by R. E. Butler
“I don’t know, love.”
“I do. I don’t want to give that up, okay? I trust you to feed until you’re sated and not hurt me. Plus, I need to feed too. Could you really handle me biting you and you not reciprocating?”
“Yes.”
“Liar.” She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s go and see where the night takes us.”
His fangs throbbed as he thought about feeding Aeryn and her feeding from him.
“Whatever my sweetheart wants,” he said with a wink.
“Damn skippy.”
* * *
“Hey, check this out,” Aeryn said as she sat next to him in bed, the books spread out in front of them.
They’d come home and made love and then fed each other. He’d been careful only to take as much as he needed to feel sated. Once that happened, he stopped immediately and healed the wound.
With the pregnancy, her blood had tasted a little different. Richer. Sweeter.
But the main difference was that she’d fed from him longer. He was happy to give her every drop she needed.
“What, love?”
She settled back against him with the large book and read out loud. “The pregnant female will overcompensate for the feeding from her mate by taking more than necessary to cover the loss. Shifters replace taken blood faster than humans, but both will benefit from longer feedings from their vampire mate up to delivery and afterward while breastfeeding.”
He hummed, looking at the page. “So, your body knew what it was doing before you did.”
“Sounds like it.” She closed the book and set it aside, then straddled him. “I know you were worried.”
“I’ll always worry about your safety, sweetheart. You’re mine.”
She smiled, the kind of smile he loved the most, where her eyes crinkled, and a dimple formed in her cheek. “I know, it’s one of the things I love about you.”
“Oh? Do tell.”
Her eyes darkened a little, and the sweet scent of her arousal spiked in the air. “I love how protective you are of the baby and me. How sweet you are. How chivalrous, even though sometimes I think you’re a caveman. I love that you worry. And that you want what’s best for me, for our family.”
“I do,” he said, cupping her face and bringing her close for a kiss. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Aeryn. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She wiggled on him with a low purr that made things south spring to life.
“I thought we were going to talk to Mishka and the family about your ordeal?”
“In a bit,” she said. “I’m feeling feisty.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
Two hours later, they were in the War Room once more, but the entire family was there, listening to Aeryn discuss her abduction. She was candid and open about everything. Merrix had seen the videos that had been recorded and knew she was lucky to be alive considering what they’d planned for her.
Brone let out a growl. “We can assume that it will take Jason a while to restaff the Cleveland church, and we did get their headquarters location from Sean’s cell. With that, we were able to locate computers with more information on their plans for attacks against the coven.”
“What about other church members?” Merrix asked.
“We gave a copy of the membership list to the police, and they’re being brought in for questioning,” Vex said. “We cleaned out the church’s location and then burned it to the ground to send a second message to Jason that we won’t tolerate a church here anymore.”
“What was the first message?” Aeryn asked.
“That you don’t fuck with any of the mates,” Temple said.
Aeryn smiled. “Hopefully, he’ll learn his lesson, but I kind of think he won’t.”
“He’ll strike again,” Rage said. “Until we take him down for good, we can expect that he will continue to be a dangerous thorn in our side.”
“What’s the next step for us?” Merrix asked.
“While we’d hoped to find information about what their plans were, it looks like they didn’t keep much information on their computers or phones,” Mishka said.
“Right,” Temple said. “The only thing we did find was a reference to something called ‘Project White,’ but what the hell that means we have no idea.”
“The raid wiped out the remaining members of the church?” Merrix asked.
“Yep. It turned out that most of the church members had outstanding warrants, either for Ohio or other states,” Temple said. “With their numbers gone, Jason won’t be able to get a foothold in Northern Ohio for a while. I think we made it clear that the Cleveland coven isn’t one to be trifled with. If he were smart, Jason would stay the hell away from us.”
“He’s never proven himself to be smart in that way,” Mishka mused. “But hopefully, a reprieve from his insanity will allow us to protect ourselves and the coven better, so no one gets abducted again.”
Merrix asked, “Is there anything else?”
“No, you two can enjoy the night,” Mishka said.
“You’re back at the restaurant tomorrow?” Brone asked.
Aeryn looked surprised. “Yes. Why?”
“My beloved has asked for a date.”
Merrix grinned at how Brone—who was by far the biggest badass in the coven—got all squishy when he talked about Arissa. Not that he’d ever say anything like that to his face. Brone didn’t like to be teased.
“I’ll make something special just for her,” Aeryn said.
Brone nodded, a small smile curving the corner of his mouth.
Merrix and Aeryn said goodbye and headed out to the club where they grabbed a drink from the bar—SyBl for him and soda for her—had a few dances, and then returned to the apartment to enjoy each other’s company. There were a lot of things he couldn’t wait for—the birth of their child, the completion of the hotel so they had a bigger place, and mating and marrying his sweetheart.
But right now, he couldn’t wait to get her naked and under him.
And over him.
And blissfully sated as the night stretched into dawn.
There was nothing better than falling asleep with his beautiful beloved in his arms.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jason was in mourning. He couldn’t stop watching the recording of the video chat between himself and Sean. That night was supposed to be a defining moment in the movement to eradicate vampires. With the live death of one of the bloodsucker’s bitches, the church would’ve made it clear that being with vampires in any way, shape, or form would end with death.
Instead, Sean was the one who died, along with seven of his best men. Their phones and wallets had been stripped from their dead bodies by the bloodsuckers, and they’d used that information to take out the entire Cleveland branch.
It was unbelievable.
He’d never thought he’d be at this place in his life—mourning his brother and sister, who both fought so valiantly to end the bloodsuckers and had met their own ends instead.
“Why didn’t we know?” he mumbled as he hit the rewind icon on the tablet hooked up to the screen on the wall. He lifted the tumbler of scotch to his lips and took a slow, long drink. He didn’t feel the sweet burn of the expensive liquid. He didn’t feel anything.
“Why didn’t we know what?” Pamela asked as she came into his office.
She made a soft sound of pity and tried to take the scotch from his hand.
“No,” he said. “I’m not done drinking.”
“You’re lit like a Christmas tree, Jason,” she said, tutting. She was acting more like his mother lately, fawning over him and coddling him. He didn’t like it.
Well, part of him did. He had no one else to take care of him except her. But he knew the constant hiding was getting to her.
“I asked why we didn’t know that the woman was a shifter,” he said, letting her take the cut-glass tumbler from his hand.
Jason narrowed his eyes at her. He didn’t particularly enjoy people pointing out his faults, even his beloved assistant.
She seemed to realize she was on his shit list with her words, and she put her hands up. “Don’t shoot the messenger.”
Regardless that the man had shown up in Jason’s bunker and threatened him to cancel the hit he’d planned to arrange on him and his sister, Jason did still feel like he’d been wronged. “It probably is all that wizard’s fault.”
“Then don’t use him.”
“I’m not done with him yet.”
Pamela folded her arms and gave him a long look. “Can’t you let this go?”
“Let what go?”
She gestured to the video of Sean’s death that was playing in the background. “This. All of this. The Cleveland coven has proven to be tenacious at avoiding destruction. They undermine all your attempts to drive them out. How many times have you lost good church people in that area? No one even wants to go to Cleveland anymore because it’s either a death sentence or a jail sentence.”
“You’re still going,” he said.
He heard her swallow. She was scared.
Well, she should be. But not of the damn bloodsuckers, of disappointing him.
“If you focus on a smaller city with a less-aggressive coven, you can drive them out without losing any lives. You’ll draw more people back to the church’s cause, and you’ll successfully rid a city of the vampires. It’ll be a boon to our church, and enrollment will go up.”
“I’m not abandoning Cleveland. Sean and Olivia gave their lives for the city, and they will be honored by the deaths of every member of the coven.” He gave her a long look. “You’re either with me or against me, Pamela. What’s it going to be?”
Her eyes were troubled. “You know I’m with you, Jason. You saved my life.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Now, get Lahn on the phone. I’m ready to proceed to the next step.”
She opened her mouth to say something but then closed it and nodded, disappearing from the room.
He wasn’t sure what caused her to waver from her intensity to keep on with the good fight, but she’d get over it. The bloodsuckers were to blame for all the bloodshed in Cleveland, not him. And he’d make sure that every human in the world knew just that. The vile bloodsuckers would be terminated by any and all means necessary.
He’d even sacrifice Pamela for victory.
* * *
*One Month Later*
“Argh!” Aeryn’s grumble came from the bedroom. Merrix’s head shot up from where he looked at his phone while waiting for his SyBl to heat in the microwave.
He ran into the bedroom and found her lying on the bed and trying to button her work pants.
She was four months along now with an adorable baby belly he loved to nuzzle and kiss.
He chuckled. “Problems, love?”
“I can’t get my pants to button!”
He put a knee on the bed and leaned over to look at the offending garment. “I thought you ordered a size up?”
“I did.” She snarled the words, and he pursed his lips to keep from smiling.
He kissed her swollen belly and said to their unborn young, “You’re growing so big you’re giving Mama clothes problems.”
“Ugh, don’t be cute,” she said. “Help me up.”
He took her hands and pulled her gently to a seated position. “I can’t help it if I’m cute. It’s a terrible burden.”
She rolled her eyes. Hard. And then smiled. “You’re ridiculous.”
“How can I help?”
“I need a pair of black leggings.”
He moved to the dresser and opened the drawer where she kept what she called her “comfy bottoms,” which included lounge pants, yoga pants, and leggings of various colors and patterns. Lifting each folded pair, he finally said, “No black, sorry.”
“All right, dang it,” she said. “Just a solid color. The staff won’t care, but I just won’t be able to go out and greet any customers.”
He knew she loved it when a customer raved about one of her desserts and wanted to speak to her.
“I can go pick up some for you,” he said.
“Do you have time?”
“I’ll make time.”
She beamed at him, and he kissed her, then handed her a pair of blue leggings. He helped her take off the ill-fitting pants and hung them up, finding her shoes in the closet and bringing them to her.
“You’re so sweet to me,” she said.
“How else would I be? You’re my beloved.”
He kissed her and then helped her to her feet.
“Ready for work?” he asked.
“Not even a little. I didn’t sleep well. I’m having trouble getting comfortable at night.”
“I’m sorry, love. Maybe you need one of those big pillow things to curl around.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll find one of those too.”
She went onto her toes and kissed him.
He hadn’t told her, but he’d planned to go out shopping anyway. But his shopping list included an engagement ring.
Leaving her to finish getting ready, he sent a text to Cyrus to let him know he’d be late and then one to Lake, who—along with Dylan—was going with him. The coven had a rule that no vampire went anywhere alone, so he’d put in a request with Brone to use an SUV and escorts. He could’ve asked the coven’s jeweler to meet him in the office, but he didn’t want Aeryn to know what he was up to, so he’d arranged to meet him at his shop.
“I’m ready,” Aeryn said as she walked into the kitchen.
He handed her a mug of her favorite strawberry lemonade tea fixed with two spoons of sugar and two protein bars. The bigger the baby grew, the hungrier Aeryn got. She pretty much snacked all night long in between her big meals.
He walked her across the street to the restaurant and kissed her goodbye. “See you for break,” he said.
“I’ll be here.”
He jogged across the alley to the club, heading down to the garage where Dylan and Lake were waiting. He greeted them.
“Thanks for hanging out with me tonight,” Merrix said.
“No problem,” Dylan said. “I like the change-up from standing guard at reception.”
“Happy to help. Where to first?”
“The jeweler,” Merrix said. He got into the passenger seat, with Dylan driving and Lake spreading out in the second row.
“You finally asking Aeryn to marry you?”
“Yep. I got permission from her dad last week. I’m going to ask her to marry me before our mating ceremony tomorrow night, and then Midas is going to marry us right then.”
“Nice!” Lake said.
“The ambush’s used to the mixed ceremonies of mating and wedding. Her parents are handling the decorations and food with the ambush, and her mom’s getting the four things she says Aeryn will need for good luck.”
“What, like the something old, something new?” Dylan asked as he nodded at the guards before they exited the garage.
“Yeah. My parents are going to be at the ceremony too. They were so excited about the wedding that my mom reached out to Aeryn’s mom, and the two are thick as thieves now.”
“Must be the upcoming grandbaby,” Lake said. “When my sister was pregnant, my mom and her mother-in-law fawned over her.”
Merrix turned to look at his friend. “Isn’t your sister a vampire?”
“She had a baby before she was turned,” Lake said.
“Oh, okay. I didn’t know.”
“Well, her baby is now twenty-seven, so I guess he’s not a baby anymore. My sister was turned when he was ten, and her mate turned him when he was twen
ty.”
“Are your parents vampires?” Dylan asked.
“They’re gone now. I wish they could’ve been turned though.”
Merrix knew he was fortunate to have his parents immortal like him and have a baby with Aeryn, who would come out of the womb immortal so he wouldn’t have to worry about changing him or her.
“You guys know what you’re having yet?”
“We’ll find out next week,” Merrix said.
“Let me guess, you don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl so long as it’s healthy?” Dylan asked.
“Hell no!” Merrix said with a laugh. “Well, obviously, I want our child to be healthy, but I want a girl.”
“Aw,” Lake said with a grin.
“All right, now I really want to find my truemate,” Lake said. “Do males have biological clocks?”
Merrix laughed. “I don’t know about that, but I’m sure happy I found Aeryn.”
“Happy and lucky,” Lake said.
“One thousand percent.”
As they headed into the night, Merrix thought about all that had happened since he’d found Aeryn that night in the restaurant. He’d thought he was happy before, but he hadn’t known the definition.
Now he knew that real happiness was love, falling asleep with his beloved in his arms and waking up with her sweet scent all over him. He’d never been happier, and they were only a few months into their relationship. In less than twenty-four hours, she’d be his mate and his wife, and he’d be a member of the Whisper Creek ambush and a husband.
Then he’d be holding his little baby in his arms. He hoped the time went fast because he couldn’t wait for all the good things that were coming his and Aeryn’s way.
She was the light of his life, the utter center of his universe, and he was thrilled for what the future held for them all.
Coming Next from R. E. Butler
Purred Promises (Cider Falls Shifters Book One)