“Hey,” I said, holding her hand. “We all feel like that at times. Why don't you go out and bang someone?”
“No way. Look what happened to you,” she snickered.
I licked my spoon and wondered if a high flyer like Nicholas ever thought of a pleb like me. Most likely not. I smoothed my hand over my belly. We were fine on our own.
“Do you really not want a baby shower?” Sadie asked, but her eyes dropped to my neck again. She tugged at my neckline, trying to hide the strange bruising.
“You know I don't like a fuss.”
She sighed but smiled at my stomach. “And you're not finding out if it's a boy or a girl?”
“I want to know on the day I give birth to him or her.”
“Your baby will be the closest I will have to a niece or nephew.”
“Likewise, since we don’t have any siblings.”
“I think I’m more the fun aunt type.”
“That’s what I used to think,” I said, patting baby bean.
“Don’t jinx me.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Come on. Let’s do some retail therapy since I can’t get drunk with you.”
???
I stared at the thick red mark across my neck. It appeared this morning, but I recognised it from my one-night stand. The belt Nicholas had used to hole me down, choke me and whip my ass with. I don’t know how he was doing it, but he had been fucking me ever since—
I stared at the mirror. My cheeks were full, and my hair had never been this glossy.
Ever since I started to eat raw meat.
I lifted my top up, but my bump was normal. It was a normal baby. Not—
Why did I need raw meat?
I thought of when I licked the blood from the packaging, tasting its rich iron but craving more. My mind denied what I suspected until I remembered Nicholas wouldn’t come into my apartment until I’d invited him.
“Oh, bean,” I said, rubbing my belly.
I needed answers, and only one person could provide them.
I messaged Sadie to cancel the sleepover.
Chapter 7
Nicholas
She was almost due. Each night, I felt my child move, and it grew constricted within its confined space. It would try to poke at Ivy’s belly as it wanted to tear its way out. I became addicted to my nightly visits. I was desperate to taste Ivy’s blood, but I held back.
When she gave birth, her blood would become potent. I licked my lips at the thought of lapping up the blood that oozed out of her cunt. That was a bonus, but my prize vintage would be short-lived—the combination of both of them.
I slid the key into her lock and stepped into her dark apartment. As I walked toward her bedroom, my ears pricked up. Her rhythmic heartbeat wasn’t in her bedroom but in the living room.
“Hello, Nicholas,” she said.
I turned to face her. She couldn’t see me, but I could see her.
