I Dated a Mob Wolf by Viola Grace
Chapter Four
Her black dress was one that had an empire waist and floated free around her body. Her skin was abraded in some unusual places.
They walked down the steps, and it wasn’t just Lady Daycross. Vallu identified six different crime bosses and their wives. “Your mother has ambushed us.”
He chuckled. “Ambushed you. I knew she was doing this five minutes after we arrived.”
“How long was that shower? I swear I just scrubbed your blood off and got dressed.” They rounded the banister and walked toward the cocktail party.
“It was an eternity. How are you feeling?”
She murmured, “Sore, hot, throbbing, smug. Shall I continue?”
He growled. “Please, stop there, but remind me later. I will see what I can do to ease your distress.”
“Thank goodness. I am so swollen I couldn’t put anything on under this thing.” She smiled brilliantly and went to Lady Daycross with both hands extended. “Lady Daycross. Thank you so much for inviting so many of Etgar’s associates to dinner. It will be nice to meet them all at once.”
Lady Daycross kissed her left cheek and then the right. “We are not letting you go that easily, Vallu. Now, what did you do to my son? It looks like someone stabbed him with a glowing fire poker.”
“Nothing. Just a little light chitchat.”
Lady Daycross linked arms with her and took her around to meet the criminals and their spouses. They had met all six when the lady tutted, “Vallu, my son needs to get you some jewels. You are the only unadorned woman here.”
“Uh, Lady Daycross, I have outlined some specifics for my accepting gifts from Etgar. They have to come out of a clean account. I don’t want to have anything taken from me that I have grown attached to. I have seen the results of a few busts, and I will not have my child subjected to loss of anything it is attached to.”
The lady blinked. “You are very sure of yourself.”
“I have to be.” She leaned forward. “Don’t fool yourself. I am not a helpless, flapping woman who can’t take care of herself. I am capable of shit you have never seen, and I know that life is uncertain. I will control what I can, and I can control how money comes into my hands.”
Lady Daycross narrowed her eyes. “What if I order you to accept something that doesn’t come clean?”
“I will shove it or you through a wall and tell the baby to wave bye-bye to Grandma. Don’t test me. I am stronger than I look.”
Lady Daycross looked her in the eye and smiled. “You actually can.”
“Of course. I don’t lie.”
“How?”
“My healing works on one person at a time, but it remembers every injury I have ever healed. I give, and I can take away. I can cause the same injury that I have healed. Fun, huh?” She smiled. “If we find the man who shot Etgar, I would like to share my gift.”
Lady Daycross blinked. “I thought you were an upstanding citizen.”
“Oh, I am, but I also know that this island is a totalitarian monarchy.” She did a deep curtsey. “My lady. What is your opinion of the attempted murder of your heir?”
Lady Daycross smiled slowly. “I believe he should have a talk with you. My eyes have been opened, Vallu. You are definitely a useful woman.”
Vallu squeezed her hand. “Just don’t ever try to get between me and mine, and you will not have to experience the terrifying aspects of my personality. If I can’t save someone, I will avenge them.”
“On to a better topic. When do you go for your next developmental scan?”
“Uh, next week.” She blinked as she realized where things were heading. “Oh no. Absolutely not. He sees enough of me as he is without me being gelled up and watching a screen.” She looked around and saw Etgar’s ear twitch. He excused himself and walked over to her.
Shit.
“You two have serious expressions.”
Lady Daycross said, “Vallu has an important scan next week. Can you take her?”
He blinked. “What kind of scan?”
The lady smirked. “According to the date of your last date, it should be the scan that may reveal the gender and checking on all the little limbs.”
He exhaled in relief. “I thought something was wrong for a minute.”
“No, just a regular appointment to check on the little one.”
Vallu snorted. “And me. It is also an appointment to check on me. My mom died in labour with me, so it is important that I keep an eye on things.”
Lady Daycross’s face frowned. “You didn’t mention that you were high risk.”
“You just want the baby, so I know that, in your eyes, I am just an incubator.” She smiled as the other guests were staring at them. “Don’t worry. I am not leaving my brother to raise his daughter alone. He already raised me on his own. He doesn’t need to do it again with his own child.”
Lady Daycross raised her brows. “So, your brother is your weak point?”
“No, my brother is a peacekeeper. My niece is my weak point; she is also the one thing that no one touches, or I gut them like a fish, and I had to heal a gutted fish to learn that pain. Would you like a demonstration? Don’t worry, I can fix what I break... if I am fast enough.”
“Vallu, what are you doing?” Etgar murmured as she glared at his mother until the other woman looked away.
“Just putting down some ground rules for your mother. She has a case of baby rabies, and we just have to come to an understanding.” Vallu smiled. “We have, haven’t we?”
Lady Daycross nodded slightly. “We have. I will have to see you in action first, though.”
Vallu smiled. “Bring me the man who fired at Etgar and myself. You will see action.”
Etgar murmured, “Vallu, what are you going to do?”
“Just pass along your injuries. I can fix it, and I can reproduce it.”
“Will it hurt the baby?”
“No. There is a safeguard around it. I can’t get myself too tired either.”
He took her hand and walked outside with her. “So, what was that with my mother?”
“She wanted me to be covered in jewels like the other ladies, and I mentioned that I would only take clean stuff. We then got into a polite pissing contest, and you came in at the tail end of it.”
“You were threatening to gut her like a fish.” He raised his brows.
“It was a promise. I don’t lie. If she tries anything with my brother or niece that costs him his peacekeeper posting, fish will be on the menu.”
Understanding filled his face. “You have to keep a layer between my money and your family so that there is no appearance of bribery or collusion.”
“Correct.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?”
She sighed and pressed her forehead to his chest. “It has been a helluva day. Is there going to be any food in the near future?”
He nodded and sniffed. “It’s ready. We are just waiting for my mother to declare the start of the meal.”
She nodded and swayed. “Good. Good. How long does she normally draw out the chitchat? I think I could have used one of those sports drinks I was taunting you about.”
He caught her and lifted her in his arms. “Aw... Vallu. I tuckered you out.”
“That, the healing, the getting shot, the hours of sex. Yeah. You are to blame.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Mainly your hijacking of the snack tray. I only got two-thirds, and they grossly underestimated how hungry I am.”
“I underestimated how horny you were. Is it always like that?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know, but my blood has been on fire for the last six weeks. It is distracting, so I am glad I don’t have to hold down a job anymore.”
Etgar stopped one of the servers and ordered a sports drink in a sealed bottle. He chuckled. “A blue one.”
He held her and returned to the party. His mother’s brows rose in surprise, but he carried Vallu back to his conversational partners and resumed the discussion of biotech prices and some exciting new treatments for certain actives on the market. Dr. Krizt was mentioned, as well as Aksalla’s attempts to lure him in.
She didn’t say anything, but that had definitely been Krizt with Arcady. They had been introduced and everything. So, what was that blue devil doing, and why did Arcady smell like she had been rolling around with him and two others? She was going to have to ask her at a moment when she had privacy. She didn’t want Etgar to figure out—
“Vallu, are you familiar with Dr. Krizt’s work?”
“No, he and I have met. He was with a friend of mine.” Though, biotech would explain Arcady’s white hair and purple eyes. Something else was going on in there.
“When was this?”
“Uh, earlier today. It was at the mall, about an hour before I ran into you and your ridiculous hotdog order.”
He grinned. “I like what I like.”
The head of the Kilon family smiled. “Do you require carrying?”
The sports drink was delivered, and she grabbed it eagerly, cracking it open. She drank it down in about six seconds before capping the bottle.
“She had some unexpected exercise, and she got a little dehydrated. She got lightheaded, and I thought it best to support her until she could rehydrate.”
The man chuckled. “Ah, well, it is about time that you settle down with a good woman.”
She looked at Etgar, “Let me know when you find her, I will get out of the way.”
He kissed her, and she sighed, kissing him back. They were sweet kisses, and he grinned when he raised her head. “Your tongue tastes blue.”
Kilon was staring at Etgar. “You look... relaxed. I haven’t seen you that way for months.”
She looked at his face. “Yeah. Weird.”
He set her on her feet. “Try not to threaten anyone.”
“If they don’t start it, I won’t finish it.”
He stroked a hand over her hip. “Good enough.”
A server came to collect the bottle, and she sent it off with him. She could smell the food, and there was a disturbing theme. Everything was coated in wine or brandy. Even pregnant, she would be able to eat a little if she didn’t have a violent reaction to alcohol during her pregnancy. Her baby did not like booze. Period.
She looked for Lady Daycross and sped over to her side. “I have a serious question for you before dinner.”
Lady Daycross blinked. “What?”
“Does any of the food not have alcohol or a ton of carbs?”
She blinked and blushed. “Oh. I am sure you can just have a roll and a few bites of everything. It won’t hurt anything.”
Vallu was hungry, the delightful smells were all tainted, and this woman was mocking her. “I will throw it up. It started at week six. Anything with alcohol comes up and out... violently. The same with more than a single bun. I. Am. Starving. Where can I get food?”
Lady Daycross stepped back, and Vallu knew what was happening to her face. Her eyes were glowing, and her teeth were showing. “Fuck. I will be back.”
She walked to the gardens, grabbed a tomato, and bit into it before walking on the path around the house and down the drive. She checked her food options on her com and found the local deli that was open late. She gnawed her way through the tomato and threw away the tiny stem end. She licked the juice off her hand and kept walking until she went through the gate and followed the light on her map.
* * * *
Etgar looked around, and he couldn’t see Vallu. He sniffed. He couldn’t smell her either. He went to his mother, who was looking slightly shaken, and gently drew her over to the side. “Mom, where is Vallu?”
His mother smiled slightly. “She pitched a fit and walked into the garden.”
“Why was she pitching a fit?” He smiled for appearances.
“All the food has a wine or brandy sauce, and she said she can’t eat rolls for dinner. I told her a bit of everything wouldn’t harm the baby, but her eyes glowed and her fangs came out. Did you know she has fangs?”
“No, but as we share senses and she goes into heat, it isn’t surprising. So, she is cooling off in the garden?”
“Yeah. She actually said that she was starving.” Lady Daycross snorted.
A cold feeling settled in his belly. “She said what?”
She frowned. “She said I am starving. And then, her teeth flashed out. It was appalling, really.”
“Start dinner without us.”
“This dinner is for you.”
He turned and said precisely, “Then you should have made sure it was something she could fucking eat and served it when you said you would.”
He tracked her through the gardens and saw the heel marks in the gravel path around the house. She had grabbed a tomato, so she really was just hungry. No one was going to die. He had felt that hunger once as a teen, and it had burned through his belly and into his soul. He followed her and ran for four blocks until he found her. She was sitting at a picnic table outside the local deli, had a huge sandwich in front of her, and was peeling strips of meat out of it before popping them neatly into her mouth.
His soul recovered in that moment, and he walked up to her, kissed her forehead, and went into the deli to get himself something and another sandwich for her. And a pickle.
The smiling staff provided a small boat of pickles, the two sandwiches, and cold bottles of lemonade.
She looked at him warily as he sat down, then smiled as he gave her the pile of meat, cheese and vegetables without the bun. She grinned. “I tried to order it that way, but they wouldn’t do it.”
He nodded. “I have known Thomas and Keelie since I was ten.”
“So, last week then.”
“Hah. Eat a pickle. I am sorry that my mom fucked with your meal plan.”
“She just wanted to make things fancy, and I am more of a hot brown food kind of girl.” She took the beef and dangled it above her head, lowering it into her mouth happily. He had seen the move before, but his cock had been on the receiving end of those lips.
“Have you had any other complications?”
“Aside from projectile vomiting for anything more than half a teaspoon of alcohol? That was a big one. No coffee, no booze, only a tiny amount of carbs, I have to buy new clothes all the time, and I am only at the start of the expansion.” She grimaced. “Sorry that I was so... insistent this afternoon.”
He smiled. “I did not complain. Not once. It was like you were in heat again but with a sense of humour. It was lots of fun.”
“Yeah, that fun is still doing a slow creep down my inner thigh.”
Etgar inhaled. “I know. That is how I tracked you. You made pretty good time in those heels.”
She kept eating. “Practice. It was taught to us in training at BDC. We have to do sprints in these things.”
She picked up a pickle and sucked the juice off, and Etgar had vegetable envy for the first time in his life. When she looked at him and slowly winked as she slid the pickle out of her mouth before she licked and then nibbled at the tip, he knew he was doomed. Even upset by his mother’s treatment, she was flirting with him.
He smiled. “So, my mother said your eyes glow and you have teeth.”
“They retract. Hollow points, if you will. I think they are for blood-drinking, but I know they freaked your mother out.”
He reached for her mouth. “May I?”
She nodded, and he lifted her lip, running his thumb over her razor-sharp canine. He pricked his thumb, and a drop of blood welled out. He brushed it against her tongue while watching her eyes. The bright green flash happened as soon as his blood touched her sensitive tongue. “Oh, yeah. You’re a drinker.”
“I am not.” She tried to say it around his finger, but when she spoke, her tooth grazed his finger, and another drop of blood touched her tongue. Her eyes glowed again. “Aw, thuck.”
“Pregnancies in actives do have unpredictable consequences, and you have always been on the biter side of the instincts and senses.” He squeezed the hand that was wrapped around her sandwich.
“Yeah, well, deli meat is the next thing to go, so if your mom pulls this again, you can all fuck yourselves, and I am going home.” She was grim. “I am not playing with my diet. It gets thrown off so easily, and the half a hotdog I had earlier was my only carb for the day.”
“Only half? I have seen you with hotdogs; you never leave one behind.” He chuckled.
“I heard your hotdog order, recognized the order of the toppings, and then I looked into your car. I saw you lean forward to get your food, and I left, putting the rest of the hotdog in the trash.” She pouted. “It sucked, too, because that was my last hotdog of the pregnancy. Or it was supposed to be.”
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I think we can arrange a hotdog with English mustard.”
She blinked. “How do you know that?”
“Our tenth date. You were running late, and since we were just meeting for sex, you had to eat on your way to the date. When I kissed you, hotdog with English mustard.”
She blushed. “I knew I should have brushed my teeth in the transport.”
He laughed and kissed the back of her hand again. “I am glad you didn’t. I recognized the taste, and I figured if a woman who looked like you, talked like you, dressed like you, and could fuck like you, also liked hotdogs, that the perfect woman existed in the universe, and I had booked her for the night.” He turned her palm over and kissed it. “I would have kept you then, but I would have had Zera up my ass.”
She looked at him with soulful eyes. “Some folks pay good money for that.”
He blinked and laughed. “Eat your forbidden sandwich, and we can wreck my mother’s dinner party.”
“I see there is an ice cream shop across the way. I can do truly obscene things while eating a soft serve.”
He was on his feet as she giggled behind him. There were some things worth wrecking a dinner party over, and Vallu was all of them.
