Authors: Elaine Markowicz
CHAPTER FIFTY EIGHT
I pinned Draco against the shower wall as I stooped to take his phallus in my mouth. He gripped my hair, moaning. I licked the side of and tip of his shaft. Semen oozed from it. I purposely moved to cup his jewels and kiss and lick them. He rolled his head back against the wall; water poured over his face and down his body. And then, I heard the phone ring.
I started to pull away. He pressed me hard against him.
"Don't you dare." He panted.
The ringing stopped after about ten rings and I continued with my mission to please him. By the time he erupted full force, the ringing began again. This time, I stood.
"You're not going to run and answer that phone." He chastised.
I stepped out of the tub, wrapping a thirsty towel around my wet body. "It sounds important."
I heard Draco groan as I opened the bathroom door. I hurried to the kitchen counter where I laid the cell phone and picked it up.
"Hello?"
Jack's hysterical voice came over the other end. "I found Bobby."
"Where?"
"At the cemetery. Please get down here."
"I'm on my way." I broke the connection and turned for the bathroom, plowing into Draco, also wrapped in a towel.
"What's wrong?"
"Jack found Bobby at the cemetery."
"Dead?"
"I don't know but from the hysteria in his voice, it sounds like it." I nudged him aside and hurried back in the bathroom to get dressed.
Draco snapped off his towel. "Wait, I'll come with you."
When we reached the darkened cemetery, Jack was kneeling at the open grave, his fingers sifting the dirt. Draco and I glanced down. Bobby had been thrown in the empty coffin.
"He unleashed Donnie. Why would he do that?" Jack lamented.
"To confront his rival." Draco matter-of-factly commented. "He wasn't aware of how vicious a vampire is when awakened."
I put my hand on Jack's back. "I'm sorry."
He stood and flung his arms around me. "Why does this keep happening to me?"
"Because you hang with vampires." I told him. "Do yourself a favor; go back to Tasmania and stay away from vampires or wannabes."
He sniffled and wryly asked, "Does that include you?"
"Only if you want to."
He hugged me again. "You're the only vampire I trust."
Draco groaned. "All right, let's get this hole covered before someone comes and sees it."
"No, Bobby deserves a proper burial." Jack argued. "We need to take him to the coroner's office."
"We don't have time." Draco retorted. "Mass is starting at the church and I don't want anyone to find us."
"But you're the boss." Jack commented.
"I oversee things; I don't make the sacred rules. That'll be up to our newcomer." He looked down at me.
"Draco's right. We can't take the chance of carrying him about. He's better off here. We just won't chain the coffin."
Jack hung his head and reluctantly agreed.
Draco leaned down and closed the casket. He then kicked and scooped the dirt down into the gaping hole. Jack helped him through sobbing tears.
When they finished, they brushed the dirt from their hands and clothes.
"I'll need another shower." Draco commented, winking at me.
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's get out of here."
"Where are we going?" Jack asked as we walked away from the cemetery.
"We're going to feed. You get back to the club and tend the bar. You're already late."
"Why don't you give him the night off?" I suggested to Draco.
"No. No. I want to work. I need to keep busy." Jack decreed.
"All right, but don't be making nice with anyone. Do your job and that's it." Draco ordered.
Jack nodded and we went our separate ways.
"You know, we aren't that far from the vampire church. We could go in and get married." Draco suggested.
"Don't start again." I retorted. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I prefer to hunt alone."
"I'll see you later at the club."
I agreed and we split up.
CHAPTER FIFTY NINE
I rode the tube to the West End. While on the train, a woman, about her sixties, sat beside me. She smiled at my belly.
"When are you due?" she asked.
I put my hand involuntarily on my stomach. "In a few months." I was becoming moved by the pulse in her neck. I could smell the sweetness of her blood. The baby began kicking almost violently that my blouse fluttered.
The woman softly laughed. "Feisty little one."
I pressed a smile; fighting the urge to take her on the train. She kept on talking and I kept watching and praying for my stop. When it came, she got up with me. I couldn't stand it any longer. I pushed her under the tube stairs and sunk my fangs into her neck. As she slumped against the wall, I quickly ran up the steps. She would forget what happened when she came to.
The pubs on the West End were a bit more upscale than where I lived and hunted. I received some strange looks when I entered: a very pregnant girl with pale skin, bright red hair, rings about her eyes and painted dark red lips. I ignored the stares, sat at the bar and ordered Scotch.
The bartender gave me judgmental looks as he put the glass in front of me. I took my drink and moved to a remote table to drink and to work. Unlike the pubs in the East End, people left me alone.
It was on my third Scotch I heard the familiar voice. My stomach churned. I looked toward the voice. It was Aiden. He had with him a very beautiful, dark skinned woman on his arm. He was laughing and looking at her with the same loving eyes he used to look at me. I tucked my head down and continued writing as he passed my table, conversing with the woman.
When I glanced up, he was at the bar. I quickly closed up my laptop and quietly slipped out of my chair. As I turned for the door, Aiden happened to turn around from the bar. The smile on his face faded when he saw me with the bump as large as a basketball. I momentarily froze and then dashed out of the pub.
"Lucy!" I heard his voice on the night as I ran down the street.
Once out of range, I slowed down. The baby kicked hard; as if upset I jostled him. I felt the hunger pangs once again. The bigger baby grew, the more often I needed to feed. I came upon a drunk, stumbling down a side street. Looking around, I stealthily approached him. Before he realized I was there, I had him pinned to the wall, drinking his blood. It must have appeased baby for I felt full. Swiping the back of my hand across my mouth, I hurried away.
I joined Jack at the bar at Sinister Nights. He put on a brave face but I could see the pain in his eyes as he served the customers.
"How's your night going?" I asked.
He turned to fill my order. He set down my glass; the ice cubes tinkled against the sides. "It's been a long night. I can't get that image of Bobby out of my head. And, where's Donnie?"
"At the bottom of the Thames." I bluntly told him.
His jaw slacked. "He's truly dead?"
I nodded and sipped my drink.
"What happened?"
"Draco killed him. Donnie was about to kill me."
"So, he's finally at peace."
"I don't think so. Not where his soul went."
Jack wearily sighed.
"It's about time you got here." A girl said from behind me.
I turned to Grace with a frown.
"Draco's been stomping about all night waiting for you. He's in the office."
I impatiently groaned, downed my drink and strode through the tables to the back hallway, down to the office at the end of the hall. Without knocking, I walked in.
Draco looked up. "Where have you been?"
"Out, hunting."
"Where?"
"The West End."
"Right, because you're trying to avoid bumping into Aiden." He jeered and continued scribbling figures in a ledger.
"Yeah, well, it didn't work."
His gaze shot upward. "You saw him?"
"Worse, he saw me."
"Then he knows."
"Only that I'm pregnant. He doesn't know for sure he's the father."
"You know, he'll come looking for you now."
I shrugged. "Let him. I'll never tell him the truth."
"Just whose baby will you say it is?" he sneered.
"Yours."
He put down the pen and stood. He came around the desk. "Maybe it is."
"The vision showed me he was Aiden's."
Disappointment registered in his eyes. He sighed. "Well, you're going to stay here tonight. I don't want you confronting him."
"He'll confront me, eventually."
"Not if you stay here with me—as my wife."
I rolled my eyes. "It's getting old, Draco." I groused. "I'll stay here tonight, only because baby and I are exhausted. Give me the keys. I'll go up to bed now."
He fished in his jeans' pocket and handed me a ring of keys. "I'll be up in an hour."
"Thanks for the warning." I jeered, turned and walked out the door.
CHAPTER SIXTY
Draco wanted me to stay at the penthouse but I refused. I wanted to go home. He feared Aiden. Not that he couldn't overpower him but the feelings I had for him. The following evening, Aiden knocked on my door.
"What took you so long?" I wryly asked.
"I was here last night but you weren't."
"I don't always come home."
"You prowl the streets all night looking for people to feed off of?" he snidely asked.
"It's not like that. But you didn't come here about that. And the answer to your question is, no, the baby isn't yours."
He narrowed his dark eyes. "Are you sure? I mean you were playing two of us at the same time." His words stung.
"I'm sure." I lied.
"Is it going to be a vampire baby?"
"What difference does it make to you?" I snipped.
"None. Good, I'm glad it isn't mine. And, good luck." He bid and walked off down the hall.
I slammed the door and cussed.
The phone rang and I went to the lamp table to pick it up. "Hello?" I huffed.
"Was Aiden there?" Draco asked.
"You know he was. You sense almost everything I'm doing, remember?" I jeered.
"How did he react when you told him the baby was mine?"
"About the way I expected him to. He's glad it isn't his; especially since it's going to be a vampire baby."
"You sound hurt and angry."
"A little."
"Why do you harbor feelings for him when I love you?"
"At the moment, I harbor feelings of disgust for men." I retorted and hung up.
I tossed the phone down and went in the kitchen to pour a glass of wine. The baby within started to kick. It was his way of telling me he was hungry for more than just wine. I placed my hand on my hard, swollen belly and finished my wine. He gave me another swift kick.
I put the wine glass in the sink. "All right, all right, I'm going." I huffed at the impatient baby.
I grabbed my shoulder bag and departed.
I fed close to home, no longer worrying about Aiden seeing me. Nor did I think he'd be looking for me. I stepped into the church and quietly sat in the back seat. A priest came out to do something at the altar. When he saw me, he approached me.
"Can I help you, my child?"
I sighed and said, "Maybe you can, Father."
He looked over his shoulder at the vestibule doors. "How did you get in? I thought the doors were locked."
"I guess, they weren't." I lied.
He pressed a smile to me. "So, what can I do for you?"
Jack poured me Scotch as I stepped up to the bar. "How are you feeling?"
"Like a whale." I groused. "What about you?"
"It's been difficult, but I'm getting through it. I got my job back at Tasmania. I start next week."
"Good. You need to get out of this environment and stay away from vampires."
"Except you, of course."
"I wouldn't steer you wrong."
I felt him beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders. He leaned down and kissed my cheek. "Where you been?" Draco asked.
"Out hunting." I took my drink and walked over to my table; Draco walking alongside me.
We both sat down. He leaned on the table and peered at me.
"You were at church, weren't you?"
I shrugged. "What if I was?"
"It just seems unnatural for a vampire to visit a Catholic church."
"But then, I'm not your average vampire." I reminded.
Grace came to our table, laughing and panting. "I thought I saw you come in." she said to me.
"Very astute of you." I wryly returned. "Listen, Grace, I need to talk to you."
"Sure. When?"
"Come to my flat tomorrow night."
"Will do." She waved to someone and then smiled and bounced off to dance.
"What do you have to tell Grace?"
"If I wanted you to know, I would have said something here. But it's none of your business."
"Everything you do is my business." He strongly stated.
"And this is exactly why I don't want to marry you. At least single, I still have some privacy."
"You'll change your mind." He predicted.
"Not a chance." I picked up my empty glass and went back to the bar.
"Draco say something to upset you?" Jack asked as he took my glass and poured me another Scotch.
"How can you tell?" I sneered.
"You have that dour look on your face."
"He's always saying and doing something to upset me." I huffed and turned to the table. Draco was gone. Probably back to his office. I picked up my glass; the ice cubes tinkled on the sides of the crystal, and sipped a mouthful before I returned to my table.