Riley Hayes | A Vampire Novel | Book 2

Chapter 34 - ending of another chapter

Time passed by so quickly. Aria still hadn't left and had even claimed a room in the mansion to support me during my pregnancy. She got Wendy to agree to adjust her shifts back home.

I miss working at Gill's. Maybe I could open my own restaurant one day. Who am I kidding? Where would I find the time for that?

Rayna trained every day to get stronger and more in control of her magic. She needed to be ready in less than six years when she turned 18 and would take over the entire generation of witches. She was safe here for now, but Althea had warned that if witches found out she was weak, they would all fight for the throne. It was up to Rayna to set the limit and show just how powerful she was to prevent any challenges.

I'd also been working on the first school with Leuca. I had screened a few vampires who could become teachers and invited them for interviews to be sure. Based on those, I had already cut a few candidates who weren't suited after all.

The school was nearly built, and we had already received many admissions from both human and vampire parents.

Now, about the resistance... Yeah, there's been some. But with the resistance, there was also a lot of support. Leuca mostly handled the resistance, allowing vampires to move to another territory if they couldn't accept the new regulations. By the end of the year, they either had to be gone or adjust.

I felt proud to be part of this movement. I had always fought for humanity, and now I had helped bring about this change. It was far from perfect, but humans now had a chance to be educated, make a living, and fend for themselves.

Damian was excited about going back to school and even looked forward to making friends. He'd had a major growth spurt lately, almost reaching my height. In a few months, he'd be as big as Leuca, even though he was only five. He looked like a sixteen-year-old and sometimes acted like one too. Not with me—he was still a mama's boy—but he was getting rebellious with Leuca. Though Leuca could set him straight.

My belly was growing slowly but surely, and Leuca had a pediatrician come every few weeks to check on me. Fun fact: there were still two babies in my belly. The second heartbeat was much stronger now, so their chances of survival had gone up a bit.

We didn't want to know the gender since Damian could read minds anyway, so keeping it a secret wouldn't be easy.

One night, I felt a strange pressure in my belly. It didn't hurt yet, but it was uncomfortable. I'd gone through labor before, so I knew this wasn't contractions yet, but I could tell they were coming soon.

I hoped they both would survive. A lot could still go wrong, especially since the second baby was much smaller. "Are you okay?" Leuca asked, placing his hand on my belly. "It's the middle of the night..."

"I know. I just feel some pressure, a little uncomfortable." I chuckled. He was nervous. "Relax, they're not coming yet."

He lay back down and pulled me into his chest, his arm wrapped tightly around me. I felt his excitement against me and whispered, "Why are you getting excited?"

Though he'd been against having more children at first, ever since I started showing, he'd become obsessed with my belly. Aria said it could be his paternal instincts—subconsciously proud of getting me pregnant and finding my pregnant belly arousing or something.

He slipped inside me easily, having already taken care of me before bed. He kept me loose all the time. He was very careful, holding my leg up and teasing my swollen, sensitive breasts. He knew just how to push me over the edge, and I came quickly from just his penetration and touch.

"You're so hot like this, Riley," he whispered in my ear. "Maybe I'll keep you knocked up like this..."

I groaned. "Maybe you find it sexy, but I'm suffering over here. My bladder gets kicked about fifty times a day, my feet hurt and are swollen, and I have to deal with an overly aroused Lord all the time." The hormones were making me a little irritable.