Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)
Author: Erin McCarthy

One

“Well, it’s not the flu.”

Brittany Baldizzi watched her general practitioner tuck her hair behind her ear as she stepped back into the room. Perched on the edge of the examination table, Brittany was seriously confused. “An ulcer then? I’ve felt this awful nausea for weeks.”

“Not an ulcer.” Dr. Hopkins smiled. “You’re pregnant.”

“Excuse me?” The room went stark white and a buzzing rang in Brittany’s ears. “Pregnant? I can’t be pregnant!”

There was no way. It wasn’t possible.

“Have you been practicing abstinence?” Dr. Hopkins asked with a rueful shrug.

“Yes, I’ve been totally abstinent.” How in the hell could she be pregnant?

Dr. Hopkins raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

Okay, so that wasn’t completely true. “Well, mostly. I’ve only had sex once in the last six months.” But that had been with Corbin Atelier, and that didn’t count because he was a vampire.

“Once is all it takes.”

Normally. When you were having sex with regular, mortal men. “But… ” Brittany rubbed her head. “He can’t have children.” She didn’t think. Of course, he had never really said he couldn’t have children. But neither had he suggested birth control.

“I’m sorry this is such a shock, Brittany, but obviously he can have children, because you are definitely pregnant.”

“Well, I had no idea.” That vampires had sperm.

Which was a stupid assumption on her part. After all, hadn’t her brother-in-law sworn to her up, down, and sideways that her own biological father had to be a vampire? But she hadn’t put two and two together when she and Corbin had been talking that night.

Though to be totally honest, it wasn’t like she and Corbin had devoted a whole lot of time to conversation when he had climbed in her bedroom window and asked for blood. She’d given him her blood and her body, and now he had given her a baby.

Holy crap.

It really would have been nice if he had warned her his boys could still swim.

“You’re what?” Her sister, Alexis, just stared at her.

Brittany threw herself down on Alexis’s leather couch and groaned. That appalled look of disbelief on Alexis’s face must have been what she had looked like in the doctor’s office. “You heard me. I’m pregnant. And before you ask, I made the doctor do the test twice.”

“Well. Gee. Shit. This is unexpected.” Alexis rubbed her hands through her hair. “A baby. You’re going to be a mother. Wow. Okay. Well, that’s exciting. I think. No, I’m sure, it is, babies are always good. But damn, for the first time since Ethan turned me, I think I actually regret being a vampire. I’m not exactly going to have a normal relationship with my niece or nephew, am I? Though you know I’m happy if you’re happy.”

Tears popped into Brittany’s eyes. Alexis was the closest thing to a mother she had, since their mom had overdosed when Brittany was thirteen. It was hard sometimes to accept that Alexis was now a vampire, married to a really old vampire and living in his Las Vegas casino. Her sister had a whole different life from Brittany’s mild-mannered existence as a suburban dentist.

A suburban dentist who happened to be knocked up by a French vampire. Oh, God.

“I’m happy about a baby, yes, but Alexis, I’m scared.”

Alexis popped up off the easy chair and came over to her. “Oh, honey, don’t be scared.” She hugged her, which made Brittany feel better. She may have been nearly a foot taller than Alexis, but it still felt good to be cosseted. “It will work out. We’ll help you out.”

“Help her out with what? What’s wrong?” Alexis’s husband, Ethan Carrick, current president of the Vampire Nation, strolled out of their bedroom in pajama pants and no shirt.

“Did I wake you, Ethan? I’m sorry.” Brittany hadn’t been able to wait a minute past six o’clock, which was really early for vampires to be getting up for the night, but she had desperately needed to hear Alexis tell her everything was going to be alright.

“It’s fine. What’s wrong, Brit?”

“She’s pregnant,” Alexis told him.

“Oh.” His mouth opened, closed, opened again. “So, uh, congratulations. That’s fabulous! A baby. I’m sure you’ll be a brilliant mother.”

“Absolutely,” Alexis said stoutly, patting her leg. “This is one lucky baby.”

While Brittany had always imagined she would have several kids, and had looked forward to that time in her life, she had never once thought she’d be having a baby alone, without a man anywhere in the picture. Not to mention she was a touch concerned about the health of two-hundred-year-old vampire sperm. That seemed a little past the expiration date.

“I’ve always wanted to have a baby, and I’m sure once the shock wears off, I’ll be really excited. It was just a… surprise. Really unexpected.”

“I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone,” Alexis said. “Who is the father? Do you think he’ll want to be involved with the baby?”

Whoopsie. She’d left that little tidbit of info out, hadn’t she? Brittany pulled away from Alexis and looked down at her jeans. She commanded her tongue to speak, but it didn’t cooperate. Alexis was going to freak when she heard Brittany’s very embarrassing answer.

“I’m not sure if he’ll want to be involved, but I suspect the answer is no. I haven’t seen him since the one night we slept together eight weeks ago.” Brittany looked up, locking eyes with Alexis, hoping like hell her sister would put two and two together so she wouldn’t have to say it out loud.

Alexis stared back. Then suddenly she jerked on the couch like she’d been electrocuted, her jaw dropping, head shaking. “Brit… oh, no, don’t tell me. Please tell me that the baby’s father is not Corbin Atelier.”

“It is,” she said in agony, feeling like a total idiot. Why had she even slept with the charming, good-looking, arrogant idiot in the first place?

Because he was charming, good looking, and arrogant. And the sex had been hot.

“It is what? Corbin’s baby?” Alexis said, like she was trying to convince herself she’d heard wrong.

“Yes! It’s Corbin’s baby.”

“The Frenchman got you pregnant?” Ethan’s voice was outraged, his hands on his hips. “Didn’t he use birth control?”