Page 32 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn
An hour later, Thorn carried Ledger to the largest sofa and cradled him in his lap as he sat down. They’d agreed to talk after they’d had a bath and eaten something. Before that, he’d told his brothers to fuck off when they’d kept hammering on his door.
He’d kept it together—kind of—while he’d helped Ledger bathe, then made him some food, which he poked at more than ate. The whole time, he’d eyed Thorn with suspicion, blocking him fully from his thoughts. No mean feat with how tense he was.
Thorn, as he settled fully in the seat, still wasn’t sure how to discuss this turn of events. It wasn’t every day a vampire discovered he could talk to his children in the womb of his mate, was it? Not that he’d actually tried to talk to them. No, he wasn’t quite prepared for that, though he had noticed Ledger had eaten only milk chocolate after the meal when he’d mentioned what he’d heard.
“Explain to me again why you think I’m pregnant?” The flat tone did not bode well when Ledger took hold of his chin, making sure Thorn was looking directly at him.
“The baby—ies, spoke to me.”
A shudder ran through Ledger. “Babies… as in more than one?”
Thorn tried once more to access Ledger’s mind, to figure out how he felt about this, coming up against the same solid block. “I believe so. The girl referred to ‘them’ wanting milk chocolate as I said.”
Another shudder, only this time Ledger placed a hand on his belly. “Girls? We’re having girls?”
“Yes.” He nodded, but who he was nodding at could well have been himself because Ledger wasn’t the only one having a hard time processing. Thorn had questions, lots of them and no way of answering any of them right then. He made sure to not think about them, despite Ledger blocking him. “Maybe… shit, the voice speaking is that of a girl, but the others could be boys?”
“Others!” Ledger asked in alarm. “How many others are we talking about here?”
Damn.
“I didn’t ask,” he explained sheepishly.
Ledger seemed to let that go in favor of asking his next question. “How can you hear them, and I can’t?” This question was full of hurt. “I’m the one carrying them,” he accused, his gaze dropping to his covered belly.
“I don’t know, Sweetling.” He paused before coming to a decision. “I could ask them. Find out… more.” Like exactly how many babies there were in Ledger’stinybody.
The jerky nod Ledger gave didn’t help to alleviate the tension growing inside them both.Girls… can you tell Daddy if there are any boys in there? How many there are of you?
He worried they weren’t able to answer when several silent seconds passed.
There’s two of us, Daddy, and we’re the same.
“Two girls. You’re having twins.” There was a history of twin vampire births dating back way beyond Dacian and Calvert’s birth, the last twins to be born into the family. He wasn’t sure if them sticking to tradition was reassuring him or not. Ledger grew paler by the second.
“Ask them why they aren’t talking to me.”
How come daddy Ledger can’t hear you?
There were giggles.Don’t know.
“They don’t know.”
Ledger frowned, then scowled at Thorn. “Well, that’s just dandy!”
Chapter Fourteen
Ledger
Ledger’s head was spinning, and he wasn’t even sure which way was up. He strolled through the vineyards, breathing in the sweet scents and fresh smell of rain-soaked earth. The heavyrainfall they’d had earlier in the day gave the ground much needed water, but it had also left Ledger feeling trapped. The downpour was so heavy, Thorn had insisted he wait to go for a walk. So here he was, sneaking out the second the rain stopped. Thorn had gone to deal with a call so he couldn’t insist on joining him.
Thorn clucked like a mother hen over her chicks. There was no other way to say it. The vampire could not stop fretting, not even for a second. It left Ledger feeling off kilter and in a strange mood most of the time. He didn’t want to be babied, except when he did.
He placed the blame squarely on his animal side because who else was responsible for his current state.
Listen, you didn’t have to voice the request.
They’d been having some version of this conversation for weeks, yet Ledger continued to poke back.You keep telling yourself that. You damn well knew what would happen to us.
