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I told him I wanted to conceive naturally and try to carry the child as long as possible. Hopefully, giving birth, before becoming a vampire.

He seemed intrigued. “We would have to have plenty of blood stores to keep you going.”

Jack was not crazy about the idea either.

“What if you die in the process? Then I lose both you and the child?”

“I am dying, anyway,” I said. “But this way, at least we try for a child. Wouldn’t that be something?”

Of course it would.

I knew he wouldn’t deny me this.

We waited for my body to grow a bit stronger, then monitored my cycle and on the best possible night for fertilization, I had our bedroom turned into a romantic haven.

We’d not had sex since I’d been shot, not because I didn’t want to but I had been too ill. But I was feeling stronger, possibly because I was excited about what could happen. I dressed myself carefully and combed out my hair. I had roses and candles set up in the room.

Jack came in, longing and want in his eyes.

“This will be different,” I said. “But it can still be wonderful, which is how it’s always been, right?”

He nodded and I knew he was thinking that this could be the last time we made love. I didn’t want to think about that though. I lifted the night dress over my head and reveled in the look of desire I saw in his eyes. He touched me gently, caressing my skin.

“Don’t,” I warned him. “I’m not dead yet.” I put my arms around his neck and pulled him close, kissing him and he responded even though I could feel him holding back. I bit his lip, hard enough to draw blood. He pulled back, confused.

“Don’t you dare be gentle with me!” I said, slapping his cheek, just sharply enough to wake him up. “I want you to fuck me the way you used to.”

I could see him responding to my words, the way I was talking to him.

“I don’t want gentle lovemaking. I want you to ride me, to spread me open, to put your seed deep, deep inside of me, where it can grow and flower.”

A cry of desire escaped from him as he kissed me then, his tongue seeking mine as he pushed me against the wall. It had the urgency and the passion of our earlier couplings. It felt the way we used to be with each other. He lifted me up onto a table and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands cupped my breasts, rough and hard, his thumbs rubbing my nipples, sending ripples of agonizing delight through my body.

“Yes, yes, yes!” I cried out as his hands slid over my skin and he kissed my neck and shoulders, moving down my body, his hands slipping up my thighs, opening me up like a flower. He kissed the inside of my thighs, licking and biting, tickling me until he found my pearl of desire, pulsating in eager anticipation of his touch. He licked and sucked, flicking my clitoris with his tongue as I writhed in agony, loving the pleasure that was building inside of me, wanting it to last as long as possible. He slid up against me, pressing soft kisses on my belly then sucking on my breasts until the nipples were hard as little pebbles. He continued kissing me slowly as he entered me, his cock mirroring his tongue, probing deeper and deeper as I was riding the waves of pleasure, until, cresting at the top with a moan of bliss, I came and he moved with me, climaxing at the same time.

“Oh, my God!” I said and he looked at me, anxiously.

“You all right?”

“That was…wonderful,” I said, feeling sated and content. He carried me to the bed and crept in next to me, holding me.

“Not too much?”

“Oh, Jack, too much is never enough.”

We laughed and I didn’t even notice when I fell asleep.

It was only later that I heard that my blood pressure fell during the night and I almost slipped into a coma. I was givenseveral units of blood that night and a drip had to be inserted as well.

But a couple of weeks later the pregnancy was confirmed.

It had taken.

The next few months were difficult. Growing a new life was more strenuous than I’d realized it would be. I felt weak most days and was too weak to get up. Towards the second trimester, I was getting daily infusions of blood.

Jack was anxious, desperate for me to receive the vampire blood. He felt my life was more important than the baby’s but I would not, could not, let go of my belief in the child.

The last few weeks, I was hardly conscious, unable to eat.