Delilah Devlin - My Immortal Knight 03 (15 page)

“Oh yeah,” Joe shook his head. She’d certainly made
him hot the moment she’d parted her sweet thighs to pleasure herself. The one
woman on the planet he should never have taken…

“I’ve only experienced it once or twice myself, but
then I’d had proper mentoring,” Dylan said, glaring at Quentin. “I knew we didn’t
mix.”

“But why is it such a terrible thing if she’s
pregnant?” Darcy asked, wringing out a wet cloth above the station’s coffee
pot. She laid it on Lily’s forehead.

“We survive because we keep a balance in nature,”
Dylan said, “vampire to human, werewolf to human. Even among us. The
consequences of this union, vampire and werewolf, will upset that balance.”

“Would you speak English for fucksake!” Emmy grumbled.
“Get to the point. Has anyone else noticed how pompous he’s gotten since we
married?”

Dylan reached down and pulled her hair. “The point, my
dear, is that any child of such a union may have extraordinary powers.
Werewolves and vampires will want it destroyed before it can realize its full
potential.”

“But she’s not a werewolf, yet,” Joe protested.

“She carries their DNA. She can pass it to her child.”

Feeling sick to his stomach, Joe said, “Maybe she’s
not pregnant. Hell, she’s still in heat.”

“She’s capable of conceiving throughout her heat—it
doesn’t end until she stops ovulating. That doesn’t happen in a day. It begins
when she conceives her first cub, but can last a week.”

“What are you saying? She might be having a litter?”

“Just how many times did you fuck her?” Quentin
bellowed.

“Oh God! I
am
going to have a dozen tits!”

Lily sat up, her head still spinning. Quentin reached
to steady her.

“Get away from her,” Joe said, shoving the other
vampire away. He knelt beside Lily. “Are you feeling better?”

“I want to leave,” she said quietly.

“All right, we’ll leave.”

“No. By myself.” She looked into his face and saw
something that looked like pain. But that couldn’t be. She was just someone he’d
been attracted to because of the chemical she emitted.

“You should let her leave, Joe.” Quentin said. “She’s
a danger to everyone around her.”

“She’s not going anywhere by herself,” Joe said, with
the menacing look that always managed to turn her knees to jelly.

“They’ll have to move into The Compound with us,”
Darcy said.

“The hell they will!” Quentin bit out.

“What compound?” Joe asked.

“Nicky’s old place,” Darcy explained. “The SU
confiscated it along with the rest of his property. They deeded it to us to set
up The Council.”

“Council?”

“You’ve a lot to catch up on,” Dylan said.

“Look, I’m not going to any compound. I’m going home.”
Lily struggled to stand, but her legs didn’t seem to have any strength and she
crumpled back onto the sofa.

“Stay put,” Joe said, placing his hand on her thigh to
keep her there. “Why don’t you want me to come with you?”

“Because I’m just a problem,” she said, through a veil
of tears. “You don’t really want me.”

He raised both eyebrows. “Don’t want you?”

“If she moves in, she’ll have to stay put until she
has the baby,” Dylan said, as though Lily hadn’t spoken a word. “Otherwise she’ll
leave scent everywhere she goes. We can’t have her drawing every wolf and vamp
in the region.”

“What about after the baby’s born?” Quentin asked.

“We’ll see,” Dylan replied. “The baby may not show any
signs of its nature until it reaches adolescence.”

“But
she’ll
have to be turned,” Quentin said,
staring at Lily.

“No!” Joe said, rounding on the two men.

The three males faced off, hands clenched.

Lily put a hand to her forehead and stripped away the
cloth. Her head hurt just trying to keep up with the volleys the men shot at
each other, she wasn’t sticking around to see them beat each other bloody.

Emmy sat down beside her and patted her knee. “You
just have to let them get it all out. It’s a man thing. They can’t just agree;
it’s always a contest.”

“If you don’t turn her,” Dylan said, “she’ll continue
to come into season.”

“But how will she raise a child—or children,” Joe
said, “when she’ll be damned to the night for half her life?”

“Auntie Darcy can babysit,” Darcy said, waving her
hand to get their attention.

“Absolutely not!” Quentin said. “If the child were
discovered there could be a bloodbath. I won’t risk your safety, Darcy.”

“Will he be furry?” Lily asked.

This drew the first smiles from Dylan and Quentin.
Lily began to understand their attraction. Or maybe it was just her pheromones
going into overdrive.

“No,” Dylan said. “He’ll appear human. Of course,
there’s every chance he may be human.”

“She may be a girl,” Joe said.

“Not likely. Why do you think Lily here’s so valuable?”
Dylan said, his gaze sweeping over her.

Lily blushed as all three males threw her interested
stares.

“They mostly whelp males.”

“I may not even be pregnant,” she said doubtfully.

“And you make it a habit to swoon?” Dylan raised an
eyebrow.

“Never!”

Three male heads nodded sagely.

Lily huffed. “I’m not staying. Joe isn’t going to want
me once my heat ends—it’s just the pheromones. Hell, I might not want him.”

“Oh, you’ll want me,” he said, stalking toward her. “I’ll
make sure of that.”

Lily held her breath as he squatted next to her. He
lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “You’re staying. Period. End of
story.” The firm set of his mouth told her he’d sit on her if she tried to
leave.

She just wished he wanted her to stay because he loved
her—not because she might be carrying his child. “I never cry,” she said, with
a sniff.

Dylan and Quentin grinned.

“They’re counting off clues,” Joe said.

“Clues?” she asked stupidly.

“Fainting, crying—”

“She’s preggers all right,” Quentin said.

“You don’t like me,” Lily wailed, hating she sounded
like a child.

Quentin rolled his eyes. “I have to like you. Darcy
won’t let me sleep with her, if I don’t.”

“Got that right.”

“How will we protect her during the day?” Joe asked,
glancing back at the two men.

“Dylan’s loaded,” Emmy said, her eyes dancing with amusement.
“He can hire security to guard The Compound.”

Dylan nodded. “Most of Nicky’s surveillance equipment
is still in place. Won’t take much to get it up to snuff.”

“What do you say, Lily?” Joe asked. “Will you go
peacefully, or do I have to cuff you and drag you there?”

“You mean I have choices?” Lily felt like an idiot.
All he had to do was give her that intensely sexy stare and she melted like
goo.

The corners of his lips turned up, forming a smug
smile.

She narrowed her eyes. “That’s not fair. You’re using
my own nature against me.”

“If it’s the only way I can get you to be reasonable—”

“All right,” she scowled. “I’ll stay until the baby’s
born. I know I’ll need protection until then. After…we’ll see.”

Joe nodded. “Good enough.” He leaned forward and
kissed her, sliding his tongue into her mouth.

Lily melted against him, her arms circling his neck.

“And we thought it got loud when the Albermarles moved
in,” Emmy murmured. “Sweetie, these two are gonna rattle the roof.”

“So do you know what you’re having?” Lily asked Darcy.

The women had gathered in the kitchen at The Compound
for an early morning snack before they all headed to bed.

She was getting used to a vampires’ hours. Looking
down at the remnants of her rare steak, she realized more than just her sleep
patterns were adjusting. The final transformation once the baby was born would
be a cinch.

“I’m having a boy,” Darcy said, around a mouthful of
Cookies ‘n Cream. The woman had already put away a pint and was starting on her
second. How she maintained her slim figure was a marvel to Lily.

Lily had made a study of her two companions over the
past couple of days. She now understood Joe’s attraction to the reed-thin,
muscular woman. Emmy on the other hand was lush and everything feminine, with
her golden hair and plump curves. Between the two of them, Lily felt like a
plain, brown wren.

“Joe will be thrilled,” Emmy said. She’d claimed she
wasn’t hungry at all, but had picked at both their dishes. She glanced up at
Lily’s face. “Oops. Sorry.”

Lily gave her a small, tight smile. “It’s okay. I’ll
have to get used to all this togetherness. At least until my baby comes.”

“Why are you so set on leaving?” Darcy asked, concern
shadowing her eyes.

Lily shrugged. “I couldn’t bear for Joe to stay with
me because of the baby, when he’s in love with you.”

Darcy shook her head. “He’s not in love with me. We’re
just friends. He wanted me because Quentin wanted me. If anything, Joe has a
thing for Quentin.”

“Not a man on man thing, mind you,” Emmy piped in. “Like
I said, everything’s a competition. Who’s the meanest, toughest—”

“The best lover.” Darcy shivered. “That was pretty
irresistible, when they were trying to one up each other.”

“I bet it was,” Emmy said dryly. She waggled her
eyebrows with wicked amusement. “So how was it? With both of them?”

“You had Joe and Quentin in bed with you—at the same
time?” Lily asked, feeling a little queasy.

Darcy winced. “It’s not like it sounds. I mean, it was
the ultimate thrill, but Joe needed me. It was just after Quentin turned him.
He needed blood—and sex.”

“And you just had to be the one to give it to him?”
Emmy asked. “Sure.”

“Yeah,” Darcy said, a lovely pink tingeing her cheeks.
“ Something like that.”

“So who’s the biggest?” Emmy asked slyly.

“Is size really a characteristic of vampire males?”
Lily asked. “I mean, I’d guessed that, but sometimes I think Joe’s just teasing
me.”

Emmy’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “Yup. At least, I’ve
seen Dylan and Quentin’s man-things. They’re both pretty impressive.”

Emmy and Lily turned to Darcy, who blushed brighter.

“I didn’t exactly see his…thing, after he was turned.
He was behind me.”

“I knew it!” Emmy crowed. “You had a man-wich!”

“Emmy, Christ!” Darcy’s lips twisted into a wicked
grin. “Actually, yeah. So you see, I can’t attest to the fact that one or the
other is larger, but Joe was certainly…”

“Substantial?” Lily couldn’t resist asking.

Darcy nodded and the three shared embarrassed glances
before bursting into laughter.

“Let’s go back to what you said before,” Darcy said. “
Lily, you just have to stay. It would tear Joe apart not to see his child grow
up.”

“And there’s so much work for us to do here,” Emmy
said, spearing the last chunk of Lily’s steak. “What with The Council starting
up and the work with the Special Unit.”

“Joe tells me you’re a professor, an expert in vampire
traditions.” Darcy’s expression reflected true interest.

Lily snorted. “I don’t think my research has taught me
all that much. Look how I was blind-sided with this werewolf thing.”

“But you could continue your research here,” Darcy
insisted. “You’ll have plenty of subjects to study.”

“Joe’s not very supportive of some aspects of my
research,” Lily grumbled. “He’d have a cow if I pulled out a ruler.” Lily
brightened. “But I haven’t seen everything yet, have I? I mean, I’ve never seen
a vampire fly.”

“Fly?” Emmy asked around a mouthful of steak.

At the two women’s amused expressions, Lily’s
shoulders slumped. “Tell me he wasn’t teasing me about that.”

“Don’t you see?” Emmy said. “You just can’t trust what
they tell you. These guys are jokers. You have to stick around to see for
yourself what they can do.”

“They really can’t fly?”

“Nope. But they are wickedly agile and fast. Maybe you
could set up some kind of physical trials to make some comparisons—human to
vampire.”

“They’re fast tongued, you mean. It looks like I’ll
need to pull together a whole new survey.”

Darcy’s expression grew solemn. “Why don’t you think
Joe loves you?”

Lily sighed. “Because he’s never said it. And because
all he ever said was that he wasn’t staying.”

“I think you’re wrong,” Emmy said. “You should have
seen his face when you fainted.”

“Maybe,” Darcy said, tapping the side of her cheek
with a finger, “you have to make him say it.”