Wild Ones (6 page)

"Tastes
different too."

"Let me go!" I
demanded again. Naturally they continued to ignore me.

"We need to
call Andronicus and get him out here as soon as possible. If this
is what I think it is, then we've finally done it. Do you mind,
brother?" Julius asked politely.

"Not at all,"
Atticus grinned at his brother, and I wondered what they were
talking about. I should have known. Julius inserted a finger too,
and I felt it wiggle about inside me for a couple of seconds. He
held his now moist finger up to his nose and inhaled, his eyes
shut.

"Now that's a
smell I'm never going to forget," he smirked at me, and then he
sucked on it like it was a bloody popsicle. "Delicious!"

I was about to
start screaming at them to get out and leave me alone when Julius'
eyes went black and his fangs suddenly appeared. I changed my mind
and just screamed. Atticus' hand came down over my mouth and I
looked up at his face as he leaned over me, and saw his fangs
sneaking out from under his lips. My eyes must have reflected my
terror, because he turned his head towards Julius and said, "We
should go and feed now."

Julius stared
hungrily at my exposed flesh for a few long seconds before he
allowed Atticus to pull him away. As soon as they had gone I rolled
over and burst into tears. I don't think I have ever been so afraid
or so relieved at the same time before. I pulled the robe around me
as tight as I could and cried and cried until my breath came in
convulsive sobs. Annie found me like that when she brought me
breakfast a few minutes later. She sat down next to me on the bed
and made soothing noises and rubbed my back until the sobs
subsided.

"I need a
tissue," I mumbled eventually. She dragged one of those small packs
out of a pocket and pulled a couple of tissues out and handed them
to me wordlessly. I wiped my eyes and blew my nose.

"Have those
boys been frightening you?" she asked sympathetically, for all the
world as if they were mischievous little tykes playing a prank. I
said nothing, hating her.

"Never mind,
honey. As soon as Andronicus confirms what they suspect, you will
become Atticus' woman, and nobody else will be allowed to touch
you."

"I don't want
to be Atticus' woman," I pointed out. "He raped me. And he hurt me.
Really badly." Stating the obvious.

"He had to,
honey. It's the only way. Vampires can't ejaculate unless they're
inside a woman, so the only way you can be inseminated is during
sex."

"Is that what
you call it?" I shuddered.

"It will be
easier for you once you have given birth. Your tissues will be less
tight. And now Atticus knows how to do it without damaging you, you
should be fine."

"Fine.
Really? I could be pregnant, for God's sake. With a fucking
vampire!" My voice rose hysterically. She just wasn't getting it.
My whole life had been ripped apart. I was twenty three, possibly
pregnant, and get this, that was the
better
option. If I wasn't pregnant I was going
to be brutally violated again next month by a
different
vampire, and I might not survive that.
I remembered Julius' earlier reaction and felt sick.

I lay back down
and started crying again. There didn't appear to be any way out of
this for me. I had tried so hard to take it all on the chin, so to
speak, hoping that something might happen, that they would
eventually let me go, but the reality of it all had suddenly caught
up with me. There really was no escaping this awful situation. I
lay like that for hours, tears welling up in my eyes, until I fell
asleep.

When I woke up
there appeared to be several people in the room. Annie was removing
the untouched food while the two vampires stood at the side of the
bed looking down at me. The tall doctor guy stood next to them,
smiling widely.

"Definitely
pregnant, boys. It's a smell you never forget. Well done!"

I rolled over
and shut my eyes tight, trying to block out the madness. Maybe if I
lay here quietly they would get bored and go. No such luck.

"We need to
mark her now, before any other vamps get a whiff. They'll go crazy
trying to get her for themselves. I brought all the equipment, just
in case."

That sounded
like trouble for me. Oh yes, indeed. Hands reached out and rolled
me onto my back. I stared up at those three faces sullenly.

"Thigh first, I
think."

Once again the
robe was opened and my legs pulled apart. I closed my eyes again,
trying to imagine I was anywhere else but here.

"That smells
really good," the doctor breathed.

"You should
taste it," suggested Julius.

Seriously?

"Do you mind?"
the doctor's voice, ever so polite.

"Go ahead," I
recognised Atticus' voice. I knew what that meant. I tried to
squeeze my thighs together, but the hands were unrelenting. I
tensed myself for another finger, but got a tongue instead, licking
and probing. Jesus. I opened my eyes.

"You're
supposed to be a
doctor
!" I
almost yelled indignantly.

"He's a vampire
first," Julius explained, smirking. "And right now you taste better
than the best fresh human blood."

"And once I
mark you nobody but Atticus is allowed to touch you," the alleged
doctor's head lifted from between my thighs. He licked his lips.
"Let alone taste you." He stood up and reached into his bag,
pulling out a weird looking machine that looked like a cross
between a microscope and a nail gun. He plugged it into a wall
socket and switched it on. It started humming ominously.

"Hold tight
boys," he said and then he leaned over my left thigh. I felt a
stinging sensation and tried to wriggle away but I should have
known better. Those hands were like steel bands. I closed my eyes
again and tried to ignore the sting as the machine moved over the
inside of my thigh, right near where the doctor's goddamn tongue
had just been. It stopped eventually, leaving a residual burning
pain.

"Left wrist
now, and then we're done." I kept my eyes closed as the stinging
started over the pulse on the inside of my wrist. I noted sourly
how a pair of hands still held my legs apart. It was starting to
become the default position for me, I thought bitterly.

Eventually the
stinging on the wrist subsided and the humming stopped as the
machine was turned off. Cream was applied to both areas with deft
fingers, and I was released. I dragged the robe around me, eyes
still shut, and rolled over so my back was towards them. Somebody
patted me on the butt, and then they left. I sighed with
relief.

Annie returned
what felt like a few minutes later, carrying another tray. Steph
came in behind her carrying a small pile of clothes. She had a huge
smile plastered on her face.

"I heard the
news," she breathed excitedly, almost jumping up and down in
glee.

"Yay," I said
flatly. She ignored my less than enthusiastic response, and dropped
the clothes on the bedside table with a flourish.

"Jeans,
t-shirt, underwear," she listed. "Jumper, socks. I think I
remembered everything. Atticus got these for you when he pretended
to be your secret boyfriend. Your mum and dad let him pack a few
things for your holiday." I said nothing, so she carried on
blithely. "A baby vampire. That's so exciting!" she gushed. I could
have joyfully stabbed her in the eye right then, but Annie
intervened.

"I brought you
some supper. You haven't had anything for 24 hours. You need to
eat." I just looked at her, and rolled over again, tugging the
bedclothes around me and dragging them over my head. I ignored
Steph's pleas to wake up, and they eventually left.

Doctor Pervert
was back when I woke up again. Concern was written all over his
face as he gently shook me awake.

"You need to
eat and drink something," he told me urgently.

"Fuck off," I
told him back.

He left then,
but returned shortly with what sounded like Atticus in tow. The
bedclothes were pulled off me and the robe pulled up to expose my
butt. I felt the sting of a needle and burning as whatever it was
was injected into my muscle. I lay dead still, waiting for them to
leave again, but the robe was pulled down again and I was lifted by
strong arms and cradled against a broad chest.

"I think she's
a bit depressed," the doctor spoke softly. "I have given her
something to stimulate her appetite, but she needs to get out of
here. We haven't been very kind to her."

Fucking
understatement of the year, I thought to myself, as I was carried
up some stairs and through a couple of passages, my eyes tightly
shut. I leaned my head against a muscular shoulder that smelled
divine, I couldn't help noticing. I was gently placed on what felt
like a huge soft bed, and I heard the sound of running water. I
refused to open my eyes until I felt hands removing my robe. I
glared up at the perpetrator of this latest outrage, and Atticus
smiled down at me.

"Bath time,
Millie, then something to eat."

"Leave me
alone," I said tiredly.

"I can't, love.
You are my wife now, and you are carrying my child."

"We're not
married," I told him crossly. "And you have no right to do this to
me."

"We're married
under vampire law, and tomorrow morning the paperwork will be
finalised in human law too."

"So you're
adding fraud to your long list of crimes," I said in disgust.

He chuckled as
he lifted me easily, carrying me to the bathroom where a fragrant
steam rose from a claw footed bath in the centre of the room. He
put me down feet first, and indicated the water with an inclination
of his head. I sighed, and dipped a reluctant foot into the water,
which turned out to be the perfect temperature. Giving in, I sank
under the bubbles, and leaned back, closing my eyes. My peace was
short-lived. Atticus kneeled at the side of the bath, wielding a
bar of soap, and washed every inch of my skin. Then he shampooed
and rinsed my hair, gently massaging my scalp. I felt the tension
in my muscles dissipate, and almost let myself forget the
predicament I was in. I was reminded of it though when Atticus
suggested I get out of the bath and have something to eat. I looked
up at him, intending to tell him what I told Doctor Pervert, but I
decided not to when I saw him raise his eyebrows in a challenging
way. Grumbling, I climbed out of the soapy water and draped the
proffered towel around my body, and wrapped another around my hair
turban-style. Atticus grinned at me in appreciation. Whatever.

He made me eat,
too, threatening to hold me down and force the food down my throat
if I didn't eat it myself. Being held down gets tiresome after a
while, believe me, so I ate, reluctantly at first, then hungrily.
Atticus watched me, a satisfied expression on his face. I scowled
at him.

"Bed time," he
said when I had finished. I stared at him in trepidation, wondering
exactly what was meant by those two words. He sighed.

"I'm not going
to rape you, Millie."

"Again," I told
him.

"What?" he
wanted to know, a puzzled frown creasing his brow.

"I
believe the correct phrase was rape you
again
," I explained, enunciating
carefully.

"We had to,
sweetheart. There was no way you would have submitted to that
willingly. I can't apologise for something I don't regret doing.
You are mine now, and my child is growing inside you. It's hard for
me to see any downside to this." He paused for a moment, and then
chuckled. "If it helps, you can think of it as part of an exercise
in conservation of a very rare species," he smirked at me.

"You really are
something else, aren't you?"

"Thanks," he
said smugly.

"No, I didn't
mean that in a positive sense," I said sourly.

"I know, but
I'm taking it that way." He smiled ruefully at me. "Millie, if we
had sex now you would probably lose the baby, so you need to
understand that it's not an option until he's been born. No matter
how much you beg me," he added with an evil grin.

"Jesus,
everyone's a clown today." I paused, considering something. "So I'm
safe for what, nine months?"

"Eight. Vampire
foetuses grow a bit faster than humans."

"Good," I said
and stood up, deliberately dropping both towels, and went to brush
my teeth. A loud groan followed me to the bathroom and I smiled in
grim satisfaction. It was time for somebody else to be tormented
now.

I woke up the
next morning with something prodding me in the back. I lay for a
while trying to figure out what it was, and then the very masculine
arm draped around me and the sleepy chuckle gave me a big clue. A
really big clue.

I tried to
scramble out of bed but the arm tightened and the chuckle became
louder.

"Let me go," I
told him, struggling to free myself.

"I love
it when you try to wriggle away," Atticus whispered in my ear.
"It's so
stimulating
." I
froze. "Too late, sweetheart." He pressed himself against my
buttocks. I stayed frozen.

"You said you
wouldn't."

"And I won't.
But you can't lie naked in my bed and feel like that and smell like
that without expecting a reaction."

"You keep
that
reaction
away from me," I
told him firmly. He let out a bark of laughter, causing said
reaction to jerk alarmingly against me.

"You are so
adorable," he breathed against my neck, nuzzling the skin. "And you
smell so good, I'm just going to have to have a little taste
again."