Mated to the Vampire Kings (12 page)

She
watched as Ross and Becky left. Brant put a tall glass of OJ on the bedside
table closest to her. “I’m afraid there’s no television. I’ll have one flown in
by the end of business tomorrow. In the meantime, I have these…” he handed her
three paperbacks. They were steamy romance novels judging by the hunky men on
the covers. “I had Ross pick them up while he was in town.”

“Thank
you.” She smiled. “That’s really thoughtful.”

“I
aim to please, Cenwein.” His dark eyes bore into her causing a tingle to make
its way up her spine. “Let me know if there is anything I can do to make this
easier on you.”

“You
being here is all I need.” She tried hard to school her emotions as her mind
wandered to thoughts of Zane.

“He’ll
be here tomorrow…by Friday at the latest. You should call him now though.”

Tanya
pulled in a deep breath, which she held in her lungs for a few beats. “I will,
I don’t want to bombard him though. I want him to know that I trust him enough
not to check up on him so soon.”

Truth
was, she was a big, fat chicken. Too afraid of what his reaction would be. Was
he still mad at her? Had he fallen into bed with Alexandra?

Argh!
She wanted to smack herself for the errant thought.

It
burned her that even after all this time, her ex’s act of indiscretion still
had a hold on her. His two years of belittling and demeaning her had taken its
toll.
Are you sure you want to eat that? Sheesh, with a plate like that, you
must be really hungry.
Or comments like,
you have serious orange peel
skin and should really think of hitting the gym.
Her favorite was…
your
boobs are so fucking huge that they’ll be down to your knees before you hit
fifty.
Towards the end of their relationship they hardly ever did the
dirty. Troy complained more and more about her weight saying that he struggled
to get hard for her because she was too big. Then the icing on the cake was
when she’d walked in on him having sex with someone he had met at the gym.

His
words to her were classic. He’d blamed her, saying that if she wasn’t so fat he
wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere and if she’d come to the gym with
him, like he’d asked, he would never have met Selby…Colby…whatever the hell her
name was. The thin chick he was banging. In short, it had nothing to do with
him being a prick and everything to do with her. Although logically she knew
that a guy like him would have made excuses to screw around regardless of her
weight and would’ve found other problems with her, cellulite aside.

Brant
and Zane had made her feel treasured, special and like a sex kitten regardless
of her size. It seemed that old habits died hard though. Maybe if it had been
anyone other than Alexandra then she wouldn’t be feeling quite so insecure.

“Just
call him already.” Brant thrust his phone into her hand.

“I
will…a bit later though.”

Chicken…bock…bock…bock!

Rich,
sweet, it filled her like nothing ever had and like nothing would ever again.
His blood tasted of him, like she was ingesting a piece of his very soul.

Devine
in every sense of the word.

Brant
moaned. His hips jerked forward as she took another long pull. The taste of
pure rapture filled her mouth and she swallowed it down greedily. He exhaled on
a moan, this time from between clenched teeth. His hands tightened around her
waist, pulling her closer. She could feel his hard cock as it twitched beneath
her. The scent of their mingled arousal permeated the air.

With
reluctance, she retracted her fangs, and Brant made a noise of frustration. It mirrored
how she was feeling inside. He stood in one easy move, taking her with him.
Then he laid her down on the bed, even tucking her in. “Rest now.” Tension
radiated off of his body, his skin was taut, his mouth a thin white line. His
eyes were much lighter, glowing. They belied the extreme arousal he was
feeling. Drinking between mates always had such an intense effect on them.

She
felt movement inside her belly. Soft thuds gave way to a strange feeling that
she knew was the baby squirming and maybe trying to stretch inside of her. It
made her smile and put her hand to the side of her abdomen.

Brant’s
eyes tracked the movement, his hand instantly followed hers. In a firm arc, he
traced her skin. A light flickered in his eyes and a huge grin followed. “I can
feel him. My son. Our baby.” His voice was filled with awe. “What are we going
to call him?”

They
had gone over names countless times. Tanya wanted something modern and her boys
were set on a more traditional name. Sometimes three really was a crowd. There
was always one that was in disagreement with the other two.

Tanya
shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

He
threw her a half smile before brushing her lips with his. Grabbing his coat, he
headed for the door.

“Where
are you off to?” Tanya asked.

Turning,
he ran a hand through his hair. “Just need some fresh air is all.”

The
telltale bulge in his jeans told her everything she needed to know.

Tanya
sucked in a deep breath. “I could take care of that you know. My mouth still works
just fine.”

Brant
choked out a laugh. “Of that I have no doubt, Cenwein, but this is something
I’ll take care of myself. The only thing you need to worry about over the next
couple of weeks is resting up and growing our baby. Nothing else.” He said the
last on a low growl. “Zane and I are grown males, we may not have much
practice, but we’re more than capable of taking care of ourselves.” To show her
he meant business, he palmed his cock through his jeans, the glowing in his
eyes increased in intensity.

Tanya
nodded. “I’m really sorry that I can’t…”

Brant
was at her side so quickly that she didn’t even register that he had moved.
“You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. Not one damned thing.”

She
nodded, believing him. Her heart filled with untold joy at the thought of the
baby growing inside of her. Brant was right, the little one was all that
mattered right now.

Hang
in there little one. Just hang in there, please.

“I’ll
be back in a few minutes,” Brant growled.

“Only
a few minutes?” She teased. “I thought you could last longer than that.”

“Sweetheart,
when I think about your tight, wet, little pussy and picture myself buried deep
inside you, I doubt I’ll last more than 10 seconds.”

His
face pulled into a tight smile as he left. Closing the door to the dusky night
sky behind him.

In
that moment, she realized what an idiot she was being. Zane was not cheating on
her. Brant’s phone was still on the bedside table. She picked it up and dialed
Zane. No answer.

It
didn’t mean anything. She picked up one of the romance novels, it had a really
hot, buff guy on the cover. He was covered in tattoos and wore the role of bad
boy like a second skin. The title read
My Inked, Stepbrother Billionaire
.
The subtitle declared that this book was the first in
The Werebears of New
York Series
.

Stepbrother.

Werebears.

What
had happened to the book world in her absence? Since when was stepbrother the
new flavor of the day? Bears? What happened to good old-fashioned wolves?

Tanya
put the book back down. Maybe later. She took a look at the time on the cell
phone screen. Three whole minutes had passed since she’d last tried to call.
Two more minutes and she’d try again.

With
nothing else to do and since she always needed to pee, she used up the time by
doing just that. As soon as she got back in bed, she dialed again and this time
someone answered but it wasn’t Zane.

“My
lord,” the unknown voice said. He obviously had read that it was Brant’s phone
on the caller ID.

“Zane
please.”

“Who
the fuck are you? And why do you have Brant’s phone?” A rough growl. There were
still screaming noises in the background.

Tanya
raised her eyebrows. Her pregnancy bitch hormones kicked in. “Who the fuck are
you? Where is Zane?” Before he could answer, she raged on. “I need to speak to
him right now so I suggest you put him on the line or fucking else.” She felt
like saying…
do you know who I am
but only just managed to hold back. No
one liked a person who threw around that line so she wasn’t about to start
using it any time soon. Even if she was sorely tempted.

She
grimaced. Ever since finding out about the baby she’d been trying really hard
not to swear but was apparently failing dismally.

“Whatever
you do, do not harm or attempt to rut with the king. I happen to know the queen
and I can say with certainty that if you lay even a single finger on him then you
will be sorry…as in lose your head sorry.”

It
was then that she realized that the idiot on the line thought that she was one
of the crazy vampire females that were running around, and that she had somehow
gotten her hands on Brant and his cell phone.

“The
female that is with Zane right now will probably be executed right behind you.”

Her
blood ran cold. There was a female with Zane. What had this female done that
was so bad that it would warrant losing her head? Tanya didn’t want to know. At
the same time she really needed to know. “What do you mean?”

Is
she fucking him?

Hurting
him?

“Don’t
play coy with me. If any of you vampire females so much as touch either of the
kings you’re in for a world of hurt. Take my advice and forget whatever it is
you are doing. Hopefully, you will get to live. Ignore my advice and you will
definitely die. My lady will ensure of it. She has a temper.” He mumbled the
last.

She
so did not have a damned temper. Did she? “Who is with Zane?” Her voice was
shaky.

“It’s
none of your goddamned business, female. I’m done with this conversation.” The
male voice said, causing her to lose her temper.

“Where
is he?” She screamed. “Who is with him?”

The
line went dead. So she dialed again. There was no answer.

It
was around about that time that Brant burst into the room. “What is going on?”
He growled. “What’s wrong?”

Tanya
relayed the telephone conversation trying not to sound as frantic as she felt.

****

For
mother fucking sakes.

He
knew how it sounded, how it looked but there was no way in hell that Zane had
evoked that bullshit lore. That he was rutting like an animal with some female.
A female that was not their mate. Brant refused to believe it.

Not
after Zane had tore into him yesterday when he thought that he and Allison were
about to start a rut fest. Brant could still feel the sting and the burn as
Zane’s fists had crashed against him, when the male’s hand had closed around
his throat.

No
fucking way.

How
the hell did he explain that to Tanya? He wasn’t about to inform her of the
whole Allison episode. It would only make things worse.

“Trust
me on this. Zane is not with some other female. No way, no fucking how.” He
took her face between his hands and looked deep into eyes of the fairest blue.
When her lip quivered, he almost fucking lost it. Couldn’t stand to see her in
any type of pain. “Believe me, Cenwein, because it’s true.”

Tanya
nodded as her eyes slowly filled with unshed tears. “Okay,” she whispered.

Brant
dialed Zane again for the fifth fucking time. Still no answer. He swore he was
going to kill him. The male had promised to stay in touch. This was not staying
in fucking touch.

He
needed to gain some control. If he lost it, then Tanya would think all the
bullshit was true. He could not let that happen.

Brant
sat down on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms. For a while now
he had known that his mate could never be completely happy or satisfied unless
she was with both of them…together. Well, he would have to do his damnedest to
try and make up for Zane not being here.

Her
shoulders shook softly as she sobbed and buried her face into his chest. “I do
trust him.” She said over and over again as if trying to convince herself of
it.

“There’s
a lot of shit going down at the castle. Loads he is having to deal with right
now. Let’s give it a few hours and try again. I know for a fact that there’s a
logical explanation for this and it doesn’t involve Zane’s dick in another…”
Maybe he should try and rephrase that. “Zane doing something he shouldn’t.”

His
little human nodded, making little hiccupping and sniffing noises. “I know,” she
croaked.

“He
loves you and this baby too damned much. He also knows that I would kill him.”
Brant gnashed his teeth together, forcing himself to calm the fuck down.

Tanya
laughed, sounding more hurt in that moment than she had when she was sobbing.
If there was one thing he hated, it was feeling useless and right now he was the
king of useless.

Willing
his muscles to relax. Using easy strokes, he rubbed a hand up and down her
back. Holding her tight and close.

It
wasn’t long and her breathing turned deep and rhythmic. She may not want to
admit it, even to herself, but this pregnancy was taking a lot out of her. Both
he and Zane had noticed the dark smudges under her eyes. How she rubbed her
lower back all the time. She couldn’t even make it halfway up the stairs
without becoming out of breath.

Yet,
they had both been selfish bastards, unable to keep their hands off of her.
Tanya was their mate, their everything. Soon to be the mother of their child.
How could she not grow lovelier with each passing day? Her scent had changed as
she grew riper with child, making her harder to resist. It wasn’t the same as
when she had been in the heat. Not that type of insane inducing pheromone that
made a male get hard and stay hard. No, this was something more, something
greater. It made him bristle with the need to protect, the need to see her
happy by any means necessary. She scented of them together as a family, as a
unit. It was the best fucking thing he had ever smelled. It made his dick hard
as granite and his heart as soft and gooey as melted chocolate.

Brant
knew that Zane had experienced this as well. Had caught the male with his nose
buried in Tanya’s hair. There were numerous occasions where Brant had seen him
breathing her in, had watched in fascination as the other male’s eyes drifted
closed in bliss.

There
was more than one occasion where they had exchanged knowing glances. Most of
those were straight after he buried his own nose deep into her silky, soft
tresses, just as he was doing right now.

Fuck,
she was everything to them.

Brant
reached for his phone, not surprised when he heard Zane’s voicemail.
Where
the hell are you?