Epilogue

SEVERAL MONTHS LATER

A momentous silence swept over the room as Domenico Moretti, serving as the representative of the newly established L'Alliance , affixed his signature on the last page of the treaty. The contract was then passed to the government leaders, one to represent each continent, who scrawled their names on the same page one after another.

When it was all done and pens were laid to rest, the hushed silence within the assembly hall deepened...until those on the platform stood to face the crowd, and with it, a deafening applause rose from the thousands of spectators that had come to witness the birth of a new world. With the vampires no longer constraining themselves to the shadows, it was imperative that humans and preternaturals not only coexist harmoniously. Their very survival depended on their ability to trust each other, and while the treaty was a step towards the right direction, Spencer knew there was a long way to go before both sides stopped viewing each other with fear and suspicion.

Fingers cupping her chin caused Spencer to glance up, and despite everything, a tiny thrill still squeezed her heart at seeing the love that was now a constant glitter in Etienne's dark gaze.

"It is not good for you to be frowning so heavily, Mrs. Hirsche." The billionaire's fingers gently smoothed over her forehead as he spoke, and Spencer had to take a deep breath. Seeing this, her husband said gravely, "Apologies, my love. I didn't mean to turn you on in public."

Color burst in her cheeks even as her stupid, hormone-driven body drew even more perverse pleasure from his teasing, and she had to tightly press her legs together in a futile attempt to relieve the moist pressure that was already making her pussy quiver in need.

"My God, Etienne, shut up." A quick, furtive look around her confirmed Spencer's worst suspicions. While it was impossible for the humans seated nearby to hear her husband's words, there were also preternaturals around them, and the way they were either grinning openly at her or politely averting their gazes said enough.

Lips curving in a smirk, Etienne snatched her hand, and as he brought it up to press his lips against her knuckles, he silkily delivered his answer. "No."

Spencer let out a little growl as she tried to yank her hand out of his hold, but it was like freeing herself from steel handcuffs, and because her body wasn't even on her side, she couldn't even make her resistance last.

When Etienne drew her close with an arm around her waist, the sexy scent of his aftershave teased her nostrils, and that was it.

Oh no.

It was hard to keep walking as sensual flames started licking across her flesh. Control, Spencer, control. But the thing was, her body was no longer under her command, and she could only cringe and swallow back an instinctive whimper as she felt her breasts grow heavy and swell against the cups of her bra.

No, no, nooooooo.

But there was no denying how her panties were now a drenched mess.

His breath suddenly caressed her ear, and as she yelped in surprise, he whispered, "If I can smell your arousal, you can bet the others in this room can do, too."

Nooo!

Her steps stumbled into a halt, but of course his arm around her waist had tightened in time to keep herself from falling.

Etienne was no longer in the mood to tease. "Are you alright?" His narrowed gaze ran over her form and settled briefly on her rounded belly.

Spencer temporarily forgot about her embarrassment when she saw the drawn look on the billionaire's face. "Oh, Etienne, I'm fine." Caylie had warned her about Caros being naturally paranoid, and though she hadn't believed the younger girl at first, Etienne proved it was all true the moment they found out she was pregnant.

When the expression of tight-lipped concern didn't ease from his handsome face, she quickly tugged at his sleeve, saying with a sigh, "Go on, just this once, I'll let you do your thing." She had barely finished speaking when Etienne was already down on one knee and placing his ear to her belly.

The first few weeks of her pregnancy, he had done this dozens of times each day, and while his love for their unborn child was adorable, it also made her self-conscious, with the way he completely disregarded the time and place when doing it.

He would be in the middle of a corporate meeting, and upon hearing her cry out because she had accidentally given herself a paper cut, and he'd be out of the door and next to her in a flash, checking her heartbeat and that of their child's afterwards.

It was overkill, in every sense of the word, but because it was also proof of how much Etienne loved her and their baby, she hadn't been able to make herself tell him off. Today, in fact, was the only time she had tentatively asked him if he could be discreet in his concern, but not before showering her husband's gorgeous face with kisses and being extra affectionate even though every second of it had nearly made her gag.

When Etienne finally lifted his head, the tension he was radiating earlier was no longer visible, and his body no longer as rigidly set.

She smiled down at him. "Everything's okay now?"

He nodded, and when he was back on his feet, he said simply, "Thank you." He brushed his lips to the top of her head, and well, that was it again.

Oh no.

A second later, Etienne chuckled against her hair, and she wanted to die. That was all the confirmation she needed, and she knew without a doubt that Etienne, along with every other preternatural still in the United Nations Assembly Hall would be able to detect the scent of her arousal.

Etienne heard his wife let out a little cry, and he had to suppress his smile as he wrapped his arms around her so she could hide her flushed face against his chest.

"It's alright, mi vavli ," he soothed. "Pregnant women are known to be extra horny."

"Not helping." She pinched his nipple in punishment, and even though it had her husband grunting, it unfortunately wasn't enough to make her feel any less horny...or Etienne any less inclined to retaliate.

"What you're feeling is entirely natural, my love. You have an extremely beautiful man as your husband, after all, and lest you forget - those were your very words—-" Spencer's groan cut him off.

"Oh God."

The scent of her arousal had suddenly become prominent, and Etienne laughed.

"This is so crazy," Spencer ranted under her breath. "You should be pissing me off, but instead—-"

"My cock -y ways are also turning you off?"

Spencer could only gasp, horrified at how Etienne's stupid words had made her nipples pout into life and start poking against his chest. "Oh my God." And when she felt the rest of her body start responding similarly, she tugged her husband's sleeve in her panic, her gaze flying up to him in mute appeal. "Do something," she pleaded.

Etienne choked. Was he hearing her right?

"Please!"

"But we're in a public place," he warned her. "My options are severely limited—-"

Spencer choked when she realized how Etienne had completely misunderstood her words. "I was asking you to help turn me off ," she clarified, voice still shaking with laughter.

"My bad." Etienne's tone turned skeptical. "But I don't think I can do that."

"But—-"

"Be honest with me, mi vavli. Have I ever done anything that turned you off?"

He was right, and oh my God—-

Argh!

The knowledge had made her even wetter now, and because pregnancy hormones also made Spencer horribly emotional for no reason, she wasn't too surprised when she felt her eyes suddenly fill up with tears.

Etienne bit back a curse when he saw his wife fighting back tears. Fuck. "Alright, my love, we'll do something about your condition."

"P-Please."

He pulled her close as his mind raced a thousand miles per second. Since they were in a public place, she would never forgive him if he touched her sexually in any way. But since he also hadn't the first clue on how to turn a woman off, and time was of the essence...well, that only left one thing.

"Close your eyes and take a deep breath, mi vavli ."

She closed her eyes, and as she took a deep breath, it was then she felt his fangs pierce the side of her neck—-

Ooooooooooooh.

Her toes curled, and the moment she felt her blood trickle out, the moment she heard the familiar rasping sound as he started to drink...that was it, and she could only clutch his shirt, her legs trembling hard as she came in an instant.

Etienne licked her neck to seal the wound, and as he lifted his head, he could see that many of the preternaturals still inside the assembly hall were smirking at their direction while across the room, numerous TV cameras had zoomed in on them as field correspondents rushed to describe what they had just witnessed.

Let me repeat: that's billionaire Etienne Hirsche you're seeing on replay, and this took place less than a minute ago.

That's right, Tom. He was, as far as we could tell, drinking his wife's blood.

No, she didn't seem to be in pain. If anything, she looked, well...see for yourself. I don't think we're allowed to say on air what we're seeing.

The End