The Alpha's Surrogate: A Paranormal Pregnancy Romance (20 page)

Indigo smirked. “You remember that time the Army doc thought you were crazy?”

Richard sighed.

Abbey looked disinterested, barely having touched her coffee and toast. Reign, however, had a delightfully inquisitive look on her face. “Do tell more,” she said to Indigo.

“It was during the war, and Rich had just come back from a monthly turn, he didn’t have to, mind you, but you want to, you know?”

Reign nodded, Richard took a sip of his coffee and a bite of his eggs.

“I suppose there’s no way to get you to tell the story, right?”

“I am! So he’s just outside the tent, naked as the day he was born, and he decides, since the moon is still out, one last howl before the night was over. You don’t know the pull the moon has over us, howling at it, well its a religious experience. Richard throws his head back and roars, just a tremendous roar.

“When he's done, there’s this Captain, our CO, watching him. Now a lot of guys do stuff to make you think they are crazy in war, anything to get out, but Richard, well he was a volunteer. The Captain comes over to him, and says ‘Why are you naked, howling at the moon? You trying for a section eight?’, and Richard just looks the guy square in the face and says, ‘It seemed like the thing to do, sir.’”

Indigo could not keep talking, he burst into giggles as if it was the first time he heard the story. Reign followed suit, Richard just hid his face behind his mug.

“I was a lot younger then,” he said in defense.

“That’s what you always say,” Indigo said between fits of laughter.

“Why do I even keep you around?”

Richard sighed again as the table finished their laughter at his expense. It was good for them to laugh, and if his slight humiliation could get it from them, it was an even trade. He pushed his plate to the side. He sipped his coffee and watched Reign as she spoke to Indigo, asking him questions about the war, about their past. He loved watching her talk, just looking at her, her pretty brown eyes, the way her hair fell over her shoulders, the place where her neck turned into her jaw.

“Hey, lover boy, time to go,” Indigo broke his trance. He hadn’t even realized so much time had gone by, he was just lost in looking at her.

“Right, okay, let’s roll.”

He dropped a hundred on the table to cover a forty-dollar tab. He caught a glimpse of the server's smile as he shut the door. It always made him happy to make someone’s day.

“I love that about you,” Reign said to him.

“What?”

“You are generous. When we met, you offered to pay for everything, even if it wasn’t part of the contract. You do that, you make people happy.”

He pulled her aside, drew her close to him; his hands roamed the small of her back, luxuriating in the feel of her skin under her tank top, the goose bumps that immediately formed when they kissed.

Her lips were warm, wet, and inviting. Their kiss turned into a deep, long exchange of love. His heart pounded for her, hers for him; he could feel her love, and excitement, and he wished or hoped, she could feel his.

Indigo politely coughed after what seemed like an eternity. Reign smiled and looked up to Richard, a playful, yet loving gaze.

“God, I love you,” she whispered to him.

“I have to say, I love you more every day. No man should be this lucky.”

He leaned into her, kissing her one more time, before heading for the car. They had rented a sedan for the day, something inconspicuous to get them around town. It was a twenty-minute drive on I-90 to Bellevue, over Lake Washington, and away from the city center. Part of why he chose the restaurant he did was because it was right there.

Saturday mornings were not terribly busy on the bridge, traffic hummed along nicely, no accidents or construction slowed them down. Halfway across the bridge, Indigo stiffened in the passenger seat. Richard said nothing, his friend would let him know when the time was right.

He looked himself but could see no one following them. The enhanced senses they carried were a bit useless inside a car, all they could smell were the other people and the plastic-ness of the interior.

After a few moments Indigo spoke. “We’re being followed.”

Richard looked again, but still could not see anything out of the ordinary.

“I give up, which one?”

“The police car.”

As if by magic, the squad car turned its lights on.

“Shit,” Indigo muttered.

“What now?” Reign asked.

“We can’t pull over on the bridge. Take the first exit, it’s possible it's just a random stop,” Richard said. He didn’t believe it, though, not for a second. He had heard rumors that the Seattle-based vampires controlled the local government, even some police, but he hadn’t believed it; not even the craven undead could be that bold.

“Run or stop?” Indigo asked, with a calm Richard didn’t feel.

“Wait,” Reign said. “Let me try something.” The girl closed her eyes while all other eyes in the car were on her.

What is she up to?
Richard didn’t have time for much musing before her eyes popped open.

“When we were in the loft, I didn’t really have time to explain, but they had a sort of… glow.” She looked embarrassed, her eyes downcast and her cheeks turned a little pink. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but they were gray, and these guys are too.”

“How’s that help us?” Abbey spoke up, a grim sort of anger on her face. She wanted to fight.

“Everyone else is sort of this orange color, with some pink, you guys are bright yellow, so I figure its some kind of mark. My point is, they work for the vamps.”

Indigo didn’t wait for the order, he stomped on the gas. The rental roared as it shot through three lanes of traffic to the exit. Indigo kept the car on the road at impossible speeds as he navigated the exit.

“How come they aren’t using their siren?” Reign asked from the back seat.

“The whole department isn’t under their control, if they use their siren they draw in other police,” Indigo replied, his brows furrowed in concentration. There was a few moments of silence; no one spoke for fear of breaking their driver’s concentration. The rev of the engine, followed by screeching brakes, then more revs, were the only sounds for the next few minutes.

“We're going to go around this corner and lose them for about a minute boss, but they know the city and I don’t. Sooner or later we're going to get caught.”

Richard swore; he didn’t like to, often, but he felt the net closing in.

“Okay, plan B, Reign you and I hop out under that bridge.  Indigo, take Abbey as far as you can and get to a bus or a train and head south.”

“Roger,” Indigo replied.

“But I want to fight,” Abbey growled.

“Girl, there’s no winning this, only surviving, stay with Indigo, he’ll need your help.”

“What about us?” Reign asked.

“We get lost in the crowd.”

The car screeched to a halt and Reign leaped out, she was barely a foot away when it took off again. Indigo certainly could drive. Richard was there, arm around her shoulder, the two walking casually into the parking lot full of booths from the street fair. The police car sped by and it took all of Reign’s willpower not to look.

“That was close,” Richard whispered in her ear. It felt good to have him by her again, to feel his warmth, especially now that the baby was so far away. She put one arm around his waist and melted into his side. Since he was so much taller than her she fit snugly underneath his shoulder.

“Too bad we're running for our lives, this would make quite the nice date,” Richard mused.

Reign agreed, the booths were set up to sell all sorts of wares, including scarfs, rugs, and handmade pottery. An assortment of blown glass and bamboo mats were just beyond the first set of booths.

Reign grew up in Seattle and the variety of cultures and people that lived and worked in the Puget Sound never ceased to amaze her.  As they walked among the crowd, one minute turned to five, which turned to thirty. Reign began to relax.

“If we get split up for any reason, I want you to get to the lodge. I’ll find a way to meet you there in a couple of days, okay?”

“Sure, but we're not going to get split up.”

“No,” he reassured her, “not if I can help it.”

They walked hand in hand to the opposite side, stopping occasionally to gaze at a piece of art, or comment on how a certain piece of furniture would look in the loft. When they came to racks of clothing Reign squealed; she hadn't changed her clothes since the day before.

“Let me try on a few pieces, okay?”

Richard nodded, keeping one eye on the crowd and one on his love.

Reign dived into the mountain of clothing. There were some good brands to be found, and living her whole life in a city that had all the same stores that New York had, but for half the price, she knew what to look for. She found a wonderfully cut tank top that showed off her belly button, along with a pair of plaid pants that looked like they were painted on.

She had to remove her panties to get them to look right, but she didn’t think Richard would mind. She followed it up with a pair of four-inch heels and a scarf. She checked herself in the mirror of the impromptu changing room; she looked good enough to eat with a spoon.

She certainly hoped Richard thought so. They needed to blend in, and her shopping for clothes did that. She put on a little show for Richard, it made her feel good to take some of the stress off of his mind, and it made her feel good too. He smiled as she pranced out of the dressing room every few minutes, a different outfit on each time. She finally settled on a wrap top that fell short about an inch from her low cut jeans, and a pair of red flats.

“Now, you,” she urged.

“What? No, I’m fine,” he said.

Reign looked him up and down. He had a body that most men could get if they were willing to spend eight hours a day in the gym, but his fashion sense was circa nineteen-fifty.

“Richard, I love you, but a white t-shirt and jeans isn’t fashion, its giving up. Come on, let me show you some stuff to wear,” Reign said with a smile, pulling him into the racks of clothes.

Fashion wise, Richard's biggest problem was that he was six four with a massive torso and thick legs. Clothes just were not made for his body type. She ended up finding him a good pair of slacks, though, and a nice long sleeve turtleneck that cut to his waist, along with a pair of black boots with a red trim. He looked quite nice. She finished him off with a white shirt, left unbuttoned.

She made one last adjustment, took a step back and smiled.

“Perfect. Okay, let’s go.”

They made their way out of the market, up the road to the large plaza city center that dominated downtown Bellevue.

“What’s the plan?” she asked.

“The bus station isn’t too far away, we grab the bus back to the city and hide out till the passports are ready.”

“What’s plan B, since I don’t think that one’s gonna work,” she said with a nod toward two uniformed officers who were walking their way.

“Shit, how did they find us?”

Reign didn’t know; it seemed that wherever they went, not long after they were discovered, but Richard was so sure they hadn’t been followed. Moreover, why hadn’t they gone after the car? The cops had the same aura as the others, a gray with black and other dark bits. She looked to Richard, his aura was white, with pink and red, the other humans were just red with a tint of pink. She looked down to herself, pure white, like an angel.