Married To The Mad Vampire Lord - Chapter 508

Chapter 508: To feed the baby
Rohan carefully held her out to Belle, who stepped closer to gaze down at the baby. Her brows lifted in astonishment at the sight of those clear hazel eyes. “Oh, God…” she murmured, awe and wonder threading through her voice at the little baby.

“She has your looks, my love. Here, hold her.” Rohan handed the baby to her, and she took her gently, feeling warmth rise in her heart.

“Roseline…” Belle muttered with a soft smile, using her index finger to touch the girl’s round cheeks, rubbing and feeling the softness of her skin while her heart warmed up to the baby immediately. Roseline’s lips twitched upward in a full smile, causing Belle to giggle, then she bent to show Angel his sister’s smile. “Look, she’s smiling. She’s adorably small.”

Angel, who had looked sad for a moment, smiled and nodded. “She smiles a lot, Mama. When I carry her, she smiles at me too.”

“Does she? That’s wonderful.”

They moved to sit on the edge of the small bed that still held Belle’s lovely pink sheet from when they had once lived here a year ago. The curtains and the center rug were all still in place. It almost felt to Rohan as if they had never left. He watched them as they settled down, Angel hopping beside Belle while they both studied the baby like she was a treasure of gold. He couldn’t help the warmth rising in his chest as a smile spread across his face.

There were many things that needed doing in this cottage and many things his wife would have to relearn about their world. Without her memories, she didn’t know that he was a demon, or that their children were part demon, part reaper, part vampire.

He would have to take things slowly with her. For now, she could simply believe that she had caught a sickness that almost took her life and caused her memory problems, just like Ereves had said he’d told her when she first woke up, to keep her from asking him more questions.

He would let her figure out things about their family’s real nature on her own.

Seeing how trying to remember gave her headaches, Rohan resolved not to rush her. They were here to stay in this new place, and the sooner they all adjusted to the environment, the better. Eventually, a proper house would have to be built for them all, as this one couldn’t hold everyone comfortably, along with Evenly and her babies, who he would go back for tomorrow.

Belle played with the baby until Roseline stopped smiling and began aggressively rubbing and sucking at her fist, her tiny tongue peeking out hungrily. “I think she’s hungry,” Belle observed, eyes widening as she realized. “She’s sucking at her fist. What shall I feed her?” She finally looked up at Rohan, who was still watching her from across the room, standing as he set a bag she hadn’t noticed on the floor.

The bag contained a few important things Angel had packed to show his mother, as well as the attires Belle had made for Roseline before. Seeing him put the bag down, Angel, who was sitting next to his mother, jumped off the bed and ran to it, eager to unpack the things he had brought for his mama.

Rohan moved toward the bed as he replied to Belle’s question. “She’s your daughter as much as she is mine. You can feed her,” he said, his eyes briefly flicking to her breast, hidden beneath her coat. A deep flush rose to her cheeks at his subtle suggestion.

Unlike Angel, Roseline didn’t request blood often, and having her mother’s milk for the first time might help them bond even more, and reassure Belle of the undeniable fact that this baby had come from her womb. Though there was no denying it anyway, not when they already looked so much alike.

Belle, who had begun to warm up to the children but not yet fully believed she had given birth to them, hesitated at Rohan’s words. Was she really expected to do this with him watching? And did she even have milk to give an infant?

She looked down at the baby, whose lips were beginning to pout and a soft cry rising in her throat. Letting instinct take over, Belle ignored Rohan’s intense gaze. She unbuttoned her coat and unfastened the lace of her bodice, then pulled down her undergarment to bare her breast. She was careful not to expose herself completely, keeping the fabric of her coat as a shield so the man wouldn’t see her fully bare. She guided the baby to latch onto her nipple.

The baby began to suck, but soon pulled away, crying in a hoarse voice that left Belle confused and uncertain of what she might have done wrong. She tried repositioning the nipple to the baby’s mouth, and the baby latched on briefly before releasing again. Belle attempted the other breast, but the result was the same. That was when she realized she had no milk to feed her baby.

Pulling the coat back over her breast, she looked up at Rohan, who was watching with narrowed eyes. He walked toward them and asked gently, “What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t think there’s any milk in me for the baby,” she muttered, feeling miserable and worried for Roseline, who was crying in earnest now, only her voice wasn’t loud.

“Let me see,” came Rohan’s calm voice. Before she could wonder what he meant, his hand moved quickly, slipping into the opening of her coat to touch her bare breast. Belle stiffened, embarrassment flooding her, and instinctively tried to pull his hand away. But he clicked his tongue softly.

“Hold still. I just want to make certain,” he told her. Despite the burning embarrassment consuming her, she obeyed, holding still as a flood of sensation assaulted her. His fingers lightly squeezed the tip of her nipple, making her body jolt and warmth surge through her entirely.

He rolled the tip of her nipple gently against his finger, cupping her breast in the palm of his hand and squeezing with deliberate softness. The touch was clinical in explanation, but the way he handled her made Belle realize he was taking liberties rather than merely checking for milk. A shiver ran through her body; her stomach quivered, and her insides clenched in a way that was both frightening and exciting.

It was only when Angel, kneeling beside the bag behind them and searching for something, rose back to his feet that Rohan withdrew his hand from her coat. He straightened slightly and said, calmly but with an edge of intimacy, “There’s no milk.”

Belle bit the inside of her cheek, a flush rising to her face as she pulled her coat over her chest to cover herself properly. She struggled to steady her racing heartbeat and finally asked, her voice soft and uncertain, “Why don’t I have milk, since I gave birth to her recently?”

Rohan rose to his feet, thrusting his hands into his pockets to fight the urge to touch her with the same liberty he had once allowed himself before. He answered calmly, though a faint heat lingered in his chest from the memory of her softness against his fingers, “Your body must have changed after you recovered.”

Ereves had told him he hadn’t let Belle know she had died and been brought back to life. Knowing she had no memories, it would have taken too long to help her understand how it had been done, so instead she had been told she had caught an illness and that the treatment had affected her memories. That was why he now told her the treatment must have affected her breast milk. It wasn’t far from the truth; the process of reviving her had indeed healed everything in her body, including the rawness that followed childbirth and the natural bodily reaction to produce milk for a baby.

“What… will I feed her then?” she asked softly, lifting the baby and holding her close against her chest, rocking her gently.

“We have farm animals in the yard, and cows and goats in the barn. I’ll get her some cow’s milk.” Rohan chose not to tell her that he would mix it with blood to nourish the baby, not wanting to overwhelm her or push her to strain her mind to remember anything.

He turned and left to fetch the milk, still feeling the ghost of her nipple’s warmth against his fingers. Clenching his hands tightly in his pockets, he fought to keep the memory from stirring more than propriety allowed for now.