Free Nightshifters by Tamelia Tumlin Page A

didn’t
use protection.”
    Alexandru inhaled sharply. “You’re worried you might get
pregnant?”
    She nodded. Her hand moistened in his. He could feel her
nervousness.
    “You wouldn’t want my child?”
    Rana swallowed hard. “I-I don’t think it would be a good
idea right now.”
    “I see.”
    “Surely, you understand. Considering―”
    Alexandru held up a hand. “Don’t worry. You won’t be
inconvenienced with an unwanted child. I cannot have children.”
    Rana’s brows drew together. “What do you mean?”
    “I’m sterile. Have been since I contracted the mumps as a
teenager. I thought you knew.”
    Rana paled. Her eyes grew wide and she let out a strangled
cry. The sound jackknifed through Alexandru like a heart ripped from a chest.
Alexandru caught her as she swayed. “What’s wrong? I would think you would be pleased,
since the idea of having my baby repulses you.”
    Rana blinked. Horror flittered across her face. “That means
you can’t be…” She turned ashen. “Omigod! You’re not Damien’s father.”

Chapter 5
    Rana bolted upright and squinted into the darkness.
    Where am I?
    She patted the air beside her until her hands connected with
… a satin comforter? She strained until her eyes adjusted to the dark. A sliver
of moonlight streamed through the window. She could just make out her bookshelf
against the wall. Her bedroom?
    I’m in my bedroom? How?
    Something rustled in the corner. Rana’s heart slammed
against her chest, and she gripped the covers.
    I’m not alone!
    Alexandru stepped out the shadows into the moonlight. Rana
swallowed. “Why are you here?”
    “You’re awake.”
    “How did I get here?”
    “I brought you home after you fainted. You’ve been out for
several hours now.”
    “You’ve been here the whole time?” Alexandru nodded. Rana
fell back against the headboard as the events of the night came back to her.
The passion they’d shared. Pleasure beyond her imagination. Hands that caressed
her until she…
    Then the realization that Alexandru wasn’t Damien’s father
punched her in the stomach. She inhaled sharply. How could that be? It wasn’t
possible. Alexandru was the only man she’d ever been with.
    Damien!
    Rana jackknifed upright again and swung her feet to the
floor. She had to see her son. Make sure he was all right.
    “He’s fine for now.” Alexandru crossed the room and sat down
beside her. The bedsprings creaked under his weight. Rana didn’t bother to
block him from her mind this time. He already knew about Damien now, so what
was the point?
    “But his fever?”
    “It’s been the same all night. No better. No worse. He’s
resting now. You don’t want to wake him.”
    Rana glanced at the bedside clock. After three in the
morning. No, she didn’t want to wake him, but she needed to see for herself
that he was all right.
    Alexandru gently laid his hands over her eyes. Immediately,
a vision of Damien’s small body asleep in his bed popped in her mind. “See?
He’s fine. For now.”
     “How did you…”
     “A perk of the afterlife.” His words held a note of
dryness. “Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
    Rana’s shoulders deflated. “I thought he was your son. When
Vladmir turned you, I didn’t even know I was pregnant. Two months later when I
realized I was it was too late. You were already a … a…”
    Alexandru’s lips curved into a rueful smile. His fangs
glinted in the moonlit room. “A vampire.”
    Rana nodded miserably. “So you never planned to tell me
about Damien. Even though you thought he was my son.” The words were clipped
and raw with tightly controlled emotion.
    Rana shook her head. “I didn’t want him to grow up like I
did. Knowing his father was an … an abomination,” she whispered dropping her
head.
    “Is that what I am? An abomination?”
    Rana shuddered. “No — yes. I don’t know anymore.” She buried
her face in her hands. Tears burned her eyes. “I thought you were, but