King Bain ground his hips against Cara’s backside, grunting as his orgasm gradually ebbed, finally collapsing over her back as she panted and writhed through the end of her own release. His hands clasped hers against the mattress under the mound of pillows piled against the headboard.
“That was good,” he murmured against her ear, his fangs fully distended.
“Mmm-hmm.” Her fingers coiled around his.
As soon as the guests had left, he’d wasted no time getting Cara to their bedroom. Being around Trace and his flood of calling hormones all night without being able to bury himself inside his queen had been like sitting at a table piled with food he couldn’t eat, even though he was starving.
“That was like an explosion,” she said, her voice muffled as she spoke against the sheets.
He pumped his hips against her. He was still hard. He would claim her body again—and maybe once more after that—before he was finished with her.
“It felt like an explosion.” He drew his tongue down the side of her neck to her shoulder.
She sighed and then moaned as he nipped her flesh. He had enough experience reading her sounds and body language that he knew she wasn’t finished with him either.
He let go of her hands, then brushed her hair away from the back of her neck so he could tease her nape.
She squirmed, rotating her hips.
“We’re in the middle of a pull phase,” he said between kisses.
She lifted her head. “A pulling? Are you sure?”
He ran his palm down her side, pausing to caress the swell of her breast, before continuing to her hip. “I’m positive.” He thrust into her again. “My director of research and my lead statistician brought me the numbers yesterday. There’s no doubt we’ve entered a pull phase.”
A pulling—or pull phase, as it was sometimes called—occurred when mass numbers of male vampires formed mating bonds, and when those who were mated had their callings, even if it wasn’t time for them to. Throughout history, pull phases happened before times of calamity, usually before another bloody war with the drecks, but they had happened before natural disasters, as well, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, or plagues, even when those tragedies didn’t directly affect vampires.
Science suggested that pullings occurred before such events to ensure the vampire species propagated enough to survive the potential for death that was to come.
Bain had lived through two previous pullings.
“You know what that means, don’t you?” he murmured against her skin.
She tensed, then relaxed when he scraped the tips of his fangs over her neck.
“We need to talk about it.” She groaned again as one fang lightly pierced her flesh, drawing a single drop of blood, which beaded like a red pearl.
He licked it away as the wound sealed. “I know we do. That’s why I brought it up.” It was heavily documented that being around a male in his calling during a pull phase could and would cause a chain reaction of callings in other males.
In other words, it wouldn’t be a surprise for Bain if he went into his own calling after being around Trace for several hours tonight, especially since he was so close to the ten-year mark already.
“I’m not sure I want another child, Bain.”
“I know.” They’d been talking about having another young for months. She’d been adamantly against it at first, but he was gradually wearing her down, reminding her that most pregnancies and births weren’t as bad as Colin’s, that Colin had been the rough one and the next would be easier. And if it wasn’t, he vowed to take care of her and do whatever it took to keep her comfortable.
So far, all their conversations had ended the same, neither of them willing to concede, even if Cara left the door open a little more each time.
Now, they were out of time. It was time to make a decision.
“But I know you do,” Cara said.
“I won’t lie, Cara. I want another child.” All vampire males longed for as many young as they could seed their mates with.
Creating a child without a calling was near to impossible, but with a calling, the odds increased substantially. Not all callings yielded young, though. There was over a ninety percent success rate with a calling, and less than five percent without one.
Cara sighed. “Colin’s birth was just so hard on me, Bain.”
“I know it was.” He tenderly kissed the back of her shoulder, then lifted off her.
She rolled to her back, and he settled into the cradle of her body, his hard cock pressed between them. His mouth found hers, then dragged down to her breast. Her nipple puckered as he swirled his tongue in languid circles around it.
Her fingers drove into his long hair as she churned her hips, working herself up to the head of his erection.
“You really want another young, don’t you?” she murmured, trailing off with a moan as he breached her.
He rose over her body, supporting his weight on his arms. His hair draped over her breasts, swaying forward and back as he rocked into her, finding a steady rhythm.
“Just one more, love.”
Her hands gripped his triceps as she wrapped her legs around his back. “Okay.” She grinned, baring the tips of her fangs.
“Okay?” He was so surprised to hear her finally relent that he nearly stopped making love to her.
Her grin widened, making her look even sexier with her wild, just-fucked hair splayed over the pillows and her makeup smeared under her eyes. “You talked me into it.”
Twenty minutes later, with his body singing with the aftereffects of another orgasm, Bain dropped to his back, out of breath, his skin covered in sweat, and pulled Cara against him.
“Thank you,” he said before kissing her temple.
“For what?” She was just as breathless as he was.
“For saying yes.”
Her fingertips lazily caressed his chest. “Your persistence made me realize I want another child too.”
“Even after Colin?”
She shifted and propped herself on one elbow. “Having him was hard on me, but it makes me appreciate him that much more. It makes me feel closer to him.”
Bain trailed his fingers along her shoulders. “We only truly appreciate that which we work hardest for,” he said quietly.
“What?”
He repeated what he’d said, louder this time. “That’s something my father used to say to me when I was a boy. I’ve heard others say it since, in one version or another, but no matter the words used, it always reminds me of my father.”
She rested her chin on the heel of her hand. “I like it.” She stared at him for a moment. “Wanna know what else I like.”
He pushed her mussed hair off her face. “What?”
“Weddings.”
He laughed, full-bodied and out of the blue. “Don’t tell me you want to make them a vampire tradition now?”
Her bottom lip pushed out in a pout. “Why not?” She swung her leg over his body and pulled herself on top of him until she straddled his hips. “They’re fun. They give us an excuse to dress up and have a party. They could also make it easier and more official to track matings. And”—she wiggled her hips against him as if trying to rouse him for round three—”weddings would help us fit into human society better.”
His large hands dug into her firm thighs and sharply tugged her legs forward, making her gasp as her upper body fell backward. She threw her arms back to catch herself, causing the light to fall over her full breasts and hairless mound, casting alluring shadows over her pale skin and displaying her perfect breasts to his ravenous gaze.
“You’ve got it all figured out, haven’t you, love?” He smoothed his palms up her inner thighs to her glistening core.
She bit her plump bottom lip and tilted her pelvis upward. “Maybe.”
Using his thumb, he parted her folds and found her clit, massaging it in firm tight circles.
Her head dropped back as she sighed.
That was his queen, always thinking, always looking for ways to help their race fit in better.
But Bain didn’t necessarily want to fit in. Not in all things. But Cara made a good point about weddings. They were fun. And they did allow matings to be more official. And who didn’t like a good party? The reception alone was worth the effort. The food, the music, the dancing. The laughter.
Vampires didn’t have a lot to laugh about, and if the pull phase, as well as the news the lycans had shared about motley werewolves being made as vampire-killing machines, was any indication, they would have less to laugh about in the very near future. Maybe Cara’s suggestion was worth researching as a means to keep the race in good spirits.
Whether he made weddings a part of vampire tradition or not, at least one thing had been settled tonight. She would receive him in his next calling. She would receive him and provide him with another young. For that, she deserved to be rewarded, and he would spend the rest of the night doing just that.
“We’ll see, love. We’ll see. Now hush. Hush and let your king service you.”