Page 115 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

I couldn’t tear my eyes from her as she started down the dark hallway. When she finally disappeared behind the door, I smacked myself in the head. “Fuck.”

I had fucked everything up. Not by getting Thea pregnant. We’d both actively been taking that risk for weeks. No, I’d fucked up by letting my stupid vampire senses off their leash. If I’d had better control of myself—and my emotions—none of this would have happened. Well, the pregnancy bit would have. But she deserved to find out on her own terms.

She deserved to find out first.

Was that why she was so upset? Had I overstepped by telling her, even though she’d demanded the truth?

I needed to understand. Not only to support her, but also because part of me was...hurt.

The part of me that had fallen in love the moment I sensed the subtle change in her blood. I was going to be a father. It was the last thing I had ever wanted until about ten minutes ago. Now? I would fucking slaughter anyone who touched her.

It was a good thing we were alone on an island, because I was going to need to get myself into check—and quickly. My thoughts raced even faster than my feet as I paced the room. Every time I thought about Thea’s reaction, my chest tightened, and the longer she took in the bathroom, the worse it got. I’d overstepped by sensing the pregnancy, even unintentionally, so I tuned her out, refusing to feel out her emotions. Given her emotional state, she might not want me sharing her thoughts at the moment.

Relief washed through me when the bathroom door opened. It vanished as soon as I turned to her and spotted the redness in her eyes, the slight puffiness of her face, both of which told me that she’d been crying.

I opened my mouth, but she held up a hand.

“I will take a pregnancy test, but there is no way I’m pregnant,” she said firmly.

I wasn’t about to argue with her. Instead, I nodded.

“I have no symptoms,” she continued, “and I’m going to need a little more proof than vampire tastebuds.”

“That is perfectly fair.”

“We came here to escape, not add more to our plate. We can deal with this later—but it’s nothing,” she added.

Her resistance puzzled me, but I didn’t argue and I didn’t dare intrude on her thoughts. Although I couldn’t be sure if the jumble of emotions I felt came from me or her. Maybe she didn’t want to get her hopes up without knowing for certain. How soon could I have someone bring us a test? There were a few souls lingering on the island. I could probably reach Celia. Given her hint earlier, she’d probably be thrilled to run that errand.

“You look like you’re plotting,” Thea interrupted my thoughts, her voice full of suspicion.

“Just listening,” I said, beginning to cross to her.

But she shook her head. “There’s just no way. I had my period...”

I waited, but her forehead drew together as she tried to remember. I bit down on my lip to keep myself from smiling. That would definitely not go over well.

She let out a frustrated squeak. “I can’t remember with everything’s that has been going on, but,” she added swiftly, “I’m sure it was just a few weeks ago.”

I refrained from telling her that as far as we knew she could have gotten pregnant yesterday. Between my vampire senses and the mating bond, I’d notice the slightest change in her body.

“I doubt it.” She crossed her arms, hearing the thought anyway. I was so focused on not eavesdropping on her thoughts, my own nerves frayed entirely, that I’d left my shields down. “There’s no way that we would know this soon.”

“Magical pregnancies are different than human pregnancies.” I hated to point that out, but it was probably better for her to start adjusting her expectations now.

“Exactly.” She began to pace around the living room. My eyes tracked her every movement. “I mean how did this even happen?”

I paused. “Is that a serious question?”

“We weren’t even sure I had enough magic to get pregnant.” She rubbed her stomach absently. Then froze with horror. She looked down at her hand like it was a traitor and dropped it to her side. “I still don’t even know if I have any magic.”

I stared at her. Her power was well established, and if she was questioning it… Things were really going off the rails now. Maybe it was hormonal. Not that I would ever say that to her. Instead, I focused on the facts, hoping that would help her come around.

“You brought me back from the dead, my love,” I reminded her gently.

“Yeah, well, I thought that might have been a fluke.”

“A fluke resurrection?”

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