Page 31 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn
Ledger tilted his head back and blinked lazily, his lips curling at the edges in a sweet smile.
“You keep telling yourself that.” He kissed the edge of his jaw, yawned, then rolled to the edge of the bed, out of Thorn’s hold, and sat up.
The loud gurgling coming from Ledger got Thorn moving too, despite how his legs protested. He rose and walked unsteadily to the closet to grab his robe; thoughts of a bath secondary to feeding Ledger when cum flaked off his skin.
“What do you fancy to eat?” he questioned, tying his robe as he walked back to where Ledger remained sitting on the edge of the bed, looking adorably sleepy on the rumpled sheets. “I’ll bring it to you.”
A lazy grin appeared. “Cool. Can I have cheese, fruit, bread, and some of that chutney that Rowan made?”
With the list, Thorn walked towards the locked bedroom door. He’d warned his brothers to keep away. Vampires didn’t go into the same rut as shifters, but there were alpha shifters in the vicinity and Thorn would never take any chances with his dhampir.
He’d barely reached it when Ledger added, “Chocolate… yeah, I’d like that too.”
Thorn glanced back at Ledger to ask what kind when a soft voice filled his head.“Not the dark one, we like the milk one.”
He stilled, staring at Ledger. “What did you say?” he asked through a throat that felt like it had closed up.
Ledger wiggled up the bed, not answering immediately as Thorn held on to the odd, panicky feeling inside him at the strangeness of the very female voice in his head.
“Chocolate, I’d like some of that too.”
“Milk, we want the milk kind.”
As he was staring at Ledger, he knew damn well it wasn’t him speaking and the voice was female. His gaze skimmed down to Ledger’s round belly, one that he was currently rubbing at. It was a habit he’d developed of late, almost like he was reassuring himself—or what was inside there.
“Something wrong?” Ledger sat forward, hands still cupping his belly.
Thorn couldn’t get any words out past his frozen lips.Was Ledger pregnant?
“Chocolate, we want some.”
Oh fuck!
Oh fuck!
Oh fuck!His legs went from under him and Thorn collapsed in a heap, only to see Ledger jump out of the bed and rush to him.
“What is it? Has something happened to one of your brothers?” he demanded, his hands roaming over Thorn as if checking for injuries. “Thorn, answer me!” he snapped worriedly, his eyes growing wide with the scent of fear rolling off him.
“It’s fine,” Thorn managed to rasp out.
He had no clue if it was. Did vampire babies—and the voice definitely made reference to plural—normally communicate from the womb? How was this even possible? They’d been so careful during his heats. Seriously, how was he going to explain this to Ledger? There was also the knowledge this had to have happened during their claim, when he was fully vampire. The other times Ledger was in heat, he’d damn well made sure to keep his dick out of his womb!
Shit a brick!
Why are you freaking out?Dacian’s question, asked with an element of alarm, brought his gaze to meet Ledger’s, who was still running his hands over Thorn’s robe.
“You’re lying. I can hear it.” Ledger’s voice was thick with the tears that were forming in his eyes, making them glisten. “Start talking buster!”
Ledger’s demand came off with absolutely no force behind it when his lips quivered, and a tear rolled down his now pale cheeks.
“Pregnant,” Thorn croaked. “I think you’re pregnant.”
Ledger, who had been crouching, toppled back, landing on his ass with a thud, stared at Thorn like he had lost his goddamn mind. Maybe he had.
“Pregnant,” Ledger shrieked, so loudly Thorn’s ears rang. That wasn’t what worried Thorn, though. It was the sudden pounding of shoes in the hallway outside his apartment. The hammering on the door came a moment later as Calvert called out, “Thorn, what the fuck?”
That, exactly. What. The. Fuck.
