by T. S. Ryder
This was a business agreement. He agreed to this because of her blood type and wanted her to stay because she was a spitfire and he liked that. He had thrown caution to the wind and had given her himself, despite knowing it would mean he'd lose her. He'd have lost her eventually anyway, and he wanted to give her something of him that she would have forever. And yes, he also wanted something from her that he could have forever… but ever since Paris, she had been distant with him.
Maybe he should just apologize for the way he had overreacted there…
"I thought maybe we could go for a drive later in your new car." He fished a set of keys from his pocket and pressed them into her hand. "It's a Lexus. I remember you saying that you wanted one when you first came to the palace. And this is my gift to you. You don't have to give it back when… our arrangement is done."
"Thank you."
Gavin waited for a beat. "You're still mad at me for Paris, aren't you?"
"What makes you think that?"
Gavin stared at Aria's profile. She looked straight ahead, stubbornly not meeting his gaze. He opened his mouth to say he was sorry, but the words choked him. He closed his mouth again. What did he owe her? They had been clear when they came into this what they wanted, and that wasn't going to change.
"I'll see you later," he snapped. He almost winced at his tone.
Aria turned a dark look on him. "Don't bother. I'm going to go back to bed. I don't think it's a good idea for me to be giving you blood when I'm sick."
His hand clenched. He turned on his heel and left her apartment, irritated with her and with himself. How could he entertain diplomats the world over? Why did he always talk himself into such a bind with one person?
He stormed through the halls, grinding his teeth and muttering oaths to himself. It was half an hour later that he realized he was late for a meeting with the human chief of police. Apparently, the kidnapping problem had not been resolved, despite him sending more resources to figure it out. He marched to his study, where the sniveling little man was waiting. He held an armful of paper files. The human bowed to the king, some of the files slipping from his arms as he did so.
"My lord, thank you for agreeing to see me."
"And what am I seeing you for?"
"We have reports of kidnappings."
Gavin rolled his eyes. "And this is new because…?"
"Over twenty-five humans have been taking in the last four months. And eye-witnesses from multiple kidnappings claim that vampires are to blame." The chief placed his files on Gavin's desk. "It's fairly damning evidence, my lord."
Gavin frowned. He opened the first file and flipped through it. It was a pretty, mid-twenties girl with black hair and blue eyes. The next was a man. Late sixties. The next a heavy-set woman with a nose ring. The king's brow furrowed as he read the information on them. None of the victims appeared to have any sort of connection to each other. As if they were taken by separate people… or by random. Could this be retaliation from Monique because he refused to take part of her breeding program?
"Investigate the possibility that this might be Queen Monique. But be discreet. I don't want her to find out and get offended if she isn't part of this."
The chief nodded. "We would like to assign a position to an undercover agent to try to follow the trail."
"Do it, then."
Gavin moved to the window as the man continued talking. If Monique was stealing his citizens, he would have to—
He jumped, startled, when he saw a familiar figure moving through the courtyard to the garage. Aria. His heart leaped to his throat and he turned back to the chief. "Coordinate with my head of security. You have my authority to do whatever is necessary to solve this."
"My lord—"
Gavin waved his hand, already out the door. She said she was going to sleep. Why would she be heading out, then? He rushed out of the palace in time to see the new Lexus he had just bought for her drive away. There was no need for her to leave. Anything she wanted or needed, she could send for… unless she was leaving leaving.
His skin was cold as he raced for the garage. There were no guards around, but he ignored that fact. He was a king and a powerful vampire. He could take care of himself. The regular limo sat in its normal spot, but it was too ostentatious to be bothered with today. Instead, he hopped on one of the motorcycles his messengers rode and took off after the Lexus.
As soon as he left the palace grounds, he lost her in traffic. Gavin cursed as he wove between vehicles, searching for Aria. His mind raced. Could she be going to pick up something for her cold? Or maybe she was visiting home… Yes, that had to be it. She was going to visit her father. With a destination in mind, he turned the bike over the center line and headed for her childhood home.
He got there just in time to see Aria entering Sonya's house. He drove the motorbike right onto the lawn, dread and anger warring within him. If Aria didn't want to be with him, and she came here, to her ex lover's house…
He hesitated just outside the door. It didn't have to be anything sexual going on here. So what if she was visiting her friend? She could be feeling cooped up and needed a break. Maybe her friend had called with an emergency. There was any number of reasons for this, and not one of them required him to be jealous.
I don't own her.
Aria's voice drifted from an open window. "I just don't know what to do."
"You can't hide it forever."
"I know. But Gavin doesn't believe that vampires can get humans pregnant, so how am I supposed to explain this?"
Ice flooded Gavin's veins. Aria was pregnant? That meant that she… Had her actions on the way to Paris just been her trying to convince him that he was the father? Or had she left her chambers while they were at Monique's palace to be with the man Monique had chosen to breed with her? Had she slept with him in defiance of Gavin's declaration that she was his?
And this morning, she had asked that to see if she could claim he was the father.
He slammed the door open, storming in. Sonya and Aria were standing nearby. Both jumped when he came in. Sonya's hand flew to her mouth, but Aria quickly regained her composure.
"Gavin, what are you—"
"You're pregnant?"
Aria closed her eyes briefly. She nodded. "Yes. I am. But—"
"So you betrayed me. You betrayed our agreement." Gavin was surprised at how flat his voice was compared to the anger and hurt waging inside of him. He wanted to grab Aria, throw her over his shoulder and take her back to the palace. He knew why he couldn't, though. He couldn't even touch her. "You betrayed me," he repeated.
Aria backed away from him, her arms wrapped around her middle. Her chest heaved and tears glimmered in her eyes. "I betrayed you? No. I didn't. I owe you nothing."
Gavin advanced on her until they were nose-to-nose. "We are still under our agreement. You will return with me to the palace at once."
Chapter Seven – Aria
Aria stared up at Gavin's glowering eyes. Part of her wanted to tell him what happened, to beg him to listen, to run tests or whatever it would take to convince him that the child she carried was his. But the larger part of her said that he would never believe her and that it wasn't her job to make him see reason.
"I'm not going anywhere," she said.
"Yes, you are. You're coming home with me."
"I am home."
Gavin narrowed his amber eyes. "Aria—"
"No." She tried to stay strong even though she was crumbling inside. "No, I am done. All I am to you is some sort of blood prostitute."
"That's not—"
"I know you wiped out my father's debt when we slept together. And you didn’t tell me. You wanted to keep me around because you think you own me. But you don't."
The king stepped back. A flash of regret crossed his face and he shook his head. "Aria, no, that's not what I meant. I'm…"
She held her breath, waiting. Was he going to apologize? If he did, then whatever was happening here… whateve
r he did, whatever she had said… Then maybe there was a way past all of that, and they'd be able to move forward together. Somehow. Her heart thumped hard as she realized how much she wanted that. Not to be bound by some agreement, but to be together because they wanted to be together.
Gavin's face closed off. "You're the one who said that you'd only sleep with me if the debt was wiped out. I thought it was obvious what I was doing when I took you, Aria. I was buying you since that was the only way you'd have me."
Her chest hurt. If she looked down, she was certain she'd see blood pouring from a gaping wound.
"I didn't tell you your father's debt was wiped out because I thought it would be obvious. Just because you let emotion cloud your judgment—"
"No, you just didn't want me to leave. Our agreement was that I would stay with you and give you blood only as long as it was necessary to pay my father's debt. Well, it's paid."
Gavin swallowed. Uncertainty clouded his eyes again. "Aria… What are you saying?"
The arrogance that had been there moments ago was gone. Did he want her to stay with him?
No, I can't think like that. There was nothing she could do to stop the tears, but she wasn't going to break. Not now. Not when he had never apologized for a word he had said, or done anything to make her think that he thought of her more than his paid woman. If her feelings had gotten the best of her before, they weren't going to defeat her now.
"I'm saying that our agreement is over. And I expect that you'll pay me for all the blood that you took from me after the debt was paid off."
Gavin's head dropped to his chest. He took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring, and when he looked back up, that spark of vulnerability was gone. He nodded, his face as expressionless as the day she had met him. "Fine. If that is what you want. I will have the funds transferred to your bank account as soon as I return to the palace. If you want the gifts I gave you, you'll have to make arrangements to pick them up. I hope you have a long and happy life with the man whose child you carry."
"Wait." Sonya stepped between them, holding her hands up. "No, wait. This isn't you think, your majesty. She didn't—"
"Vampires and humans can't have children together," Aria interrupted. She glared at her friend, warning her to be silent. "The king told me that himself just an hour ago. And he also told me that any human who claimed to be pregnant by a vampire was lying."
Sonya's shoulders slumped as she turned towards Aria. "Don't do this to yourself."
"Do what? Stop being his hooker? The only reason I agreed to any of this in the first place was for my father. Well, it's over, so I'm done." She leveled her chin at Gavin. "Goodbye, your majesty. You'll never have to see me again."
He was still for a moment, then slowly nodded. He stepped towards her again and took her hand in his. He rose it towards his mouth, and for a moment thought that he was going to take one last taste of her blood. In fact, she almost hoped for it. But he didn't go for her wrist. He pressed his lips to her hand, then dropped it. He didn't look at her as he left.
Sonya put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at Aria. "What are you doing?"
"Getting out before it's too late."
"Honey, no." Sonya sighed, annoyed, as she embraced Aria. "You love him."
Aria struggled not to burst into tears. Her lip wobbled, a lump in her throat choking her. She closed her eyes tightly. "I don't… Maybe I do love him. I don't know. It's just so confusing. But it doesn't matter what I feel. It doesn't matter if I love him or not because he doesn't love me. He just thinks he owns me. And I am not going to be the woman who… There is just no point in loving him. I don't want to talk about this."
She pulled away from her friend, determinedly not looking at Sonya. She knew what to expect there. Sympathy. Maybe even pity. She couldn't deal with that right now.
"Okay. Okay," Sonya repeated. "We don't talk about this. I know what you're like. You have to have emotional distance from things to work it out. Plus you've been hiding this pregnancy of yours for months. So, how about instead of doing what I'd do—"
"Grab ice-cream and cry," Aria supplied.
"Exactly. Instead of that, we go out. We go to a great club or something and dance until dawn and drink non-alcoholic beverages."
Aria smiled. She turned back to her friend and nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. Let's do it. All partying, no crying."
"And maybe by the time we're both half-dead from exhaustion, you'll want to talk."
Aria rolled her eyes. "Maybe. I doubt it."
***
"My feet are going to fall off," Aria groaned, hobbling as she and Sonya leaned against each other for support. They had been going from club to club, dancing for hours. She didn't even know what time it was anymore. "I shouldn't have worn heels this high. It was a bad idea."
Sonya giggled, turning her face into Aria's shoulder. "I know! Me either. Now, look at us. We're stumbling around like a couple of drunks. It's time to go home, isn't it?"
Aria nodded. She was sufficiently exhausted that she might have the strength to face what was going on in her tangled love life. The two women made it to the curb and hailed a cab. Still laughing, they climbed in and collapsed onto the soft leather seats.
"Oh, I think I could sleep for a month," Sonya said with a sigh.
"Me, too." Aria leaned forward to the cab driver. "Hey, so—"
The driver turned and smiled. Twin fangs flashed. "Goodnight, ladies."
Before Aria could even register that there was a vampire in the front seat, her lungs started feeling like they were filling with water. She clutched her chest. Her head spun. Black spots burst before her eyes. Sonya grabbed her arm and gasped. Aria struggled to think clearly.
The last thing she thought before she fell unconscious was that she hoped that this wasn't Gavin.
Chapter Eight – Gavin
Gavin roared, overturning his desk. Computer, papers, pens, and photographs flew every which way. The human police chief flinched back from him, face paling, and the two vampires that were in the room with them subtly shifted, shielding the fragile human. The king slammed his fist into the wall, cracking his knuckles.
"Are you certain?" he growled.
"M-my lord, the proof is undeniable," the chief stuttered. "Queen Monique is behind these kidnappings."
"That wretched, twisted, evil —" Gavin forced himself to still.
He inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. The scent of the human's blood made his stomach gurgle, reminding him of how long it had been since he'd drunk blood fresh from the vein. Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Aria left him, and he hadn't even visited the humans that lived on palace grounds for the lower-ranked vampires to drink from. He'd been subsisting off of the bagged stuff, and it honestly just wasn't good enough.
But the thought of drinking from anybody but Aria made his stomach churn.
"If you are wrong, there will be severe consequences."
"We have tracked the kidnappers to her kingdom. Our undercover agent saw her himself. We haven't heard anything from him since he reported it. We fear the worst."
Gavin nodded, his rage turning cold in his chest. Monique had made a terrible mistake. He looked at one of his vampires. "Mobilize the army. We will not let her kidnap our people without repercussions. We move out in four hours."
"Sir, that might not be enough time—"
"Four hours." Gavin pointed at the door, silently dismissing them all. The vampires all bowed and left. In the case of the police chief, he all but ran away.
The king closed his eyes once the door slammed shut behind them. He needed blood. Living blood, none of this bagged crap. Maybe if he went to Aria and told her the truth… Maybe if he told her that she was the best thing to happen to him and that he was sorry for the way he acted…
A gentle rap on his door made him snarl. "What?"
The door opened and one of the cleaning women poked her head in. Her eyes were like saucers, one of her small fangs worryin
g her lower lip. "M-my lord, there is a human here to see you."
"Why would I want to see a human? Send him away."
The door slammed open, revealing Aria's father. The king narrowed his eyes at the man. What was his name? Gavin could only remember his surname, and that was only because it was the same as Aria's. "Mr. Taylor. What are you doing here?"
"I want to see my daughter." The human marched up to the king, eyes blazing. A throbbing vein popped out of his forehead. "I don't care what your rules are, you have no right to keep her from calling me! I am her father."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Gavin was tempted to just throw him out the door. "Aria isn’t here. She left two weeks ago. Didn't even come back for her things – she just cut off all contact."
Mr. Taylor's brows furrowed. His hands clenched. "What are you talking about? The last time I spoke with her, she said she was pregnant and didn’t know how to tell you. But she didn't want to leave. No matter what excuses she gave me —"
"She didn't want to stay, she —"
"She loves you. I don't know why, but she does."
Gavin stared at the little human. Aria's father thought that she loved him? But that was impossible. If she loved him, why would she leave?
Okay, that one might be obvious.
The king turned away. He had acted immature, like he owned her. A girl like Aria wouldn't stand for that. But that didn't explain the pregnancy. Vampires simply couldn't father children.
"She doesn't love me. She slept with another man."
Mr. Taylor snorted. "My Aria sleeping around? No. What makes you think she did that?"
"She's pregnant. Humans and vampires cannot have young together."
"Why not?"
"Because vampires are the undead." Gavin took a deep breath, the pain of Aria's betrayal ripping yet another hole in his heart. He hadn't even let himself hope that somehow the child she carried was his. Hoping was too painful. "Vampires don't have heartbeats. We don't have blood. Both are necessary components to the whole process of pregnancy."
He turned back to see Gavin staring at him with a puzzled look. "Both are necessary for sex. Yet Aria made it clear that you two…" He flinched. "As much as I hate to think of her… doing that, you did, didn't you? So why not whatever process that allows that to happen also allows a pregnancy to occur? I know my little girl. She would never sleep with someone she didn't love. And she loves you."