Bonds of Blood [Lords of the Expanse] (Siren Publishing Classic) (20 page)

Hugging her in silent acceptance of her words, Andries nuzzled the top of her head. Rubbing her back gently, he felt himself drifting off to sleep and, while he tried to resist, he found he just couldn’t. He’d been awake too many hours since their arrival on the ship and his body was now demanding he give in. “Love you,” he breathed in a whisper as he slid into the dark sleep of his people.

There was a deep sigh from her and she felt the tugging of sleep, too. It was as if her body didn’t want to be awake or without her lover, so with one last kiss to his chest, Xandra followed the man she loved off into the sleep of his people, her people, their people.

Sitting at the small desk he had in their quarters, Andries surreptitiously watched Xandra moving around the space. She’d gone into what the doctors termed “nesting mode,” which, to his way of thinking, meant, keep out of her way unless she was trying to do something the doctors had specifically told her not to do. They were almost halfway through the trip, the ambassador was on board and finishing preparing for his new home for the next year, and they’d had no trouble…so far. He wasn’t letting his guard down, especially with his pregnant wife aboard, and neither was the crew, for which he was eternally grateful. They were deep in their own space, but that wouldn’t stop a determined invader from trying to take them on, so they kept constant vigil and just did what they had to do.

She stood and placed her hand on her slightly rounded belly. “You know, I never dreamed that I would be showing like this at only five weeks, Andries.” She smiled over at him and shrugged. “But I like it. I love being able to touch and feel our child growing. To watch the way that your crew no longer watches me, but my belly.” She laughed and shook her head. “The little colonel will one day take over from his daddy. I think they are trying to figure out now how to deal with him in the future.”

She looked back at him and frowned. “You’re worried. Talk to me?”

The fact she realized he was concerned didn’t surprise him. She was very intuitive. “No more than normal, wife,” he said quietly as he lightly tapped the data pad to his knee. “I will be less concerned by everything once the ambassador is safely ensconced on his new world and we can return home to let you use this energy in preparing our country home for our child.” He knew she’d do that, too. One thing Andries knew about his lady wife was that she was a planner and likely had several plans in her mind for the room she’d create for their son. “You do know that your pregnancy will only be four months, yes?” he asked, curious about her first words.

She stopped and looked at him, eyes wide. “It will what?” she asked and swallowed hard. “Is that why I am showing so much now?” She felt her knees go a little weak and sat down hard. “We need to get home soon then, Andries, because if I only have another three months left…” She put a hand to her forehead. “Oh god.”

“You didn’t know.” He frowned as he watched her, carefully gauging if she was unwell or just startled by the news. “I would have thought the doctor would have given you the details of a Vampire pregnancy so you wouldn’t be…caught unaware,” he finished, choosing his words with caution.

She winced a little and admitted, “I have to admit that when he told me I was pregnant, everything else just kind of went into background noise. I couldn’t hear, couldn’t think, couldn’t see. I just needed to get to you, tell you.” She bit her lip. “He had said that we would talk today when he did the scan on our child and that likely was it.”

“Likely,” Andries agreed before he checked his timepiece. “We should go, actually, so that we are not late,” he told her as he shut his data pad down and set it aside. Getting to his feet, he moved around to her and held out his hand. “Shall we go, my love?” he asked softly as he traced her face with his eyes.

She slipped her hand into his and nodded. “Yes, let’s go and see our son, shall we?” she asked happily and moved to his side, placing her arm in his. “Hopefully we won’t run into the ambassador while we are on our way to medical.” The little man made her nervous, the way that he watched her. She didn’t care for it but couldn’t place why.

“Has he been bothering you, Xandra?” he asked quietly as he guided her from the room and into the hall where her day escorts were. Nodding to them as they fell in behind them, Andries shifted his arm to slide around her waist. “You know you can tell me anything, yes?” he asked in a lower tone so that the guards would ignore them.

She looked up at him and shook her head. “No, it’s not that he bothers me so much as…” She sighed. “He doesn’t physically touch me, never has, and in fact doesn’t spend time in the same space as I’m in, but there is something about the way that he watches me. It’s uncomfortable.”

“It may just be because his eyes are too close together,” Andries said softly, trying to give her something to blame the feeling on. Stepping into the lift with her he drew her toward the back, his larger frame protecting her even from the guards, as was his nature.

She laid a hand on his back and smiled up at him. She understood what he was doing and appreciated it very much. Her forehead pressed to his back and her fingers caressed his arm before sliding down to hold his hand. Unlike the Vampires, she was a very touchy-feely woman. She loved to be able to touch him, to feel him and be touched by him.

Stroking his thumb lightly over her fingers, Andries kept his eyes on the guards. He trusted them with her life, with his life, but he was Vampire and very possessive, which meant he was testy when she was too close to other males.

Stepping in a little closer, she leaned up on tiptoes and against his ear whispered, “And I love you, too, husband.” His touch was all she needed to give her that extra boost, the needed touch of a lover to help her over her small and petty fears.

Glancing to her, he smiled faintly as the door opened and, gently tugging on her hand, pulled her with him down the corridor. Once inside medical, he helped her onto the table and stood before her, his hands resting lightly on her thighs. “Why do you appear to be so nervous?” he asked as he lightly stroked one hand over her leg.

“Because I’m going to meet our son today, Andries. I’m nervous.” She bit her lip and leaned closer. “What if I’m not a good mother? What if I’m not what a little boy needs as a mom?” She had been downtrodden and abused as a child. She had nothing good to build on except the fact she knew she would never, ever hurt her children.

Leaning into her, he brushed his cheek to hers and moved his arms to loop loosely around her waist. “You will be a wonderful mother, Xandra. That I know for a fact. You are kind, caring, loving, giving, and understanding. You have a generosity of soul that is amazing to me,” he murmured softly. “When you smile, it is like the sun coming from behind a cloud and clearing away all shadows and doubts. You came from something terrible but you have not let it shape who you are. You were married to a man you knew nothing about, and yet you’ve made him all the better for your effort.”

That made her smile. “And he has allowed me to become the woman that I am. With his love and care I was able to come out of my shell somewhat and realize that not every action would cause me to be harmed.” She was going to say something more when the doctor came out.

“Hello, my lord, my lady.” He bowed respectfully at both of them. “Are you ready to meet your son, my lord?”

“I think my lady wife is more eager than even I, Doctor,” Andries said softly, his words teasing in nature for his wife but a statement of fact to the other man. “She also has a few questions I’m sure that she needs answered, and I have a feeling you might be better at answering them than I.”

The doctor grinned. “So you found out your pregnancy was only four months, correct?” He was laughing inside because he had a feeling she’d only heard part of what he’d been saying when he had told her that she was pregnant. “She was very distracted when she learned of the babe, my lord. I don’t doubt a great many things escaped her. However, I’m positive that you have kept her safe and happy, and the babe healthy.”

Gods, Andries hoped so. “I’ve definitely been challenged, but I have done my best, I believe,” he said quietly, moving slightly as the doctor began to get what equipment he’d need. Rubbing his hand at the small of her back, he looked to Xandra. “She appears happy and the babe is growing as he should, so I’m hoping she receives a clean bill of health.”

The doctor smiled. “Well, he’s certainly a big boy.” The look on Xandra’s face was priceless. “That is not a bad thing, my lady.” As he brought the scanner over to them, he kept up a steady stream of chatter even as he set the holo imager to bring out the image of the child. He stilled mid sentence, however, and his mouth fell open.

Xan didn’t even notice anything wrong, just laughed. “There are two of them.” She reached out and let her hand lightly touch over the large image of what was clearly a boy, and the far smaller image of a girl. “We are going to have twins,” she said, smiling, and then felt her fears kick her in the ass when she saw the look of the doctor. “What?”

“There are two.” The doctor said in an astounded tone. Vampires did not have twins, multiple births, ever. The child needed too much blood. It just didn’t happen. He looked at Andries. “My lord.” The doctor looked as shocked as Andries was beginning to feel.

Staring at the holo images of the twins, Andries felt all the blood leave his face, and he had to put a hand out to the table to keep himself upright. “I…It’s…Oh gods,” he breathed and lost the battle to remain conscious. His eyes rolled back in his head and his knees gave out to let him tumble to the floor with a solid thud.

She looked at where Andries dropped to and then at the doctor. “What is wrong?” she asked as she watched her son curl closer around her daughter, protecting her completely as they moved inside of her. “Doctor, what’s wrong?”

“My lady,” the doctor began, “my lady, multiple births have never once happened in the Vampire world. There has never once been a multiple birth. We normally have a very hard time conceiving and only conceive with those that have a soul tie. That is why birth control has never been brought into our world.” He swallowed. “I need to contact the Alliance, my lady. They will need to know about this.”

She shook her head. “Please, wait until Andries is awake. I need him to be awake so that he can handle the Alliance.”

When Andries next opened his eyes, all he could see was the ceiling and had to wonder why he was sleeping in the medical bay. Then he remembered and sat up suddenly a second before he put a hand to his head and winced. “Xandra,” he said softly. He could smell her and feel her close, but he needed to know where she was.

Xan moved from the doctor to Andries and clasped his hand. “I’m here.” She stroked her fingers over his face and leaned close. “If you pass out when I give birth to your children, you will be banned from our bed until I am able to get over it.” She tried to tease, but there was fear in her eyes. “The doctor wants to contact the Alliance, Andries. I can’t…” She swallowed. “I don’t want to be poked and prodded and studied, and I very much don’t want our children to be. I asked him to wait until you were awake.” She felt the tears bubbling again. “They will try to take them, won’t they?”

Shifting on the bed he’d been stretched out on, he turned to her and pulled her into his arms, wrapping her close to protect her. “No one is going to poke or prod at you, Xandra, no one,” he told her softly, his tone laced with steel as he eyed the Doctor. “We will contact them when we are ready and not a moment sooner. I have allies in the Alliance, Xandra. I will feel them out first and from there we two will decide what to do.” He was still stunned at the fact they were going to have multiples, but his mind was giving him a ready answer. “You were not Vampire when you became pregnant, Xandra. Your body was human and more likely to have multiples than ours ever have been. It is easily explained, and they can’t do a damned thing about it if I tear out their hearts,” he murmured softly for her to help her understand that he would always, always protect her.

“My lord.” The doctor cut in and shook his head. “Vampires and humans have been pairing since our species found each other.” He swallowed. “There has never been one case of a multiple birth. Even when the mother remains human and the child Vampire, never a multiple.” He looked to Xandra. “Your children are the first, ever, my lord.”

He hadn’t answered her question about taking their children and she knew. “They are going to take our children, Andries.” Which made her cry harder. She refused to give up her children. She was attached to them and even now that she finally heard the very, very whisper-like sound of her daughter, she loved her. “He will never give up his sister and she him. He has been protecting her all this time, being the only one talking to me and showing up heartbeat-wise.” It wasn’t possible, she knew, but it felt right. “I won’t give them up, Andries.”

“You won’t have to, Xandra,” he told her. Leaning back, he moved to cup her cheeks and stared at her. “Do you honestly think I would let them touch our children, Xandra? Is that what you think of me? That I would let them take from us our blessings, our joy, our babies?” he whispered, the last an unbelievable pain cutting through his chest as he realized she did believe that he’d just let them hurt them both that way. Grinding his teeth, he slid off the table and walked from her as he fought the pain. “Doctor, you will not say a single thing. If I find out that this has been leaked, the one responsible will answer to me in blood.”

Turning to his wife, he gave her a bow. “No one will harm your children, my lady. You have my word and oath on that,” he said in a cold voice. “If you will excuse me, I have work to do, and I’m sure the lady still has questions she’d like answers to.” With that, he left the medical bay, ordering the guards to take her back to their rooms once she was done even as he headed there with the intent to collect his items and move to another set of quarters for the remainder of the mission. She’d hurt him badly with her assumptions, and when wounded, a Vampire turned within and kept everything tightly under layers of ice.