Page 5 of Pregnant By the Vampire King

He wondered what Aelwen would taste like. He'd never had fae blood before, despite having many in his dungeons he could have taken by force, but the thought always disgusted him. Fae were little more than animals—true humans were not much better, but they at least understood their place. Aelwen though … there was something exquisite about her that made him crave a taste. He had the sense that she would let him drink from her, and drink deep he would ... if only he didn’t want to risk revealing his curse to her.

Saliva moistened his fangs, and he took a deep drink again to stave off his desires. He hadn't drunk blood directly from someone's flesh in almost a year now. Ever since his curse had struck him.

"I know," Vinir said at last. "The fault is not yours entirely. It was just my luck that she was caught on King Dominick's grounds and felt so compelled to get involved in their love affair and set them all free. Now she simply has this illusion that if she waltzes into this marriage, I'll trip over myself trying to replicate the same success as the other vampire kings."

"Four curses, four kings ... and three of them are now freed," Roland pointed out, claiming a seat on the black leather chair opposite Vinir. "You know, they might be on to something. I saw it myself. My sister fell in love with a king, and the curse upon him was lifted. What if it's really that simple?"

"Love," Vinir scoffed. "Love is no more magical than the weeds in a garden. It is, at best, a temporary illusion sold instorybooks to make young women and men more agreeable to one another, princesses among them. No, I have my own means of curing my curse, I only need time for the magic to do its job. My union with Aelwen is nothing more than a business deal. I'm marrying her because it's politically expedient. After all, we must ensure that the fae remains complacently out of our affairs. This was the easiest way to placate King Sinnegard." Vinir finished his wine and set the glass down with a thump. "But if Princess Aelwen doesn't understand what I'm doing, she won't appreciate it either."

"Of course, she doesn't appreciate it!" Roland laughed. "You made her out to be an unlovable hag because you're incapable of being honest with her, let alone yourself. So, you don't love her and have no intention to. I'm sure she expected as much. But you know what the fae are like."

"Incorrigible, unreliable, tricky?"

"They're baby obsessed," he corrected. "I've been to Gaivalon, my friend. Two hundred years ago, their species was all but eradicated by ours. It's mandated by law and has been since King Sinnegard came to power that their females produce as many children as possible to repopulate their lost cities."

"That has nothing to do with me."

"It didn't," Roland agreed, "until you married one of their women."

Vinir relaxed on the larger leather sofa, letting himself sink in at the same time as Roland's concerns. "You're saying that she's under pressure to have children with me as soon as possible."

"And if you refuse her, there could be dire consequences for both of you. King Sinnegard could see it as a grave insult forthem to sacrifice one of their most desirable females to you, only for you to refuse to reproduce with her."

Vinir crossed his legs, calming the foot that tapped anxiously. It was typical of the fae to pull some sort of nonsense on him. Of course, he thought he'd figured out every one of their plans and created ways for them not to get the drop on him. Until a year ago, he'd never considered fucking his future wife and getting her pregnant a potential pitfall in his plans.

After all, never intended to marry her at all.

Yet again, the fae proved themselves to be scheming, tricky creatures. Untrustworthy through and through, and he had no doubts that Aelwen was any different.

"I don’t care. I will dispose of her before it would be too obvious that we’re not doing our duties in the bedroom. That just lessens my timeframe a bit, that’s all."

“You can’t do that. You’ll trigger a war.”

Vinir shrugged. “Not if they believe her death is an accident.”

"There are simpler ways to deal with this issue than killing her. Just put a baby in her.”

“No.”

Roland gives me an assessing look. Is she really so undesirable that you can't ... find a way around it? This can’t simply be about despising the fae, can it? It must be your curse. What is it?”

Vinir pulled at the slim leather at the wrists of his newest pair of gloves. Already he could hear the subtle acidic hiss between the fabric and his hands. He would require a new pair soon.

"I see no remedy to the situation at this time," Vinir said. "But I will keep your concerns in mind, Roland. Welcome back."

Roland took that for the dismissal that it was and climbed to his feet. "As you say, Your Majesty. Good luck."

He left, the door to the sitting room clicking shut behind him.

Vinir would indeed need a lot of luck if he were to avoid Aelwen altogether. She was now his queen, after all, and she didn't seem to be the type to give up easily.

Why did he have to marry a blasted fae?

Chapter 3 - Aelwen

Sunlight filtered through the drapes, and Aelwen slowly woke from her first night as a married woman. Never did she expect to wake up alone and untouched in her marriage bed, her husband's side left completely undisturbed. The expansive four-poster felt far too large for her to occupy all on her own.

Vinir hadn't even given her the courtesy of coming to bed.

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