by T. S. Ryder
Ivanna! Naya jerked, opening her mouth. She groaned out her daughter's name, and a face leaned over her. It was not Gabriel. She recognized the face, but all she could think was that it wasn't her vampire.
"She's safe," the face said. "She's right here. Asleep."
Naya's head lolled to one side as she searched for Ivanna. Her vision swayed, but it soon settled. Ivanna was close to her, laying on a stretcher parallel to her. Her eyes were closed, but blankets were tucked in around her chin and her thumb was in her mouth. Naya smiled. She was okay.
"The king was shot."
The relief at seeing her daughter vanished. Her clouded head cleared long enough for her to push herself up onto her elbows. There was another stretcher nearby. Gabriel lay on it, his body utterly unmoving, eyes wide and glassy. His skin had an unnatural pallor, chalky almost. Naya screamed, lurching towards her vampire.
Something caught her around her waist and hands pressed her back onto the stretcher.
"He can still hear you," a voice said in her ear. "The silver has paralyzed him but there's still time to save him. And he can hear you. Don't scream, don't scream."
Naya held her breath, her heart pounding. She tried to escape the hands that kept her in place, but they were too strong.
"We need blood!" a vampire shouted from somewhere. "Get blood out here now!"
Naya and Ivanna's stretchers were both brought to a halt so that Gabriel's could pass. Naya slapped a hand over her mouth as he was brought by. He was dead. Whatever she had been told, he was dead.
"Let me kiss him," she blurted. Maybe if she could get to him, her love would call him back. Maybe she could save him! She struggled. "Let me kiss him!"
"There's no time. He needs the bullet removed and to be fed blood."
"Give him my blood."
"We have medical stores for this sort of event."
Naya stopped struggling as she watched Gabriel's stretcher be carried up the stairs. Her blood rushed in her ears, drowning out the nervous chatter around her.
"I love you!" she shouted. "Gabriel, I love you!"
***
She was examined by both a human and vampire doctor and given a clean bill of health. Take Back the Planet hadn't harmed her or Ivanna in any way.
But then, they hadn't been the target. Gabriel had been.
Ivanna seemed no worse for wear. She was a little quieter than normal, but Angel had put her in a bathroom when she realized they were about to be attacked, and the little girl hadn't witnessed any of the violence that had happened in the zoo. Naya didn't want to press too much about her time in captivity, but Ivanna told her that she was kept in an ugly room and she had watched cartoons the whole time she had been kidnapped.
It was a small relief, but even that tiny blessing was something that Naya could cling to.
It was a full two weeks after the incident before she was allowed to see Gabriel. By that time Angel was fully mobile and, though she winced once in a while, she bore no outward scars of the attack.
"Stay here and be good for Angel," Naya told Ivanna, just outside Gabriel's bedroom.
"But I wanna see, too," Ivanna protested.
Angel pulled her into her lap. "Mommy wants to talk to Gabriel alone for a little while first. You'll get to see him soon."
The baby was kicking, and Naya laid a hand on her belly as she entered Gabriel's bedroom. He sat up on the bed, his skin having regained its normal healthy, dusky glow, dark eyes bright and clear. A dozen or so empty blood bags were scattered on the floor to one side, and a cooler sat next to his bed, presumably full of fresh ones.
A smile broke over his face at the sight of her and he held out his arms. Naya gratefully ran to him, wrapping herself in his strong embrace. She breathed in his deep, manly scent as his hand stroked her hair.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. Your daughter was in danger. You did what you needed to do." Gabriel put his hand on her shoulders and gently backed her away. "They told me you were fine, but I am glad to finally be able to see it with my own eyes. Naya… Naya, I love you so much."
Naya pressed a hand gently to his chest. Beneath the silk pajama top, she felt bandages. "Does it still hurt?"
"Yes. Quite a bit. But it missed my heart, and they were able to get the silver out in time. I'm going to be fine. I just need a lot of blood." He made a face as he gestured to the bags. "They're making me drink this medicated stuff. Tastes awful."
Naya held her wrist out to him, but Gabriel shook his head. He kissed her wrist, then moved it to his lap and smiled gently.
"I'm still not strong enough for that yet, love. There's a reason I didn't want you to see me before now. The thirst… it can get overwhelming. I dare not drink from you again until I'm fully healed.
"Of course," Naya whispered.
Gabriel cupped her face in his hands. "What happened? When I arrived at the building, you were already unconscious. Did they say anything to you?"
Naya shivered. The question of why Take Back the Planet hadn't killed her outright had haunted her for the past two weeks, but she still had no answers.
"They took me to see Ivanna. I remember going into a room, seeing her laying on the floor and then feeling like I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to be killed and I was so… angry that I hadn't been able to save Ivanna. The next thing I remembered was waking up here again. And seeing you on that stretcher."
Gabriel's hands tightened slightly. "Take Back the Planet was probably hoping to use my child as a way to control the vampires somehow, and that's why they didn't... But let's not dwell on them right now. Alberto is hunting the organization and soon they will no longer be a threat. You're okay, Ivanna is okay and that's all that matters."
"You're okay. Or, you will be." Naya pressed her lips to his. "That matters, too."
Gabriel smiled. "Yes, that does matter. I can smell Ivanna out there. Does she want to come in and see me?"
Naya nodded and hurried back out to the living room to retrieve her daughter. Angel stayed on the sofa. Ivanna wrapped her arms around Naya's neck and then, when she was put on the bed beside Gabriel, the little girl twisted her hands into the blankets.
"Hi, princess," Gabriel said, smiling. "How are you doing?"
"I'm not a princess."
Naya's brows rose at Ivanna's angry tone. "What do you mean?"
Ivanna glared up at her mother. "Gabriel's not my daddy. That means I'm not a princess."
"Oh, honey." Naya reached for her daughter, but Gabriel was quicker, pulling her into a hug.
"Ivanna, there are different types of daddies. I might not have put you in your mommy's tummy like this baby." Gabriel touched Naya's stomach. "But that doesn't mean that I can't be your daddy. I love you, princess."
Ivanna sniffled, her big, dark eyes full of tears. "Do you love me as much as the new baby?"
"Yes," Gabriel said firmly. "I do. And I'll always love you. I promise."
"Okay," Ivanna smiled, laying down beside Gabriel. Her tiny head rested against his shoulder, and she looked over her shoulder at Naya. "Come snuggle, Mommy."
Naya laughed softly and joined them. Gabriel's fingers combed through her hair, and more love than Naya thought was possible welled in her heart. The baby began kicking and she took both Gabriel and Ivanna's hands and pressed them to her stomach, helping them to feel it as well. Ivanna laughed, squirming between them.
"Look! I think the baby loves us, too, Daddy."
Gabriel's eyes widened slightly. A smile blossomed on her face and he nodded. "Yes. Yes, I think the new baby loves us. Just like I love you and Mommy." His eyes met Naya's. "Forever."
***
THE END
The Vampire Prince's Mate
Description
A BBW trying to save her coven PLUS a hot vampire prince claiming her PLUS a brewing war between humans and vampires!
It’s not easy being a vampire, and Calissa knows it better than anyone else. She hates having t
o hide from the world and strategize as a top militant official, locked away in the vampire manor. But she hates even more that Lee, the sexy vampire prince of her coven, has an insatiable appetite for her and her alone. He will stop at nothing to win her heart and claim her as his mate and future wife.
Meanwhile, a storm between human hunters and the vampire coven is brewing, meaning that if she wants her race to survive, Calissa will have to set aside her hatred for Lee and work together with him to destroy the hunters before it is too late.
Can Calissa convince the Lords of the Vampire Council to defend the coven? And can she resist Lee’s attempts to make her his?
Chapter One
The sun had long since risen above the horizon line, and yet Calissa found herself wide awake. Her ruby red lips, redder even than the blood she was drinking from the wine glass to her left, were pursed in frustration, while her long, immaculately manicured fingernails drilled rhythmically against the hard wood of her desk.
Three younglings had been staked the previous night, and it had been due to a serious lack of foresight on her part, something she found highly inexcusable.
As she looked over a hand-drawn map, detailed with all the attacks against vampires in the past month, the door to her study opened. A male vampire dressed in simple blacks entered, without any form of warning or permission.
A sigh escaped her lips and she bared her fangs in an unfriendly fashion as the man invited himself to a chair, flopping into the soft, maroon cushion with a noisy sigh.
“You’re not invited,” Calissa snapped, eyeing the man in clear irritation, at which he merely shrugged, a grin on his face.
“And I didn’t ask for your permission to be here. Last I checked, this manor belongs to me, so I can go anywhere I want. This chair is the most comfortable, so I think I’ll sit here for a while,” he hummed.
“If you enjoy it so much, why don’t you take it somewhere else, hmm?” she asked, rolling her eyes when he merely sank deeper into the chair and made a show of getting more comfortable. “I don’t have time to deal with you today, Lee. Your people are dying. You’d think you’d be a little more interested in how to stop the humans from killing them.”
This highly infuriating creature was none other than Lee Dameron, the prince of the vampire coven she belonged to. The fact irritated her to no end, particularly because he showed absolutely zero desire to rule his coven, which meant that, as the coven warlord (or lordess, in her case), any responsibility not fulfilled by his “royal highness” fell to her.
As if she didn’t have enough problems in her own job description to handle.
“Oh come now, Leesi—”
“Calissa,”
“It can’t be nearly as bad as you say. You’re just simply not sending out the right vampires to put a stop to the humans’ shenanigans,” Lee hummed. Had Calissa had anything but her map and the wine glass of blood, she’d have thrown something at his smugly smiling face. “Besides, one of these days the Council will step in.”
“Careful, Lee. Arrogance is not a trait that attracts women,” Calissa snapped. Her eyes, dark brown and brooding, glared daggers at the crowned prince, yet, as always, he didn’t seem perturbed in the slightest.
In fact, he snatched her glass from her desk and took a deep drink, his eyes fixed on her in amusement.
Disgusted, Calissa slammed her hands down on the table, stood up from her chair and walked threateningly over to Lee, her skin tight jeans and low cut shirt accentuating every curve and angle of her body.
“Listen here, Lee Dameron,” she hissed, a strand of her usually perfectly curled, pinned up hair flopping into her face. “If you have nothing productive to contribute towards destroying the human hunters, then you can march your pretty little ass out of my office so I can try to save your people. Understand?”
To her surprise, a feral light flashed in the vampire prince’s eyes and he moved with inhuman speed and grace, so fast that she could barely track him with her eye. Before she really understood how it had happened, she was pinned against the wooden wall of her office, his hands on either side of her shoulders and his fangs sinfully close to her throat.
“Be careful, Leesi,” he purred. A tongue like ice flicked out from between his lips and licked against her neck, while the very points of his fangs pricked against her skin, leaving beads of dark, red blood welling up to meet his tongue.
Calissa shivered softly and her hands instinctively tangled in Lee’s dark hair as she pulled his mouth closer to her throat. Faint memories swirled in her head; memories of many nights of passion, drunk off lust and with the thirst for blood satiated by the taste of another vampire.
A hum rumbled deep in Lee’s throat as he sank his fangs deep into Calissa’s pale throat, his lips locking around the wound he had made. Blood welled up into his mouth, leaving the searing burn of lust on his long dead heart. As he pulled away, and Calissa whined despite herself, a smirk crossed his bloodied lips.
“That’s what I thought,” he purred smugly. “Now, where can’t I be?”
Calissa just glared as she brought her hand up to cover the bite wound in her neck.
“Satisfied?” she growled, a husky, lustful hint in her tone despite her hostilities.
Lee nodded and licked his lips free of her blood as he moved toward the door. Just before he shut it, he poked his head back in and grinned wolfishly. “Oh. If you happen to finish anytime soon, you know where my bed is,” he winked, cackling as this time Calissa chucked her wine glass at the door.
By the time it shattered against the wood, Lee had already disappeared, leaving a trail of laughter behind him.
Chapter Two
Like every other time Lee had interrupted her planning, Calissa found herself waking up naked in his bed, wrapped up in his arms, the following evening. His chest rose and fell softly as he breathed, and, as if he was mocking her even in sleep, a smirk quirked at his lips.
“I hate you,” she whispered angrily, and yet, despite her words, she remained wrapped in his embrace with her heart-shaped face pressed against his cool chest.
She knew the love-and-hate they shared did not make the healthiest relationship, but it never affected her the way it did as of late.
Because it was no longer just about the two of them.
Sighing, Calissa wondered if she would ever gather the strength to tell Lee that consequences finally caught up with their wild passions.
She had known that she was pregnant for three days now, and kept telling herself that all she was waiting for was the right moment, but in her soul she knew she was simply too afraid of his reaction. The volatile mix of dread and joy that the knowledge that she would soon become a mother filled her with was torment enough even without being reminded that the only thing that worked in the relationship with the baby’s father was sex.
Lee was only ever tolerable when he slept, and if she moved then she’d have to listen to him speak. This was much easier to handle. Besides, if she got up now she’d have to listen to reports on how many vampires had been staked during the day, and demands about why she hadn’t sent in a formal petition to request military support from the Lords of the Vampire Council.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have multiple petitions drafted, it was more that Lee had the attention span of a goldfish, and he was the one who had to actively submit and present the petition as the ruling monarch of their coven. Every time she’d tell him exactly what needed to be said, and every time he’d come back without the Council’s support.
The very thought left her blood boiling in her veins, and she shoved the naked man away from her with a huff. A satisfied smile formed on her lips as the air audibly whooshed out of his lungs.
“W-What was that for?” Lee gasped, after wheezing for a few long moments. Genuine hurt filled his dark eyes, and for a moment a pang of guilt tore at Calissa’s heart.
“Nothing. You deserved it anyway,” she snapped, already on her feet in all her naked glory. As she moved, he
r neck and shoulders protested in pain. She knew they’d be all marked up and bitten to shreds.
“Calissa?” Lee called out to her, a frown on his face, but she was already storming out of his room. “Calissa!”
Eyes moved all over her form, some openly staring at her plump breasts or taut butt as she walked by, but she couldn’t bring herself to care in her irritation. Why did Lee have to be so incredibly useless?
Speak of the devil... Familiar hands gripped forcefully at her bare hips from behind just as she reached her room. If she turned around now and looked Lee in the eye then she’d end up broken hearted, angry and confused later on.
“Calissa. Turn around and look at me,” Lee demanded. His tone rang with tension and pain, and as he turned her around his eyes glared with anger.
“Don’t you dare walk out on me again,” he snapped, ignoring the stares and glares his naked form received as he towered over Calissa.
Part of her wanted to reach out to him and allow him to pull her into his arms. Her heart ached to be loved and coveted, but her head could not forgive him for his incompetence and his indifference.
“Until you do your job, there is nothing between us!” she said, her hands pressing weakly at his chest. Had she truly wanted to push him away, she would have, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to do it. “Until you act like a ruler… Like a leader, we are nothing!”
With each accusation, Lee’s eyes filled with pain and his hands dropped to his sides. With the way he hunched over, it looked like he’d been punched in the stomach, and when he opened his mouth to speak, she already knew what he was going to say. This happened every time they shared a bed together.
“I love you, Calissa. Can’t you see that?”
Of course she knew he loved her. She knew he wanted her as his mate, but she couldn’t forgive him for getting his people killed. For getting their people killed.