vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found (26 page)

“That was amazing, Aidan. I think we should head back now so that I can get ready for Dr. Hildebrand.”

“Of course, love.” He pops us into the delivery room we have set up. “Until tomorrow,” he says and kisses my forehead and leaves.

Sebastian comes in and scoops me up, planting an oh so smoking hot kiss on my lips.

“Mmm… what was that for?” I ask.

“I just missed you. I’m glad for Aidan’s ability to get you out into the fresh air, but…”

“But…?”

“I can’t help but wish it was me with you. I know how much you cherish your time with him. I’m just jealous. I want all your minutes.” Sebastian shrugs. I stand on tiptoe so I can kiss him soundly making sure he has no doubts about where my heart lives.

Sebastian rubs my belly. My bump is getting bigger. I can hardly wait for the baby to start moving. Having that little life in me makes me feel complete in a way I never knew existed. Bast smiles down at my belly and bends to kiss it. I rest my hands on his shoulders as he turns his head so he can hear the heartbeat. This is his way of sharing our experience and I love that he is able to.

I already can’t wear any of my jeans. I’ve been using Laura’s gifts extensively. Hannah and Helena have also been ordering online, I just don’t know what. Manda and I have been on the phones and have had our noses buried in bride magazines. We are almost set for Sunday’s wedding. Aidan will take us all to Fort Valley, Georgia. Manda and Aidan will be wed in Peach County during the peak of the peach blossoms. 

In the early twenties they held a huge peach festival and the little town would get as many as forty thousand visitors. They quit having it in 1926 because it was too successful. Now they hold a smaller festival during harvest time. Manda grew up in Byron which is just next to Fort Valley. She wants to have the ceremony outside, so no church wedding for her. We will be having the mayor officiating, though, and then the reception will be in the same place as the wedding, in a local orchard among the peach blossoms. I am going to have Aidan make them perpetually fall among the guests. There won’t be many. Just us family and a few associates of Manda’s. We’ll serve champagne and little individual cakes for everyone. That way they won’t have the embarrassing feed-each-other-cake moment. They have a temporary platform and bandstand that they are putting up so that we can set chairs out for the wedding and then remove them for dancing. Along with miles of white silk bunting and we will have bushels of peach blossoms and roses. It should smell fantastic.

Every last detail has been taken care of. We had sent personal invitations to the other models and designers she was close to and they all RSVP’d. We visited the bakery that would be making the cakes. We ordered gallons of champagne. We are ready.

We have two days to go and I hope that they will be quiet days. I plan on Aidan taking us with Matteo or Alessandro and Sebastian to a spa for an overnight stay. I want to pamper Manda. We are going to get the works done. Diel and Hannah are not able to come because the babies are causing a holy terror to the house and it takes everything they have to keep up with them.

Aidan meets us in the dining room with his bag in hand. The rest of our bags are in a pile and Aidan waves at them, sending them to our destination. We all gather hands. Alessandro is going with us. I blink and feel the warm desert winds embrace me before we pop back into time and reality outside a resort spa.

Manda claps her hands and lets out a little squeal.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” she says before taking up my hand and tugging me inside. I laugh as she drags me up the stairs and looks back at Aidan who is grinning. He mouths ‘Thank you’ before Manda propels me through the front frosted glass doors.

We check in and everyone is handed a menu of activities and amenities. We decide to unpack and then meet back downstairs to make our plans. When we get to Bast’s and my room he picks me up so he can kiss me properly. The relentless tension of the last week melts from his face.

“You seem relaxed.”

“I am. I know you’re safe here. I want you to be just as pampered as Manda so make sure you get everything she does. I want you to relax too, ma petite mamman,” he says before kissing me again.

He sets me gently down on the floor and then starts to nuzzle my neck while he cups my overly sensitive breasts. It’s too much for me and I moan his name. 

“Mmm, I love hearing my name on your lips. Especially when you moan. I love you and your body and your spirit,” he whispers in my ear. It’s my undoing and I hold his face with both my hands so I can kiss him with abandon. I love the taste of Bast.

He moves his hands to the bottom of my dress and pulls it up so he can grab my leg and then my butt before moving his hand to my zipper. He slowly pulls it down and lets it fall off. I’m wearing the briefest see-through lace lingerie. He groans and then kisses me again.

“You are so beautiful. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Especially this,” he says as he drops to his knees and kisses my belly. He rests his head against my baby bump and listens while I run my hands through his hair.

“It’s really happening, Lily, our happily ever after. I love you so much.” His voice cracks on the last word. 

His words hit me like a freight train. It is our happily ever after. I send a silent prayer up to the heavens for this reality. I pull at him to make him stand. When he is in front of me I kiss him hard letting him know how I feel in that one kiss. All our past happy and sad moments come pouring out and I still kiss him to tell him I only want this life, this man.

I slowly unbutton his shirt and we let it fall to the floor with my dress. Then he unsnaps my bra and when he sees my enlarged, aroused breasts he inhales sharply. He greedily starts to lavish them with his mouth. I tilt my head back and try to absorb all the sensations going through my body. Gripping his hair I pull hard and he answers by grazing his fangs across my nipple. It’s all I can take and I shatter. 

Sebastian swings me up in his arms before I can even comprehend what he is doing. I’m still gasping and trembling. He lays me gently on the bed. He crawls up between my legs and slowly pulls down my panties. His eyes stay on me the whole way. Before I can stop him, he plunges his tongue into my wetness and laves that sensitive swollen bundle. I writhe in the bed calling out his name as I feel the fire burning deep inside of me. I am only able to concentrate on that small area of my body that he is worshipping so well. Heat flows through my limbs as I find my release again. 

Panting, I look down at him. His eyes are possessive, heated and focused entirely on me. It makes my heart skip a beat. It doesn’t beat much to begin with. 

“Lily, I need you,” Bast says hoarsely. 

“I need you too, Bast.”

He climbs up my body, stopping to kiss my belly and starts to kiss me like it’s our last chance to be together. His desperation bleeds through his passion. I give him all of myself in the kiss, reassuring him that I need him as much as he needs me. 

He slowly enters me. We both moan at the contact. I close my eyes, savoring him.

“No,” he whispers. “I want to see your eyes, stay with me.”

“Always.”

We stare into each other’s eyes while we find our rhythm. Sliding our bodies across each other like a love poem. I need this vampire so much. He is everything to me.

“Lily,” Sebastian whispers like a prayer, finding his release with me. 

I moan his name and pull him down to me, holding on with everything in me.

“Cherie, did I hurt you?” Sebastian’s alarm rocks me back to reality.

“No, sweetheart. I’m just so in love with you that sometimes I’m overwhelmed.”

He looks at me with his soft brown eyes and kisses me slowly until the tears stop, wiping away my tears. I snuggle into his arms, resting my head on his magnificently carved abdomen.

“We need to meet up with Aidan and Manda. They are probably wondering where we are,” he chuckles. “It’s my fault. I simply couldn’t resist you. I love the way your body is swelling, everywhere.”

The wicked glint in his eyes is enough to make any woman’s panties combust. It really is hard to deny him anything. I sigh and pull away from him. We don’t even have time for a shower. Ugh… but it was so worth it. I can’t help the smile on my swollen lips. I touch them, remembering, and swear they still tingle.

Sebastian puts our suitcase on the bed and pulls out a new pair of jeans and a sweater. We are in Colorado in the mountains and it is still chilly this high up. I pull out an empire waist dress that is beaded at the waist. It accentuates my bump. Another Zhang piece. 

“You look so innocent and shine with beauty.”

I snort. Sebastian gives me a questioning look.

“Bast, after that, after what we just did, you can still call me innocent?”

He lets out a bark of laughter as he grabs me and pulls my face to his.

“Yes, you are innocent and pure and beautiful. Always will be in my eyes, wife. Better get used to it.”

I want to cry again but squelch it. My traitorous lip trembles. Damn hormones. Sebastian gathers me to his side and we find our way out the door and to our meeting point. Aidan and Alessandro look up as we walk towards them. Aidan gives us an indulgent smile. I’m sure our auras are out of this world right now.

“That’s how you got her in this condition,” Aidan says pointing at my stomach and Sebastian laughs loudly.

“Hush, now we have a whole menu of things we can have done. I expect you men to have full treatments too. Alessandro, that means you too,” I say to the tall man guarding us even now.

“No signora, I will stay just to the side of you and guard you. Please. It is my job and privilege.”

“Alessandro, thank you. I will rest easier knowing you are with both the girls.”

“Si, signori.”

“Please call me Sebastian. I thought we covered that?” Sebastian says as he grabs and the man and pulls him into a one arm hug, slapping him on the back. Alessandro laughs with him.

“Si, Signori Sebastian. I will try to remember.”

“Good. Male bonding begins now. Shoo.” I grab Manda’s hand and drag her to the mud rooms.

We have tables side by side. Alessandro determines that the room only has one entrance and he is outside guarding it. No one here gives him a second look. A lot of famous people use this spa and I suspect bodyguards are not unusual.

Manda sighs as they brush on the French clay mixed with essential oils. It will purify and soften our skin. Not that we really need it but it feels heavenly. Nature sounds are playing so low it feels like the air is infused with the peace it generates. We rest our eyes and relax. After a wash down we are wrapped in big white robes and shuffled to our next destination, massages. Again Alessandro stands outside the room.

I hear Manda groan and mumble something unintelligible while they start working on her. Because of the baby, they put me in a chair instead of a table. Soon I am mumbling my own nonsense as they find places that I didn’t know were sore. I am getting the special pregnancy massage and it focuses on my shoulders and feet. It is divine.

When they finish our massages we get a quick snack, the ladies intending to get a massage after us work nicely for a little sip. Alessandro laughs and shakes his head at us before leading us to our facial appointment. We chat all day about the guys, the wedding and what she wants to do with her now almost immortal status. It is all so relaxing and I’ve gotten to know Manda much better.

Next, after the facials, we get manicures and pedicures. Tomorrow we have appointments to get our hair styled and makeup done for the wedding tomorrow night. We meet the boys in the bar for drinks and they look as relaxed as we are.

“Lily, you are glowing. You look radiant. Tell me, what have you done today?” Bast asks.

“Oh, all the girly stuff we could fit in. Of course we gossiped about you two all day. It was the best day.” I sigh and drop into my seat to drink my sparkling apple juice.

“Alessandro, you will tell us what they said, right?” Aidan demands with a raised eyebrow.

“I do not divulge the secrets of those I am protecting.” Alessandro winks at me and Manda and we crack up.

“There are rules if you are going to be in the man-club, Alessandro. You have to tell,” Sebastian says.

“He can be in our club. He doesn’t need a stinky man-club,” I retort. 

“Who stinks? I’ll have you know, love, that your husband and I have been pampered all day, too,” Aidan says.

“Good. We were hoping that you would enjoy yourselves,” Manda says while smiling. In fact her smile is so pearly white and genuine that it makes me feel happy inside.

Sebastian’s cell phone rings. He puts his finger up when he sees the caller ID.

“Allo? Matteo, what’s wrong?” Sebastian puts it on speaker phone.

“Sebastian, we’ve had an incident at Julian’s. Giulia figured if she couldn’t get to you then she would attack those dear to you. We’ve moved Hannah, Diel and the babies over to your home but Julian and Helena refuse to move so Liam and Andrew are staying with them. I’m trying to watch both homes but I can’t feasibly do it.” He sighs. “It would be best if you came home.”

Alessandro speaks in rapid Italian over the phone and Matteo answers back. Alessandro frowns and asks more questions. He switches back to English for our benefit.

“Are the babies safe now?”

“Yes. I have Diel, Hannah and the babies in the interior of the house. It may be good to allow Hannah to be able to open the safe room too,” Matteo says.

“We should have done that. Oh my Goddess, did something happen to the babies?” I ask desperately.

“An attempt was made to kidnap them,” Matteo says in a way that lets us know he will kill for those babies. Children are precious to vampires and our two guards have taken a shine to Finn and Fiona and my unborn wee one. “I wasn’t able to follow them because I had to stay close to relocate everyone.”

“We are on our way, Matteo,” Aidan says. Sebastian ends the call and takes my shaking hand.

“Sweetheart, I will bring you and Lilith back for your appointments tomorrow. We’ll make some for Hannah and Helena too. I think we need to get home for now. At least everyone will be at the wedding tomorrow night,” Aidan says.