#5 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 5: Red Lust) (5 page)

“No.
I’m thrilled. It’s only been a day, but since finding out I’m expecting I just
can’t help but to feel excited and happy. I love the idea of becoming a mom, of
giving my vampire kings a baby.”

“Who’s
the father?” Her friend blurted in true Becky style.

Tanya
shrugged.

She
gasped. “You don’t know.”

Tanya
shook her head.

“Is
that why you’re upset?”

She
shook her head a second time.

“Didn’t
think so. If you’re happy about the baby, then what’s up? They are taking care
of you I hope?” Her face turned stern.

Tanya
found herself laughing at the mental image of Becky giving her vampire men a
piece of her mind. Her bestie wouldn’t hesitate if she thought they were
treating her badly. “Relax, they’re treating me great. It’s just that they’re
still not getting along and I hate being shuffled between the two of them.”

“Honey,
it’s one of those things I’m afraid. You said they were enemies before, are
they still fist fighting over you?”

Shaking
her head, Tanya tucked a loose strand behind her ear. “No, but there is still
major animosity between them. I had hoped that they would become friends. That,
I don’t know”—she felt herself blush—“I want that vampire sandwich, but I also want
friendship, love, happiness. All the things a girl would want out of a normal
relationship. I want them to lead the vampires together.”

“Hang
on a second. You need to understand that it won’t happen overnight.
Realistically, it may never happen.” Her face was solemn. “It sounds like there
has been major progress though. Try to be patient.”

Tanya
nodded. She was a patient person, well normally anyway. It hurt to watch Brant
walk away, to watch his features cloud. It hurt that Zane wasn’t here. The
mating ceremony, especially the actual mating that would follow, should be
something that she could get excited about, yet there was this knot of fear
inside her about how the night would go. Would her vamps end up fighting?

“Am
I selfish to want us to get along? All three of us? Right now it’s only two of
us at a time, and either I’m with Zane or Brant and the other is left out. It’s
not healthy. They are doing their best, but it’s only a matter of time before
things come to a head. I can just feel it.”

“As
long as they are trying, you need to be patient. Do your best to keep them both
happy.”

“It’s
difficult when I am destined to make one of them unhappy just by being with the
other. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Becky
squealed and giggled. “Oh my God, you love them both don’t you? This has gone
beyond caring or lust.”

Tanya
smiled, sighed and smiled some more. “Yeah I do, very much. I want them both
happy and fulfilled. Right now that’s not the case though. Zane is much more
relaxed about the whole thing, but I’m not entirely sure how he really feels about
me. He’s definitely sexually attracted to me, but—”

The
door opened and Brant stuck his head around the jamb. “Five more minutes. It
might not be safe to stay much longer.”

“Safe?”
Becky asked as the door closed.

“Yeah,
the wolves still have to swear allegiance and until then we are still
officially at war.”

Becky’s
eyes widened.

“It’s
fine. I wouldn’t be here if there was any real threat. It’s just a precaution.”

“You
were saying how attracted to you Zane is.”

“Right,
I don’t know if he loves me though. Brant is the more difficult one, but I know
that it is because he does love me and doesn’t want to share me.” She sighed.
“It’s so complicated.”

“It’s
more than just an attraction for Zane. He took the time to call and to organize
for me to be here. It was an extremely thoughtful thing to do. If it was just
about the sex then he would’ve bought you lingerie or edible undies or
something.” They both laughed.

Insecurity,
her old friend reared its ugly head. “The problem is that he didn’t choose me
at the ceremony, Becks. I was never his first choice. It was convenient to call
Mate’s Lore. It’s the only reason anything ever happened between us.”

Becky’s
brow furrowed. “Mate’s Lore?”

“Yeah,
the whole give me an opportunity to choose between the two kings thing after
his true chosen died.”

Her
friend nodded. “Oh yeah, that. I wouldn’t worry too much, he cares. I could
hear it when he called, and Brant loves you. Those little looks he gives you
are something between wanting to eat you alive and wanting to hug you to
death.”

“Don’t
joke, he could do both literally.” They both laughed again.

Brant
opened the door once more. “Come on, Cenwein, we need to hit the road.”

“On
our way.” She made to stand as the door closed.

“What
does Cenwein mean?” Becky asked while pushing her chair back.

“Delicate,
beautiful flower. Oh and rare.” She smiled broadly.

“Like
fuck. You’re tall for a woman and—”

“You’re
supposed to be my friend bitch…a little reminder of how big those guys are. I
am small to them.”

“If
you say so.” Becky grinned.

“I’ll
have you know that hips, ass and breasts are considered major assets in the
vampire society.”

“You’re
kidding me.”

Tanya
nodded. “Curvy women like you and I are considered seriously beautiful.”

Becky’s
face scrunched up in a scowl. “Great! They’re also off limits.”

 “Yeah.
Please behave when you come out on Friday.”

Becky
sighed like she was conceding to the most difficult thing in the world. “Fine.”
She smiled. “Hang in there kiddo. Your boys care. Just be patient, don’t try
and force the situation.”

This
time when Brant opened the door, Tanya walked towards him. “At least I’ll see
you soon,” Tanya said over her shoulder.

“I
can’t wait.” Becky gushed as they walked out onto the sidewalk. “Congrats on
the pregnancy.”

York
stumbled, his head whipped in her direction.

“Thank
you,” Brant mumbled.

They
had planned on not saying anything yet. It normally took a week or two for a
woman’s scent to change. That would be a more natural way of going about it
rather than making a big announcement so early on.

“You’re
with child?” York’s eyes were wide and gleaming with excitement. Tanya nodded.
The big, burly guard was at her side in a flash, he lifted her off her feet in
a bear hug that had her gasping for air.

“York!”
Brant barked. The large vamp released her immediately. “Don’t do that again,”
Brant added.

York
grinned. “Such good news. I apologize.”

Brant
smiled. “We are excited.”

“Congratulations,
my lord, my lady.” Griffin said inclining his head to each of them in turn.

“Let’s
go,” Brant growled. Although he sounded angry, the corners of his lips were
pulled into a semi smile and his eyes twinkled.

They
said their goodbyes. It was reassuring to know that she would see Becky again soon.

Between
spending time with Brant and Zane, both in bed and out, and planning the
ceremony, Friday arrived before she knew it.

By
now, both covens knew she was pregnant. The vampires treated her like she was
made of pure gold. They smiled, bowed, gushed. It irritated her how everyone
felt it was appropriate to sniff her though. It seemed that even though she was
definitely pregnant, it was only deemed official once a person’s scent changed.

“Oooh
,you’re a hot one.” A familiar voice sounded outside her bedroom door. Tanya
smiled to herself, so much for Becky behaving.

There
was a knock.

“Come
on in,” she said while walking towards the door. It swung open. Hand on the
knob, Becky was eyeballing Ross something fierce. The vampire looked like he
appreciated the attention, even taking a step towards her.

“Don’t
even think about it,” said an unknown vampire male who stood to the right of
the door.

“Someone
needs to start a petition against these outdated rules.” Ross’ eyes tracked the
length of Becky’s body. “I swear I’d be very careful.”

“Not
too careful I hope.” Becky winked suggestively.

Her
friend wore a dress just shy of the knee, but the neckline plunged to the point
of indecency. Tanya had to suppress a smile. “Get in here.” She grabbed Becky
by the hand and pulled her into her room, closing the door behind her.

Becky
giggled. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m not used to so much attention by such
seriously hot men. I even have my own guards. Brant was worried it seems.”

“Vampires,
Becks, they aren’t normal men and Brant was right to give you guards.”

“I’m
not scared of a few vampires.” Her friend cocked her head.

“Rules
are rules and they must’ve been made for a reason.”

“And,
normally I would try and break them but this is your special day so I promise
to behave. Please promise to try and see what you can do for future reference
though.”

Tanya
laughed. “Sure thing and as to you behaving, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Pinkie
swear. From now on I’ll be extra good.” Becky threw her arms around Tanya and
hugged her tight. “I’m so happy I’m here. I have to see your dress! Where is it?”
She did a three sixty around the room.

“I’m
waiting for it to be brought up. It’s customary for the groom to choose the
gown. I’m not sure how my men went about that. There haven’t been any major fights
that I know of, so maybe they agreed on something for once.”

“The
man gets to choose…?” Becky made a sound of disgust. “That’s just plain wrong.”

There
was another knock at the door and Charlotte entered a second later. Her eyes
were wide and she looked a little pale. “We have an issue.”

“This
is my best friend Becky.”

“Hi
there.” Charlotte briefly turned her stormy blue eyes on Becky. “Normally I
love meeting new people. Especially humans – not that I’ve had many
opportunities - but we are in the middle of a major crisis.”

“What’s
the problem?” Nervousness caused her stomach to clench and her heart to race.
She tried to maintain her composure though.

Charlotte
put a large plastic suit bag on the bed. She unzipped it and pulled out a
stunning red dress. It had a corset top and ran in an A-line style cut to the
floor. The corset was a silk fabric with tiny diamonds sewn into the bodice.

Both
she and Becks gasped in unison. “It’s amazing,” Becks said on a sigh.

“I
have to say, Brant has amazing taste.” Charlotte hung the dress on the door and
went back to the bag where she pulled out a second garment. A black gown. It
had a tight fitting spaghetti strap top with twisted chiffon across the
breasts. The lower half was more gown like with more chiffon layers. If it
weren’t for being pitch black, it would’ve reminded her of a modern fairy-tale
wedding dress.

Tanya
could feel her mouth hanging open. “Wow.”

“They’re
both amazing,” Becky gushed.

“This
one is from Zane. What are we going to do?” Charlotte paced. She looked panicked.

Tanya
refused to give in to the emotion, it wouldn’t help her anyway. The ceremony
was in less than two hours. Either way she was damned. She looked from one
dress to the other. Both were beautiful in very different ways.

“I’m
screwed.” She slumped onto the bed. “I’ve always wanted a fairy-tale wedding
dress but I love the little diamonds on Brant’s gown, and I think the red would
look really good on me.” In this instance, she wished really badly that
Stephany could be here. Tanya missed her calm presence.

Brant
had received a phone call from Stephany yesterday saying that she was fine and
on her way home. She’d promised to try and make it for the ceremony, but
doubted she’d be back in time. Brant had visibly relaxed after the call. Her vampire
friend really was on her way home, but chances were good that she wouldn’t be
here in time. Giving the dresses another once over, she sighed, maybe she could
choose something else.

The
tall vampire kept pacing, muttering to herself like a crazy person.

“Charlotte,”
Becky called.

 When
Charlotte didn’t respond, Becky snapped her fingers in the other female’s
direction. “Vampire lady.”

This
time Charlotte did react by throwing up her hands. “This is a disaster.”

“Snap
out of it. Stand still for a second so that we can think.” Becky threw the
vampire a disgusted look which seemed to work since Charlotte stopped pacing.

Silence
filled the space, seconds became minutes.

Tanya
was at a complete loss. The only thing that seemed to make any sort of sense
was to ditch both gowns and wear something neutral. The problem was, she’d run
the risk of pissing them both off. Which quite frankly they deserved since they
clearly hadn’t discussed this with one another or even worse, this was some
sort of pissing contest. She’d bet the latter. Also, she kind of loved both
gowns and didn’t know which to choose.

“I’ve
got it. Oh my God, I’m a freaking genius.” Becky bounced up and down. “Right,
let’s see if I get this straight – you always wanted the Cinderella poofy gown
right?” She positively glowed, barely waiting for Tanya’s nod. “Okie dokie and
you love the diamonds”— she motioned in the direction of Brant’s red number—“by
the way, that cut would put your breasts somewhere under your chin…with the
right bra that is.” She pulled a strapless Wonderbra from her purse and threw
it in her direction. The garment landed at her feet.

“I
hope you have a seamstress hidden somewhere in this castle, because…” She ran
to Charlotte taking the black gown from her hands, next she folded the top half
down and placed the skirt against the red bodice part of the dress hanging on
the door. The result was amazing. “You can wear both gowns. Brant’s corset on
Zane’s poofy skirt.”

Tanya
found herself laughing to the point of wanting to cry. It was perfect. It looked
great, and it would hopefully keep both her guys happy.

Hands
on her hips, Charlotte shook her head slowly. “There isn’t anyone I know of
that can sew the dress in time. We would need someone with a real talent to pull
something like that off so quickly.” The vamp glanced at the watch on her
wrist. “The ceremony starts in less than two hours, which means we have less
than that to sort the gowns.”

Tanya
sank back down onto the bed. They had the perfect solution, but no one to
execute it. “Don’t you vampires sew?”

Charlotte
pulled a face. “Not so much. You humans?” She raised her brows.

“We
don’t, no,” Becky answered. “At least we”—she gestured between herself and
Tanya—“don’t. Now stop being a bitch and think of something damn it.”

Charlotte’s
eyes widened at Becky’s comment and she had just opened her mouth to argue when
Tanya’s cell phone rang. For a second she was tempted to ignore it. The number
was from somewhere in the castle. Since it might be important, she decided to
answer. “Yeah?”

“Hi,
Tanya,” Esral’s soft voice came through the earpiece.

“Hi
there.”

“So
sorry to bother you, but I’m not sure what is normally worn for such an
occasion. Charlotte brought me some dresses and things, but maybe it would be
best if I wore one of my robes instead.” The poor thing sounded so unsure.

“Listen,
bring the clothes and come to my room. We’ll help you. Maybe you can help me
with my own dress problems.”

“Don’t
you have anything to wear?” Shock was etched in every word.

“I
have two dresses which need to be joined together, but I don’t have anyone who
can sew well enough to pull it off before the wedding.”

There
was a long pause. “I am an excellent seamstress. Graduated top in my class.”

“You
lie!”

“I
would never lie about something as important as this. Elves take sewing very
seriously. All females, regardless of class, are expected to be adept with the
needle and thread.”

Tanya
had to laugh. “I don’t mean it literally. Get your ass over here. Bring the
dresses.”

“What
is this ass you keep referring to?”

“You…”
she was about to say
crack me up,
but had to stop herself because it
would just confuse things even further. “Nothing, just get here.” She pushed
the red disconnect button. “Esral can sew.”

“I
forgot about Esral. Oh goody, problem solved.” Charlotte clapped her hands.
“How long are you staying human?” the vamp’s gaze turned on Becky.

“My
name is Becky and unfortunately Brant doesn’t trust me with your men, so I have
to go as soon as the ceremony is over.” Becky went into full pout mode.

“More
like the other way around I would think.” Charlotte’s eyes narrowed. “You are
tiny. Even smaller than Tanya.”

Becky
turned her head towards Tanya, her eyes were wide in a mixture of shock and
excitement. “I’ve never been called tiny before.”

“All
humans are so small and weak. You are also lucky that you make such good
breeders. It is a pity that our species don’t mix well, or our fertility
problems would be solved.”

Becky’s
mouth gaped open. “Breeders…did I just hear you right?”

“Yup,”
Charlotte beamed. “You have nice wide hips, come on heat often and let’s not forget
your excellent sized mammary glands.” She clasped her own much smaller breasts.
“And to think I thought I had big ones.”

“Well
you do…for a vampire that is,” Tanya said. “And to set the record straight, not
all humans are good breeders…not all humans have the attributes you described.”

“Most
then.”

Tanya
took in Charlotte’s lean form. She wore one of those sheaths that the vampire
females seemed to love. Her breasts were high, like two ripe peaches. Small,
but very much there. Her waist was incredibly narrow with hips to match. A modelling
agency’s dream candidate. Very different from most humans. It was weird how
much the human body was revered by vampires and the opposite was true of humans
themselves. It really was a shame that the two were not permitted to mix. “Yeah,
Charlotte. Most humans fit the profile you described in varying degrees.”

There
was a knock at the door.

“I’ll
get it.” Becks had already skipped her way there, pulling the door open. “You
must be Esral. Come on in. Oh my Lordie, what a handsome specimen you brought
with you.” Becky moved to let Esral in. Instead of closing the door though, she
leaned against the jam. “Sheesh, you have amazing eyes. What is your name?”

“Xavier.
From your scent I can tell that you are human and therefore it would be against
the rules for us to rut.”

“More
the pity. I might just be in love.” She sighed dramatically.

Tanya
noticed how Esral’s face had turned red, and her eyes threw daggers at Becky’s
back. She got the feeling that if the princess’ arms weren’t loaded with
clothing, she might just fly at Becky with fists and nails.

“Come
back inside. You promised to behave.”

Becky
took a tentative step back. “Start that petition cutie pie.” Her friend looked
in Ross’ direction.

The
male chuckled. “I will human. I most definitely will.”

Becky
closed the door and leaned back against it. “I really might be in love. Xavier,”
she said his name on a sigh.

“You
can’t have him.” Esral put her hands on her hips.

“Why
the heck not?”

Tanya
decided to intervene. “Two reasons. One, it’s illegal Becks and two, he and
Esral are to be mated or there will be another war with the elves. Please don’t
ask me to explain because there isn’t any time right now. Esral, do you have a
sewing kit or do we need to try and find the necessary items?”

The
little elf smiled, then she inclined her head briefly in what looked to Tanya
like a thank you. “No self-respecting elf female would leave the house without
the basics.” She put the garments she was carrying down on the bed. After
digging in her sack for a few seconds, she pulled out a little leather pouch.