Page 54 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn
He stalked to his desk, sitting to open his emails. His fingers flying over the keys, he paid no attention to his two brothers, who had followed after him. Dacian was now minus his suit jacket.
“What gives?” Calvert asked gently.
Thorn didn’t answer, keeping his focus on the screen as he answered a query about a future order for their specialist wine-blood mix.
“Come on, talk to us,” Calvert persisted, perching on the edge of Thorn’s desk, looking like he’d just stepped off the cover of a fashion magazine.
Thorn flicked his gaze to them, ignoring the smirking sod standing off to Calvert’s left. “Ask your twin!”
He returned his attention to the computer, adding a reminder to those he was emailing to say he was going on paternity leave, and they’d need to reach out to Dacian with any future enquiries for orders for the foreseeable future.
It was normally Thorn’s job to deal with the merchants whom they shipped their wines to. The extra work for Dacian was a consolation prize, but then Dacian, who managed the winery production, could do that with his eyes shut, standing on his head. Calvert, who managed the vineyard properties, had more than enough to deal with when he spent most of his time with the public. There were other things for Calvert to think about, like how to replace Ledger until he decided what he wanted to do.
They were still in the considering stage of hiring someone else to replace Ledger, after the conversation they had with his dhampir who remained undecided about the future. They needed someone to help in the wine shop that was for sure. The rest, for now, they’d made no decisions about, only that Thorn was taking an indefinite amount of time off to be there for Ledger and the girls. His brothers and the existing staff would cope with for the next two months.
He hoped.
“Don’t look at me. I don’t know what he’s talking ‘bout.” Dacian interrupted his thoughts, having gone for innocent and if it had been anyone but them, he’d have succeeded.
Thorn jabbed a finger at his brother. “Weren’t you the one who said Ledger was going to burst? My poor sweetling is so big he can’t even get up without me helping him.” The panic was back, clawing at his innards, making him glad Ledger was up at the house and not close enough to sense it.
Could they hear how close to tears he was? Were pregnancy hormones catching?
Calvert gave him a sympathetic look before glowering at Dacian. “Why would you say that? Let’s hope when you find your dhampir that Thorn doesn’t tug your balls!”
Dacian roared with laughter, head thrown back, light caught in his dark locks making them appear like spun silk threads. “It’s taken centuries for one of us to find a mate, there’s very little chance I’ll find mine for decades, by which point he’ll have forgotten.”
“Fuck you. I hope you are the one who gets pregnant!” Thorn muttered, his attention returning to the task at hand. Time was ticking down and those senses he had attuned to Ledger said he would wake soon, and Thorn wanted to be there.
“Like that can happen! We can’t get pregnant, remember?”
He lifted a hand, giving Dacian the middle finger, still typing out the last email with the other.
“The universe also doesn’t give us male dhampirs either,” he pointed out, because he wanted to pay back Dacian just a little.
Calvert cough-chuckled behind his hand. “If you could see your face, Dac.”
“Whatever!”
Thorn shut down his computer quickly, already rising with the sensation of Ledger waking and immediately getting pissed off. “Shit, I gotta go.” He was out the door and running for the house before either brother could utter a word.
Please let him be in a better mood today.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ledger
Ledger attempted to roll over on the sumptuous mattress as words he’d thrown out like a dare a year ago—‘prove it’—rampaged through his mind, but his swollen belly prevented himfrom getting very far. His eyes slitted open, looking at the empty spot beside him. He reached out and felt the soft cotton, finding it cold.
Light peeked beneath the closed drapes. “Thorn,” he yelled, moodily, struggling to shift himself into a sitting position. Their babies immediately tap danced on his bladder and he groaned at the urgency that came with it. Being the size of a house, and just as unwieldy, his body had long since stopped him from doing anything quickly. The twins he was expecting any day made everything a mission. One his husband should be there to help him with, seen as it was him that got him up the duff!
Prove it,the last few weeks that comment had played on his mind a lot. He shook his head at his own stupidity. Thorn had done more than prove it. He’d whisked him out of the café and…
“Why couldn’t I keep my dick in my pants? I’m never having sex again, I swear it!” Scowling when his cock perked up at exactly how Thorn had proved they were mates and not once had a protest come from his lips. He’d damn well begged, hadn’t he!
It was embarrassing, even now, howhe should feel, but didn’t, at allowing Thorn to take him against a wall down a dirty alleyway at the back of the café when they hadn’t even exchanged names. It was…
Mind blowing.
