Chapter Two – Sheridan
Sheridan absently ran his thumb over Maribel's knuckles, breathing in her heady scent as they waited. Her bones felt so breakable. He wasn't used to being delayed in what he wanted, but these things couldn't be rushed. The fertility doctors he had hired to come artificially inseminate Maribel had to take tests and wait for results before they decided whether she was ready for the procedure or not.
It wasn't the only way for her to become pregnant with his child, but it was certainly the quickest, more reliable way. And of course, it was less risky than if they tried to create a baby the normal way.
"So. This is nice." Maribel looked around the small room. It was decorated in soothing neutral colors, nothing that might distress a sick individual. Magazines, books and a TV were all available for entertainment.
"Thank you. I try to keep up with medical advancements," Sheridan said.
Maribel nodded, her honey-brown eyes widening slightly. Her beautiful cherry-red lips beckoned him for a kiss, but he was determined not to give into temptation.
It was torture to be in the same room as this beautiful woman with her supple golden-olive skin, long, luscious black hair, and body made for love. But he had to get used to being close to her without being able to touch her, let alone worship her body or feed on her. It would be too easy to lose control.
"May I ask you a question?" Maribel's gaze never left his face.
He squeezed her hand gently. "Of course. We're married, so you can ask me anything."
Married. As soon as she said that was what she wanted, he had known he would give it to her. Since then his mind had been reeling–was that really the wisest choice? He hadn't even taken the time to check how his subjects would react. Well, if any of them objected they would have to deal with it. He was the king.
But still. It had been an impulsive decision.
After Sofia left him two hundred years ago, he never thought he would marry again. Certainly not somebody he just met. For all he knew, she could be after the divorce settlement that she'd get should they separate.
But no matter. He had had the foresight to have a prenuptial drawn in the twenty-four hours before their wedding. He would get the child if she left him. That's all he cared about. He wanted a child, and if he had to marry someone he didn't know to get it… well, it couldn't be any more loveless than his marriage to Sofia had been.
"When are you going to drink from me?"
"Drinking from you will change your body's chemistry and hormone production," he said, not looking at her. "It may discourage you becoming pregnant."
"Oh."
It wasn't likely to discourage pregnancy, but it might and so it wasn't technically a lie.
"And when will we… consummate our marriage?"
"If I slept with you, I would want to drink from you. We will have to give it some time and slowly get closer." For some reason, he had the urge to apologize to her for making her wait. "Why did you decide to come be a blood donor?"
Maribel turned her face away. He could feel her pulse increase in her fingers and frowned. Why would a simple question put her in such a state?
"I don't want to answer that right now. You'll have to wait until we're closer."
The echoing of his words made him frown. "Why is that? Are you holding out your story until I sleep with you?"
"No. I'm not telling you my story until I know whether I want you to know. How did you become a vampire?" She gave him a pointed look.
Sheridan shrugged. "I suppose I see your point."
There was a rapid knock on the door before it opened. Sheridan's frown increased when he saw his PA, a sweet little vampire named Billie. Her face was pinched, and there was clear anger in the way she held her shoulders. That couldn't be good.
"Sir, Romanoff is demanding an audience."
Romanoff. He was an old general who still thought humans mobbed vampires with torches and pitchforks.
Sheridan repressed a sigh. If he didn't go see Romanoff, the vampire would likely burst in here and frighten the human with his outdated opinions. And then the king would have to imprison him, which would only infuriate the old general even more. No, best to try to placate him.
He squeezed his wife's hand. "I'll be right back."
Billie led him out of the hospital wing, to the large parlor where he often had tea with human government officials. Romanoff, taller than most vampires with the build of a Viking warrior, paced the expensive Persian carpet.
"What is it?" Sheridan snapped at the other vampire.
"My lord." Romanoff bowed at his waist. "It's the human that you have… married."
"My wife, you mean? Your queen?" Sheridan kept his voice neutral.
"No human is my queen!" Romanoff's eyes blazed. His hands clenched at his sides. "You insult me by marrying one of them. How many vampire lives have been lost to the senseless hatred that humans harbor in their hearts? Using one for a child I can perhaps understand, but marrying one? Naming her our queen? You insult us all!"
Sheridan stepped towards Romanoff, not blinking. "I am your king and it is not your place to challenge my decisions."
Romanoff opened his mouth, but Sheridan held up his hand. The other vampire fell silent at once.
The general had been against bringing humans into the city walls to feed the inhabitants of the palace, insisting that they should instead hunt like they had in the years before the advent of guns and bombs. And whenever low-born vampires tried to scale the walls and mingle with humans–which would no doubt end in human death and renew vampire persecution–he had the audacity to claim that it was madness driven by the dead blood that Sheridan bought for his subjects.
As if Sheridan hadn't been drinking that same dead blood.
The king was getting tired of it. It was his job to keep his people safe, and vampires like Romanoff could get them all destroyed with their actions.
"Maribel is mine. She belongs to me. No one, not you nor anyone else, will challenge my right to marry her. Do you understand?"
A muscle twitched in Romanoff's jaw.
"I asked you a question."
"Yes, my lord."
"Good. Now leave."
The vampire bowed and swept out of the room.
Sheridan glared at him as he went. "He'll continue to cause problems, won't he?"
"Probably," Billie agreed. "And he's not the only one. There is plenty of outrage in the lower ranks about their king marrying a human. Especially when the marriage happened so quickly."
"Is that a note of reproach I hear in your voice, Billie?"
"My lord, I would never reproach my king," Billie said, her voice just light enough to be teasing. "But as your personal assistant, I would have thought that I would be made aware of such things more than twenty-four hours in advance."
"And if I had known earlier, I would have told you. I need to get back to my wife now."
Billie hurried after him. "There is something else."
Sheridan sighed. There always was. "Vampire or human?"
"Human. The group of protesters at our gates is growing. They are angry that we won't let their human news crews come into the palace, and they are calling for their government to intervene in, I quote, 'the vampire prostitution of human women'. There are even a few that are claiming we have underage girls within the walls and are demanding that the identities of all our donors be released."
"And if their identities were released, our donors would never be given a moment's peace when they return to the human side of the walls. It's funny how these humans claim they want to protect our donors when the confidentiality was put in place to protect the donors from other humans after leaving."
Billie shrugged. "They also seem overly concerned with the women who come to us, but think nothing of the men."
Sheridan grunted. He tapped his foot for a moment, then shook his head. "Release a statement refuting those claims, along with a copy of the agreement that the donors sign. Ask a few of the women if they'd be willing to join a few social media sites to document their lives here. Instagram, Twitter, etc. Reinforce the privacy policies we have."
His PA jotted down notes on her smartphone and nodded. "That should help."
"Anything else?"
"No.
Sheridan turned on his heel and headed back towards the hospital wing. He hoped he wasn't too late to hold Maribel's hand while the procedure was carried out.