Aaron's Kiss Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 7) (46 page)

CHAPTER EIGHT

Dominic woke up to Aaron banging on his door. He tried ignoring it, but Aaron would not fucking stop. When he finally rolled out of the bed and got the door open, he was pretty pissed off. He had gotten in minutes before sunrise and had planned to go out as soon as he could sneak past the household. He was sure they had heard about what had transpired between him and Pete, and to be honest, he was not really happy with himself about it right now either. What had he been thinking jumping all over her like that? He had convinced himself that he didn’t really smell her scent of nutmeg and cinnamon, which now that he thought about it, was an odd scent for a mate to give off, although it suited her just fine.

“About fucking time. I can’t get to Sara and she’s in labor. If I fucking can’t sleep, then you aren’t going to either. We have some things to discuss anyway. Meet me in my office in thirty minutes or face my wrath. And right now, I’m hoping you don’t show up on your own.” Dominic watched as Aaron turned on his heel and left him standing there.

Dominic didn’t even try to deny that they needed to talk. He just shut the door, turned around, and got dressed. Might as well face the fact that he had fucked up big time, he thought, and get this over with. Hiding out was certainly not getting him anywhere. Pete was a friend of the family and he had screamed at her like a maniac. And the kid, shit, he had even made little Brent cry. But the little bugger had stood up to him, told him that he should go get her and make it right. Brent had even punched him a couple of times. That made him smile despite being worried about what punishment he would have to endure from his master. Dominic took a deep, calming breath and then left the sublevels to face the music.

“Sire? I know what I did was wrong. I don’t know what came over me. Well, I do, and I think I’m probably wrong about that anyway. I just thought that I had her scent, you know... But I was wrong. Women don’t smell like that to their mates, that couldn’t be right. So I’ve decided that I jumped to conclusions and she isn’t my mate. She can’t be my mate and smell like a spice like nutmeg. But now that I think on it, though, it suits her. She’s a vicious little thing, and once her temper went off...Christ, she has a hell of a temper. That smell had to come from the pantry. It was all over her. That’s why it was so strong; she was working in there, Duncan said. The smell of nutmeg and cinnamon was wafting from there…” Dominic stopped talking. He had run down actually. He looked up sharply when he realized that Aaron was laughing at him. That set his temper soaring again and he glared at the older vampire. That didn’t do anything but make Aaron laugh harder.

“So, what is this smell that came from the pantry that was all over her? Nutmeg, you say? Yeah, I can see that. And like you, I could see nutmeg as something I would associate with her since I heard that she took Mel on just today. Pissed the queen right off too. Yeah, I think you’re right. She isn’t your mate. Tell me something, though, is she pretty? I’ve always thought she was quite beautiful myself.” Dominic didn’t like where this was going. “You know Bradley, the wolf alpha, is looking for a few women to turn for his pack. Sounds like she could hold her own as a bitch.”

No way, Dominic thought. No way was she going to be turned for someone else. When Aaron pulled out his cell and mumbled about pack phone numbers, Dominic flashed across the room and had Aaron pinned against the wall before he thought of what the consequences would be.

“She’ll not be turned for anyone but me,” he snarled. “You will not call the alpha, do you hear me?” He heard a low growl and it was seconds before he realized that it came from him.

“So, she’s not your mate, huh?”

Dominic realized that his fangs had dropped and he had almost unleashed his beast, his eyes turning to the red haze of anger. He knew because he was seeing things in a red haze. “Fuck you.” He dropped Aaron to the floor none too gently and stormed to the kitchen and away from the truth. Aaron’s laughter followed him all the way into the darkened room.

The entire house was dark during the daylight hours. Aaron had had window shades put on the outside of the house as soon as he had moved in. The solid steel shades would come down and seal against the house as soon as the sun rose, acting as a block against the dangerous rays and a safety measure for the inhabitants while they slept. If anyone wanted some light, as Sara sometimes did, there was a beautifully maintained solarium on the south side of the house.

~~~

As soon as Pete finished the line Robin Williams said in Mrs. Doubtfire, she dropped her shield. Her magic enveloped Sara in warmth and comfort. Pete took Sara’s pain away and held it to her. Doing that, Pete felt Sara relax. As Pete laid her hand over Sara’s swollen belly, she felt the power race down her arm and light emanated from the tips of her fingers.

Pete knew she was taking a big chance, opening herself up literally like this, but she also knew there was no way she could let the babies die. It just saddened her that she would need to move again and not see these two grow up. But she could not let the others find her. Not now, not ever.

“I need to move into you now. No, don’t tense up. You aren’t going to feel a thing, I promise. I’ve taken all of your pain and worry and have set it aside. I want you to relax or I can’t move through you. For now, I need you to focus on my voice, listen to the calm tones I’m using, the way my voice is soft and warm. I can see your children, and if you close your eyes, you’ll see everything I see. See the little boy, see the cord there? I’m going to remove it now.”

As Pete worked, she explained each step to Sara and through her, Shade. When she felt that she had done all she could, Pete began to pull out of Sara’s body and gently touch each child as she left. When Pete opened her eyes, Mel was standing next to Sara with the man. Slightly dizzy with exhaustion, Pete took a few seconds to realize who he was. She had met him in the study the other night.

“Aaron, how, what are you doing here? Mel? How are you here? It’s daylight. Please, love, go back to the mansion. It isn’t safe for you here,” Sara said.

Pete looked at first to Sara then the man. Love? Pete was too tired and too muddled to understand what was going on, but she had a feeling she was seeing the master of the house and the mate to Sara. Pete was confused. If this was her mate then who was the asshole from the house?

“I’m still at home, sweetheart. Mel has brought me here to see our babies being born. She didn’t want me to miss this event. Her magic is holding me here. I love you very much.”

Pete was still trying to work out the dynamics and almost missed what the man was asking of her. She was so tired she couldn’t concentrate on him for several seconds. “I’m sorry, sir. What did you say? I was…I didn’t hear you.”

“You do look very tired, my dear. I said it will soon be dark enough for us to join you here. I don’t suppose you could slow it down just a bit for me, Pete?”

“The children are very anxious to meet you both, but I’ll speak with them for you. They want to be born. I could wait until you have someone…a real doctor come for them now if you’d prefer.”

“No. No, you need to do this for me, for us. I want you to bring them into the world. I will have Thomas, our physician, come, but you will need to finish. Sara and I both want you to finish this for us.”

Sara nodded.

With her shields down, Pete now knew what they were. Vampire. The word vampire had never entered her mind when dealing with these people. The bitchy woman, Queenie, was something completely different and she had the same feelings about the two women too. Somehow, they were the same thing, magic and vampire.

Pete moved her hand over the mound of life and closed her eyes, asking for them to wait for their father.

She turned her attention back to the man and said, “Sire, they will wait for you, but the little girl said not to be too long. Also, she said to tell you that she’s given permission to the male to be born first, but she will still be the boss over him no matter how big he gets for his pants.”

Aaron, a fourteen hundred year old vampire, master of his own realm, with over one thousand people looking to him for protection and guidance, burst into tears. Life could suddenly get no better than this moment in time, he told her.

“Tell the young lady that I have no doubt that she will be just like her mother in all things. Thank you, Pete. I will forever—”

“I need to go. I need to get something from the kitchen. Excuse me.”

Pete did not want to hear whatever he had to say. She wasn’t much for praise. It embarrassed her in ways she could not explain. She was more of the behind the scenes kind of person. Do the job and get the heck out of Dodge. She turned back to Sara as she stood up. She had to prepare the woman for the birth and blocked everything else from her thoughts.

“Mrs. MacManus, when the time comes, you won’t be able to feel the contractions so you will need to bear down and push when I tell you to. It is important that you start when I tell you and stop when I tell you. I don’t want to take chances with you or the boy now. You can trust that I won’t harm either of you still. Our bargain is still in place. If you’d like to change your mind, I can maybe hold them off until someone else gets here, but I can’t be positive.”

Pete watched as Sara patted Shade’s arm and then nodded when Shade raised her hand. It was funny really and she grinned at her.

“Sara wants to know if she can talk to you now. She said she doesn’t want to break the contact between the two of you, but she’d really like to talk to you.”

“Yes, you may answer now. Our contact is closed enough to be considered complete that I doubt it would matter anyway. To be honest, I didn’t believe you could do it. It must have been very difficult for you to remain quiet for that long.” Pete grinned wider when Sara glared at her.

Sara, nodding, tears glistening in her eyes, said, “There are no words adequate enough to thank you for what you’ve done for me, for us. I thank you for my children and for your trust. If you ever need anything, ever, you’ll have it.”

Pete started to say something, but could not. No one had ever said anything like that to her before. Not that she had ever given them the chance. She felt the room closing in on her and moved to the door. She needed to escape. Right now, she needed to get away.

Forty-five minutes later, Aaron and Duncan entered the little room, taking up a large portion of it and the air. Duncan was pressed into helping get the extra people out of the room, leaving the members of the Kiss and Pete. Colin, Shade’s mate, would be by shortly with the extra car needed to get them home and was going to meet them there as soon as he could. Brent was with Penny and waiting for the news of the new baby.

Everyone seemed ready for the little ones to be born. Now Pete needed to see if the little ones were ready too.

“All right, Mrs. MacManus, I need you to bear down hard and push from your bottom. Push like you need a good poop. I know that sounds gross, but that’s where you need to use all the muscles to work from. Sire, you will kneel here and I will hand you your babies as they come. Ready? Push. Push hard.”

Seven hard pushes later, baby boy MacManus was born. He was a little guy and the horrific bruise around his tiny neck brought home how close he had come to death. He screamed his first cry when Pete held him upside down by his feet and slapped him a good one across the bottom. Once he took air into his healthy lungs, he quieted.

“I’ve asked him not to cry too much for the first few days to give his throat time to heal better. His sister has agreed, quite readily actually, to cry for him when he needs something. She has told me to tell you to check him first when she cries, it’s probably for him anyway. She is going to be a handful, I think.” Pete looked at the baby and saw that he was going to be fine.

His father held him like a precious jewel. Eighteen minutes later, baby girl MacManus came into the world just like the diva she was probably going to turn out to be. She did not scream, but growled like a pro when Pete paid her bottom the same treatment she gave her brother’s.

Duncan, good man that he was, had remembered to bring the bags for the birth that the Missus had had ready for some weeks now, so they were able to bundle the babies in diapers and clothes. They were tiny and other than the bruising, were beautiful.

While the families were surrounding the children cooing and awing over them, Pete looked around the room. The hair on the back of her neck had begun to prickle since she finished with the birth. She looked for the source and spotted the man from the kitchen at the MacManus’ home standing in the corner away from her. He was staring at her. Well, glaring would be a better term for what he was doing.

Pete turned away and stood, making ready to leave. She did not need anything from him, especially since she had done nothing wrong in the first place, she thought. And she was damn well not going to listen to him if he decided to go off again.

The doctor would be there soon, and they would be moving everyone to the mansion as soon as he checked them all over. Pete was nearly to the door when Mrs. MacManus stopped her. Pete reached out to grip the shelf nearest to her to steady herself, exhaustion and hunger hitting her hard just at that moment. If she didn’t leave soon, she was afraid she wouldn’t. At least not until she took a long nap.

“Pete, you’ll come back to the house with us. I would like you to stay with us for a few days. You look a little wrung out.”