Into the Vampire's Lair Ch. 02

NB: Special credit and thanks to my editor wildheartedangel for helping me edit and fine tune the scientific terms in this chapter as well as the previous chapter. I'm really grateful for her help so hopefully it will be a better read for all of you. Also, my appreciation goes out to those of you who took the time to comment; be it here or via my blog posts. It has really helped shaped the development of this story so far.

On another note, for the purpose of plot development, sex scenes will only be added from Chapter 4 onwards so do bear with me. I will try to post Chapter 3 and 4 within a few days from each other.

So for now, have a good read!

***********

"Do I really have to sleep alone in the garden tonight Sweetheart?" asked Eian sheepishly as he stared at her back facing him.

"I can always make you do it unwillingly," she replied without turning back as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror.

"I'm already unwilling," he said, trying his best to pout. "Does that mean if I say I'm willing you'll let me sleep here?"

Fiona caught his eyes in the mirror's reflection and raised her eyebrows.

"So what you're saying is that you're really innocent and that you haven't been messing around in my head and that you really deserve to sleep here tonight?" she asked turning around to look at him. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest to mirror the fierce look on her face.

"Uhuh..." he stammered, nodding slowly. Fiona seemed to be considering his words seriously; her face lost in thought. Finally she shrugged and came closer towards him.

"I'll let you off this time," she whispered, untying the knot of her bathrobe to reveal a sheer chemise underneath. Fiona smiled when she heard the sharp intake of his breath.

Did he really think he was going to get off that easily?

For the briefest of seconds, she caught a slight flicker in his eyes but then it was gone; replaced with a look of intense desire.

"Don't change your mind..." The plea in his voice was unmistakable but Fiona chose to reply by pressing her lips onto his.

He gave a sigh of relief as their lips met; the heat unlike the tenderness of their matrimonial kiss. They were desperate for each other, their hands pulling away at articles of clothing that were in the way.

I shan't bother wearing anything to sleep next time if all he does is tear it off.

Fiona felt Eian's slight smile against her lips. She knew that he could hear her! Her lips then moved slightly to suck on his lower lips, luring him into a state of false assurance before sinking her teeth slowly to pierce the soft skin. The metallic taste of his blood elicited a soft purr from her throat.

"You're biting me Sweetheart..." whispered Eian without making any effort to move away from her. He knew that she was merely nipping at him and was not of any threat at the moment.

"I'm sorry... I did that on purpose," she replied, finding it hard to pull away from the exquisite taste. She licked the wound seductively and watched as it healed back to its original condition.

"Mmm," he growled softly at her response, nuzzling the side of her neck. "I'll let you mark me as much as you want... if you want..."

"Mmm... make love with me first Eian... We'll sort out your marks later..."

"I hope I get a hundred..."

***

A while later, limbs still entangled, Fiona laid her head on Eian's chest, listening to the accelerated pounding of his heart; evidence of their vigorous gymnastic skills on the bed. At the moment, he was still hard inside her; a feeling she was getting used to each time they mated. A smile of amusement lit up her face as she looked up into her husband's eyes.

"I'm sorry about all the biting..." she whispered. "I didn't know you tasted so good."

A warm hand crept down her body, landing with a smack on her butt. "Don't get used to it," he growled. Eian didn't want her to know it but his wolf had been ecstatic at the thought of its mate finally marking it back, even though Eian knew that her tentative little pricks were just a punishment for lying to her earlier.

However, his beautiful little Vampire was nestled so innocently in his arms that surely no one would believe she was such a vindictive creature with various well-thought out ideas on how to punish him. Oh yes... he had been privy to them.

"What are you thinking about Eian?" she whispered... as though she didn't know...

"You're such a vindictive little vixen," he replied; another smack landing on her butt.

"Me?" she purred with feigned innocence. "You're here, buried deep inside me on our warm bed instead of sleeping in the garden and you say I'm vindictive? That's just so mean..."

"I'll show you mean," he replied, rolling her onto her back; watching her eyes roll back in pleasure at the feeling of his hardened manhood plunging even deeper inside her.

***

When Alaron entered the bookshop that morning, he wasn't exactly sure what he was looking for. He knew that Fiona would not arrive until half an hour later so he had to come up with a reason to enter before he chickened out and walked away.

A while later, he let himself into the store, pacing the carpeted floors. Erika was nowhere to be found. He leaned lazily against her cashier counter and surveyed the place. It was really a dump. How in the world could Fiona put up with it?

He waited for a few more minutes and heard the slight thud of footsteps.

"Excuse me? We're not opened yet." Alaron looked up to the sound of the voice and found her staring at him from the stairway. So... she lived upstairs.

"I'm uh... I want to get Fiona a book before she comes," he regurgitated the script from memory. It had taken him five whole minutes to come up with the suitable line.

Erika looked at him doubtfully but took the bait. "What book?"

"Uh... some baby book. She's trying to conceive you know? I thought maybe I should get her something to uh... help her along."

Erika's face suddenly lit up with amusement and she pulled her head back in laughter.

"She doesn't need help in that department. Did you get a load of the guy she married? Now, Fiona can be a little soft around the edges but her husband is not.... Definitely not," she replied, as she moved towards the coffee maker.

Alaron didn't know why her sentence irked him. It was bad enough that Fiona compared him to that mutt... but this stranger? What does she even know about them anyway? Fiona's not going to have an easy pregnancy like any other human. Sure he said he wasn't going to help her with the baby thing but since when did he ever mean anything he said?

"Just help me find the damn book," he growled in an irritated voice.

"Find it yourself. I'm not on duty right now so we are two perfect strangers in a public space," she said, ignoring him.

Alaron couldn't believe this woman. Why couldn't all women be as gentle and sweet as his mother or Fiona? Okay... maybe they were scary when they got angry but generally sweet-natured. But this human was just unyielding!

Alaron let out a snarl but didn't reply her. Obviously she was playing hard to get... which makes hunting the prey all the more thrilling, he thought. Just as well. He turned his focus to the bookshelf in front of him and began perusing the baby book collection that they had.

"Baby names, Pregnancy Journal... Belly laughs..." he muttered, obviously amused at the titles. "No wait... this one sums it about right: What's going on in there?"

Alaron was actually amazed that people actually write stuff about babies and what to do about them. That was just as weird as him standing in front of the baby section looking for the right book.

"Al? What are you doing here so early?"

Alaron quickly hid the book he was holding behind his back as Fiona approached him. Her eyes flicked to the titles on the shelf.

"Baby books?" She looked puzzled then frowned. "Did you get someone pregnant?"

"No I didn't silly!" he replied, giving her a playful push. "It's kinda like for you..."

Fiona was about to reply when Erika shouted across the room at them.

"Get your hands off her! Fiona! How can you just stand there when he just manhandled you like that?"

Fiona looked up at Alaron. She knew he had pushed her, albeit playfully, but she hadn't moved an inch; a normal human being might have flown across the room. It wasn't a big deal... but apparently Erika thought it was for she was fuming as she marched towards them.

She was jabbing a finger against his chest and delivering various threats and curses. For a moment, the two Vampires just stood rooted in shock.

When she managed to snap out of it, Fiona eased away from them before she laughed out loud and ruin the moment. She had caught Alaron's eye and saw the plea in them but all she could do was cover her mouth to stop the giggles.

When he left a while later, Erika went over to Fiona.

"Sweetie, you really shouldn't let him push you around like that. I know he's your brother and all but he sure is rough. If you get pregnant, it's going to be unsafe for him to behave that way around you," she warned.

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Honey... don't you know anything about pregnancies? Bugger... that bloke was right about you needing help now aye? Well, if you fall, it might increase the chances of a miscarriage... and we don't want that now do we?" she said kindly.

"Oh..." Fiona wished she was already at that state of worrying about a miscarriage... but she hadn't even conceived anything yet. With a sad sigh, she looked at Erika and tried to change the topic.

"You know Erika... Alaron can be quite... aggressive at times but I've thrown him against a wall myself so you can say shoving each other is our favourite pastime."

"Surely not!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"Well... okay maybe I exaggerated. But my point is that he's a very misunderstood person... sometimes I think he behaves that way because it's his self-conscious defense mechanism."

"Against what?!"

"Women... He wants intimacy but he's afraid of getting too close. Losing his mother was really a turning point for him."

"Oh...I'm sorry," said Erika. "You don't share the same mother?"

Fiona smiled and shook her head. The Culzean family tree was a bit too complicated for her to explain to the human at the moment.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too hard on him then..." said Erika, moving to the door to turn the 'closed' sign to 'open'. "But he's still an asshole."

Laughter bubbled in Fiona's throat. "Ah... yes he is..."

***

Later that evening, Fiona headed over to the medical centre for her first check up with Amber. Eian had also given Draven special permission to enter the pack grounds, so she was also hoping to see him for she had yet to thank him properly for helping with the wedding preparations.

The instant she entered the facility, the smell of anti-bacterial sanitizers reminded her of the first time she was admitted. Somehow, that seemed like a distant memory but still a very real and integral part of her. And Eian had been part of all that, right from the start. Her hand rested gently at the base of her stomach; her heart hoping to whatever higher power up there that she could somehow have a child together with the man she loved. It was the one thing she could do for him... after all that he has done for her.

She knocked softly on the consultation room and stepped inside.

"Hi Fiona, take a seat," said Amber, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. "Draven should be here in awhile." When Fiona was seated, she continued, "In the meantime, we'll do the standard checkups. I have a feeling that we might need to update your previous medical records since your body has gone through quite a few changes."

"I hope they're all good changes..." said Fiona softly as Amber took her pulse and blood pressure.

Amber murmured something unintelligible before moving to her laptop to key in the information she had just gathered.

"On the average... your vitals are in good shape. Your body temperature is still on the lower end of the normal human spectrum but it is definitely higher than when you first came here. That's a good sign."

"Will that be a problem?" asked Fiona, trying not to appear too worried. "I mean having a lower body temperature?"

"I don't know yet... we've never had inter-species breeding before. Werewolves generally have a much higher body temperature than most humans. Gestating mothers especially can get really feverish since they might be carrying an average of three to five pups at a time.

"Okay..." said Fiona sadly.

"Don't worry so much about it Fiona... Draven and I will be with you every step of the way. Don't forget, you're our Alpha female too so it is my duty to serve you and your needs."

Fiona blushed. "Don't say that... I'm still me... Don't treat me any different than the others."

Amber let out a small laugh. "I wish. You'll learn soon enough that the pack survives because of our awareness of our place within the hierarchy. Acting otherwise could result in banishment from the pack." Amber took Fiona's arm and dabbed a cotton wool soaked in alcohol over the skin. "But I'm doing this because I want to. Somehow the prospect of a hybrid child fascinates me... And I get to work with Vampires... how intriguing."

Fiona raised her eyebrow at Amber. "You mean Draven right?"

Amber looked at her for a minute before bursting out in laughter. "Oh god I'm so obvious aren't I?"

"Just a little," laughed Fiona.

Amber gave a wide grin as she inserted a needle into Fiona's vein to draw a blood sample.

"This is to check your glucose level, blood cholesterol and so on. I'll give a portion of it to Draven to do the DNA test. We're not really equipped here for that sort of microbiology procedures."

Fiona nodded, watching Amber stand up to keep her blood sample in a small box.

"I just have a few more questions regarding your fertility cycle and then we're done," said Amber cheerily. "I'll also start you on a journal where you have to record down the usual things like daily body temperature, the start and end of your period and also a list of what you eat daily..." she said absently before stopping. "Oh, I'm sorry... it slipped my mind..."

"It's not your fault..." said Fiona kindly, trying to hide the fear and worry in her voice. "I guess we can skip that part since you know I only need to feed once every few months or so."

Amber looked at Fiona and thought of the best way to explain to her the problem.

"I am aware of that... but we might have to start you on real food once you've conceived... it's integral to the development of the baby."

"Oh dear... you mean like human food?" Fiona hadn't thought of it before. If the baby's going to be part Were, it will want real food right? Or would it take after her Vampire's diet?

"Mmm... I won't recommend changing anything for now. If you successfully conceive then we'll worry about it."

"I can take in liquids fairly well... maybe that'll help?" asked Fiona sadly. Amber didn't know what to say so she just smiled and watched the Vampire hung her head down dejectedly.

"I'm sorry Sweetie... I didn't mean to make you sad. Like I said, we'll just have to wait and see. For now, we need to get that egg hatching."

A ghost of a smile crept up Fiona's face but she still looked forlorn. Amber felt guilty. She hated seeing the sadness in Fiona's eyes but she was equally helpless; she had no answers to the questions that were usually of second nature to her.

"Do you want me to call Eian to pick you up?" she asked instead. Fiona shook her head but Amber was already picking up the phone to dial for her Alpha. She then walked Fiona out to the main waiting area. Amber had a feeling that it wasn't going to take long for Eian to come.

She was right.

Minutes later, he tore into the building, his senses searching for Fiona with a slightly anxious look on his face.

"Alpha..." called Amber. "Over here."

"Hey... Sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" he asked, taking a seat beside his wife before looking at Amber for some answers.

We talked about some of the difficulties she might face and I think it made her sad.

What difficulties? Why is she even here in the first place, Amber?

Amber gave her Alpha a stunned look. Did he not know of Fiona's intention to conceive? She bit her lips, wondering what to do. Would it a breech of patient's confidentiality if she told Eian what Fiona would have otherwise kept from him?

Amber...

I'm sorry Alpha... the Hippocratic Oath doesn't allow me to divulge anything that the patient doesn't want to share...

I'm her husband!

I know Eian... but you have to ask her permission first.

Eian gave a scowl and looked at Amber with narrowed eyes.

Your Alpha just gave you a direct order.

Amber swallowed hard and tried not to look too fearful.

Fiona is also my Alpha and she hasn't given me the orders to share anything with you... please Eian, don't make this hard for me.

Eian who was on the verge of rage suddenly blinked back with surprise. Somehow he had totally forgotten that his wife now held the same status as him. With a resigned sigh, he leaned back against the chair. He knew he was being difficult on Amber but she was right. He valued her expertise and her ethics and he wouldn't have it any other way...on a sane day.

"I'll just take her home then," he said, lifting Fiona gently into his arms. He was glad that she wasn't fussing but was pliant to his handling. He had no idea what she was so upset about but he could sense her raw emotions inside of him too and it broke his heart.

After buckling her up in the passenger seat, he got in the car and simply sat there quietly.

"Fiona Sweetheart... would you like to tell me what's wrong?" he asked patiently. "I had no idea you had an appointment with Amber today. I would have come along."

Fiona didn't say anything but smiled weakly at him.

"Sweetheart?" he asked again.

I want to go home

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me why you're so sad... you're a strong woman... surely whatever it is can't be that bad?"

The moment the words came out of his mouth, he knew he was in trouble. He had just replied to her non-verbalized question. He knew she had been annoyed about him not being truthful about their mental bond and now he had given her a chance to get angry at him.

Her face was looking straight ahead but her eyes were turned to stare at him. He didn't really need to see them to know she was angry; he could feel it in his gut. That and his hands were moving towards the steering wheel on their own accord.

Angry's good... better than sad right? He tried to persuade her but to no avail.

"Drive home, Eian," she commanded in a cold voice.

***

Meanwhile, Amber was sitting in her office, printing out the data from Fiona's first visit. The blood results will be back in a day or two. Plus she still had to wait for Draven to take a look at Fiona's blood sample.

Amber frowned. Just where the hell is he? He had missed the whole consultation! If he had been around, maybe Fiona wouldn't have been that devastated.

"He's freaking Ancient for god sake... surely he'd know more than me?" she muttered to herself.

Somehow that seemed to be the magic phrase, for a knock later; he entered, looking solemn as always.

"You're late," she said accusingly.

"Yes, I was caught up with something. My apologies."

Amber leaned back in her swivel chair and crossed her arm. He didn't even look at her when he said sorry!

"Right, so where's her blood sample? I'll just take it and be on my way."

"You were supposed to be here for the consultation!"