Chapter Two: Blood Moon
Gabriel watched the human exit the car he had sent for her. His human. Naya Valadez.
The name was like honey on his tongue, and her blood had been just as sweet. It wasn't until he had drunk from her and felt her reaction to him that he had known why he had felt such a strong urge to claim her. She had been so receptive to him, her blood had tasted of being a mere day from ovulation and, in that moment, he had known that he wanted to make her the mother of his child.
Naya carried a little girl with her. While her mother looked at the ground as she walked, the child peered around with great interest, her thumb stuck firmly in her mouth. Gabriel smiled at the little one as they approached. Babies and children were extremely rare among vampires, and so were always highly prized and well cared for.
He glanced over his shoulder at his assistant, Angel, a leggy vampire who had only been turned a hundred years ago. At the time, she had quickly become his favorite lover. If vampire women could bear children, he would have once considered marrying her. But lately they were growing distant, and she was becoming more and more exclusive to one of his guards. Besides, while they had always been comfortable, these was never love between them, and love was something that Gabriel desired.
"Naya," Gabriel greeted. "I take it this is your daughter, Ivanna?"
"Who's you?" the little girl demanded. "Can I have a cookie?"
Gabriel felt a smile tugging his lips, and Angel laughed aloud. "Of course, precious. You and I are going to spend a lot of time together while Mommy and Gabriel get to know each other."
Naya cast the vampire female a wary look, and Gabriel quickly made introductions. Just looking at the beautiful human with her long, black hair and wide hips, perfect for holding while thrusting into her, made desire tighten in him. But he knew he had to be patient.
"May I?" Angel held her arms out to the little girl, and Naya cautiously handed her over. "She's so beautiful."
Ivanna beamed. "Cookie now?"
At Gabriel's nod, Angel bustled towards the kitchens. Naya made to follow, but Gabriel took her arm and led her in the opposite direction. The human pulled against his grip, her eyes following her daughter, expression creased with worry.
"She'll be fine. Children are precious to vampires, and you won't find a female better suited to childcare than Angel. You and I have to talk, since we will sleep together tonight."
Naya's eyes flew to him, and her jaw dropped. She jerked back minutely, but didn't fight him as he led her through the corridors of his palace. He'd had servants working ever since she had left the previous night, cleaning and polishing, wanting everything to be perfect for his human.
"Why so soon?" Her voice, though soft, was still strong.
"It's the Blood Moon tonight, and we won't get another one for another twenty years. I am not going to wait that long."
The human shivered. "Blood Moon?"
"When there are four total lunar eclipses in a row, the fourth is a Blood Moon. It changes vampire physiology; just for the night, we're human again."
"Human?" Naya stopped walking. Her hunched shoulders straightened. "You'll be human tonight?"
Gabriel enjoyed the look of shock in her eyes and the scent of her arousal that drifted to him. Her dark eyes were darkening more, and her breasts pushed up as she breathed. So she did want him. Good.
"I'll be human. Sex when I'm a vampire is perfectly possible, but I have to fill you with living seed in order for it to take in your womb. So we must mate tonight if there is a chance for you to carry my child. I will also be … donating for future use in case you don't get pregnant right away, but I have been assured that being together on the night of the Blood Moon will give us the highest chance of success."
Naya's eyes were round like saucers, but she nodded. "That makes sense."
Gabriel smiled kindly at her, putting his arm around her waist. His nostrils flared as he took in her honeysuckle scent. She was only a couple of hours away from ovulation. Good. She would be ripe by the time night fell. "I will show you to your chambers now and send Angel for anything you need. There are only a few hours until dark, when my change will begin."
"Thank you." She looked at the floor again, her soft hair curling around her face.
The king so wanted to kiss her. He wanted to remove her clothing and have her right here, against the wall, on the floor, everywhere. If not for the necessity of waiting until he had become human once more, he would have done so in a heartbeat. He groaned internally as she began moving again, her succulent hips swaying as she walked. Did she know what she was doing to him?
I can wait, he promised himself. And it will be worth waiting for.
***
The first sign of change was the thumping in his chest. Gabriel put a hand to his ribs, feeling the beating of his heart start again. This was the part he always hated. The dreaded drum within his body signaling that his strength, speed and senses were about to diminish so drastically he would be left a shell of his true self.
Gabriel liked being a vampire. He had liked it since the moment he had been turned. He hated turning back to a weak, pitiful human, even if it was only for a night. But tonight he had something to make up for the change. He glanced at the clock; an hour before the time he had told Naya he would go to her. Would she be ready for him? Would she be eager, or had time cooled her desire for him? Should he have drunk a little before the change started, for her passion to flare?
A knock at the door roused him from his thoughts, and the king answered. The head of his security, Alberto, stood on the other side.
"Sire, we caught an intruder."
Gabriel groaned, but gestured for Alberto to continue. Why tonight, of all nights? Was it one of those annoying females who liked to try to sneak into his personal chambers naked? If it was, he'd have her jailed for public indecency for a few weeks. Perhaps that would send a message to the rest of them!
"He was carrying a rifle armed with silver bullets."
Gabriel instantly went rigid. "Silver bullets?"
Alberto nodded gravely. "He claims to be a member of Take Back the Planet."
"An assassination attempt," Gabriel muttered.
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. While there had always been human resistance to his rule, it was only recently that Take Back the Planet, a group dedicated to killing every vampire that lived, had started to be a true threat. They were developing technologies specifically to kill vampires, and there were an increasing number of human casualties resulting from their efforts.
Funny that an organization that stated vampires were a threat to humans would kill more of them in a year on this continent than vampires did worldwide.
"Find out all you can from him. See if you can get him to give up who recruited him and how he got his hands on silver bullets. I had all the silver gathered from human populations centuries ago. If they have a mine somewhere…" the king didn't finish his thought.
Alberto bowed deeply to him, turning on his heel as he strode off to do as he had been commanded. Gabriel shut the door to his office, pacing from one end to the other as the tingling of blood spread through his limbs.
Yes, humans had been treated terribly in the past but, as soon as he had fought his way to rule the vampire nation, Gabriel had put in measures to protect them.
Humans were not permitted to be hunted. If a vampire fed on a human and killed him, that vampire was put to death, regardless of circumstances. Stores of food were set up throughout Gabriel's territory, buffers against famine, drought or other natural disasters that would hurt the human populations. He spent over ten billion dollars every year developing new, cheaper, more effective cures for human ailments and researching alternatives to human blood for vampires.
And yet people like Take Back the Planet still wanted him dead. What else did they want from him?
The king sighed. There was no way to appease the humans who wanted to kill him except to die. And that was something he wasn't planning to do anytime soon.
He put the intruder from his mind. Alberto would deal with him and, on this night, when they were all so much more vulnerable than usual, security measures had been tripled. There was nothing to worry about at the moment.
His blood coursed through his veins, filling him with warmth. Gabriel turned his thoughts to Naya and, with his heart increasing its rhythm, he headed for her.