika gently eased the baby away from her chest. The reluctance in her offer to hand the little girl over matched the hunger in Edie’s soul to hold her child, for once, just once, without thinking of it as goodbye.

  She didn’t take the child, but she did touch her cheek. It was incredibly soft. “I’ve never fed her.”

  Marlika glanced up, her even features sharpening with her surprise. And maybe just a touch of…accusation? “Never?”

  “There was never an opportunity.” And she hadn’t dared risk the bond.

  “You can feed her now,” Dak pointed out. Eden glanced at him. It was hardly the kind of advice she’d expect from a man standing by the door, gun at the ready, looking like he was expecting trouble any minute.

  “I don’t know how.”

  “I can show you,” Marlika offered with a generosity Eden wouldn’t have shown if their positions had been reversed. She wouldn’t have been able to share her dream that soon, that easily.

  Eden hesitated, wrestling with the temptation. She’d brought the baby here to find the family, love and security she couldn’t offer her. Nothing in her plans had changed. No matter what Deuce said, the simple truth was, until her grandfather was dead, the baby was in danger. She could not let herself be seduced away from her plans by maternal emotions. “That’s all right. I’ll just watch.”

  Only by the slightest rise of her eyebrows did Marlika betray her surprise. She nodded. “As you wish.”

  As she wished? Who said things like that outside of movies? Marlika cuddled the baby against her, whispering words Edie couldn’t hear. The infant sank into the warmth of the woman’s embrace with an acceptance that spoke well for her future. Edie curled her nails into her palms and forced back the possessive jealousy that demanded she rip the baby out of the woman’s arms. The baby needed a home and safety. Someone who understood her and would understand her coming needs. Marlika was giving her exactly that.

  Marlika sat in a large rocking chair, her body curved in a maternally protective way around the tiny child as she tapped the baby’s mouth with the nipple. The blanket fell back and Eden was treated to a glimpse of the infant’s profile. The softly rounded cheek, pale and perfect, the button of a nose that looked too small to breathe through. She memorized each curve, each flush, each pale tracery of vein. This was her daughter. Her flesh and blood. They’d cut her from her body with the same dispassionate efficiency with which they’d impregnated her, but it didn’t make any difference. This was her daughter. And she was going to walk away and leave her to the mercy of fate and the people she’d chosen for her. The howl of agony welled silently.

  A snarl of rage erupted amidst the echoes, splintering her calm into shards of primitive terror. Marli
ka’s head jerked up. Eden glanced at Dak. “What in hell was that?”

  He smiled and shrugged. “I told you Deuce wasn’t going to be happy.”

  She felt Deuce’s rage that she was gone, and his search. She closed her mind, blocking him out. “You also told me he’d be a corpse for three more hours.”

  Again that aggravating shrug. “He would have been…before he had a mate to keep track of.”

  “I am not his mate.”

  Dak stepped aside.

  “You are.” Deuce materialized in the doorway. His thick, long hair, free of its que, fell over his shoulders, setting off the harsh masculine beauty of his face and the broad set of those naked shoulders. He was pale, very pale, but nothing, least of all paleness, could detract from the perfection of his form. Dressed only in well-worn jeans that clung to his narrow hips and muscular thighs with a lover’s touch, he was a sight to sap any woman’s mouth dry.

  Edie dragged her gaze off his naked torso with its bulging pecs and washboard abs. She intended to stare at his knees, but on the way down her gaze hung up on the way his pants clung to his groin. The telltale bulge beneath his zipper had her womb clenching with hunger and her body flowering in anticipation. God, she was pathetic! It took everything she had and a glance at her daughter to remind her that he wasn’t for her.

  “How did you find me so fast?”

  Deuce nodded to Dak, and then took the five steps to reach her. “Not everyone is as uncommunicative as you.”

  Eden expected him to stop beside her. Instead, he stepped behind her. His hands cupped her abdomen over the baby flab of her stomach, directly above her incision. She ducked but he merely used the twist of her body to tuck her buttocks against his thighs. He looked at the other woman. “My thanks for caring for our daughter.”

  Edie caught her breath as his raw masculinity enveloped her, holding her more firmly than his arm. His fingers pressed into her abdomen, massaging lightly, as if he sensed she ached there. Deuce’s head bent. His hair brushed her cheek, and an intake of air swelled his chest against her back, pressing her forward. A muscular arm came up, just under her breasts, and pulled her back against him in a completion her body fully accepted.

  “You do not bleed, but you tire.”

  Through the thinness of her shirt the heat from his skin radiated. As if needing to get closer, her breasts swelled, her nipples peaked. She closed her eyes against the sight and fought the strength of his magnetism. “I’m fine.”

  “You are not, yet.” His lips brushed the side of her neck sending a shiver of pleasure straight to her pussy. “But you will be. I promise.”

  She leaned away from his lips. He took another of those deep breaths. “Your scent is pleasing, Edie mine.”

  He damn well better be talking about the soap she used.

  His chuckle vibrated against her back. “I am not.”

  Humiliation and outrage joined arousal. “Stay out of my head.”

  “You project—”

  “When I’m upset,” she finished for him. She was really going to have to work on that.

  He straightened behind her. “Do you not wish to hold our daughter?”

  “No.”

  His finger on her chin turned her face up. He was frowning at her. She might have been doing a bit of that betraying projecting again. “I might drop her,” she explained hastily.

  “That is not what you fear.”

  “How do you know what I fear?”

  “I do not, but I do know that is not one of your—”

  “She could use a name.” The soft interruption came from Marlika. The baby rested against her shoulder. She burped her gently, a frown on her beautiful face. “No child should go unnamed.”

  Deuce’s arm tightened around her, warning her to silence. “Agreed.”

  Eden ignored the warning. “Maybe Marlika would like to name her?” In front of her, Marlika drew back in shock, shaking her head while cradling the baby protectively. Behind her, Deuce stiffened in disapproval.

  “You insult me and our child with such a suggestion.”

  “What’s so bad about Marlika picking a name?”

  “A name is a sacred thing, a bonding between past and present, hope for the future. A gift from parents to their child.”

  “Oh.” Obviously, his culture placed a high value on children’s names. “Then maybe you should pick it out.”

  “We will choose it together.” The flat delivery left no room for argument. Deuce motioned to Marlika. She got to her feet in a graceful move and brought the child over. Though she held herself tall and proud, there was an aura of deference in her posture when she approached Deuce—a dropping of her eyes as she held the baby out toward him.

  Edie would have used the moment to escape, but Deuce kept her within the cocoon of his arms as he accepted their daughter into the cradle of his big hands. The baby started and whimpered for the heartbeat he held her suspended before them, then he brought her against Edie’s chest, imprisoning her in a hug that encompassed them both. Eden wanted to keep her hands at her sides, but one look into that perfect little face with its confusion and distress, and her plan fell to the wayside.

  She cradled the child instinctively—shushing her with a soft voice, feeling a moment of dread as her daughter looked back at her with deep blue eyes, as if taking her measure. Then, with a soft gurgle, the tension disappeared from the baby’s face and her mouth opened wide in an impossibly sweet yawn. Eden rocked her naturally, her weight a precious burden against her trust, just one more incentive to succeed.

  “You will let yourself love her, my heart.”

  Eden couldn’t tell whether Deuce spoke aloud or into her mind. In the end it didn’t matter. “I can’t.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s not safe.”

  “I will protect you, Edie.”

  “You can’t. You don’t know how powerful they are. How relentless.” She glanced back, catching his gaze with hers. “They won’t stop coming after me. They will take me back.”

  His big hands settled over hers, easing their child closer to her heart. Against her back, his pectorals flexed. Cold, deadly energy swirled around them in a restless wave, skating across her skin briefly before flaring outward. “Any such attempt will fail.”

  “We can’t take the chance that it won’t.” She shook her head as his eyes narrowed and his lips thinned. He didn’t understand how committed the Coalition was to discovering the secret to immortality, nor how vital they felt she was to the process. “If they find me here, they’ll know about the baby.”

  His arms wrapped around her and their daughter, turning them so they rested within a shield of his energy and power. For all the comfort of his touch, there was not an ounce of softness in his tone. “I will not allow you to leave.”

  She had no doubt he meant it. If the decision was left to him, he would hold her here forever. She had no intention of leaving it to him. “No matter what happens to me, Deuce, you need to protect the baby. She has to be your first concern.”

  “My daughter will be safe.” He turned her completely in his arms. “As will you.”

  She stepped back and ran into the barrier of his hand. Slight pressure from his fingers on the base of her spine moved her forward. She hitched the baby higher and stumbled as weariness made her awkward. His hold shifted, offering her support where she most needed it. He made it so easy to think in terms of giving all her cares over to him. “Thank you.”

  Some of the energy around them softened. The little girl began to struggle. Deuce touched her cheek. His finger was huge against the small face. But so gentle. So incredibly gentle. “She hungers.”

  His phrasing reminded her of the differences between them. She had to stop thinking of him as a man and keep in her mind that he was a vampire with an agenda of his own. Before she could hand over the baby, Marlika handed her the bottle. “She has a healthy appetite. She should finish the rest of this.”

  The rest didn’t look like e
nough to sustain a gnat, but what did she know of babies? She took the bottle. “Thank you.”

  Deuce’s chin brushed the side of her head. A quick glance showed him nodding to Marlika. “Thank you for the care you have shown my daughter.”

  “I’ll be happy to care for her anytime.”

  “And we would be honored to have our daughter under the care of the Pack.”

  Pack? Eden’s breath caught tight in her lungs. Marlika was a werewolf? Good God, she’d left her daughter in the care of a werewolf? Deuce’s palm curved over her shoulder, his fingers stretching down the upper slope of her breast. The knot in her chest eased. Her breathing smoothed out and the shaky surge of energy ceased as abruptly as it had started.

  “Marlika is awaiting your thanks,” Deuce mentioned in a whisper so soft that she had to strain to hear.

  Edie dragged herself out of her shock. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to smile. “Thank you.”

  She kept the smile on her face during Marlika’s “You’re welcome”. She had to stop freaking out over things like this. This was her daughter’s world now. She wasn’t human and the only danger to her came from humans. She would grow up among werepeople and vampires, preternatural beings of legend that Eden had never believed really existed. But it was all right. Here the baby would be accepted, protected, and loved. Here she had a prayer of surviving.

  Deuce’s arm dropped to Eden’s waist as he turned to the door. “We will care for her in our room.”

  “You’ll need her bag.”

  Eden looked over her shoulder. The bag Marlika held looked big enough for a weekend stay. “There should be enough in here until morning.”

  Eden blinked. “Are there instructions in there?”

  Marlika laughed, obviously not taking her question seriously. “No.”

  Eden glanced up at Deuce as he took the bag with his free hand—diapers, bottles, creams and cloths overflowing the top. To think she’d managed with nothing but a carrier for a day. “Do you know what to do with all that stuff in there?”

  He arched a brow at her whispered question. “No.”

  She shook her head. “We are so screwed.”

  Deuce pulled her into his side as Dak opened the door for them. “We will figure it out.”