#3 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 3: Love & War) (4 page)

Chapter 15

How could she tell Brant that the sex had
been explosive, that they had taken what they needed from each other like animals?
Rutting was the right word to describe their coming together.

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Good.” He strode away from her towards the
door. “I need to meet with my guard. We must prepare…” He paused at her sharp
intake of breath. His eyes softened. “As a precaution only. I would rather that
we be over prepared than be taken by surprise.”

She nodded trying not to shudder as she
recalled how the wolf had looked at her. At the time she had thought that he
was sizing her up to make a meal out of her. After hearing Zane’s views, maybe
he was looking at her with a different kind of hunger. Tanya tucked the thought
firmly into the back of her mind. It wouldn’t help if she worried about
something she could do nothing about, she trusted Brant to keep her safe.

“I have doubled the guard within the manor
walls and have men doing perimeter patrols. You can spend some time with
Stephany. Xavier must accompany you though.” Brant pulled a sheathed knife from
a drawer in the large mahogany desk. It was small. With one easy motion he slid
the blade clear. It looked sharp. “A silver dagger, the hilt is made from bone.
Silver is deadly to non-humans. Make sure that you go for the throat.” Brant’s
words made her feel a little feint, but after her ordeals the previous day she
made sure that she took note. “It may be necessary to stab into the abdomen to
bring down the enemy first. The throat is where you need to aim if you are
forced to kill though. Another kill zone, but I would avoid this one, is the
heart. It can be difficult to get to because of the ribs. You would need to
stab from below angling your blade like this.” He demonstrated bringing the
knife up in an arc. “The blade is small but do not be fooled, it is capable of doing
major damage. I need you to promise me that you will keep it close at all times
and that you will use it if need be.”

She nodded as she took the knife from him.
Brant covered her hand with his much bigger one. “Do not hesitate. If you are
in danger use the blade.” He released her.

They walked side by side to the main living
area. Stephany’s face lit up as they approached. Brant kissed her forehead and
headed to the waiting men at the entrance.

The moment the men left the manor house, at
least all but Xavier and York, Stephany turned to her, her cobalt eyes blazing.
“Out with it. Don’t leave out one single detail.”

There were just too many emotions coursing
through her, she didn’t know how she felt about everything that had taken
place. Although Tanya needed to confide in someone, she just couldn’t right
this second. “I really need a shower.”

At first Stephany looked disappointed, then
she smiled broadly “And you must be hungry?”

She had already eaten but she nodded anyway.
“Yeah, I am.” Anything to buy a bit of time alone.

Stephany walked with her. When she tried to
enter the suite that had been allocated to her, Stephany gestured towards the
door that lead to Brant’s bedroom. “Your things have been moved. The King’s
orders.” They walked in, Tanya deposited her bag on the bed.

“Make yourself at home, I’ll be back in a
little while with something to eat.” The female vampire smiled at Tanya as she
closed the door behind her.

She walked further into the room. Plush
carpet beneath her feet, a crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling above
the king sized bed, a gold guild mirror took residence on the far wall. The
room was certainly fit for a king. Tanya removed her tattered sweater, and the
rest of her clothes trying not to recall how they got that way. She made for
the bathroom.

After a hot shower, she opened the big dressers
that lined one side of the suite. The first two were filled with men’s clothes.
Brant’s things
. The next two were full of women’s clothes.
Hers.
The
ones Stephany had bought for her, except there seemed to be more now.

What she really felt like wearing at the
moment was her old worn out Harley Davidson T-shirt and sweatpants, but those
were still at her old apartment. She’d have to talk to Brant about having her
things brought to the manor. Then again, maybe she should wait to find out
where she ended up living in the end. Back to that irritating indecision. She
brought her fingers to her temple and massaged. One of the kings was going to
end up losing. No heir, no future, extinction of their coven. The massive
weight of her choice settled more firmly onto her. She needed to talk about it,
but Stephany was far from objective since she would want Tanya to choose Brant.

She grabbed a pair of boxers that she’d
seen in Brant’s closet, one of the plain white t-shirts, and some comfortable
cotton underwear. She planned on staying behind these four walls for a little
while for some much needed peace. Tanya dug in her overnight bag and pulled out
her cell phone.

Her best friend answered after the first
ring, “Why has it taken you so long to call?”

“Nice hello.” Her mouth pulled into an
involuntary smile and already she could feel some of the weight lift.

“So what’s it like to shag a vampire?”
Becky would have seen the whole choosing debacle on the local news station. By
now everyone in Sweetwater would know, little old Tanya Milan had been one of
the human females chosen. Becky had been so pissed that she wasn’t permitted to
attend the ceremony. Her feisty little friend would have loved to have had a
chance at one of the kings. One of
her
kings.

 “Confusing.”

“What’s confusing about it? Do they do it
in some other kind of way?” It felt so good to hear her friend’s voice. The
stress seemed to melt away from her.

“No.” She couldn’t help but giggle.

“Please, oh please just tell me the sex is
good.” There was an expectant pause at the other end of the line.

Tanya couldn’t help but recall how Brant
had thrust into her while Zane had toyed with her clit. She groaned, “Mind
blowing.”

Becky screamed directly into the mouthpiece
so that Tanya had to hold the phone away for a few beats. “I knew it, I just
knew it. Why do you sound so glum?”

Tanya filled her in on the events of the
last few days, having to hold the phone away from her ear every so often.

“You are shitting me. They are going to
bounce you between them for the next nine days? You get to have sex with both
men till the new moon?”

“Yeah.”

Another scream.

 “Stop that, you’re giving me a headache.
It’s not as great as what it sounds. I need to choose at the end of the nine
days and one of them will end up with no heirs. There won’t be a future king
and that coven will be doomed.” Tanya sighed.

“I take it you like both kings?”

Tanya paused. She had been so sure that
Brant was the one and if she was forced to choose right now she would go with
him, but Zane was quickly creeping under her skin. He might be a big bully and
a jerk, but he had a vulnerability that brought out the protector in her.

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“If they’re sharing you now, why not
indefinitely? You could have both of them. Problem solved.” For a half a beat,
Becky’s suggestion made complete sense. She even felt her heart pick up a beat
at the prospect of not having to choose. Then reality came crashing back.

“Weren’t you listening? They’re enemies. Up
until a few years ago, they were at war. There’s still a lot I don’t know about
their history but you should’ve seen them fighting this morning. I’m talking
fists, blood the whole nine yards. I don’t think it would ever work.” Surely if
such a solution was even half feasible they would’ve thought of it.

“They were actually physically fighting
over you?” her voice was filled with awe.

“It’s not as great as what you would
imagine. I’m not talking love taps. If the others hadn’t been there to
intervene, they may’ve ended up killing each other.”

“Over you. How romantic.”

Tanya laughed. Right now she wished she had
some of Becky’s easy going nature. Her friend took everything in stride. It was
one of the reasons they were such good friends. They helped balance one
another.

“I still say you should keep them both. Sounds
like the perfect solution to me. There are worse things than being the filling
in a vampire sandwich.” Becky laughed at her own joke.

“You didn’t just say that?”

“Yeah I did. When are you inviting me? I
would love to meet your
men
.”

“I don’t know Becks, humans are kind of off
limits and don’t get invited…ever.” Tanya moved the phone to the other ear. She
sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window. Leather clad guards
patrolled the surrounding lawns in pairs.

“I promise to keep my hands to myself. Then
again, I wouldn’t be able to resist all that muscle. Why are humans off
limits?”

“Apparently we break easily.”

A long pause, “Are you telling me you’re in
danger?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” She tried
to answer immediately and to keep her answer simple, but obviously something
had given her away.

“Don’t give me that, I’m fine bullshit. Out
with it.”

“They’re big, seriously strong and drink
blood, there is some risk, at least until I’m mated. Then apparently I’ll
become stronger or something.”

Her friend huffed. “Mmmm, well come on new
moon I say. I’ll seriously have me some vampire steaks if anything happens to
you though, and I will be coming to visit soon. They can’t keep you away from
your bestie.”

“There are other issues at the moment that
would make your visiting difficult. The vampires are kind of at war with the
elves and werewolves” She paused deciding not to worry her friend by telling
her everything. “It’s a little unstable at the moment.”

“No ways. You’re in danger from all sides.
That’s it, I’m coming to fetch you.” Becky was being impulsive as always.

“Calm down, I’m perfectly safe,” she lied.
“Brant and Zane will protect me. I’m surrounded by dozens of royal guard. I’m
fine.”

“Ooooh, in that case lucky you. Now do
yourself a favor and convince your men that a vampire sandwich is the way to
go.”

Tanya laughed. She only wished it could be
that simple. They said their goodbyes and Tanya promised to call Becky again
soon. Next, she called her aunt who didn’t even know that Tanya had been chosen
or that she was missing. Once the old lady had been filled in, she reassured
her that she was safe and that everything was fine. Aunt Sally invited Tanya
and her new boyfriend round for lunch on Sunday and Tanya had to carefully
decline. Aunt Sally didn’t seem to fully understand that her niece was about to
become a vampire bride. She said her goodbyes promising to call again soon.

Tanya stretched herself out on the huge
bed. After ten minutes, she rummaged in her overnight bag and pulled out a
book. The latest release from her favorite romance author. One of her guilty
pleasures, she loved to read. The problem was that she battled to concentrate
on what she was reading and kept having to flip back a page or two to reread
the section before. She had too much on her mind at the moment.  On the verge
of giving up, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Stephany breezed in, a silver tray in her
hands covered in everything. Eggs, delicious smelling crispy bacon. There was
toast and pancakes with syrup and grated cheese. A pot, of what smelled like,
freshly brewed coffee and a tall glass of orange juice. Tanya’s stomach growled.

“Sounds like I am just in time.” Stephany
glanced down at Tanya’s tummy before putting the tray on the bedside table. “May
I?” She gestured to the spot at the end of the bed.

Tanya nodded and Stephany sat, the bed
dipped as she did so.

“I heard that Zane had nothing to do with
his human’s death. She took her own life, that had to have been really
difficult for Zane considering his past.”

Tanya tried to stop herself from reacting,
but a strangled gasp still managed to escape.

“You didn’t know about the suicide?”

“I knew that she had died and that Zane was
not responsible, but I wasn’t sure of the exact circumstances. What happened to
Zane before I mean?” Tanya suspected his hardened exterior and that vulnerable
edge had something to do with it.

“Oh no. You need to speak to him yourself.
Like I said, he’s had it tough. I take it you must have gotten along well with
him.” Stephany pointed at the tray, “Eat.”

“Just because we had sex doesn’t mean we
got along.” Tanya sat up tucking her legs underneath herself. She snagged some bacon.

“Were you compatible?”

Tanya didn’t answer, not sure what the
female vamp meant. Stephany must have registered the confusion on her face
because she added. “Did you enjoy the sex?”

Tanya almost choked on the piece of bacon
she was swallowing but managed to compose herself. “Sheesh, is nothing sacred
around here? Why is it so important about how much I enjoyed the sex anyway?”