Forbidden Blood (28 page)

She was definitely hormonal because she’d never done anything like that before.

The female looked shocked and nervous. “I-I’m sorry, Princess.” She looked at Vaughn. “Sir, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

Naya let her go and smoothed down her shirt. “That’s better. Now, will you please find Dr. Montgomery and tell her I need to speak to her
immediately
?”

The female ran off to find the doctor. As soon as she was out of earshot, Vaughn smiled and laughed.

“Babe, that was awesome. I didn’t know you had that in you.”

Naya covered her eyes and groaned. “Me either. Apparently, I had a moment of insanity. I can already hear my mother telling me,
A princess is always proper in public
.”

Vaughn pulled on her hands until she let them drop. His mouth was set in a straight line. “You don’t always have to be perfect, you know? You are entitled to have bad days just like everyone else. Just because you are the vampire princess doesn’t mean you have to put on a show all the time.”

“I don’t think my parents or the Vampire Council would agree.”

“Naya, you worry about them too much. Look at how they’ve treated you. They should be worrying about how you’re going to react, not the other way around.”

He did have some good points, but it was hard to ignore her upbringing.

“Hello, Naya,” Dr. Montgomery said from the doorway.

Naya swung around. “Dr. Montgomery.” Still uneasy from her previous visit, Naya wasn’t ready to trust the doctor yet. She had seemed nice and nonjudgmental earlier, but then she had passed all of Naya’s medical information on to her parents instead of her, leaving her clueless about her own condition.

“Please come back to my office. I’m sure you have some questions. Your gentleman friend is welcome to join us.”

When Naya hesitated, Vaughn touched the small of her back, urging her on. Naya followed Dr. Montgomery to an office with her name outside the door. Once they were inside, the doctor closed the door and gestured for them to have a seat in the two chairs across from her side of the desk. Then, she took her own seat.

“Naya, first off, I want to sincerely apologize,” Dr. Montgomery started. “When your parents called ahead and made your appointment, they suspected you were pregnant and by what”—her eyes da
rted to Vaughn and back to Naya—“I mean, whom, and they ordered me not to say anything to you.” She smiled. “But they never set any restrictions if you came back a second time. I’m glad you’re here, so we can talk.” She looked at Vaughn and held out her hand. “I’m Dr. Montgomery by the way.”

Vaughn shook her hand. “Vaughn Llewelyn.”

“Where to start?” the doctor said more to herself than to them. “First, you’re about twelve weeks along.”

Twelve weeks?
Naya couldn’t believe she was that far in her pregnancy. That meant she’d conceived the first night they were together.

“Second, would you like to see your ultrasound pictures?”

Eager, Naya leaned forward in her chair. “Oh, yes, please. That’s possible?”

“Yes,” Dr. Montgomery said with a smile. Opening a folder, she pulled out some black-and-white pictures, and she placed them in front of Naya and Vaughn.

Naya had no idea what she was looking at in the images. All she saw was a lot of gray. In two of them, there was a big black circle with a gray shape in the middle, which she assumed was the baby. In another picture, there were two smaller black circles with a gray shape in them.

Naya looked up at the doctor. “Can you explain these, please?”

“Of course,” the doctor said with a big smile. “This is one of my favorite parts of being a doctor.” She put her pen on the first picture. “Most of the gray on the outside is your uterus. The black you see is fluid in the gestational sac,” she said, circling the black oval. “Then, this little gray guy floating is the baby. You can see the same thing in this picture.” She pointed to the second picture before moving on to the third. “Since you’re twelve weeks along, the tech couldn’t get both gestational sacs and babies in one picture, so she did the best she could to show them. It really is remarkable, isn’t it?”

“Say what?” Vaughn said at the same time Naya said, “Excuse me?” before the blood drained from her face.

The doctor looked up at the two of them, and when she saw their faces, her smile fell. “Oh dear, you didn’t know that you’re having twins, did you?”

Naya could only let out a small squeak in response.

“No, ma’am, we didn’t. We weren’t told anything before coming here,” Vaughn said.

Naya sat up in her chair and turned to Vaughn. “I am
so
sorry. I don’t even know how this happened.” She rotated back to the doctor. “How did this happen? I thought it was really hard for vampires to have babies. That’s why I’m an only child and why Arianna’s an only child. I don’t understand.”

Vaughn put his hand on her arm, probably to stop her from
rambling on, and she slumped back in her seat.

“Well, Naya, that is a good question.” Dr. Montgomery cleared her throat. “However, I’m not exactly sure about the answer. You aren’t wrong. It is
difficult for vampires to have babies. I know this is uncomfortable, but is there any chance you know when you got pregnant?”

“We were only together two times.”
That wasn’t exactly true. “Well, two nights.”

Naya blushed, and Vaughn laughed. She scowled at him, but he only laughed harder.

She looked back to the doctor. “It was the first time we were together back in July. The second time was only two-and-a-half weeks ago.”

“The first time? This certainly is interesting, isn’t it?” the doctor said. “From what I understand, it’s difficult for shifters to conceive, too. Is that correct?” she asked Vaughn.

Vaughn nodded. “Yes.”

“During my studies to become a doctor, I learned some information on shifters and humans since we share similar biology,” the doctor said. “So, my thought is, maybe it’s hard for vampires to get pregnant with vampires and shifters to get pregnant with shifters. Of course, you two are the only vampire-shifter couple I know of, so until there are more, we’ll have a lot of unanswered questions.”

It was an interesting theory. The vampires, who prided themselves on being purebred, might have to go outside their species to have more babies.

“What about vampires and humans? Isn’t that rare?” Naya asked.

“There are rare occasions where a vampire and human have a baby. I have to wonder though, is the rarity because it’s hard for vampires to have a baby or because many vampires don’t have sexual relationships with humans? Or if they do, they might use some sort of birth control. I don’t have the answers to all those variables, and I don’t know if it’s the combination of vampire-shifter or vampire and non-vampire. Maybe it’s just the two of you together.” The doctor directed her next question to Vaughn. “What do you know of shifter-human pregnancies?”

“They’re uncommon, but that’s mostly because we can smell when humans are fertile, so we can prevent pregnancy.”

“Yes, that could be another reason there aren’t vampire-human pregnancies because vampires can smell humans ovulating, too,” Dr. Montgomery said. “Hmm…” Her eyebrows drew together, and she pursed her lips. “And you couldn’t sense that Naya was ovulating?”

“Well, I knew she wasn’t fertile before we had sex. As for after, when I was close to her stomach, I remember the smell being almost like ovulation and conception all rolled into one, yet it was different, so I dismissed it.” He snorted. “It sounds stupid now.” He looked at Naya and
smiled. “Although, at that point, I guess it didn’t matter what I smelled.” Vaughn turned his attention back to Dr. Montgomery and sat up straighter in his chair. “I think I should talk to my healer, our doctor, and see if he has any info that might be helpful.”

“If you find out more, I would appreciate you passing the information along to me.”

“Sure. Doc, what does Naya need to do to have a healthy pregnancy?”

“I can only answer from the vampire side. First, your blood is the only blood Naya can drink until she delivers the babies.” She looked at Naya. “This is why you have only craved Vaughn’s blood since you conceived. I do worry though about the frequency with which you will need to feed since his blood is not of a vampire.”

Vaughn sat forward in his chair. “Can you explain, please?”

Dr. Montgomery looked at Vaughn. “Normally, vampires only drink from other vampires. Feeding from humans is a myth. Human blood is not strong enough to sustain vampires.” She paused. “I should rephrase that. A vampire could survive on human blood if they needed to, but they would have to take more blood at a time and feed more often. They would have to feed from more than one human because humans can’t replenish their blood fast enough. A vampire usually feeds about once a month, and with a human, it might have to be twice that or even more.”

As the doctor spoke, Vaughn looked back and forth between Naya and the doctor. Naya slid down into her chair as if she could hide. Vaughn still didn’t know she’d fed from him—three times, no less. She didn’t want him to feel violated because she had taken his blood without his permission. She would never feed from another vampire without asking. At the time, it had seemed harmless, and he’d liked it every time she fed, but now, she felt ashamed, like she had been caught stealing. Then, there was the blood bond thing. She really was a thief.

“So, Doctor,” Vaughn asked Dr. Montgomery, but he stared at Naya, unsmiling, “what happens if my blood isn’t strong enough to sustain her while she’s pregnant? Or what if something happens to me?”

Naya tried to gauge his mood, but he was holding back. Even his blood inside her gave nothing away. He was smart enough to pick up on the fact that she was three months pregnant and needed his blood.
Had he figured out that I must have fed from him?

Dr. Montgomery failed to notice the tension in the air. “The next best thing would be the father’s closest relative, like a sibling. A parent might do in a pinch. However, if the mother doesn’t feed from the father, there is a strong possibility that she could lose the baby—or in this case, babies. Blood is a vital part of how we survive. Since the babies are half of the father, the father’s blood is best. This is why our bodies crave it when we are pregnant. It’s Mother Nature at her best.”

Vaughn’s gaze bored into her. “So, Naya, if you are three months pregnant, does that mean you fed from me?”

Busted
.

“Or someone else?”

Before Naya could respond, the doctor said, “Naya must have fed from you, Vaughn. A female vampire cannot conceive without drinking the father’s blood within twelve hours before or after sex. Female vampires don’t have periods, so they don’t build up a lining each month to hold the baby. Instead, they form the lining in their uterus around conception, which is why they need the extra blood from feeding. But the body only makes this lining if the female has conceived.”

Vaughn turned back to Naya. “Okay, how many times did you feed from me?”

She lowered her voice as if it would make the truth less real and avoided his gaze. “Three times—once the first night and then two times on the second night.” She winced. “So, it was about once a month, like I normally would.”

“Good,” Dr. Montgomery said. “You should be fine feeding from Vaughn then. That’s one less thing to worry about. However, your need to feed will increase as the babies get bigger because they will need more blood for themselves. If Vaughn starts to feel weak from blood loss, you let me know, and we’ll explore other options.” She sat back in her chair. “Knowing shifter blood is possibly as strong as vampire blood sure does open up questions though.”

Naya glanced at Vaughn and did a quick study of him. He didn’t look mad, but he didn’t look happy either.

“Is there anything else, Doctor?” Naya asked, hoping Vaughn would forget the feeding topic.

“Blood is the biggest concern. You’re entering into your second trimester, Naya, and your energy along with your appetite should pick up. The other wonderful thing Mother Nature gifted us with is the blood bond between mother and child. Around your third trimester, you’ll probably begin to sense the babies’ feelings since you’re sharing blood with them.”

Naya stared down at her stomach in awe.

The doctor turned around and grabbed something from the table behind her. “I know this is all new and frightening. Here is a packet of information. Read it, and then we can discuss any questions you might have on your next visit.”

“How long will her pregnancy last?” Vaughn asked.

“Forty weeks is full term, but it’s around thirty-seven weeks for twins. It’s the same as shifters and humans. Please return in four weeks to continue your prenatal care,” she told Naya. She looked at Vaughn and handed him a pen and paper. “Actually, do you have the name of someone I could call to ask about shifter pregnancies, so I can better prepare for what we’re dealing with? As I said, I learned some information, but it was years ago and not enough to fully understand.”

“Sure.” He wrote a name and number on the paper and handed it to her.

“Okay.” The doctor stood.

Naya and Vaughn also rose from their seats
. She noticed he was watching her out of the corner of his eye, and she knew he hadn’t forgotten about her feeding from him.