Lily almost rolled her eyes at the posturing from the two males. You’d think it was high noon at the OK Corral.
“I’ve just got one question for you, Garcia.”
Joe’s eyes narrowed, and Lily hoped they weren’t about to draw.
“Have you fucked her?” Quentin asked, nodding at Lily.
Lily felt the wind squeeze out of her lungs as she gasped.
Darcy looked just as shocked. “Quentin!”
“It’s important,” Quentin said, his jaw tight.
“What my eloquent friend is trying to ask is whether you’ve been in her bed?” Dylan repeated, his gaze also turning to Lily.
Feeling naked beneath their stares and knowing her face was as red as a tomato, Lily blurted, “My name’s Lily!”
“It’s none of your business,” Joe said, rage making his voice gravelly.
“I’m afraid it is,” Quentin said softly.
“Why?” Lily whispered.
“She’s a breeder,” Quentin said, his hard gaze unwavering.
“So?” Joe’s stance widened, and he looked about ready to swing. “She hasn’t been with any werewolves.”
“But she’s been with you, hasn’t she?”
Joe nodded once, curtly.
“Well, shit!” Quentin took a deep breath and shared a look with Dylan.
“Quentin!” Darcy pulled on his arm. “Why is that important?”
“Werewolves will kill her and her get,” he said, looking suddenly tired.
Lily felt like ice water ran through her veins. Quentin’s anger was one thing—his defeated expression made her tremble.
“Then we’ll protect her,” Emmy said cheerily.
“It’s not that simple, love,” Dylan said, his voice devoid of emotion. “Vampires will want her dead, too.”
“But why?” Her wide blue eyes stared back with innocence. “I’m a vampire, and I don’t want her dead. Besides, he’s not a werewolf. She can’t bear the next generation of puppies if she’s been with him.”
“Because she’s likely carrying an abomination in her belly, even now.”
This from Dylan, the kind one, made Lily swallow nervously. A baby? An abomination? That wasn’t possible. She’d never read of a vampire child in all her research. Good lord, was her child going to be some sort of hybrid monster?
“But she can’t be pregnant,” Joe said, his face darkening. He turned back to stare at her, too. “Vampires can’t impregnate humans.” His glance dropped to her belly.
“But she’s not entirely human, is she?”
Lily heard Quentin’s smug comment as if from a distance. The room had started spinning. I can’t be pregnant!
“Now see what you’ve done!” Emmy glared up at the three men who hovered around the sofa in the lounge. “And babies are never abominations!”
“What is it with you?” Quentin shoved Joe. “Are you single-handedly trying to populate the world?”
“Leave off, Quent!” Dylan said. “We’ve got bigger problems than your jealousy.”
“So, tell me how this is possible?” Joe asked, raking a hand through his hair, trying to gather his wits. The last few minutes had scrambled what was left of his brains. Finding out he was a father—and might be again soon—had him feeling like a low-down, dirty bastard. Then watching Lily drop like a brick to the floor had scared years off his life—if he’d had one.
“We’re not spermless,” Dylan replied, “it’s a temperature thing that keeps us from impregnating humans, or even our own kind. This woman” he said, nodding toward Lily, “emits a chemical that excites werewolves and vampires. Our temperatures rise—just enough.”
“Oh yeah,” Joe shook his head. She’d certainly made him hot the moment she’d parted her sweet thighs to pleasure herself. The one woman on the planet he should never have taken…
“I’ve only experienced it once or twice myself, but then I’d had proper mentoring,” Dylan said, glaring at Quentin. “I knew we didn’t mix.”
“But why is it such a terrible thing if she’s pregnant?” Darcy asked, wringing out a wet cloth in the sink beside the station’s coffee pot. She returned to the sofa and laid it on Lily’s forehead.
“We survive because we keep a balance in nature,” Dylan said, “vampire to human, werewolf to human. Even among ourselves. The consequences of this union, vampire and werewolf, will upset that balance.”
“Would you speak English?” Emmy grumbled. “Get to the point. Has anyone else noticed how pompous he’s gotten since we married?”
Dylan reached down and pulled her hair. “The point, my dear, is that any child of such a union may have extraordinary powers. Werewolves and vampires will want it destroyed before it can realize its full potential.”
“But she’s not a werewolf yet,” Joe protested.
“She carries their DNA. She can pass it to her child.”
Feeling sick to his stomach, Joe said, “Maybe she’s not pregnant. Hell, she’s still in heat.”
“She’s capable of conceiving throughout her heat—it doesn’t end until she stops ovulating. That doesn’t happen in a day. It begins when she conceives her first cub, but can last a week.”
Joe’s stomach dropped again. “What are you saying? She might be having a litter?”
“Just how many times did you fuck her?” Quentin bellowed.
“Oh God! I am going to have a dozen tits!”
Lily sat up, her head still spinning. Quentin reached to steady her.
“Get away from her,” Joe said, shoving the other vampire away. He knelt beside Lily. “Are you feeling better?”
“I want to leave,” she said quietly.
“All right, we’ll leave.”
“No. By myself.” She looked into his face and saw something that looked like pain. But that couldn’t be. She was just someone he’d been attracted to because of the chemical she emitted.
“You should let her leave, Joe.” Quentin said. “She’s a danger to everyone around her.”
“She’s not going anywhere by herself,” Joe said, with the menacing look that always managed to turn her knees to jelly.
“They’ll have to move into the compound with us,” Darcy said.
“The hell they will!” Quentin bit out.
“What compound?” Joe asked.
“Nicky’s old place,” Darcy explained. “The SU confiscated it along with the rest of his property. They deeded it to us to set up the Southeastern Council.”
“Council?”
Dylan’s cheeks billowed as he expelled a deep breath. “You’ve a lot to catch up on.”
Lily shook her head. “Look, I’m not going to any compound. I’m going home.” She struggled to stand, but her legs didn’t seem to have any strength, and she crumpled back onto the sofa.
“Stay put,” Joe said, placing his hand on her thigh to keep her there. “Why don’t you want me to come with you?”
“Because I’m just a problem,” she said, through a veil of tears. “You don’t really want me.”
He raised both eyebrows. “Don’t want you?”
“If she moves in, she’ll have to stay put until she has the baby…or babies,” Dylan said, as though Lily hadn’t spoken a word. “Otherwise she’ll leave scent everywhere she goes. We can’t have her drawing every wolf and vamp in the region.”
“What about after the baby’s born?” Quentin asked.
“We’ll see,” Dylan replied. “A child might not show any signs of its nature until it reaches adolescence.”
“But she’ll have to be turned,” Quentin said, staring at Lily.
“No!” Joe said, rounding on the two men.
The three males faced off, hands clenched.
Lily put a hand to her forehead and stripped away the cloth. Her head hurt just trying to keep up with the volleys the men shot at each other. She wasn’t sticking around to see them beat each other bloody.
Emmy sat down beside her and patted her knee. “You just have to let the
m get it all out. It’s a man thing. They can’t just agree; everything’s a contest.”
“If you don’t turn her,” Dylan said, “she’ll continue to come into season.”
“But how will she raise a child—or children,” Joe said, “when she’ll be damned to the night for half her life?”
“Auntie Darcy can babysit,” Darcy said, waving her hand to get their attention.
“Absolutely not!” Quentin said. “If the child were discovered there could be a bloodbath. I won’t risk your safety, Darcy.”
“Will it be furry?” Lily asked, feeling sick.
This drew the first smiles from Dylan and Quentin. Lily began to understand their attraction. Or maybe it was just her pheromones going into overdrive. Good Lord.
“No,” Dylan said. “He’ll appear human. Of course, there’s every chance he may be human.”
“She may be a girl,” Joe said.
“Not likely. Why do you think Lily here’s so valuable?” Dylan said, his gaze sweeping over her.
Lily blushed as all three males threw her interested stares.
“They mostly whelp males.”
“I may not even be pregnant,” she said doubtfully.
“And you make it a habit to swoon?” Dylan raised an eyebrow.
“Never!”
Three male heads nodded sagely.
Lily huffed. “I’m not staying. Joe isn’t going to want me once my heat ends. It’s just the pheromones. Hell, I might not want him.”
“Oh, you’ll want me,” he said, stalking toward her. “I’ll make sure of that.”
Lily held her breath as he squatted next to her. He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “You’re staying. Period. End of story.” The firm set of his mouth told her he’d sit on her if she tried to leave.
She just wished he wanted her to stay because he loved her—not because she might be carrying his child. “I never cry,” she said, with a sniff.
Dylan and Quentin grinned.
“They’re counting off clues,” Joe said.
“Clues?” she asked stupidly.
“Fainting, crying—”
“She’s preggers, all right,” Quentin said.
“You don’t like me,” Lily wailed, hating that she sounded like a child.
Quentin rolled his eyes. “I have to like you. Darcy won’t let me sleep with her if I don’t.”
Darcy smirked. “Got that right.”
“How will we protect her during the day?” Joe asked, glancing back at the two men.
“Dylan’s loaded,” Emmy said, her eyes dancing with amusement. “He can hire security to guard the compound.”
Dylan nodded. “Most of Nicky’s surveillance equipment is still in place. Won’t take much to get it up to snuff.”
Joe pressed another kiss against her knuckles. “What do you say, Lily?” he asked. “Will you go peacefully, or do I have to cuff you and drag you there?”
“You mean I have choices?” Lily felt like an idiot. All he had to do was give her that intensely sexy stare and she melted like goo.
The corners of his lips turned up, forming a smug smile.
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not fair. You’re using my own nature against me.”
“If it’s the only way I can get you to be reasonable—”
“All right,” she scowled. “I’ll stay until the baby’s born. I know I’ll need protection until then. Afterwards…we’ll see.”
Joe nodded. “Good enough.” He leaned forward and kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth.
Lily melted against him, her arms circling his neck.
“And we thought it got loud when the Albermarles moved in,” Emmy murmured. “Sweetie, these two are gonna rattle the roof.”
Chapter Ten
‡
“So do you know what you’re having?” Lily asked Darcy.
The women had gathered in the kitchen at the compound for an early morning snack before they all headed to bed.
She was getting used to vampires’ hours. Looking down at the remnants of her rare steak, she realized more than just her sleep patterns were adjusting. The final transformation once the baby was born would be a cinch.
“I’m having a boy,” Darcy said, around a mouthful of Cookies ‘n’ Cream. The woman had already put away a pint and was starting on her second. How she maintained her slim figure was a marvel to Lily.
Lily had made a study of her two companions over the past couple of days. She now understood Joe’s attraction to the reed-thin, muscular woman. Emmy on the other hand was lush and everything feminine, with her golden hair and plump curves. Between the two of them, Lily felt like a plain, brown wren.
“Joe will be thrilled,” Emmy said. She’d claimed she wasn’t hungry at all, but had picked at both their dishes. She glanced up at Lily’s face. “Oops. Sorry.”
Lily gave her a small, tight smile. “It’s okay. I’ll have to get used to all this togetherness. At least until my baby comes.”
“Why are you so set on leaving?” Darcy asked, concern shadowing her eyes.
Lily shrugged. “I couldn’t bear for Joe to stay with me because of the baby when he’s in love with you.”
Darcy shook her head. “He’s not in love with me. We’re just friends. He wanted me because Quentin wanted me. If anything, Joe has a thing for Quentin.”
“Not a man-on-man thing, mind you,” Emmy piped in. “Like I said, everything’s a competition. Who’s the meanest, toughest—”
“The best lover.” Darcy shivered. “It was pretty irresistible when they were trying to one up each other.”
“I bet it was,” Emmy said dryly. She waggled her eyebrows with wicked amusement. “So how was it? With both of them?”
“You had Joe and Quentin in bed with you—at the same time?” Lily asked, feeling a little queasy.
Darcy winced. “It’s not like it sounds. I mean, it was the ultimate thrill, but Joe needed me. It was just after Quentin turned him. He needed blood—and sex.”
“And you just had to be the one to give it to him?” Emmy nodded her head slowly. “Sure.”
“Yeah,” Darcy said, a lovely pink tingeing her cheeks. “Something like that.”
“So, who’s the biggest?” Emmy asked slyly.
Lily blinked. “Is size really a characteristic of vampire males? I mean, I’d guessed that, but sometimes I think Joe’s just teasing me.”
Emmy’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Yup. I’ve seen Dylan and Quentin’s man-things. They’re both pretty impressive.”
Emmy and Lily turned to Darcy, who blushed brighter.
“I didn’t exactly see his…thing, after he was turned. He was behind me.”
“I knew it!” Emmy crowed. “You had a man-wich!”
“Emmy, Christ!” Darcy’s lips twisted into a wicked grin. “Actually, yeah. So you see, I can’t attest to the fact that one or the other is larger, but Joe was certainly…”
“Substantial?” Lily couldn’t resist asking.
Darcy nodded, and the three shared embarrassed glances before bursting into laughter.
“Let’s go back to what you said before,” Darcy said. “Lily, you just have to stay. It would tear Joe apart not seeing his child grow up.”
“And there’s so much work for us to do here,” Emmy said, spearing the last chunk of Lily’s steak. “What with The Council starting up and the work with the Special Unit.”
“Joe tells me you’re a professor, an expert in vampire traditions.” Darcy’s expression reflected true interest.
Lily snorted. “I don’t think my research has taught me all that much. Look how I was blind-sided with this werewolf thing.”
“But you could continue your research here,” Darcy insisted. “You’ll have plenty of subjects to study.”
“Joe’s not very supportive of some aspects of my research,” Lily grumbled. “He’d have a cow if I pulled out a ruler.” Lily brightened. “But I haven’t seen everything yet, ha
ve I? I mean, I’ve never seen a vampire fly.”
“Fly?” Emmy asked around a mouthful of steak.
At the two women’s amused expressions, Lily’s shoulders slumped. “Tell me he wasn’t teasing me about that.”
“Don’t you see?” Emmy said. “You just can’t trust what they tell you. These guys are jokers. You have to stick around to see for yourself what they can do.”
“They really can’t fly?” Lily didn’t know why that fact disappointed her so much.
“Nope,” Emmy said, waving her fork. “But they are wicked-agile and fast. Maybe you could set up some kind of physical trials to make some comparisons—human to vampire.”
Lily grimaced in disgust. “They’re fast-tongued, you mean. It looks like I’ll need to pull together a whole new survey.”
Darcy’s expression grew solemn. “Why don’t you think Joe loves you?”
Lily sighed. “Because he’s never said it. And because all he ever said was that he wasn’t staying.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Emmy said. “You should have seen his face when you fainted.”
“Maybe,” Darcy said, tapping the side of her cheek with a finger, “you have to make him say it.”
“How would I make him say anything?”
“Darcy’s right,” Emmy said. “They may be big, bad vampires, but they’re vulnerable, too. Our guys are especially so. They’re macho men. They think they have to keep those emotions deep inside—hidden. They don’t like being weak.”
Darcy nodded sagely. “Yeah, they think love makes them weak. Until you do something to really shake them up.”
“Like what?”
Darcy pressed her lips together, then shot them both a mischievous glance. “Well, there’s this little thing I tried on Quentin. He’ll do anything I say if I use it on him.”
“Anything?” Emmy leaned closer.
“What do you do?” Lily asked.
“They’re macho men, and very nervous about anything that they can’t control.”
“Are we talking about a sexual act?” Lily’s body alerted. Good Lord, just the thought of sex had her wet.
“Come on, Darse! Out with it.” Emmy squirmed with excitement.
“Well,” Darcy glanced nervously over her shoulder then leaned across the table. “I put my finger inside him. He says he hates it, but when I do it, he shivers all over.”
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