Eric had trouble waking me up the following night to get ready to make it to the airport on time to catch Francesca's plane. Every move He made I rolled away from Him, avoiding Him. I wasn't tired or hurting. I simply didn't want to leave Him. I was not concerned about myself. I was a freaking vampire! I should heal. It made me feel so weak, so unlike Eric, when I desperately wanted to be like Him—to be with Him always.

"Connee Byers! Get your ass out of bed right now!" He yelled at me as He stood by the bed.

"No," I replied defiantly. I rolled over on my stomach, burying my head under the pillow, my hands on top.

He opened the closet door, but I didn't even bother to look. I heard something trailing on the carpet then metal clanging. Hmm, whip and handcuffs? I cared very little if I was punished. He grabbed my wrists roughly, pulled my arms behind me and cuffed my wrists, leaving my hands in the small of my back. He kept the pillow over my head, although there was no pressure, and my hearing was muffled greatly. Then a long, sharp pain slapped across both ass cheeks, and I could feel there were beads embedded in the multiple leather strips. He'd never used anything like that on me before. It hurt worse than the whip, but I didn't flinch. I didn't moan. I just took it.

"If you don't appreciate the fact that we are ..." He applied the flogger again, that time harder, "... trying to take care of you, maybe this will ..." He smacked me again, so hard, in fact, that I squealed in excruciating pain but did not cry, "... make it sink in now." He hit me once more before He barked, "Get up!"

With only moisture in my eyes, I was able to roll off the bed. Eric took my elbow and rushed me to the bathroom. He held onto me while I stepped into the tub, maneuvered my face directly under the shower nozzle then turned on the water. He didn't warm it up or even had it lukewarm. I might have been a vampire, but water that cold splashing on my face was enough to make me come around a little. After He removed the handcuffs, He stepped in behind me and proceeded to wash me off, starting on my back before turning me and washing my shoulders, breasts and tummy. I had my eyes closed but opened them to look at Him when He paused around my belly button. Looking down at Him, I could tell His eyebrows were furrowed, but didn't even care what He was thinking.

When He was done, He helped me out and dried me off. With more care and gentleness, He led me back to the bedroom and dressed me. I didn't say a word, didn't cry, I didn't even enjoy it. Slipping my sandals on, I stood right where He left me. He dressed Himself then came back to me, sitting on the bed.

Pulling me to Him, I was forced to straddle His leg, but I didn't look at Him. Placing His hands on my face, He said, "Look at me." It took me a second, but I did. "Sweetheart, I know you're scared. I know you don't want to go, and I don't want you to go. While you're gone, I'll get the house ready for you. I'll even paint the walls purple. You can buy all the furniture you like when you come back." He got no response from me. "How about I come up after a week? Maybe the queen will know what's going on with you by then."

"I don't care, Eric," I muttered.

"But I do!"

Then I let it go. I burst into tears and folded into Him, wrapping my arms around His neck. "I. Don't. Want. To leave. You."

He started swaying me to and fro, holding me just as tight as I was to Him. "Baby, whatever is happening with you, Francesca will find it. You'll be fine."

"Promise me you'll ... call me every night?"

"The first thing when I wake up, and the last thing before I go to sleep." His voice was strained.

"Eric, let me feed from you," I said as I pulled away. "I want to feel you inside me. If it's the only way ..." I couldn't finish speaking, but I think He knew what I meant.

"No." He put His long, strong hand in the crook of my neck, and I tilted my head towards it to expose the other side of my neck. He ran His tongue over the vein, alternating between kissing and nibbling with His lips. He whispered in my ear, "You are—will always be inside of me, Connee Byers." He pierced my skin with His fangs, digging deeply and taking in my blood. I wrapped my fingers through His hair, moaning and gasping, my eyes closed as I gave myself to Him. At no time before had the gesture held as much meaning as it did then.

"Eric, I love you so much," I murmured softly because I could barely speak.

His body shuttered, from a chuckle, I hoped. He removed His fangs, pulling me away. His eyes were bloodshot, literally filled with His tears. "I give you my blood to prove my love—sometimes the only way I know how."

He shoved my face into His neck, and I didn't hesitate taking His life source from Him. His blood squirting onto my tongue was like heaven to me, and I swallowed hungrily. When He growled, it was my cue to stop.

I carefully retracted my fangs from His neck and looked deeply into His eyes. "Only you can sustain me, Master," I confessed. "You give me more love than you realize you have to give. I can see it in your eyes when you look at me. You show it when you correct me. You let me into your past, you give me yourself now, and give me a future—a future with you. I will think of you every minute of the day, er, um, night, Eric."

He smiled and wiped my tear that had fallen. "As will I. I will never love anyone else the way I love you, Connee Byers."

I chuckled. "Why do you keep calling me by my full name?"

"Because ..." He stood up and threw me on the bed gently before He pulled something out of the night stand drawer. "... You won't be a Byers for long—if you say yes."

Mr. Eric Northman then proceeded to shock the shit out of me by kneeling down on one knee and opened the small, purple velvet ring box. The platinum ring had a center diamond that was at least two carats, and there were three smaller graduated diamonds on either side. It looked very, very old. My body shook, and I wrapped my arms over my stomach. My eyes burned with tears.

"Connee Byers, I've never done this before, and I don't know what the hell to ..."

"YES!"

"Now, wait a minute! I'm supposed to ask you first ... right?" He asked tentatively.

I laughed. "Yes."

"This ring was my mother's," He explained as He took my hand. "I've had it altered, but it holds the same meaning." Looking up at me, He said, "I have never found anyone worthy to wear her ring, and I hope that you love me enough to be proud to wear this."

My body shuttered with His words. "Every day I love you more and more, Eric Northman."

"Shut up! This is hard enough ... will you be my wife, Ms. Byers?"

Tears rolled down my cheeks. "Eric?"

He frowned severely. "Oh, hell, this can't be good."

"I already said yes. Put the damned ring on my finger!" I choked, laughing hysterically, tears streaking my cheeks.

He smiled, slid the ring on my finger and peered up at me. Taking my face in His hands, He kissed me hard and passionately. I fell into Him, making Him lose His balance, and we ended up on the floor, both laughing. "I so want you right now!" He growled into my ear.

Laying lots of kisses on His cheeks, His eyes, His lips, I muttered, "Just think we'll have plenty of make-up sex when I come back."

"Hell, this'll be torture, woman!"

"For me, too."

"Well, come on. Because you were such a brat, we've run out of time. We've got to get to the airport."

During the drive both Eric and I were nervously quiet. I felt like there was so much more I wanted to say, but didn't know what. We'd both spoken our hearts in the bedroom, and that seemed to be enough.

Standing on the tarmac, we held onto each other like we would never see the other again. It felt that bad. "I love you, Connee Northman."

I chuckled. "I like the sound of that. God, this sucks."

"Yeah, it does," Eric agreed.

"And I love you, so, so much."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Ms. Byers. We must be leaving," the pilot called out to me.

Eric squeezed me so tight it actually hurt. We kissed quickly before I pushed away from Him and ran up the stairs leading to the side of the air craft. Before I stepped through, I turned to look at Him. "I love you! Don't ever forget that!"

I watched as He floated up to me until we were eye-to-eye. "Jag älskar dig." I knew the meaning of that.

We kissed again then I went inside. A steward showed me to the seat and I buckled up. I stared out the window in time to see Eric land on the pavement. I blew Him a kiss, and He reached up, fisting His hand. I reached into my purse and without looking, dialed Eric's cell phone. He reached into His pocket and grinned when He saw my number. He flipped it open and looked up at me.

"Master, that was too corny, even for me. Do not let me do that again."

"Thank god! Now, call me when you get to the queen's," He told me before a man approached Him and He backed off to stand at the side of the gate building. The engines started immediately.

"I will. Bye, and I still love you." He winked before He put the phone back in His pocket.

As the plane made its way to the departing lane, I kept my eyes on Eric until He became smaller and smaller. Only when the distance and a few clouds obstructed my view did I lose sight of Him.

And I cried the entire flight to Virginia.

Just before four a.m., six hours in the air and crying so much I had no more tears left, we landed at Leesburg airport. Francesca met me on the tarmac and gave me the biggest hug. I said very little as she led me to her private car and we jumped in. "Did you feed, honey?" she asked as we got on the Greenway.

"Yes, a few times," I replied numbly, staring out the window. "May I eat when we get to your house?"

"Of course. I want to do an ultrasound first. I told you I suspect you are bleeding internally. I want to confirm that before we sleep for the day."

"Okay," I replied, staring back out the window.

It was quiet for a while until she cried out, "Oh, my god!" She grabbed my left hand and looked at my ring finger. "He proposed?"

"Oh, yeah," I answered nonchalantly.

"You should be excited!"

"I am. I am. Why wouldn't you allow Eric to come with me?" I asked bluntly, not looking at her.

"There are just a few procedures I want to run on you, and I don't want him being there to stress you out."

"I'll be more stressed without Him with me. Can He at least come to visit after a week or so?"

"I suppose. We'll see."

I suddenly felt horrible for being so cold to the Queen, Francesca, my mother. "I'm sorry. It was really hard leaving Him, considering He just proposed. I do want to spend time with you."

"I wish I could give you more definitive answers when you can see him, but I don't know what we're dealing with, yet."

I called Eric as soon as Frannie left me alone in the bedroom closest to hers, with a promise I wouldn't spend long on the phone. "Hi. I'm here."

"Okay, good."

There was an awkward silence between us. "I miss you already," I told Him.

"So do I. You know, I didn't realize how much I've missed my day lair."

"You're not staying with Pam tonight?"

"I have no need to. You're not with me."

I put my hand over my heart and stared out the window, forcing myself not to cry. "Wow, there's a beautiful view from the bedroom window."

"You're not in our room?"

Our room. "Okay, Master, you've got to stop saying stuff like that because I don't want to cry anymore."

"Honey, we've got to get started before the sun rises," Francesca called from the top of the stairs.

"Okay! Hon, I've got to go."

"I know. I heard her. I'll call when the sun goes down."

"Don't forget about the time difference," I reminded Him. "The phone might not wake me."

"Oh, hell, that's right. I'll talk to you tomorrow night from work, then."

I couldn't even say good bye because I knew I would break down. I'd already told Him I loved Him. What else could I say?

I met Francesca in the hall and we went down to her patient's exam room. "Lie right here on the table and lift your t-shirt up for me."

I lay down, lifted my shirt and she promptly spread a gel over my abdomen. I was curious why the monitor was facing away from me, but honestly, I was afraid to ask. She placed the probe on my stomach, moved it around to several locations while she looked at the monitor. I kept watching her facial expressions, but I soon was getting worried by them. Regardless, I yawned because of the late, or early hour.

After many agonizing, anxious minutes, she said, "Well, there is scar tissue on your uterus. But the bleeding is minimal."

"What in the world caused it?" I asked alarmed. "Why hasn't it healed?"

She removed the probe, handed me a Kleenex to wipe my stomach and told me to sit up. Only when I did she say, "Honey, I don't know how to tell you this, but you seem to be five months pregnant."

Anyone could have hit me with a metal baseball bat over and over and it wouldn't have affected me more than those three words. Five months pregnant. "How in the hell can I be pregnant, Mom?" I jumped off the table and started to pace back and forth.

"Calm down, Connee. I know it's hard to hear, but—"

"Hard to hear? I'm a goddamned vampire! Eric shouldn't have little vampire sperm swimmers knocking me up, either!"

"CONNEE! You will NOT use that language with me!"

"Oh, oh, nonono," I stuttered, still pacing. Too many thoughts were coursing through my head that I could no longer think straight. "I can't do this anymore! I can't have a damned thing good happen to me without—"

Before I realized it, Frannie had me against the wall and slapped me across the face so hard my head jerked away sharply. "Get a handle of yourself!" she told me harshly. "There's no need for you to speak like that." Her voice softened. "I don't understand how it happened either. But it explains why you have the faint heart beat and your need for excess blood. Apparently the baby is a Cutter. That's why you have the scar tissue."

I tried to stop a yawn but couldn't. "I'm going to bed," I announced, walking to the door.

"I'll bring you something to eat before you sleep," Frannie said, but I hardly paid attention to her.

A few minutes later I was sitting on the bed, rocking back and forth, holding my stomach, and thinking: I met Eric Northman eight months earlier. We had protected sex the night He punished me two months later. Daniel kicked me a month after that, but we hadn't had sex between those two events. The first time Eric took me without a condom was with Susie, and that was almost two months earlier. I was too far along to be pregnant with Thomas Milton's baby. That only left one thing. "Eric lied to me."

"What, honey?" Frannie asked as she came in with a coffee cup that she handed to me. "It's from my blood bank, so it's fresh." I didn't take it. She sat down beside me. "You do know it's Eric's baby, don't you?"

I looked at her baffled. "How do you know that?" I had already figured it out but wanted to know how she came to that conclusion.

"When I drained you, I could taste not only yours and Eric's blood types, but three, a match between you two. I worried you were pregnant then, but didn't want to say anything until I was sure."

"Mom, three months after I met Eric, when Daniel kicked me out, I went to Fangtasia and accidentally got drunk because I was so confused about Daniel's intention. Eric made me think we had sex that night, then later told me we didn't, but, but, we must have." I then yawned.

"Drink, Connee. You need it for the baby. It is healthy, given it's a Bintaur and vampire."

I chortled, shaking my head. "That sounds so absurd! I don't understand how I can carry it."

"I have never heard of a human being impregnated by a vampire, but I've got to keep it secret. It's already making its powers known, and with that knowledge out there, it will be dangerous for it, and for our enemies. There are more tests I want to run because there are a few things I'm worried about with you."

"Mom, whoah, hold on," I said as I stood. "I can't handle all of this now."

Frannie grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down. "Connee, drink. We can talk later tonight."

I took a sip then swallowed, which gave me time to think some more. "Oh, no, Mom! Don't ... vampires drink ... children's blood? No, no, Eric would, He has!"

"Now, honey ..." I yawned again. "Finish that up. I guess I'll have to find a human for you while you're here."

"No, no, you don't get it. I can't have this ..." I yawned long and hard that time. "... can't have this baby." I don't know how I got that sentence out because I could no longer keep my eyes open.

Frannie took the glass from my numb hand and set it down. "Lie down. You need a lot of rest after the flight and this news."

"I can't sleep! What am I going to do?"