A Royal Craving (24 page)

S
pencer pushed his hands into the mattress, trying to sit up, but was shocked to find he had little strength.

Parry instantly moved to his feet, supporting and moving him, to sit up. Then, ever the thoughtful brother, he pulled a blanket over him. “You will not have strength, while the child is hungry. This is his first feeding, so it is worse,” he explained. “You should always rest while he feeds, so he can gain as much nourishment as possible. Movement will redirect the blood to your own system,” he warned.

“I must recommend appropriate clothing from now on,” Parry explained, as he resumed his seat on the edge of the bed. “Vampire children, even babies, grow quickly and it may only be a few months before you go into labour. It will depend on the development of the child.”

“Will he be…I mean, could he be deaf, like me?” Spencer asked, absently reaching out to little Winston, to gather some comfort from petting him.

“It is hard to say. I have only studied this condition, Spencer,” Parry apologised. “I did not think this possible. For a male – for a
human
– to have the first vampire child in centuries puts everything into question,” he said, with gentle eyes that continued to apologised for what Parry seemed to consider a failing.

“I understand that this is new and unexplained. Just tell me what you
do
know,” Spencer advised, hoping to keep him calm.

Parry nodded, before talking. “You are Braddock's child and I would not have believed his line susceptible to human conditions. But it may be that your deafness was created by the stress put on your mother, when they were pursued by humans. I cannot give you an answer that will satisfy you,” he apologised, with a heavy sigh.

Spencer could tell he wanted to have the answers for him.

“But it will not matter. We shall love the child as we love you. He will be family and we shall care for him,” Parry promised.

Spencer smiled at the way the Prince indulged him, by referring to his child as a boy. “His father will spoil him rotten,” Spencer agreed, fondly running his hand over his stomach.

P
rosper sat in the living room of an unfamiliar house, staring into the fire, as he waited for poor Camryn. It was time to give his sentence.

“Master.”

A voice from the doorway made him turn, watching silently as the servant's eyes lowered to the floor.

He remained mindful that the flickering flames bounced off his burns and scars, making his already haunting face difficult to look at. The human servants in the house were too afraid to look at him; half the vampires could not meet his gaze.

Prosper did not care. There had been a gnawing pain in his gut for over an hour, telling him something was wrong with Spencer. But, when he tried calling an hour ago, and every ten minutes since, no one answered the house phone. It worried him and he did not feel like facing the reality of his scars, when being around Spencer made him forget them so easily.

“What is it?” Prosper asked, wanting the interruption over with.

“There is a phone call for you. Your brother is on the other end,” the servant explained.

Surprised, he gave a nod of agreement and let the servant cross to the nearby telephone to patch the call through.

Prosper lifted the receiver and waited for the servant to leave before speaking. “Parry? What is wrong?” he asked, hoping he had some news about Spencer.

“Hello brother,” Parry chirped into the phone. “I do not want to worry you, but I have sent Reagan to collect you. You need to come home and I cannot explain why. You have ten minutes to conclude your business,” he explained.

Telling him not to worry was ridiculous. Of course he would worry.

“Very well. I am about to give judgement to the young man, then I should be ready to leave. But when I return, I want a full explanation,” Prosper argued. He did not like being kept in the dark. He liked it less when being told what to do and in what amount of time.

But despite everything, Parry was his twin and they had trust in each other that went beyond his bond with anyone other than Spencer. He owed him this trust.

“I can tell you that Spencer is not feeling well. It is nothing terrible and he will be fine. But he needs you to return tonight,” Parry gave in and agreed to tell him something to ease his panic.

“And I will.” Prosper sighed into the phone, relieved he would soon discover the truth. At least it would explain the ache in his stomach.

The door opened and Camryn walked into the room.

Prosper gestured for him to continue and take a seat, while he talked with his brother.

“We will see you soon, brother,” Parry said, in farewell.

Prosper removed his glasses, to rub the bridge of his nose. Being without Spencer was unnaturally draining. He blamed their close life mate bond, for warning him he had not claimed Spencer with a union yet. But he must suffer through the fatigue, if he wanted to give Spencer the family he desired.

And he could not deny his heart craved a family; it always had. But, like his human lover, he thought that future lost because of his attraction to other men. Only time would tell the truth.

Prosper snapped from his thoughts and turned his attention to the young man. “You are fortunate,” he explained. “I have spoken with the human and your uncle. Under interrogation, they have both admitted that you were defending yourself,” he began, uncertain how this situation had come about or why.

Reckless and stupid, on the parts of both the human and this man, Camryn, it had been nonetheless unavoidable. “The human is under my domain, thus I have decided to force his compliance with a year's work under the employ of vampires.”

Camryn looked terrified, but relieved. The old man could have done some serious damage had the young man not been a vampire, who could heal quickly. “T-thank you, Master.” He nodded, in gratitude.

“I have decided his penance will be further aided by cleaning up the city,” Prosper continued, folding and unfolding the legs of his glasses to stem the surge of phantom pain in his stomach. “He and his friends have done well parading their drunken behaviour through my city and it will be their job to re-educate their fellow man on the penalties of crimes against my people,” he stated, aware of the young man's nerves.

“In your case,” he admitted, thoughtfully. “I have decided that you have done nothing wrong,” he said.

Camryn met his gaze. He seemed surprised, but relieved. As though he had struggled to prove his innocence, until now.

It eased Prosper's troubled mind. “You have shown quality in how you have handled yourself and the human. I would like to offer you the position of my personal bodyguard,” he said, waiting patiently for his answer.

Camryn appeared genuinely touched by the offer. He had no doubt expected to be in trouble for allowing the fight to extend beyond a few simple words of argument. But Prosper understood the human would not have allowed it to end at a verbal fight. He had been hell bent on causing a riot. The fact Camryn had managed to prevent that garnered Prosper's appreciation. And he was one of the few vampires in the house who could look him in the eye without flinching.

“May I ask why?” he asked.

It
was
a surprising move, as Camryn had been a vampire for only ten years. He had much learning and growing to do, but the lad's uncle spoke highly of him.

“You handled yourself well and managed to diffuse what could have been a volatile situation. Besides, I have a companion who is in need of protection. He is young, as are you,” Prosper admitted to what he had been thinking during his stay. It seemed the best use of his skills. “Spencer wishes to have a child, so he must remain human for a time. Whether we succeed in this endeavour or not, he is deaf and will need protection,” he admitted, worried, now that his love had been home to see his parents and harmed by their treatment.

“Always keep yourself in his sight, that he may read your lips. He will teach you sign language, if you wish. All I ask is that you do not treat him as incapable,” he continued. “I merely tell you of his deafness so you may understand why he needs protection. There are many in this world who will not understand his needs or cater to them.”

Camryn nodded, with all seriousness. “I am willing, Master. I will do anything to care for you and your companion,” he confessed.

“I am glad to hear that.” Prosper let out a sigh of relief. “My brother has called tonight, insisting I return home. You may leave with me or make your way when you are ready.” He gave Camryn the chance to tell his family and friends he would be leaving.

The lad rose to his feet. “I shall pack, Master. I have not much to bring with me,” he said, bobbing his head in respect and scurrying off to do as he said.

Parry or Spencer would have something to say about it, but Spencer needed a guard and Prosper would not hear an argument against it. And with Davian and Parry bonding as life mates, they could not be counted on to see to Spencer's continued safety; that would be Camryn's job now.

P
rosper gathered his belongings and said goodbye to Camryn's uncle, who had accepted him into his house. He and Camryn did not have long to wait before Reagan pulled up in the carriage.

The journey home grew fraught with tension and awkward silence. When the carriage finally stopped, Prosper opened the door and stepped out before the horses had drawn to a halt.

Jael greeted them, as he walked into the house ahead of Camryn.

“Where is Parry?” Prosper demanded, removing his cloak to hand to her.

“He had to deal with the Mistress, Master,” she replied, bobbing her head. “The Mistress is furious that I am not tending to her and threatened to harm Davian if someone did not see to her wishes,” she explained, dutifully. She looked terrified, as though he would be angry with her for Sienna's actions.

“I see,” he commented, trying to stay calm.

“Master Parry locked her in her suite and barricaded the door,” Jael admitted shyly.

“Excellent.” Prosper approved of the direct approach and looked away from the nurse, as he spotted Parry rushing down the corridor. “Well?” he wondered, needing answers.

“I told you not to leave him,” Parry scolded Jael.

Davian appeared and brushed her arm, with a soothing smile that said Parry did not mean to be harsh. Then he nodded to Camryn, who hovered inside the doorway.

“Davian, this is Camryn. He will be staying with us, to take care of Spencer. Would you mind showing him to a room?” Prosper asked, struggling to contain his frustration. Something had clearly put Parry on edge, though Davian remained calm.

“Not at all,” he replied, with a nod. He gestured to Camryn, who followed him along the corridor.

“Master Spencer heard the carriage draw up. He insisted I attend the Master,” Jael explained her absence to Parry, seeming to understand his worry.

Then Prosper noticed the two bags of blood in her hands. “Are they for the weary travellers?” he asked. He did not want to hurt her feelings, but he would now feed exclusively from Spencer. As life mates, they had no other choice, but he knew Camryn would appreciate her thoughtfulness.

“No, Master. They are for Master Spencer.” Jael frowned as she talked, until she noticed the glare Parry gave her. She quickly bobbed her head and turned to run to his suite.

Prosper raised an eyebrow at his twin, curious about Jael's reluctance to talk. It was unnatural. “Someone better tell me what is going on here, Parry. Before my temper gets the better of me,” he said, in the promise of a threat, as they walked to his suite.

His twin stalled in the doorway, with a sigh. “Spencer will explain everything,” he promised.

Prosper did not know what else to do. He entered his suite and progressed straight into the bedroom, where he found his companion lying in bed, with his eyes closed.

Spencer sat up, a book on his lap, just out of reach. There was a paleness Prosper had not seen since his boy's first night in the house.

“Spencer!” Prosper gasped, rushing to his side and taking his companion's hands into his; they were cold.

When he glanced up at Parry, to blame him for not stressing the seriousness of the matter, Prosper registered the shock on his brother's face. “What is wrong?” he demanded, desperate to know how he could fix it. His first thought was to feed Spencer a small amount of blood or risk turning him.

Before he acted on that thought, he saw the tube in his life mate's arm, leading to the bag of blood hanging on the coat stand. Blood had already been prepared and administered.

“Prosper.” The word left Spencer's lips in a happy sigh that caught him off guard. “Did I doze off?” he asked, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to wake.

“Rest, little one. If you need to sleep, I will be here when you wake. I am home now,” Prosper promised he would not leave, but still Spencer opened his eyes and smiled weakly.

“Did he tell you?” he asked.

“Tell me what? No one will tell me anything,” Prosper protested to the secrecy, surprised his companion turned his head on the pillow, to look at Parry.

His twin smiled. “I promised you would be the one to tell him,” he said.

Troubled by the difficulty Spencer seemed to have keeping his eyes open, Prosper panicked. If his human could not see them, he would not know what they were saying and none of them knew sign language well enough to place their hand in his, so Spencer could feel the shapes they made.

Prosper wished there were some other way of talking with him.

“I am so happy.” Spencer's voice came out in a whisper, as he reached over and lay his hand on Winston's head. The dog had not moved from Spencer's side, to look up or register their presence.

Prosper did not know the little pup, but at least it had not thought him a threat.

“Where is Jael?” Parry asked, while Spencer looked his way.

“I am here, Master. I had to prepare the bath.” Her voice came from the bathroom, the door of which stood ajar, in the corner of the room.

Spencer closed his eyes for a brief moment and turned to Prosper, who smiled with tears in his eyes. Feeling helpless, seeing Spencer like this and afraid to help, Prosper did not know what to do. He could not take away his dream of having a family, but saw no other way to make him better.

“Feel…” Spencer urged, taking his hand and placing it on his abdomen.

Prosper frowned, uncertain what he meant. Then he felt it; a movement of some kind. He raised his eyes to meet Spencer's, his frown dissipating as he focused on that feeling. It happened again, stronger, and his lover gasped.

“Do you feel him?” his companion whispered, with a tender smile.

Before Prosper could think properly, someone cleared their throat. He looked up and saw Parry beaming.

“I told him we would not determine sex until he is further along,” he explained.

Prosper turned his gaze onto Spencer, to find him crying. He could barely make sense of it. But he knew to smile and brush away Spencer's tears with his thumb.

“We did it. I am pregnant,” his love said, with a light laugh.

Prosper stared at his young, delicate human, shocked that this had happened. To him. He had given Spencer the child he wanted so badly, had created a living being. Not only did his companion not panic about being a human male and pregnant, but he looked positively radiant with joy.

But Prosper could not be happy. He frowned at his hand and realised the awful truth.

“Prosper?” Spencer asked, fear radiating through him.

“He is hurting you,” Prosper explained, to soothe his worry. He was not angry about the pregnancy, however impossible it seemed; only concerned. The child his human had longed for and craved his whole life was hurting him.

“No. He is just hungry. And cold,” Spencer said, touching Prosper's face to make him look him in the eye. “Jael brought me Parry's books and I read about it. I feel cold and weak, because he
is
cold and weak. The blood is not enough. My body is human, despite my DNA,” he lamented.

“My body is too cold for him.” Spencer held his hand to his stomach. “By the time the blood races through my system, it is contaminated by the human weakness in me. I think it is because I am neither vampire nor human,” he mused, in disappointed that he could not come up with another explanation.

Prosper glanced at Parry, hoping he would have an answer, but his twin frowned at the carpet and looked thoughtful. He left him to think the matter over. “The blood. Is it mine?” he asked.

“Of course it is,” Spencer snapped, furiously.

Prosper explained his theory; “But Jael stored it in the storage vault, along with the blood we consume?” he queried.

Spencer nodded, looking lost.

“Do you not see? You are cold because the house is cold. But the house is cold, because vampires do not need heat,” he reasoned, hoping Spencer would understand. The storage vault used for storing human blood had never been meant for vampire blood. “Our bodies work at a different temperature to humans. Storing my blood in the human storage vault is
lessening
its heat, not sustaining it.” He explained his theory and turned to see if Parry had any thoughts.

“Yes. He needs fresh blood. From you.” Parry agreed with his diagnosis and, smirked when Jael left the bathroom, her sleeves rolled up and a disappointed look on her face. “Prosper, we shall leave you to care for your companion. I will ensure you have the time you need. But, might I suggest the bath is an excellent idea.” He came upon a plan that seemed to solve all the problems at once.

Prosper nodded, understanding the recommendation. The bath would heat his companion's human body while Spencer fed, allowing the child a dual system of restorative heat to feed from. Which might, he hoped, allow Spencer to retain some of the heat for himself.

“See to Camryn. Do not let Sienna get her hands on him,” Prosper warned his brother to watch out for the newest member of their family. Camryn was young and susceptible to anything Sienna might attempt.

Parry saluted him and left, Jael quickly following.

Prosper knew Parry was right. Spencer's body remained unnaturally cold because the baby stole his strength and warmth for itself.

He struggled to accept that they had done it. Spencer carried their child and he would be a father. It seemed impossible. It did not feel that long ago since they first gave in to their passion for one another and made love.

A pregnancy this quickly, in the new world, had only been known for vampires; a connection that cemented the truth in his mind. Spencer was the son of two ancient vampires. Nothing said it as surely as his quick and draining pregnancy.

“Come, little one. We shall have this bath and I will help you feed our son.” Prosper used the kit on the bedside table to remove the tube from Spencer's arm.

In another sign of how weak he was, Spencer barely bled after Prosper removed it.

He wiped the mark on his arm clean and waited to ensure it would not bleed. Once removed, he pulled back the cover and lifted Spencer into his arms. He would not risk letting his human walk into the bathroom.

Spencer wrapped his arms around Prosper's neck and let his King carry him. He did not blink, when Prosper removed their clothes with a single thought and climbed into the steaming tub.

“I am glad you are home.” Spencer hummed, as he curled against him and the water lapped at his cold skin.

It should have been painful, going from one extreme to the other, but it proved heavenly. Especially with Prosper there, holding him and able to feel Prosper's bare chest against his shoulder. It was not the most comfortable position, but he wanted to see his King, be near him and talk to him.

Warm, comfortable and with Prosper, he had everything he cared about.

“This is the only place I want to be,” Prosper promised, trying to ignore the lingering joy of those thoughts. Now he knew what his companion felt, he could better understand the pain he had experienced earlier.

“You did not get in trouble, did you?” Spencer asked.

“No. I am still the King, little one,” Prosper reminded him, with a quiet laugh. He would never get in trouble; no one would dare. “I had concluded my business when Parry called. I brought the young man, Camryn, home with me. I thought he would do well as your personal guard, for when I cannot be with you,” he admitted, scooping up handfuls of water and letting it cascade over his lover's skin.

Each move preceded the brush of his hand, as he tried to massage away the aches and pains within his human.

Prosper tenderly kissed Spencer's neck and felt the radiating relief that came through their connection. His human appreciated the soothing caress, as Prosper kept trailing light kisses and caresses of his tongue along tense shoulders and down a bare back, where he detected the most discomfort. He hoped his saliva healed Spencer as well as it should, with their child obviously interrupting his natural body functions.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asked, as he watched his love struggling to keep his eyes open.

Spencer nodded silently, letting his eyes close. He let his head rest against Prosper's chest.

He felt his companion's fatigue, but Spencer could not sleep just yet. Prosper used a gentle finger to raise his chin, until his lover opened his eyes. “You must feed, little one. The more you can take in, the quicker you will feel better,” he advised, as he thought of how he could not blame anyone for how sick Spencer appeared.

They were in new territory and must get accustomed to finding their own way.

As soon as Spencer nodded, with drooping eyelids, Prosper lifted his wrist to his mouth. He bit into his own flesh, tearing it wider than he should have, to create a wound.

Without waiting, he put his wrist to Spencer's lips. Prosper wanted him to act when ready, in case their child panicked and refused to take the sustenance. He planned to be especially careful from now on.

“Drink, Spencer. Please,” he asked, as he noted hesitation.

Shining green eyes left his and a hand slowly reached out to hold his wrist.