Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) (11 page)

“Actually I haven’t worked out exactly where we will go. I have friends in Ireland that can-” Clyde began to say.

“-wait… what?” Riley said quickly, “We aren’t going anywhere. I want to stay here.”

“But,” said Ragon, speaking for the first time, “surely you agree that you and the baby would be safer somewhere else. You will start to show soon and then-”

“-so what if people know I am pregnant. That is normal for girls… you know, having babies. No one will think that Clyde is the father; if they see us together, they will probably just think that I am his source and that he has a fetish for pregnant women.”

The moment that Riley had said
that is normal for girls
, Ari’s heart dropped and she looked away from Ragon. Riley was of course right; girls did have babies, that was the normal order of things, but not for Ari. Ari was in love with a vampire and whatever miracle had allowed Riley to have a baby, was almost certainly impossible for her. With another twinge of sadness, Ari released not just what this meant for her as woman, but also what it meant for her line, the Grandor line. She would be the last Grandor descendant.

“You really don’t want to leave?” asked Clyde.

Riley shook her head but before she could speak, Sandra said, “Well, I think Riley would be safer with us. She has a coven of vampires protecting her, not to mention the Grandor descendant, a wraith and a witch. No hospital will be able to offer that sort of support. Who better to oversee her pregnancy?”

Ari smiled knowingly at Sandra. There was a defensive look in Sandra’s eyes as she moved to stand by Riley. Sandra had been turned by Thomas on her wedding night, when she had been dying. It had been Sandra and Larissa to point out to Ari that vampires couldn’t have children. Clearly, vampire or not, some women were just maternal, and Sandra, with her eccentric makeup and comforting southern accent, was as maternal as they came.

“Ok,” Clyde said slowly, “but if we stay here-”

“-thank you, thank you, thank you,” Riley said hurriedly, sweeping to Clyde and kissing him all over his face.

“Let me finish,” said Clyde, smiling, “if we stay here, you cannot stay in Cruor halls, you cannot get into trouble, you cannot talk to other waeres about being pregnant and you most defiantly cannot shift into a…”

But his words trailed off. Riley could not shift in an animal; they had already discovered that, what they didn’t know was why.

“Shift into an animal,” Riley finished for him, “well, I should at least be able to keep that promise.” Everyone in the coven looked confused and so Riley explained. “We found out today that for some reason I can’t transition. No idea why, but it would be nice to find out from another waere if-”

“-ah, ah, ah,” Clyde said quickly, wiggling his finger annoying at Riley, “don’t forget rule number three; you cannot talk to other waeres about being pregnant.”

“Why does it sound like your placing me under the scrutiny of the Final Death Laws?” asked riley.

“Because I love you,” Clyde said simply.

“But maybe another waere might be help. I have no idea about being preg-” Riley started to say.

“-do we have a deal or not?” Clyde asked quickly.

Riley nodded reluctantly and said, “Anything else master?” as she bowed slightly. “I assume that the Clyde rules of Riley’s Pregnancy are not punishable by death?”

“As a matter of fact, there is one more thing,” said Clyde, just as Riley rolled her eyes. “I am doing this because you are the most important thing in the world to me. That and we will need to sign you up to live on campus, preferably in Omega halls, so Ari is close by. There is no way you will be sleeping at mine from now on.”

“That seems reasonable,” Riley conceited.

After that Riley and Clyde had headed down stairs to check with Rick if there was a free room, while the rest of the coven went back to Cruor. This left Ragon and Ari alone in her room together. Ragon was looking at her, his eyebrows furrowed and his face stuck in an expression of confusion and sadness. 

“Bit of a shock, hey,” she said casually, wanting to break the tension.

“Yea, I mean, it’s great but, but I can’t believe it. Ari, are you ok?” he asked, reaching for Ari’s hand and pulling her towards him.

Pressed up against him, Ari buried her head in the nook of his shoulder. Was she ok? She should be happy, even jubilant, at the prospect of Riley being pregnant, but she wasn’t. She was jealous. Well, maybe that wasn’t the right word for it. Perhaps envious. Not because she wanted to have a baby. Ari was only twenty-five and had no thoughts of bringing a child into the world, not just yet anyhow. But her relationship with Ragon meant that she would never be able to have children with him, even if one day she was ready.   

“Yea, it’s nothing,” she said, trying to keep her voice from sounding flat.

“It’s ok,” said Ragon, sweeping her into his arms as he carried her over to her bed. “I think I can guess what’s wrong. I saw the way your face fell when Riley was speaking before; when she said that it was normal for girls to be pregnant.”

“Oh, yea, well, I am just being stupid.”

“No, you’re not,” said Ragon. “I can’t imagine how it must feel for you, but I have watched Sandra for the past century and know that the curse of being a vampire is not an easy one for women to bear. It seems unfair that you should have to suffer also, simply for being-”

“-for being in love with one,” said Ari, her eyebrows raised. “You think I would give up everything we have just to have a child?”

“I’m just saying, I wouldn’t be upset, I mean, I would understand if you decided…” he started to say, pausing as he took in a deep breath of unnecessary air. “This isn’t coming out right. I just want you to know that I would understand if you decided that you didn’t want to be with me because of it.”

“What?” said Ari, sitting up so fast that her head span. “How can you even say that?”

“Because, because it’s the right thing to say.”

“I don’t know what the future will bring. Well maybe sometimes I do,” she added, smiling. “But I know that right now I am in love with you. That’s all that matters. I know that when we first got together, you didn’t think you deserved to be with me. But surely you have seen how happy I am now. It seems stupid to risk this feeling, this amazing and wonderful feeling, just because there is a preconceived idea about what is normal. I mean, I’m not normal. Ever since I found out what I could do, it feels as if someone has wanted me dead. What if the Ancients find me and drag me back to their layer… what if-”

“-I would never let that happen.”

“My point is,” said Ari, speaking slowly now, “I have no idea about tomorrow. Maybe one day I would want a child, maybe one day I would feel safe enough to raise one. But if that day ever came, I wouldn’t want to raise it without you. Besides, right now, being with you… that’s all that matters. And I’m not about to leave you, just because in ten years’ time I might decide I want to have children.”

“If you wanted children, you could have them. I would never stop you.”

“Didn’t you hear the part about how I want, no, need you in my life,” asked Ari, genuinely confused.

“Ari, you aren’t a vampire. You always talk about us as if we are one and the same, but we’re not. You’re human. You can have children if you want to. I won’t let my curse define your future, or stop you from having everything you want and deserve.”

“That’s ridiculous. I would never want to have a child with someone else,” said Ari, dismissing this notion with a wave of her hand.

“It doesn’t have to be black and white like that. We could adopt or-”

“-it’s not just that. I don’t know if I would want to bring a child into all my madness. It feels like every moment I am facing off against someone that wants me dead.”

“I told you, I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ve been keeping you safe since you were a baby. I haven’t failed yet.”

“I know, but, but. Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I just think I would all be a hell of a lot simpler if I were a vampire,” said Ari, letting the words slip from her mouth before she could even think about them; she had not meant to say that.

She and Ragon stared at each other, and in that moment Ari’s greatest desire was to know what he was thinking. Though she had put allot of thought into becoming a vampire, Ari still had no idea if it were something she truly wanted. Did Ragon think she had said this because she wanted to become a vampire? She held her breath, unsure if she should reword her sentence or wait to see what Ragon would say. Soon Ragon spoke, sparing her from having to.  

“Ari,” he said, sighing, “we have no idea if vampire toxin will even be able to turn you. You know as well as I that being the Grandor descendant means that you can resist our lull. I’m not going to risk your life trying to keep you forever. Let’s just stick with the here and now,” he added, reaching for her hand and intertwining it in his. “The future is… exactly that, in the future. And, speaking of the future, I have organised a driving lesson for you in a week.”

“Really?” she said, recalling their earlier conversation, when Ragon had been none too impressed that Chris had had to drive her and Riley to the hospital.

“Yep.”

Ari smiled knowingly as Ragon kissed her. It was a deep kiss, one which made her toes curl and her heart race. She pressed her body up against his and breathed in deeply, smelling the cold aroma that she had come to associate with him. It felt wonderful being this close to him, her body partly warm from the bed spread and yet cool from Ragon’s touch. Before long she felt Ragon’s fingers trace the bottom of her shirt, then he lifted up over her head.   

“Well,” he said, tossing her shirt so that it fell to the floor, “we may not be able to have children but we can sure as hell practice.”

Yes they could, she thought, just as Ragon reached for her pants and tore them from her, actually splitting the line of denim at the thighs.

“Hey,” she said, pretending to sound upset, “those were my favourite jeans.”

“I’ll buy you a new pair.”

She shook her head, her eyes finally settling on the collar of Ragon’s shirt. In one quick motion she placed her hands against the fabric and pulled. Nothing happened; the shirt remained firmly intact, although perhaps a little stretched at the neck line.  

“Want some help?” he asked, and she nodded, watching as he tore his own shirt off his body.

“God that was sexy,” she laughed.

“Wait till you see my next trick.”

Ragon reached a hand out to hold her throat, gently lowering her to the bed. Slowly he kissed down from her lips, pausing at her breasts so as to unclasp her bra, then bite playfully at her exposed nipples. When he reached her thighs, his hand released her neck, so as to pull her underwear down. Ari was breathing very fast now, her heart hammering in her ears, dulling the sound of everything else around her. When she felt his cold tongue press against her skin she lunged forwards. Ragon rewarded her by kissing her sweet spot and then very carefully, licked her clit. Ari let out a moan, one which she quickly stifled when she realised how loud it was. At the same time Ragon’s tongue moved faster and faster, sending her body into shivers of pleasure. Slowly he brought his hands down to rest on her flat stomach, feeling her chest rise and fall quickly.