Page 380 of Never Kiss a Fae

“So tired,” I mumbled as I tried to fend him off with a wave of my hand. “Go away.”

“Thank the source you’re finally awake,” he said on an exhale. I peeked at him with one eye, finding him leaning back on his heels as he watched me. “How… how are you feeling?”

A blanket of fatigue draped over me in response to his question, refusing to lift its weight entirely, but the concern in Titus’s eyes made me sit up.

“What time is it?” I asked, confused. Sunlight streamed in with pleasant rays that banished the strange chill in the room, but it felt like no time had passed at all since I’d laid my head down.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, it’s midday.” He continued to stare at me, his eyes running over me as if he was searching for a source of injury.

“What is it?” I asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you slept much longer than I expected.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. It wasn’t like I hadn’t ever slept in before. “And that concerns you… why?”

He sighed and took my hand, warming me with his magic. I jolted at the unforgiving warmth, frowning. “Because you’re pregnant, Claire. It’s my job to be concerned.”

Yes, I was pregnant, and just the affirmation in my mind made my heart flutter with joy. There could be no denying the surge of life I’d felt through my bond with Cyrus and all of my mates.

“Is the faeling doing okay?” he asked after a moment, as if it was something I should have confirmed already.

“What?”

“The faeling,” he said again, his words coming out in that slow, calm way when I knew he was starting to worry. “Can you feel it?”

I frowned. “Should I be able to?” Could he not feel the life thriving through the bond? It seemed pretty real to me. But maybe I was mistaking it for something else?

He stilled for a moment, as though trying too hard not to show a reaction. “Exos didn’t think we should prod you about it, but now that you’ve passed the incubation period, you should be able to feel something.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what Titus meant by that, but it unfurled a thread of doubt that this pregnancy would take hold. I knew that Cyrus had filled me with life, but this was a fae mating.

And I was only half-fae.

It was a secret, dark fear I hadn’t considered until it jolted through me with ugly clarity. As a Halfling, I didn’t quite fit in either world. It was my mates who had made a place for me. To everyone else, I was just an oddity…

An abomination.

What if that meant I couldn’t procreate? What if I’d been too lost in my mates’ love for me that I’d missed the dreadful truth right in front of me?

“Maybe we shouldn’t get our hopes up, Titus,” I said, warning him with a slight tremor in my voice. I really didn’t want my mates to be disappointed if my human half took charge in this instance. Even if this pregnancy failed, it didn’t mean I would stop trying. When he continued to frown at me, I added, “We don’t know if the pregnancy is, uh, viable.”

“Viable?” he repeated, his hand drifting to my shoulder. “Do you not remember Cyrus and you conceiving? Or are you doubting him?” The latter question seeped with hurt, but he misunderstood my concern. I didn’t doubt my mates so much as I doubted myself.

I brushed off his touch as another wave of fatigue wafted over me. I covered my mouth and yawned. “It’s only been a little over a week since we, um, since we tried, I mean.”

I rubbed my eyes, part of me wanting to throw the covers over my head again and just go back to sleep and hide from all my doubts and fears.

“It’ll be at least a month before we know anything for certain. And even then, we’re supposed to wait a bit before we really start planning. I don’t actually know the statistics, but miscarriages sometimes happen in humans.” It was a male-fae bonus to have control over conception, but I wasn’t exactly a textbook case.

Titus cocked his brow. “Miscarriage?” He shook his head. “We’ll know in a lot less than a month, Claire. And I think you underestimate your genetics and the potency of male fae.” He grinned. “Especially a male like your Water King, who is even cockier than me. He has a reputation to uphold, you know.”

I sighed. Cyrus’s virility wasn’t what I questioned. “You’re not hearing me.” I really didn’t know how to explain this without the fissure in my heart splitting open.

What if I failed my mates?

What if I was broken?

“Hey.” Titus leaned in so that I could see his green eyes blazing with heat. “Iamhearing you, sweetheart, and I’m telling you that you have nothing to worry about. You know why?” He grazed his fingers over my chin, making me sink into his touch.