Chapter 07.

POV; Lenora Aveyard.

The night felt as though I’d lived on a conveyor belt. Marius and I had slept together enough times that I’d lost count and when we were done we’d lie together and talk about his work. It wouldn’t be long until he was f*****g me again. And then we’d end up talking. And f*****g. And talking. And f*****g. And laughing. Though I’d never admit it aloud for any ears to hear or think the thoughts in my mind now around those who could get inside my head, I did have to tell myself with honesty how nice it was to laugh with another man, how nice it was to feel so comfortable and so free around another man just as I was with my husband.
   As the outside light dimmed out and the sky fell to the darkest of blues with its own sparkles of white, Marius had lit the candles in his room that had definitely helped set the mood of things. He’d made sure there was champagne on the side table with two champagne flutes. And on the chest of draws on the back wall by his wardrobe was another two glasses and an ice bucket, the small cubes inside chilling a handful of blood bags. I personally hadn’t taken a sip of blood in days and I felt no need to now, but Marius had finished going through his second bag after our third heated moment.
  Though we were both well aware I’d agreed to be here on ‘business’, Marius had been well more than accommodating to me, a woman he was getting pregnant with no strings attached. He’d given me his bed, offered me use of his bathroom with his corner tub and shower large enough for two, maybe even three bodies of his size inside. He’d moved the underwear that he’d taken off me, folding the items against his draws, alongside my clothes that I’d wear to leave come morning.
   I hadn’t been sleeping but things between Marius and I had fallen quiet for the last ten minutes or so, though I was comfortable enough to know, thankfully, things between us weren’t awkward in silence. I was lay on my back with my legs bent, both hands flat down against my stomach and Marius, he lay on his side facing me, his left hand outstretched to be lying against my bare left thigh. There was a bird outside, twittering by the double doors he had that led onto the small veranda to the far end of his room. Morning was slowly coming to us.
“I’ve never known of a vampire being pregnant.” I stated softly, sliding my eyes and only my eyes aside to glance at the large man. “It seems impossible giving that we’re dead, or supposedly dead.” A sighed slowly. “Will it be different to my pregnancy with Boe?”
Marius’ fingers against my thigh had never stopped stroking back and forth softly; his eyes had never left my face. I felt him watching me the same way I felt it happen as his lips curled into a smile. “Your stomach will grow.” He stated first with a nod. “Your breasts will grow; your body will grow tired as if you were still human.” His fingers stopped their stroking momentarily. “You won’t crave food as humans do, as you did with Boe. You won’t suffer with sickness or pains in your back and pelvis.” He paused again. “The labour will cause you no threat, unlike your daughters.” When bringing my sweetest girl into the world almost killed me, he meant. “Give your body a day or two after the labour and you’ll be feeling much better.” All of this really didn’t sound all that bad. “You won’t be able to breastfeed. As soon as the baby’s here you stop taking the tonic to let your body heal.” ….Doubtful. But that was my secret. “Your hormones will be as any pregnant woman’s. You’ll have needs that you need satisfied, tears that need to shed and moments when your tears will stop your laughter for unknown reasons.”
I hadn’t actually realised my lips had pulled into a wide enough smile to show my teeth fully. It wasn’t until Marius left out the softest of chuckles at my expression that I brought a hand up to press my thumb and index finger to either of my cheeks. A giggle slipped from my lips along with Marius’ chuckle. “And when these hormones of mine play up, when I have these needs come to me that need seeing to..?” I’d slid my eyes back aside to look at him again, before slowly shifting my weight with his hand still against my inner thigh to face him. “Who is it that I’ll be turning to, to see to these needs?” My smile had dropped from a grin to a smirk. “You? Or do I stick with my husband and act as though we’re making our baby?”
Within an instant passing I was lying on my back with a man of pure muscle and long hair hovering over my body on his knees between my legs. I couldn’t stop my laughter, a nervous thing I had no control over which was only silenced when those plump lips surrounded by well-groomed stubble met mine, silencing what noise I made into his mouth.
“I know as well as you that your husband won’t deny you a single thing Lenora…” He kissed me again before I had chance to open my eyes to see him as he spoke. “Not even sleeping with you as you wish with my child inside you.”
My stomach fluttered at the thought. I was to have a baby inside me, depending on me and all that I was and all that I could physically give. I was to give Marius, the oldest man I knew his very first and only child.
“But just like your husband, Mrs Aveyard… I wouldn’t deny you of such a thing either.”