Page 45 of Damian’s Conquest

“Sorry,” Damian said. “This is Naomi. We weren’t really planning on staying.”

Naomi cast him a regretful look. “I was waiting outside in the car, but I had to use the restroom. And then Buffy handed me Harry, and I couldn’t really leave before she—”

Damian squeezed her arm. “It’s okay.”

“Well, now that you’re here, you might as well stay a little,” Blake said. “And I promise I’ll keep this little guy away from you.”

Damian looked at her. “If you want to stay, we can stay.”

“Uhm, I don’t want to intrude,” she said, not sure if Damian really wanted them to stay.

“You’re not intruding,” Buffy suddenly said from behind her and reached past her with a small plastic bag with crackers. “Here, to keep Harry in line.”

Blake smirked and took the bag. “Thanks, Buffy. Have you seen Lilo?”

“Nope.” Buffy walked past them, and headed into the living room.

“I’d better find her. And you guys should definitely stay for a while. Ryder and Scarlet have a little announcement,” Blake said and marched into the dining room with his son in his arms.

“Guess we can’t leave right away,” Damian said. “You okay with that?”

Naomi shrugged. “It’s fine by me. I just hope that not everybody knows who I am.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to listen in on their conversation. “Buffy knew that I was Little Red Riding Hood last night, and judging by the way she said it, she knew what we did on the dance floor. What if everybody here knows?”

Damian chuckled unexpectedly. “Buffy knows, because she was bartending at the Mezzanine last night. Doesn’t mean that everybody else knows. She’s not a gossip. Well, not a big one anyway.”

“You say that as if it doesn’t mean anything, but what if she tells your friends and your family? I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

Damian dipped his head to her ear. “You could never make a bad impression on anybody. Everybody will like you.”

“Not everybody. When I came in, this guy gave me the third degree. Buffy called him Grayson.”

Damian grunted. “Yeah, he can be a pompous ass. Don’t worry, he’s not gonna give you any more trouble.”

“Who is he?”

“Patrick’s older brother.”

“I would have never guessed. Patrick seems a lot nicer than him. Not that I’ve spoken much with him either.”

Suddenly, somebody called for silence from the living room, and the voices died down. The people who’d been in the kitchen and in other rooms, made their way toward the living room. Damian put his hand around her waist and ushered her to the arch that led into the front room.

~ ~ ~

Damian had intervened just in time, because Blake’s baby son had actually drawn blood. It wasn’t unusual for a young vampire hybrid: they were drawn to human blood. And he knew from his own experience how sweet Naomi’s blood tasted. Luckily, he’d been able to seal the puncture wounds on her finger with his saliva before she realized that Harry’s sharp fangs had actually pierced her skin.

The conversations had died down, and everybody was now looking at Ryder and his blood-bonded mate Scarlet. Scarlet wore a long red dress that accentuated her belly and made her look radiant. Ryder had one arm around her waist and smiled like a Cheshire cat. Scarlet’s hand rested on her belly. She was seven months along, but looked much bigger already.

“Scarlet and I have an announcement to make,” Ryder started.

“Let me guess: Scarlet is pregnant,” Ethan, Ryder’s brother, called out, and the entire room erupted in laughter.

Ryder chuckled. “Smartass. You’ll be called to task soon, because as the uncle of two boys, you’ll be on permanent babysitting duty.”

“Two?” The surprised gasp came from Brandon King, Scarlet’s father. “Two boys?” The fifty-something man, who’d become a vampire a year earlier after he’d nearly died in the fire that had destroyed his Victorian home, spread his arms out and hugged Scarlet and his son-in-law to him. “I’m so happy for you both. And for me too. I’ll have two grandsons to spoil.”