Eric's POV:

There is nothing in this God-forsaken world more erotic, enticing, and exhilarating than to watch my woman feed from a human. The hunger and burning desire in her eyes as she looked at me was enough to make me hard. Pure, unadulterated animal instincts poured from every ounce of her being. Her whole body grew rigid as her hands clung to Janie's hips, her fangs encased deeply in her inner thigh. The sight left me feeling neglected at seeing Connee's shorts-covered ass rotating in sexual excitement as she rested on her knees, Janie's legs spread wide at her ownership. Their moans filled my ears, making me hot and my penis ache, and I needed release—badly.

At that point, Janie had thankfully passed out, though she was fine. Connee retracted her fangs and gazed into my eyes, sending shivers through me. She quickly, and I'd be damned thoughtfully, pulled Janie's legs together and covered her with a blanket. Still on her knees she crooked her fingers for me to come to her. I stood from the chair and got on my knees before her. I noticed the blood dripping from the corners of her mouth, some settling on her chin. Keeping her eyes locked on mine, she ran her middle finger over her chin, collecting blood and teasingly brought it to my bottom lip, letting a drop fall.

"Thank you for the leftovers." My crude comment would have left the human Connee running off screaming, but my vampire Connee grinned wickedly.

I put my hands on her shoulders and gripped her tightly, my fingernails digging into her flesh. She quietly moaned and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, and only then because I wanted her to see what I was doing, I stuck my tongue out to lick the blood from her finger, but she placed her finger in her mouth, seductively fluttering her eyelashes. I couldn't help but growl.

"Shit, Con. Your mom is downstairs."

"I know, I know, damnit. Help me up, please."

I did so then Connee checked over Janie. Connee said, addressing the queen, who was in the kitchen doing something, "We're going up to bed, Mom. Janie's asleep but she's fine."

"Alright, honey. I'll make sure she gets home. Remember, no hanky-panky, you two."

"Hanky-panky? I don't know that term."

Connee gently squeezed my ass cheek. "It's what we can't do for a while."

I frowned, confused, then it dawned on me. "Oh, hell."

She gave me another quick kiss, then I led her upstairs to her—our?—bedroom. We settled in the two chairs by the opened sliding glass door, a slight chill blowing in.

"Hon, what are some traditional Scandinavian baby names?" she asked me.

I looked at her in shock and surprise. "Sweetheart, why put yourself through ... I'm sorry. I shouldn't—"

"No, no, it's okay." Her voice changed to such intense sadness. "I can do this, can't I?"

"Of course you can. And if you don't stop doubting yourself, I'll get the whip out."

Her eyes widened then she laughed. "Well? We need to think of some names, don't we? Just in case, right?"

"Hmm," I pondered. "You've given me very little time to think about that. How about Sven for a boy and Blix for a girl?"

"Those aren't names for children! They're porno names! And isn't Blix the reindeer no one talks about?" she said with a chuckle.

"Reindeer?" I didn't even bother waiting for an explanation of the meaning. "Dear one, Blix means joy or cheer, and Sven means young. They are perfectly acceptable names."

"Yeah, okay. So, we'll have a joyous stripper and a young gigolo!"

"Oh, knock it off. I like strong names. For girls, how about Hilda, fighter, or Tilda, that's heroine. "

"Okay, we'll note Hilda but forget Tilda, and Blix, forget it, no way."

"Carina means pure, Elsa is truth, Hanna gracious. Quinby means womanly."

"Maybe. Maybe. Too many girls are named Hanna, and no on Quinby."

"You are hard to please," he snickered.

"You're just learning that now? What does Eric mean?"

"Forever strong."

"Ah! I love that! Eric, Jr."

"You really don't want a little me running around, do you?"

"Oh, heavens no!" she teased. "That would bring on the Apocalypse!"

I shook my head and didn't take lightly the fact that she kept staring at the bed. "Come, love. You need some rest." Soon we were comfortable holding each other tightly, like nothing would ever break us apart, at least that was what I hoped.

I continued throwing out names. "For boys, there's Gunner, meaning soldier; Rolph, which means Wolf."

"No, and no."

"Fredrick is peaceful ruler."

She perked right up. "I like that! Seriously."

"Okay. Then are we settled on Hilda and Fredrick?"

"Hmm, Hilda Northman. Eck! Too hard on the tongue."

"I happen to love your tongue," I told her flirtatiously.

"Fredrick Johan Northman and Carina Francine Northman," she suggested before she yawned long and hard, although it was just after midnight.

"We don't have to decide on one now. We'll find one suitable for our little one, and one we both will like. Now you go on off to sleep, baby."

"I'm not tired."

"Then why do you keep yawning? You are not a very good liar. Besides, you need to nap. Didn't your mom want to do another ultrasound before sunrise?"

"Oh, yeah," she said then closed her eyes. "I can't wait for you to see her."

"You mean Fredrick?" I asked.

"Or Carina."

"Oh, so it shall be a girl, now? We shall see. Now, before you go to sleep, you never told me how you broke your cell phone."

"The day after I got here, after we talked. I sort of threw it against the wall. I noticed you have a new Blackberry. What happened to yours?"

"Um, it met a horrible death when I sort of threw it against the wall that same night, probably the exact moment you did." Her eyes flew open and she laughed. I couldn't help but laugh with her. "Now shut up and go to sleep."

"Yes, Sir," she muttered sleepily. "I love you, Eric No'th'n."

"I love you, too, Connee Northman."

I had been staring at the ultrasound monitor trying to figure out what creature it was. Beat the shit out of me. "There! Isn't that the penis? No, it can't be! It's too small! No Northman is that—"

"ERIC!" Both women screamed at me at the same time.

"Connee, Eric," the queen started, "I can tell you what it is if—"

"NO!" both Connee and I answered simultaneously. When I looked at her, she winked.

"These are the feet, those are the hands," Francesca continued. "That's the head." She pressed a few buttons. "With these measurements, the baby is of normal size," she said with a relieved sigh. "The lungs and heart are fully developed."

"Can you tell if it's Bintaur or vampire, Mom?"

"It's too early to tell, honey." She pressed another button and a printer ran underneath the cart the machine was on. "The heart beat is strong, and we know he's a Cutter. We won't know if he's vampire until he feeds."

"He? I knew it is a boy!" I exclaimed.

"Eric, calm down," Frannie said as she grabbed a piece of paper from the machine. "Here's the first shot of your baby." She handed Connee the picture. "Can you take her on up to bed, please?"

"Of course."

"Mom," Connee asked, wiping her belly of the gel then pulled her sundress down to her knees, "Don't you think it's time that Eric sleeps with me, in bed, I mean?"

The queen gave me a sharp look. "Not for a few days."

"Mom! We're not—"

"It's best for now. I'm not trying to be mean."

"Shoot. Okay, fine. But can't he at least stay till I fall asleep?"

"I will check up on you, Connee. I'll have Doug meet you by the stream, Eric."

"Thank you, ma'am," I told her with a small bow.

A few minutes later, I placed Connee on the bed. "Where is your nightgown?"

"Oh, here," she answered then pulled it out from under the pillow and sat up. I took the gown from her hand and gently slipped it over her. When I realized it wouldn't go passed her hips, she must have read the hungry-for-her expression on my face.

"Don't torture yourself. I'm all worn out." She maneuvered her body so the gown covered her completely.

Yes, she was right. "Hey, where's Mother's ring?" She frowned. "You said you still have it."

"I do, I do," she insisted, yet her voice was strange. "It's just you've never said just Mother, only my mother. Eric, has it truly been what, a thousand years since—"

I knew where she was going with her discussion. "Yes."

"Do you remember her, your family, after all this time?"

I looked at her and thought, You said you were tired. Why get into this now?

"I'm never too tired to talk about—"

Did she just ... "Con, did you hear me?"

"Of course I heard you. You think I'm still tired."

"No, no." Blue. Blue. I'm thinking of the color blue. I was anxious if she'd hear me again.

"You might be more tireder than I am."

Blue. Red. Green, try green. Hear me, Connee!

Before I realized it she was standing in front of me, her hands on my shoulders, holding me firm. "Love, what it is? Are you okay?"

It was no use. She hadn't heard me. I didn't know why I was disappointed. I forced the look of confusion off my face. Maybe I was 'tireder' than I thought. I heard myself laugh. "Tireder? No, I am not tired. Now, where is ... my mother's ring?"

She tilted her head, like a puppy pondering whether to chase after the mailman. "Are you getting enough to feed, Eric?"

"Yes, yes. Let it go. Now, the ring?"

"Alright, alright." She walked to the night stand, opened the top drawer and pulled it out. Turning to face me she tried slipping it on her finger, but the band wouldn't go past her first knuckle. "I told you I can't wear it."

"May I?" I asked, holding my hand out for the ring, which she did give me. I palmed the band, removed the gold chain from around my neck, slid the ring on it and approached Connee. "I don't want you to take this off again." From the expression on her face, she took my harmless threat seriously. Clasping it in the back, I told her to lie down. When she did, I sat down beside her hips and placed my hand on her cheek. "I didn't want to believe all of this is happening, but I have to tell you, I am thrilled, shocked and scared shitless, but thrilled."

She smiled and took my hand, the tips of her finger's other hand gently circled the ring resting on her collarbone. "Won't you tell me about your past, Eric? I want to know what you were like as a kid, what life was like back then."

"My past does not, should not matter to you." That sounded harsh even to me. I couldn't think of putting it any gentler.

"But you matter."

"No! It doesn't matter! You have no—" Angrily I went to the sliding glass door, ran my fingers through my hair exasperated. Her mother is right. She's so damned stubborn!

"I am not stubborn. I just want—"

Then I knew I hadn't spoken. I rushed to the bed, grabbed her by her shoulders and pulled her towards me. "You heard me that time! You answered my thoughts!"

"Hon, I'm getting worried about you. Are you sure you don't need to feed?"

"No! Connee, you heard me, you answered what I was thinking. The first time you replied when I thought you were tired, I only thought that."

"You mumbled it."

"Baby, he's right," Frannie came into the room, standing by the door. "I heard his thoughts, too, and I heard you reply."

"Wha'? I can read minds?"

"Not for a while, I'm afraid, I mean use it to your full potential. I was your age when it came to me, as well."

Connee threw herself down on the bed, exhaling hard. "I really have no idea what to say."

"Well, I'm going to say that it's time for Eric to leave you to rest." The queen looked directly at me. "If you allow, Eric, I would love to hear about your family, when you are ready, of course."

"I shall think about it, Your Majesty."

"You two have five minutes," Frannie said then walked out.

"Hon, can you at least tell me when you fully realized and accepted what you are, being vampire? Because I'm having an awful hard time accepting all of this."

"For everyone who has been changed it is different, I would think. I've never had to remember that exact moment. But what I can tell you, and if you will promise to drop it until I am ready to tell you more, is my life before ... before—"

Gently she rolled onto her side, placed her hand on my cheek and the other on my knee. How she knew her touch only doubled our connection, our bond, I'd never know. "Tell me what you are comfortable telling me, and I promise."

I had no idea where to start. I'd never spoken to anyone of life. I didn't want to give too much of my past, my pain, my fears, the woman.

"Just don't mention their names."

If I could have blushed, I believed I would have. I started my story the only place I could start at that time, the beginning. "I was born into a privileged family, as my father, Roaldo, was Chief of Tunsburg in southern Norway. My mother was Margaret, Princess of Halogaland."

"Where is that?"

"Northern Denmark. "Father had power, strength, wisdom. Everything he wanted me to have, which, to his dismay, I never did."

"You just wanted the women," she stated, bluntly yet correctly.

I nodded. "I could never please my father, even when I tried, and I did, I really did try." Her hand on my knee rubbed soothingly.

"I was 17, of age to go out on my own, be married, sire children, and more specifically, something my father never let me live down, a son to carry on his name, his legacy. I couldn't. But when Arnora was born, my little sister, I knew at that moment all of his dreams would lie with his only daughter. When Mother gave birth, he was already planning on whom to wed her with, all the things the prince of another kingdom could bring into his own family."

I was getting too close to speaking of that night, a night I never wanted to have come out of my mouth. It was the night my world changed completely, the first time. I stood and stared out the doorway, hearing the sky call my name to fly away, forget it all, the unknown. But that would be the last thing I would do to Connee, to our baby, to our family. "Arnora didn't make it past the age of two. She was killed, along with my parents."

I heard a gasp from Connee. "Killed? How? Where were you?"

"Yes, killed, murdered. I was in the hut fucking a girl, I don't even remember her name now. I found them when I heard a clatter come from the homestead. I rushed over, but they were ... A noise came from Father and I went to him. His throat was sliced, blood pooled around his head, blood seeped from his lips. He tried to speak but was only able to mouth, 'I'm sorry.' Then he was able to say, 'Avenge us, my son. I'm sorry.'"

So then she realized why I hated those two words.

Silence filled the room. I turned around to look at Connee. She was sitting up, her hands cupped under her chin, a single tear glistening on her cheek. "Eric, I had no idea." Her voice cracked.

"No, you wouldn't. At that time bodies were burned on a pyre. I buried the family treasures, most of them, with their ashes in a secluded place that I could return to from time to time."

"Have you returned?"

I shook my head. "I left there, forever. For almost two decades my life was that of a Viking, conquering, killing. Then I met Godric, my maker, and he—"

"Connee, you need your rest. Eric, I'm sor ... you must leave for the day," came the queen's from the hall. Her voice sounded different, and the fact that she didn't finish her apologize told me she had been listening in.

"My sweet baby, come here," Connee whispered.

Leaving my heart at the threshold of the door, or so it seemed, I went to her, collapsed into her waiting arms. I wanted to cry, to let go of the nightmare that was my life before Godric, but I couldn't. Even if I didn't have the strength, I knew my Con have more than enough for the both of us.

"My dearest, adoring, sexy, gorgeous Viking prince vampire, you have me now, and Fredrick or Hilda or Blix, or whatever their name will be. I understand why you didn't want to ... go back." She pushed me away slightly and looked over my face. "I promise you now and forever that I will never, ever leave you."

"If there's one thing I learned it's that nothing is permanent."

"God! You are the most aggravating person I have ever met! Don't you get it? Nothing can break us, nothing. We have gone through hell and back and here we are, about to be parents, waiting for the next chapter of our lives to begin. You are mine, as I am yours, my love. Don't you ever forget that."

I pondered the wet tears that fell from her eyes. Only when she brought her thumb to my cheek and wipe something thick away did I realize I'd also cried.

"You are mine, as I am yours," I repeated. "When did you get so smart, little one?"

"The first time I agreed to be your sub."

Connee's POV:

Here he was, Eric Northman, a vampire—no, a man—who I'd just promised I would never leave him. I wished I'd never let those words slip out of my mouth.