Bloody Heretic (29 page)

    “
You cause a distraction, I grab Pierre, stuff him in a bin, and then we both jump off the balcony. We
can make it round the house,
to your room and
back in under an hour.”

    “
Stop it,”
she giggled. Which was reason enough to want to sneak off with him. He was the only man in history that could make Elizabeth Victoria Kat
iyana Brown giggle. Among other things.

    “
You
’
ll be the death of me,”
he gro
aned.

    “
Oh, I hope not. I
’
m interested in seeing just how old you can get.”

    “
Why you...,”
he warned, nuzzling her ear. She giggled some more before she noticed Pierre watching from the corner. She nudged Adam, who looked to where she was pointing.
They both watched Pierre point two fingers at his face and then one at Adam.

    “
Retraction, Pierre will be the death of me,”
he mumbled. Pierre grinned back, all teeth. The old wolf still had it.

    “
He
’
s not so bad, once you get to know him.”
Vic had been trying to get everything perfect tonight and so far everything was going great, as long as Pierre didn
’
t spoil her evening.

    “
I
’
ve been coming here with you for a year now, when does he get better? Second Tuesday of next week?”
He asked.
She jammed an elbow into his side.

    “
Be nice. Pierre is family.”

    “
I
’
m family too. Or I would be if you would bloody agree to marry me,”
he said gruffly.

    “
Well, maybe if you asked nicely.”

    “
Pfft. Let
’
s give it another go, shall we? Victoria,
darling, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”
He asked, with just a hint of sarcasm. He wasn
’
t even looking at her. Good enough, she thought.

    “
Ughh...,”
she gave an exasperated sigh. “
Since you asked so
nicely
. Yes, I
’
ll marry you.”

 
  “
See? Burn me once...,”
he paused. His head snapped down. She smiled sweetly up at him, batting her eye lashes.

    “
Are you fucking with me?”
He said. Her look of outrage must have been comical.

    “
No! I
’
m not fucking with you!”
She mock whispered,
telling him to lower his voice.

    “
You said
‘
Yes?
’”
He asked.

    “
Yes I said
‘
Yes
’
. How else do you want it? Li, Si, Oui, Da...,”
she found herself up in the air being swung around before she could
finish her
‘
Yes
’
rap.

    “
She said
‘
Yes
’
!”
Adam shou
ted to everyone in the room. Cheers arose and she couldn
’
t help but be swept away by the enthusiasm. Literally and figuratively. Adam brought her back down and kissed her soundly in front of everyone, not that they hadn
’
t seen it before. She caught a glim
p
se of Pierre, who instead of looking angry, as she would expect, was smiling. She smiled back. He continued smiling as he pointed up the stairs. She glanced up. Her father was standing by the railing, puffed up and red. She blanched.

    “
Oh, shit.”
She ta
pped Adam on the shoulder but just as she was trying to point out her father to him, a long, pale arm reached out and snatched Orleans back into the corridor. Adam looked but didn
’
t see anything.

    “
What?”
He asked, still grinning like a fool. She didn
’
t
have the heart to ruin the moment for him.

    “
Nothing, dear,”
she answered. He turned toward the King who had approached to congratulate them. “
You
’
ll find out soon enough.”

Up the staircase and around the corner, waiting patiently for the clock to str
ike nine o
’
clock, Gloria and Master Orleans stood. One was ecstatic, the other was having an apoplexy.

    “
Breath,”
Gloria co
a
xed. “
Good, in and out.”
She rubbed his back as he vibrated with rage. She knew he really hadn
’
t been dealing as well with Adam as he had let on. After they had come home he had welcomed Vic and Adam into the mansion with somewhat open arms. Now one little mention of marriage and all of their hard work was down the drain.

    “
One frosted cake, two
frosted cakes, three frosted cakes...,”
he growled in frustration. “
This is stupid.”

    “
No it
’
s not. It
’
s helping. See? You didn
’
t act out! You
’
ve eli
minated step two and t
hree! Isn
’
t
that great?”
She was being falsely excited but they both knew if they
both didn
’
t attend and at least try
the anger management class they wouldn
’
t be fit to be Pack Masters.

    “
Yes, it
’
s wonderful,”
he growled. “
One decapitated Vampire, two decapitated Vampires, three decap...,”
he stopped when she slugged him in the ches
t, knocking the wind out of him. She placed both hands over her mouth in horror.

    “
Oh! Look what you made me do! I was doing so well. Four days without acting out. Damn it, Tim!”
He growled again, this time in pleasure. She was as feisty as one could e
ver hope to find in an Irish Vampire Werewolf Hybrid. And she was all his. His mouth descended upon hers and they moved up again
st the wall. His hand worked it
s way up her long leg, past the garter on her thigh, excitedly moving towards her center, having
found already this evening that she was without undergarments.
She had said she was spending too much time with the Scottish and it was rubbing off.

    He chuckled. “’
I
’
ll rub off on you, alright
’
, I said.”
He laughed aloud again. Gloria looked up at hi
m.

    “
Cracking yourself up, aren
’
t you?”
She asked.

    “
Yeah,”
he admitted.

    “
Goofy man. Come here,”
she commanded, pulling him back down. The kiss was brief, as the clock decided to wake up and do its job finally. They stared at each other.

    “
Cursed by the bell,”
Tim said. He pulled her dress back down, smoothing it around
her
legs.

    “
Oh, shit,”
she muttered as the clock continued to count down.
The flower wreath in her hair was crocked. He tried his best to
help her
straighten it but as sh
e had l
eft her hair Au Natural for him
it was too late. The wilderness had reclaimed its own.
He kept that thought to himself
lest she forget her anger management and punt him down the stairs. They gave each other another once over before stepping out.

    “
Decent, my dear?”
Gloria asked. He gave her a wide grin.

    “
Not in the least,”
he answered. He took her by the arm and led her out onto the stairs, where all of the people that meant the most to them waited.

    “
I wonder what they were doing to
pass the time,”
Dom whispered in Jeanne
’
s ear. She snickered with him. Gloria
’
s wreath was sideways on her head.

    “
It
’
s not quite a crown anymore. More like a falling halo,”
she whispered back.

    “
Appropriate,”
he said.

    “
Exactly.”
She looked up
at Dom. He was smiling at the new couple, dimples and all. Her face hurt she had smiled so much today. And for the last six months really. Quite a difference love and a year can make. She had never been surrounded by this much love and family in her life.
Everyone she loved and everyone they loved was here. She squeezed Dom tighter as she thanked God again that day for making her life so amazing. She hugged Gloria again as she passed.

    “
Thank you, so much,”
she whispered into her ear. Jeanne looked up at
her.

    “
Me? What did I do?”
She asked.

    “
You allowed me all this.”
She waved at the room at large. Jeanne chuckled.

    “
Oh,
fille
. When will you learn? You are your own woman. You are free to do as you wish. Always.”

    Gloria gaped at her, “
But y
ou said...you forbid...you said! Agh!”
She spun away. Dom leaned down to whisper in her ear.

    “
Are you ever going to tire of messing with her?”

    “
No, never. It
’
s so easy. It
’
s half the reason why I made her. Plus, I
’
m still pissed she called you a
phase.”
She glared at Gloria
’
s back. Dom chuckled.

    “
Should we tell her about Vegas yet?”
He asked.

    “
Not yet. I
’
m saving that for a special occasion.”

    “
I
still
find it suspicious that you felt the need to be married before Gloria and Orleans. W
hy the competition?”

    “
Not a competition, love, just a necessity.
I always hedge my bets.”

    “
You had a bet you
’
d get married before she did?”
He asked. She looked up with a wicked gleam in her eye.

    “
No, we had a bet
that I would get married befor
e she got pregnant.”

    Dom coughed into his jacket sleeve. He stared at her with bug eyes. “
Is it possible for them?”

    “
Oh, very.”

    “
Do they know?!”

    “
Nope.”

    “
And you
’
re not going to tell her?”
He asked, incredulous. She grinned.

    “
Where
is the fun in that?”

    “
What about the Council? What do they think about Hybrid births?”

    “
You let me worry about the Council. I
’
m an expert on Heresy, you know. I
’
ll have them wrapped around my little finger. Gloria
’
s baby will be well protected.”

    “
Is she,”
he mouthed the word
‘
pregnant
’
, “
now?”

    “
No, not yet. Surp
rising really, what with them having eleven
kids
between them
.”
She watched as Gloria deftly snatched a crab cake off a pacing tray and wolfed it down. “
Well, I
’
ll b
e damned. They
might birth me an angry,
red headed God child yet.”
She laughed at Gloria
’
s baffled expression. Dom hadn
’
t said anything yet. She looked up at him. He was staring at her stomach. Her glee dipped somewhat.