Page 16 of Blood of the Damned: Thorn (Vaughn Winery #1)

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 heavy rainfall 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.

How could I?

His squirrel’s innocent act didn’t wash with him. The thing was too cute for its own good. He’d wanted babies, little vampire babies. He was ecstatic.

Because you’re attuned to our mating cycle better than me. And I suspect you had a fine and dandy idea what would happen if we had sex with Thorn when he was fully vampire and I wasn’t in heat!

Did he sound pissy?

Don’t be silly. I was the same as you. I didn’t know vampires existed until Thorn so how could I know we’d get pregnant having sex that way? And yes, you do sound very pissy!

Ledger huffed out an exasperated breath, stomping over the muddy ground, not noticing the splashes of mud flicking up to splatter the hem of his slacks and cover his shoes.

He’d repeatedly gone over his squirrel's behavior since Thorn had told him he was pregnant—or the babies had told Thorn—and Ledger kept coming back to the same conclusion.

His squirrel had set him up, insisting Ledger ask for Thorn to shift.

Us. We are both pregnant, it announced proudly. Ledger scowled at the vines, losing his train of thought.

It wasn’t like he was really miffed about being pregnant, now he’d gotten used to the idea.

No, it wasn’t that at all. In fact, he was absolutely elated to be pregnant if he didn’t think about the vomit machine he’d become.

It certainly explained why he’d been feeling so nauseous the weeks before he found out.

It was like his brain and body then clicked together and ‘way hey’, it was vomiting season.

What gave him a big dose of the peeves was how the girls could talk to Thorn. He lay in bed at night, his face pressed close to Ledger’s rounding belly, and he’d talk aloud—for Ledger’s sake—telling the girls how excited they were to meet them. Then telling Ledger what the girls were saying to him.

It was great they could communicate with Thorn, but it was so damn annoying that he had to get it all secondhand. Shouldn’t he be the one to hear them as they were inside him? Was this because he was divergent? He hated the idea that it might be.

“Why is it you can’t talk to Daddy?” He’d decided on that name because he didn’t like Daddy Ledger.

It didn’t sound right his name being in there when Thorn decided to claim ‘daddy’ status first. Ledger was carrying the girls, so he should get to choose.

So, Thorn could either lump it or like it, but he would be papa from now on.

The birds squawked loudly above his head, but his girls remained silent.

He huffed out a put upon moan. His shoes slipped on the mud as he came to an immediate halt, his hand going to where he felt a small fluttering sensation in his lower abdomen. His pulse skipped a couple of beats. Was it the babies?

A bubble of excitement came with the notion, though he tried to quell it because he was only around ten weeks pregnant. Far too early to be feeling anything, wasn’t it?

Thorn wasn’t very forthcoming about what to expect, but then this seemed to be new to his kind, too.

Dhampir’s were female, so Ledger had discovered.

What that meant for him in this situation, he didn’t want to guess.

The easiest thing to do was shove that thought away because that made him fret as much as Thorn.

Instead, he undid several buttons on his shirt to reach his skin and wriggle his fingers under his belt, stroking his stomach where he’d felt the fluttering. He concentrated while talking. “Are you moving to let Daddy know you can hear him?”

The next flutter was more obvious, and Ledger broke out into a smile. “Such good girls,” he cooed, easily charmed. Walking back through the vines to head up to the house, his excitement grew with each flutter that came as he continued to talk to his tiny bump.

“Wait till I tell your papa I can feel you moving.” It wasn’t smugness—alright it was.

He rushed into the house, having barely gotten up half the stairs before Thorn appeared above him.

“What’s wrong? Why are you breathless? I’m picking something up from the girls.” He hadn’t finished speaking before he was leaping down the stairs, his shirt ripping and his wings appearing. He landed easily, his wings fluttering as they curled protectively around them both.

Oh, be still my beating heart. The sight made Ledger’s breathlessness increase.

“I really can’t imagine how much worse you’re gonna get with all this fussing,” Dacian declared, appearing at the top of the stairs where Thorn had been, laughing as Thorn swept Ledger off his feet before he could voice a protest. The wings appearing always made Ledger lose the ability to think rationally.

His usual embarrassment of such displays disappeared.

Who could blame him? Only the night before, Thorn had wrapped his wings around Ledger’s body, the beautiful feathers soft as satin against his naked skin. A quiver of arousal ran through him at the memory, before he could control it.

Thorn’s nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed with interest even as he muttered crossly, “sod off,” to his brother.

Something else that he’d been doing was curbing his swearing around Ledger and the babies. Too goddamn cute for words.

“What’s wrong, Sweetling?”

Ledger didn’t answer, instead sliding his hands around Thorn’s neck to tug his head down to kiss him. The girls moved when I was talking to them.

Thorn dragged kiss swollen lips away from Ledger, who moaned in complaint.

“They did?” he asked gleefully.

“Hello, I’m right here!” stated Dacian sarcastically.

“Go away, we’re busy.” Thorn didn’t take his gaze off Ledger.

“This is a communal area, in case you had forgotten.”

“Leave them be,” Calvert said from somewhere above them.

There came the sound of sneakers dragging over marble and a complaint from Dacian, but Ledger’s focus was on his mate and the happiness coming from him.

“Wanna feel?” he asked, the excitement returning now they were alone.

“You bet I do.” Thorn placed Ledger down on the ground, then gently positioned his hand on Ledger’s middle.

“Papa wants to feel, girls.” Brows arching, a frown appeared at the lack of sensation inside him. “Come on now, show Papa.” Nothing. Not even a grumble of his stomach.

Thorn gave him a rueful smile. “I’m Papa?” Ledger nodded absently, willing something to happen. “Maybe it was just wind,” Thorn offered, looking disappointed, blocking Ledger from his thoughts.

“No, I felt them move!” He stamped his foot, barely missing Thorn’s toes at the indulgent expression that replaced the disappointment. “I did,” he insisted, swinging around to walk up the stairs.

Vampires!

Ledger didn’t know what was going on with Thorn.

There was definitely something that he was being cagey about, and it wasn’t hard to guess that it had something to do with the babies.

God, just thinking about being pregnant sent his brain into squirrel mode.

Which was hard when he had bookings to confirm and arrange, sort out what wines he needed to be brought from the winery, and act like his world had not gotten spectacularly upended.

He stared at the screen seeing nothing but squiggles and dots. He released a breath, screwed his eyes closed and, pushing back his chair, gave up. His eyes flickered open with the need for some fresh air, in the hopes it would clear his head so he could focus.

There was nothing but silence as he walked through the building, heading for the path that led directly into the vineyard.

Ledger had discovered it within the first week of exploring.

He could avoid everyone and skip unwitnessed down the sun-soaked vines.

It was something he liked to do first thing in the morning before the others started their working day.

This morning, it was still early enough to witness the sun rising and hitting the vines.

It was Ledger’s favorite part of the day.

The sun wasn’t too warm, but hot enough to waken the senses with the sweet fragrance of the grapes.

Many considered that grapes had no smell, but they were wrong.

Hanging as they were, they released an aroma that sweetened the warm air like nothing else he’d experienced.

His eyes travelled the horizon, marveling at the lushness surrounding him.

The dirt town he’d arrived in could give the wrong impression of the capabilities of the land.

Thorn and his brothers had seen beyond that and created their own oasis in a place that was no more than arid land.

They had cultivated the soil and, using irrigation systems, had harnessed the heat to the advantage of the vines.