Thomas Read online

  Chapter 13. Ava

  I went back to school long enough Monday to act like nothing happened until I was called out of class to be told my father had passed away. The police came and interviewed me about what I knew about my father and his dealings with General Cypress. I told them that he would come to dinner every so often and I believed they were friends. Apparently, my father shot General Cypress in the neck at close range before placing the gun in his own mouth and pulling the trigger. I however know that’s not what happened though you’ll never hear me tell them that.

  After the police left I was able to talk to my instructors about leaving school and they agreed that I was set to graduate without attending the rest of the year. I took a couple of exams for them the next day as Thomas packed my dorm room and I was ready to go. I gave the school the address in Northridge to send my diploma. I didn’t need the ceremony to receive it and I certainly didn’t need all the sympathetic gazes everyone was giving me. If only they knew what a monster my father really was, they wouldn’t be all that sympathetic.

  We drove away from Kansas and I was never happier seeing it in the rearview mirror. The men were all very nice and that helped a lot. Thomas still growled at them even when I was just shaking their hands. I just shake my head at him. He should know I only have eyes for him. I have told him enough times.

  I called my mother from the road to tell her that dad was dead, but someone had already told her. I was upset at first that she didn’t contact me until she told me all that she had been doing. She made sure that everything in his estate was in my name so that I would be the sole inheritor. It was no surprise that he didn’t leave her anything, but I decided to give it all to her. She’s the one who was tormented the most by the man, she deserved to live out the remainder of her years comfortably. Terrance said he would make sure it all went to her somehow. I trust him to get it done. I can make my own way. I don’t want any of his tainted money. My mother sounded happier than I can ever remember her sounding. I hope given time my father will be just a memory and she’s able to move on.

  We pull up at the large estate that looks more like a castle. This is where Thomas lives. I’m sure my jaw is nearly to the floor as we climb out of the van. It’s absolutely, breathtaking. It’s like a winter wonderland. Thomas says it snows here year-round and it makes it look pristine with all the white surrounding the white castle-like estate. It blends in perfectly so that it looks more like a hill than a home from the road. A man with silver blonde hair steps out of the large doors and smiles jovially to all of us. This must be William. Thomas has told me a lot about him and the other occupants on the ride here.

  “I’m so glad you guys made it. The women are baking a feast for our newcomer and the men are ready to hear your reports.” William says before turning those pale blue eyes in my direction.

  “You must be Ava. The women are so excited to meet you. My mate has planned all sorts of events to welcome you.” He doesn’t reach out to shake my hand as the other men do but smiles widely and I instantly like him. I can tell he’s mated and understands that Thomas doesn’t like other men to touch me. Two minutes later as we’re making our way to the front door a dark-haired man with green eyes comes out and pulls me in for a hug. Thomas growls and shoves him away. The man howls with laughter.

  “Sorry, my names Drake. I had to give Thomas a hard time.” He affectionately rubs the top of Thomas’s head and laughs some more as Thomas pushes his hand away. I can tell they’re good friends and enjoy ribbing each other.

  “This is my Ava,” Thomas says as he pulls me against him and out of reach of Drake.

  “Stop giving him a hard time and come hold your daughter while I come meet my new sister.” I beautiful woman with light red hair says from the doorway. Drake rushes away and lifts the chubby little girl into his arms. He kisses her rosy red cheeks before dropping a kiss on his mate’s lips. She hurries past him to come over to me. I nearly step back as she exuberantly hugs me.

  “I’m Emmy. You must be Ava. I hope you're hungry.” She links her arm through mine and drags me away with her. I look back at Thomas over my shoulder and he just shrugs. He obviously doesn’t mind women touching me. I giggle as we enter the warm room with a large fireplace roaring with flames, heating the room nicely. The room is large and plentiful for such large men to inhabit. I wonder what it’s like when they all get together in a room. I bet the testosterone is thick in the air and they spend most of their time rubbing shoulders with how wide they are. I nearly laugh at the thought.

  Emmy leads me through the large room into an impressive kitchen where four other women are congregated over a large stove. Emmy clears her throat and they all turn at once.

  “This is Ava, Thomas’s mate.” The women swarm in and I’m passed around and hugged more than I ever have been. They’re certainly affectionate and I know that we’ll get along well. One of the women is very pregnant and one of them has a small baby bump. Thomas has told me all about them and how far along they are, so I was able to tell who was who before they introduced themselves. I love that this isn’t just a community of people but a family. They welcomed me with open arms and I’m eternally grateful. I never had much of family so I’m a little unsure how to act.

  “Don’t worry about a thing. Just be yourself.” Olivia says as she hugs me one more time as much as she can with the large tummy between us. She runs her hands over her rounded belly and I find myself envious for a moment. I always wanted a baby with the right man and now that I have him, I’m eager to start a family. I know Thomas wants children and a lot of them but is he ready to start as soon as my shot is expired? He makes it sound like he does. Perhaps that’s something we should discuss soon.

  “Do you want children?” Olivia asks. She must have noticed the envy in my expression as I watched.

  “Yes, very much so.” Olivia beams at me.

  “It probably won’t be long with the way these guys work.” She giggles and the other women join her in laughter.

  “I’m on the depo shot, so it will be a little while,” I tell them as they all watch me.

  “Uh… The researcher that William has says that birth control is ineffectual with vampires and their mates.” Emmy says shyly. I gasp, and my hand goes to my flat stomach. Could I already be pregnant? As many times as, Thomas and I have had sex, I wouldn’t be surprised. My cheeks flush.

  “I guess we’ll know in a few weeks,” I announce, and the other women laugh again.

  “Oh, honey they can hear the heartbeat much sooner than that,” Emmy says. Already the day is full of surprises.

  “It’s ready.” One of the women says and we all gather around and pass around plates of food. They sit down at the large round table and I join them with a plate loaded down with all different kinds of food. You can tell that each woman prepared a dish. I moan with each taste of the different dishes. They’re all so good. I can’t wait to help out with the cooking. Once I learn how that is.

  Chapter 14. Thomas

  We each give our report to the council members as we sit at the large table in what we have begun to call the war room.

  “I think it’s time for Gabriel to delve into the minds of each of the vampires we have rescued,” Isaac states in his stern voice that demands authority and only seems to back down for William.

  “I second that,” Drake says and Gabriel groans.

  “They won’t like me doing that, but I will if that’s what you all think should happen,” Gabriel says with the same stoic expression that we all know and love.

  “We still need a game plan on how to deal with Eric,” Michael says and we all nod our head as we think silently.

  “I don’t know that there’s anything we can do at this point but wait and see what happens.” William points out. I hate that he’s right. I feel like we’re all sitting ducks waiting for the big bad hunters to show up and scare us out of our blinds.

  “I don’t think he’ll use the military. I think that option is now closed
to him, but I wouldn’t put it past him to use hunters to do his dirty work.” I tell them. Hunters are a group of humans that have known about us for centuries and raises and trains new men every generation.

  “I think you’re right. That’s what I would do if I was in his situation.” Isaac says with a pensive look around the room.

  “We remain in lockdown and guard in shifts until we know what the hell’s going on,” Drake says with a groan. He was hoping, as we all were, that with the death of the General we could have some downtime.

  “Can I request three days to bond with my mate and make sure she’s settled in before I start taking shifts?” I know it’s probably selfish to even suggest it, but my mate’s needs come first before anyone else even myself.

  “I was already going to recommend that and congratulations, Thomas. We’re all so happy you found her.” William says. I flush with happiness as we wrap up the meeting. It sucks that we have nothing to plan or any other defense than waiting and seeing. I wish I could go back in time and take out Eric before he caused such chaos in our lives.

  The meeting adjourns, and I rush from the room before anyone else and use vampire speed to get to the kitchen where I hear my mate’s laughter. I swoop her up over my shoulder and use the same speed to carry her up the staircase to our room. I don’t want anyone to notice the small sound coming from her womb until I have had a chance to talk to her about it. I could tell that William noticed it but didn’t say anything. The guys in the van didn’t notice it at least I don’t think they did. They could be used to hearing it from all the women here.

  We reach the bedroom and I sit her on her feet where she sways for a moment.

  “Damn it, warn me before you do something like that.” Her dainty hands go to her hips.

  “I’m sorry, my love. I wanted to be alone with you.” I give her a pathetic version of puppy dog eyes and she starts laughing. At least she isn’t mad anymore. She slaps my chest before looking around the room. It’s really more of a suite. The only thing that it doesn’t have is a kitchen.

  “This is beautiful.” She says as she continues to look all around her.

  “You can decorate it any way you like. The other women will help you too. They love to help decorate.” I tell her as I lead her into the back room where my bed and dresser are.

  “First up is a nice bubble bath,” I tell her as I lead her to the bed and have her sit down.

  “You just relax, and I will get it started.” She sighs as she lays back on the bed.

  “You’re going to spoil me aren’t you.” I chuckle.

  “Count on it, love.” I give her a small kiss before going into the adjoining bathroom and starting the large jacuzzi bath. I never used it in all the time I have been here. I never took the time to enjoy such luxuries. Now that I have my mate, it’s time to lay back and enjoy every second with her and that starts with a warm bath.

  I make sure the temperature isn’t too hot, I have been told pregnant women shouldn’t take too hot of baths. Emmy is a fountain of knowledge about pregnancies and I’m glad I paid attention while she talked about everything with anyone who would listen which was usually me.

  I pour in a generous amount of bubble bath that has been in this room for years. I’m not one to ever use bubbles but I know women love them so I’m happy they’re still here.

  I go back into the room to find Ava completely naked. I groan as my cock hardens to the point of pain. She giggles when she hears it. That devious woman. I shake my head as I walk over to her and lift her into my arms. She lays her head against my chest as I carry her into the bathroom.

  “I could get used to you carrying me around.” She says with a sigh as I sit her gently in the warm, bubbly water. I strip off my clothes as she watches me through half-lidded eyes. Desire dances within her blue depths. I love that she’s just as responsive to me as I am to her.

  She slides forward, so I can climb in behind her. I pull her back against me and we both sigh as the warm water soothes us.

  “So, I wanted to talk to you. You know how we talked about having babies and that I wanted a bunch.” I mention.

  “Uh huh.” She hums as the water slides over her breasts nearly distracting me from my thoughts. “I think the water is full enough.” She says. I lean forward and turn off the water. I lean back again and so does she.

  “I was wondering how you feel about having a baby,” I ask, and she turns in the water. Her breasts sliding against my chest and her belly rubs against my hard length.

  “I want that.” She licks her lips and I forget what we were talking about.

  “Want what?” Please let her say my cock because it wants her too.

  “A baby.” She purrs as her finger trails down my chest. I groan before stopping her hand.

  “That’s a good thing because I can hear our baby already in there.” She jerks back.

  “You couldn’t possibly hear the heartbeat so soon. I thought a baby’s heart didn’t start beating until they were six weeks.” I press my hand to her stomach.

  “It’s not always the heartbeat we hear though we can detect them long before any kind of equipment could. We can hear the movement of it and the sound of the amniotic fluid. It’s hard to describe until you hear it yourself. We are used to the pregnant women here now and we know what to look for. Besides, your scent and taste changed slightly. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I do now.” She frowns for a second before she gives me the most brilliant smile she has ever given me.

  “You're sure?” She asks with so much hope in her voice that I know she’s happy and that’s all that matters to me.

  “I’m positive.” She leans forward and kisses me hard. I groan as I open my mouth to her marauding tongue. She climbs into my lap and impales herself on my length taking the breath out of me with the suddenness of it. She continues to kiss me as she sits still with me completely seated inside of her. Her warmth wrapped around me is the best feeling in the world. I could stay like this all day long.

  “I love you.” She says as she leans back and starts riding me. I run my hands all over her sudsy body and growl as the friction grows between us. She is my perfect mate, the woman I always dreamed of having and now she’s having my baby. I couldn’t imagine a life without her in it. I will love and cherish her until my dying breath and into the next world.

  Epilogue Eric

  “God is punishing you. You’re nothing but a filthy beast that can only survive off the blood of good people.” The man growls as he kicks me.

  “You should have died in the womb and saved us all the trouble. You were no good as a human and now you’re an abomination.” I’m kicked again and again until I lose consciousness, only to be awoken again a few hours later, completely healed.

  “See what you’ve become. God condemned you to hell.” I’m punched in the face this time with a fist that has chains wrapped around it. I feel my jaw break and then my nose as he continues to hit me. I lose consciousness again. Over and over again the punishments continue. I’m not sure how much more I can take before I lose my mind completely. I almost welcome it because then I will no longer care.

  “You were the son of a whore and now look at you. God would weep to see what you’ve become. You’re only a burden on those around you. You will kill humans and their souls will taint you like all the other abominations. Your soul is black just like theirs.” This time its cigars and cigarettes being put out on my body. The pain is unbearable but worse is smelling my skin sizzle beneath the heat. I never asked to be born. Hell, I never asked for anything from anyone and, yet my life has always been one nightmare after another. Now, I’m told I will live forever as an abomination and now even my eternal soul can’t rest. I’m nothing more than a blood-hungry beast. My mother would roll over in her grave if she had one. Unfortunately, she’s in the box above my refrigerator. I couldn’t afford a decent burial for her. She didn’t have any money to leave me. A prostitute quits earning as much when they start aging.
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  “Your mother should have swallowed you instead of letting the seed into her womb.” This time I am dragged by my hair into the laboratories. I hate going there even more than staying in the cage where they beat me.

  “Hey, Doc. Let's remove his toe and see if it grows back.” One of my tormentors says.

  “That’s a great idea. This one’s a throw away anyway.” The Doctor says, and I fight as they strap me down to the metal gurney but I’m so weak. They only feed me once a week and they beat more blood out of me than I possibly take in. My breathing is labored by the time they have me on the metal surface that I can’t do anything more than scream until I have no voice as they cut off one pinky toe and then the other. I passed out again when the pain became too much.

  That night when I came awake again in my cage, I prayed. I prayed for absolution that I wasn’t sure I even believed in anymore. Please dear god, rescue me and I will do your will and rid the world of all abominations like myself, so you can forgive me.

  About Amy Robyn

  Amy Robyn is a wife and a mother of three crazy boys. She also has three dogs she considers her children. She is currently living in Louisiana. She loves to sing karaoke and spend time with her family. She enjoys a good happy ending and that carries through in her books.

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