by T. S. Ryder
“I’m just going to be happy if it comes out with all its toes and fingers,” she grinned, leaning back with a relieved sigh when he continued to all but bounce in his seat with excitement. “Why did I think you were going to be upset?” she asked, earning a laugh from the man.
“Not a clue! I love children! I just wish we could have gotten married first,” he lamented, earning a snort from Clara.
“No marriage until this thing is out of me. The last thing I want to do is try to fit a baby bump into a wedding dress,” she insisted, earning a shrug from Nate, who leaned in and kissed her once more.
“You’re my mate. The marriage is just for the press.” He winked, cupping her cheek in his palm. “I promise everything is going to be just fine, my love,” he whispered, rubbing circles on her cheek before pulling back with a sigh. “Now, what are we going to order?” he asked, lifting up the menu.
Chapter Six
Clara’s hope that Nate would be able to take her home after work was quickly destroyed when she realized after their lunch that the man had meetings that were going to run late. At least, she figured, she would be able to take a shower and relax before the alpha returned home.
Pulling into the garage of Nate’s home a few minutes after leaving work, she slid out of her Elantra and locked it behind her. She hated coming home by herself. She could never shake the feeling that someone was watching her. That someone else was there.
Pulling her jacket a little further around her shoulders, Clara pushed open the door and slid inside, locking it behind her. Letting out a sigh of relief as she flipped on the lights in the hallway, she moved into their room and settled her purse on the bed.
Sliding out of her heels and pantsuit, she pulled on a lacy nightgown and a robe before moving into the kitchen. She hoped that Nate was ok with take out because she certainly wasn’t feeling like cooking that evening. Nate was usually the cook, and he was pretty good at it. She had a tendency to burn whatever she put in a pan.
“Chinese or pizza…” she mumbled, wondering if she could have Nate swing by and pick up something at another restaurant so she had a broader range of choices. Lifting her cellphone out of her pocket, she felt a shriek fall from her lips as a hand caught her wrist.
Kicking and attempting to spin around, she screamed as a hand clamped over her mouth and her body was hefted up into the air by a pair of powerful arms. Kicking and screeching into the hand over her mouth, she let out a sob as she was forced down onto a chair. She felt the man holding her down snap something around her wrists and attach them to the chair arm.
“Stop!” she wailed, kicking her legs furiously as the man shoved a gag into her mouth, her eyes huge when she looked up into the eyes of her assailant.
“Oh hush now, Ms. Maddison,” Jeremy grinned, kneeling beside her and attaching her kicking legs to the chair legs with a chuckle. “There’s no need for these theatrics!” he hummed, earning a terrified noise from the woman as he eyed her slowly. “Honestly, struggling is just going to wind up hurting your fragile little body, or worse! The poor baby!”
Clara looked up at the man with a terrified look in her eyes, her body quivering as she looked down at her stomach. How did he know that she was pregnant? She hadn’t told anyone but Nate, and that had only been earlier that day! Trembling as she watched the man circle her, she let out a terrified noise when she saw his fingertips shift into familiar claws, her eyes going wide with terror when his claw slid over her cheek slowly.
“Hush now, don’t cry dear,” Jeremy hummed, his eyes flickering over her form with a hungry look in his eyes. “You know I didn’t have a problem with you until you started sticking your nose where it didn’t belong,” he spat, his eyes flashing murderously. “Nathaniel, he’s a fantastic alpha, but he can’t keep his damn head out of the clouds! If he had just listened to me and dropped you when I told him to, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” he explained, earning a confused and mortified look from the woman.
Straining against the handcuffs attaching her to the sturdy wood of the chair frame, she let out a squeak when Jeremy slapped her across the face, her breath hitching in her throat as a muffled sob fell from her lips.
“You see, Clara, he’s not just risking his own reputation by dating a pretty little upstart like yourself, he’s risking the security of the pack!” Jeremy pointed out, his eyes changing from pale blue into something dangerous, the irises a poisonous yellow. “I have been his second in command for years, and I will not let you ruin this pack! I will not let that parasite inside of you risk everything that our people have worked for in this god forsaken company!” he snarled, grabbing her jaw and forcing her to look up at him,
“You understand that this isn’t personal, of course?” he hummed, his nails digging into her chin painfully as she let out a weak noise of protest. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you for weeks, and I was hoping you would wise up and leave the bastard, but when I realized that you were pregnant? Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t leave me much of a choice!” He laughed, lightly patting her cheek before moving over to the counter and lifting up a nasty looking blade.
Letting out a strangled noise, Clara shook her head and attempted to get her leg free, trembling as he twirled the blade in his hand nonchalantly. This man was going to kill her. He was going to kill her and her unborn child and Nate was never going to know.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it painless. No reason to make you suffer for my dear Nathaniel’s mistakes, hmm?” He chuckled, moving closer and trailing the blade over her shoulder slowly, slicing through the silky fabric of her robe easily to reveal the bloodless skin beneath. “It’ll be quick! Just like ripping off a band-“ He cut off with a roar of pain when her foot broke free from the binding, slamming into his groin and sending her falling backward with a cry.
Gasping as she writhed on the floor, she desperately fought to break free. The chair arm had snapped off from the back when she landed, and with her free hand, she tore desperately at the straps on her other wrist. Looking up as Jeremy lurched forward, she gasped, slapping his hand away from her and kicking upwards with a muffled shriek.
“You bitch!” he roared, attempting to get ahold of her as she writhed and thrashed away from him. She was not going down without a fight.
Gasping when he grabbed onto her hair, she yelped and felt her head lurch back. Kicking out with a cry, she managed to kick the blade away, grimacing when the blade cut into the pad of her foot in the process.
Panting and livid, Jeremy let out a snarl as he grabbed onto her throat. Lifting her up, he slammed her and what was remaining of the chair against the wall.
“Fine. I’ll do this the hard way then,” he snarled, his nails digging into her throat as she gagged and thrashed in his hold. Her vision swimming, Clara desperately clawed at his hand, her body going numb as she started losing consciousness.
Air rushed into her lungs a moment later. Landing on the ground with a painful thud, she looked up blearily as Jeremy went flying backward, her breath rasping and weak as she clutched at her throat. Coughing, she rolled over onto her side with a moan and felt hope swell in her chest as she saw Nate looming over a startled-looking Jeremy.
“How dare you touch her? She is my mate, you backstabbing whelp!” Nate roared as he threw Jeremy into the table, his eyes flashing as he shifted into his wolf form with a shudder. Dominant and stunning, his massive form loomed over Jeremy with a snarl that sent shudders down Clara’s spine.
“She was going to destroy you! Destroy us! What we’ve built for our pack!” Jeremy stuttered, stumbling away from the wolf as the man moved forward murderously. “I was trying to help you!” he cried, shifting into a wolf himself and yelping as Nathaniel leaped at him with a hiss of challenge.
Clara looked away with a shudder when Jeremy shrieked, her free hand pulling the gag free from her mouth before shakily breaking off the remaining chair on her arm and untying her legs. Moving to her feet with a grunt, she limped into
the kitchen and picked up the bag that Jeremy had discarded. Finding the handcuff keys with ease, she shakily undid the cuffs and threw them aside with a shudder.
Across the room, she could hear the two wolves snarling and yipping as they bit and clawed at each other. Flinching at the sound of teeth sinking into flesh, she sank down behind the counter with a shudder, snagging onto a dish towel to bind the wound on her foot. Nate would be fine. There was no way he would lose.
The fight continued for just a few minutes longer, and with a final shriek and a horrible crunch the world went silent.
Trembling, Clara felt her breath hitch and she grabbed Jeremy’s discarded knife as a form moved around the counter. Brandishing it at her potential attacker, she let out a relieved noise when Nate held up his hands.
“Woah! Hey, it’s ok! It’s me,” Nate panted, wiping the blood on his face away and waiting until she let the knife clatter to the ground before pulling her into his arms. “Are you ok?” he rasped, pressing his face to her shoulder and allowing her to crumble into his arms.
“He was going to kill me!” she croaked, shock rolling through her body while his powerful form cradled her to his chest gently. Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, Nate nodded, scooping her up into his arms with a shudder.
“I know he was. I’m so sorry, Clara,” he whimpered, carrying her into the bedroom and quickly swaddling her in a blanket. “I’m taking you to the hospital. I’ll call someone to take care of that bastard.” He closed his eyes, a shudder rolling through his form. “I thought he was my best friend, and then I saw him standing over you like that. I never thought he would do something like that to anybody,” he croaked, as he held her shaking form to his chest.
“You saved me,” she whispered against his chest, tears staining his shirt as his grip tightened around her shaking form.
“Course I did, you’re my everything,” he whispered against her shoulder, trotting down the stairs towards his car. Melting against his chest, Clara allowed herself to be enveloped in his comforting embrace. She didn’t think she could ever be more in love with a person than she was in that moment.
Chapter Seven
Recovering for the next few weeks left Clara with a lot to think about. Mostly, her relationship with Nathaniel, and the growing love she had for the life growing inside of her. The attack had left their lives in a sort of chaotic jumble. Their business life was put on hold in favor of pacifying the police, the media and their coworkers with an explanation of what had happened and how Jeremy had wound up dead on the floor of Nathaniel’s apartment.
Fortunately, the majority of the scandal had wound up pushed under the rug in favor of an investigation into Jeremy’s motives. The police settled on some sort of crime of passion and determined that Jeremy was simply jealous of the relationship that Clara and Nate had. Clara honestly didn’t care what they thought. She just wanted things to go back to normal.
By the time that the investigation was over and done with, Clara had just reached her nine-month mark. Just before their child entered the world, Clara decided to resign from her position within the company.
Of course, she didn’t have any intention of stopping her career forever. She had every intention of returning back to the hustle of corporate life but decided she would rather spend the first year or two of their child’s life at home. Nate had been reluctant to let her leave the business for so long but agreed that if he couldn’t be at home with the baby, at least she could be.
“Riley, don’t put that in your mouth, hun,” Clara scolded, scooping her daughter off the ground with a frown when the baby snagged onto a stick she found on the grass of their back yard. At only six months old, the child was already completely mobile. Her father’s genes allowed her to progress far more quickly than an average child.
This, of course, left Clara needing to give the child far more attention than the average baby required. She didn’t mind, of course. The little growls and squeaks that the child let out were endearing, and she couldn’t think of a single day that she didn’t wake up happy to hold her little girl in her arms.
“How are my girls this morning?” Nate grinned, wrapping his arms around his lover’s waist and kissing their daughter’s face with a chuckle while she squealed and hid against her mother’s shoulder.
“Just fine. We need to get her something a little sturdier than the baby teething rings, though. She keeps destroying them.” Clara chuckled as Riley chewed on her own fist with little razor-like teeth. “She takes more after you, I think.” Nate laughed at this, shaking his head.
“Wait until she starts randomly changing shape,” he grinned, winking at his flustered wife with a laugh. “Nonsense, she’s got your eyes, your hair. She is very much your little girl,” he insisted, kissing Clara’s cheek and scooping his daughter into his arms. “How bout we start lunch, huh?” he asked Riley, who let out a babble of excitement and clung onto her father’s fingers.
Smiling, Clara watched as her lover moved inside, her heart fluttering softly in her chest. She had never thought she’d be so happy living a life like this. She had insisted that she would never get married, let alone have kids, and yet there she was, watching her husband and daughter dance in the kitchen with a warm feeling in her chest.
Of course, her life was still far from traditional, she mused, laughing as her husband let out a squeak of pain when the child sank her newly grown teeth into his finger. Shaking her head, she moved inside. It looked like her husband needed her to rescue him, and she was more than happy to do so.
On her arm, she could feel the mark that combined her and her mate start to flood with warmth, her eyes sparkling as she moved up to her mate and scooped her child into her arms. Her world was a bit strange, but to her, it was perfect.
*****
THE END
Vampire Romance: The Vampire Prince's Bride
Description
A BBW with a secret PLUS a vampire general who needs human blood PLUS a shifter army out to kill!
Vampire general Darius isn’t looking for love or romance. He’s looking for a promotion. And for that, he needs a human wife and a baby. Just one look at Cleo’s curves and he knows she can give him what he needs. The thought of another man touching her makes him want to kill.
Cleo has always been strong, always in charge of her own destiny. But what Darius doesn’t know is that she isn’t as invulnerable as she seems. She keeps her secrets just as he keeps his. They made a deal. Why should they be concerned with each other's intimate lives?
But Darius and Cleo are forced to confront their worst fears when Darius is sent to fight a group of rebel shifters that may just get him killed. Violence is a vampire’s domain. But can he survive this?
As feelings deepen and danger grows ever closer, Cleo and Darius will have to face hard truths–and decide if ambition is really worth their lives, or if love is worthy of sacrifice.
Chapter One – Darius
A picture of Iosif hung over the mantle in Darius's study. The king had ruled all the lands from the Black Sea to the Carpathian Mountain range to the Danube River for almost two thousand years now and was a vampire of great strength and pride. This study had once belonged to his father and Darius had sat on the floor and stared at wonder at the king's picture ever since he was a young boy.
Hearing about the king's great feats against the shifters, who used to run rampant and murder recklessly, had always made his heart swell with pride. He had determined from a young age that he would be as great as the king, one day wearing the crown on his own head. As he grew up, he realized that his goals required a lot of hard work, but Darius was nothing if not determined.
"There have been reports of wolves here and here," he said, pointing to the map spread out on his desk. "Three dozen sheep were killed and a shepherdess has disappeared only a dozen leagues from here."
His best friend and second-in-command, Gordon, frowned. "You think it's the Rebeluna?"
Darius grimac
ed as he considered. The Rebeluna was a self-proclaimed rebel group that resisted the vampire king in any way possible. Shifters of various clans gathered and were responsible for more vampire deaths than any other group in the past decade. Since they assassinated the last colonel charged with finding them, the king had turned the investigation over to Darius.
"No," he decided. "The Rebeluna are organized, efficient. These are minor inconveniences, more likely wolves who consider themselves rebels but don't have the courage to actually commit to open rebellion."
"Then why bring them up?"
Darius straightened and grinned. "They're exactly the type that the Rebeluna will recruit for cannon fodder. Send a couple of men to investigate. If humans think that we're allowing shifters to steal them away with no consequences, it might stir up unrest. Find the shepherdess, if nothing else."
"Am I interrupting?"
The cool, confident voice made him turn to the door. His twenty-year-old human wife of four months, Cleo, stood in the doorway. Darius smiled at her. Iosif and his own human mate had had no children of their own and had made it clear that the vampire they chose to replace Iosif had to prove he had good relations with humans. The best way to do that was to marry one, and so he had.
"Darius. Gordon." Cleo strode in, her shoulders back, her head held high, exuding an air of confidence about her.
She had been Darius' choice wife for two reasons. One, she was beautiful. Bronzed skin, long curly hair, stunning black eyes. When Darius first chose her, Gordon had questioned whether he really wanted somebody as 'robust' as her. She was all curves and softness, nothing angular or sharp about her–except her piercing gaze.