“Here.” He places a glass in front of me filled with orange juice. “Drink or you’ll get dehydrated.”
“And the last thing you want is a meal who isn’t flowing well,” I say, and instantly regret my words at the hurt which flashes, briefly, over Dominik’s face.
A stab to his heart worse than any I could have inflicted with my stake.
A cruelty I didn’t need to trot out.
“I won’t hurt you, Lucy,” he says as he sets up a pan and starts frying bloody chunks of beef, turning them deftly over with a pair of tongs as they brown. “That’s not why I brought you here.”
“I know. We have an agreement. I pretend to be into you, attend a few functions, be shown off as your tame vampire hunter and…”
“And you get to have your baby in peace.” He gestures with his tongs to our current surroundings.
I find myself subconsciously putting a hand over my stomach as he gazes at me.
“It’s hardly peace if I’m being chased by your brother.”
“I’ll handle Damek,” Dominik says. “I can promise you the peace you crave.”
I wonder how much of this is Dominik the vampire king talking and how much of it he actually wants. Why any self-respecting vampire would want a pregnant woman in their life, as opposed to the stunning female vampires I’ve met in my time, I have no idea.
But what other options are there? Even without the threat of his brother, I still have my family to contend with.
And the thought of not having to deal with anything—work, family, living conditions—for the next seven months is more than attractive.
I think it’s the only option. And I silently curse Dominik for being so damn right.
Dominik
Lucy swipesa piece of bread around the bottom of her bowl and pops it into her mouth. I do my level best not to react to the way her ruby lips wrap around her fingers as she licks them clean, my cock not acting alone in any way as it attempts to punch through the fabric of my pants.
Fortunately I’m standing behind the kitchen island, and hopefully she is unable to see what she is doing to my body.
“That was excellent, Dominik,” she says.
“It was my pleasure.” I clear away her dish and load it into the dishwasher.
“It would have been even better with a glass of wine.” She sighs. “But my sudden aversion to alcohol was one of the first indications I had a baby on board.” She pats her stomach.
Maybe it’s my imagination, but can I see she has a bump already? I doubt that is the case, but I’m struggling not to spiral imagining what it will be like when she is more pregnant.
I am an ancient vampire, and yet this little pregnant human is becoming my obsession. She has only been in my care for less than twenty-four hours, and I never want to let her leave my sight.
I want to be there with her, every step of the way through her journey. I never want Lucy to leave.
“Let me help you,” she says, getting off her stool.
“Don’t you dare,” I growl. “What sort of a host would I be if I let you lift a finger?”
Her eyes widen for a second.
“So you have someone to do it for you then?” she suggests with a hint of a smile.
“I don’t keep any progeny or thralls here in Pécs.” I put the last dish into the dishwasher and turn it on. “Like I said, it’s my bolt hole.”
“Okay.” Lucy wraps her arms around herself as she contemplates the rest of my abode.
“Why is it so different to Budapest?” she queries.
