Page 19

“W hat happened yesterday , Aodh?”

Aodh gave her a cocky look from where he stood by the closet, fastening his pants.

Heat flooded her cheeks as she shook her head. She sat in the single-room chair and finished lacing up her boots. “Not that. With Morlie. How worried do I need to be for my sister?”

Aodh grabbed one of his vests out of the closet and put it on before he stepped before her.

Staying seated, Kai waited.

“Morlie is protected here, Kai. No one would dare enter my territory.”

She tilted her head and stared at him. “That’s not true. That big, gruff shifter marched in and grabbed her.”

“That’s different. Dov and Turi, like the other Alphas and their seconds on the council, have a right to cross territories without additional permission to travel to the council meetings.”

Kai nodded. “Well, what is there for me to worry about with Morlie?” She rose and set her hands on her hips. “Don’t say ‘nothing,’ Aodh, because I saw Liekki stationed outside her door. So, you must think there is a threat.”

Aodh shoved a hand through his short, dark hair.

His markings were blank, showing nothing of what was happening with his emotions.

In some ways, Kai loved and hated that the Drahks’ emotions were clear on their proverbial sleeve.

..their whole body. It was easy for her to read or interpret what they were feeling behind their words.

However, most were highly skilled at masking some of their reactions, like Aodh. Like now.

If he let them show, would his markings be tangerine or crimson? Agitation or anger?

“Kai. All of this is complicated. Multi-leveled and takes time to explain.”

She reclaimed the chair and crossed her arms and legs. “I got time. What threats are out there for my sister?”

“No. Not now. I need to get to the office. It is easier for me to tell you Chanin is not a threat in the way you may be thinking. Like I would never harm you, he will give his life to protect your sister. If we delay too long, he will come for her.”

“The woman over the council. She said we have time. Until Morlie is...older.” Kai swallowed, fighting her urge to be truthful with Aodh.

He’d given them everything, but she had made him a party to her deception.

What would he do if he knew the truth? Would Aodh force her to turn her sister over? Kai could never do that.

“Kai.” Aodh leaned down and placed his hands on the arm of the chair. He stared into her eyes briefly, not blinking, as if he wanted something from her.

She held her tongue, unsure what he wanted. He couldn’t possibly know the truth.

“Aodh,” she countered.

Aodh sighed. “Iskah stated that, but Chanin may petition the council for an earlier meeting due to circumstance.”

Her brow drew tight. “What circumstance? What reason could he possibly have?” Kai felt the tension in her arms and balled her fists.

Aodh held her gaze again. There was a pale, thin canary ring around his irises as he assessed her eyes and face. However, he quickly tamped down his curiosity. “Any reason. He could argue that since she is his mate, she should live among his people until he can claim her.”

She gasped, and her arms went slack. “No. Chanin can’t. How can we stop him—?”

“Mate, there is so much about my world you do not understand.” He lowered himself, placing them at eye level. Aodh covered her hands in her lap. “In my world, a male lives and dies by his mate and those directly under his protection. To Chanin, Morlie is his life and death.”

Kai stared into his eyes and saw the color that waved through his markings, so faint she couldn’t identify it fully.

However, she felt the heat from his body caressing her skin.

It brought her comfort and eased the tension in her gut.

Yes, she and Aodh were having a child, but what was between them had not been defined.

But she still understood what he was trying to communicate—Chanin felt the same intense draw for her sister.

However, Kai was always worried about losing her sister.

“Do you believe he will honor the decision of the council?”

“Yes, little flame. Chanin will hold to the Fae’s command. But—”

She raised a hand to stop whatever he was going to say to dissuade her. “Right now, we have time. We will not worry about this wolf until he makes a petition.”

Kai kissed Aodh and ignored the cautious look in his gaze. “Now move your massive body. I must see my sister.”

Aodh paused a moment, still holding her stare. After he gave a sharp nod, he took hold of her hand and pulled her to her feet as he claimed his full height.

She moved past him and headed down the short flight of stairs toward the front rooms, the wide leg of her pants flapping against her calves.

“I need you to make sure you eat today.”

Kai laughed and shook her head. She glanced over her shoulder at the big man following her as they approached the door. “I think I have eaten enough for a small army. You tried to get me to eat half the morning meal.”

He stopped and arched a brow high at her as he set his fists on his hips. “You need the sustenance for the offspring.”

She stopped. She turned fully toward Aodh so he could get the impact of her eye-roll.

Kai smiled to take the sting out of it. “You know that whole eating for two is a myth. A baby takes its sustenance at a different time than the mom. Besides, I have more than enough to sustain it for weeks.” She patted her thighs and hips.

Aodh took one giant step, closed the distance between them, and drew her body against his. Sliding his hand from her waist to her plump ass, then bending his knees to continue down her thick thighs only to straighten and rest his hands at the top curve of her backside.

His touch made her body shiver. Heat exploded in her core and flared outward, causing her nipples to tighten and her walls to clench.

Kai’s reaction to his strong hands worshiping all the lush hills and valleys of her body sent warmth through her blood that surrounded her heart to the point that her palms and the arches of her feet heated.

Kai gripped his arms hard as she curled her toes into the solid floor to keep her mind.

Her body was still sore, on a deep, aching level, from everything that had happened all night.

“I like all your curves and want to keep them this way.”

She sank her teeth into her cheek to keep from leaning into him.

Aodh was too addicting. Kai knew if the man started something, no matter her tenderness, she’d give in because her body craved his and every astounding thing he could do to her.

She exhaled, glad their tension from earlier had been placed aside.

“Besides myths, as you say, do not account for a Drahk offspring. It would be best if you ate three times as much,” Aodh continued, even though his markings flared cerulean, and his voice took on that lower resonance.

Kai frowned as she clutched his bare biceps, feeling slightly apprehensive. “Why? What’s the difference?”

She felt she should have asked more questions when she and Aodh first got together. However, being around this man made her mind go haywire, and all she could think about was feeling his body on top of hers, inside of hers, behind hers. She sighed.

“Drahks grow big and fast, even in the womb.”

What? She gulped as her heart began to race. “Should I be preparing for some humungous infant coming out of me?”

Aodh chuckled.

Kai gritted her teeth. It was easy for a man to find humor in a discussion about something massive coming out of something tiny, even an area that could stretch to accommodate.

“No. A Drahk offspring is not any larger at the time of birth than a very healthy human baby.”

She wanted to ask him what his definition of very healthy was.

Kai had seen the historical listings from when the world kept track of things in the Guinness World Records and recalled a twenty-two-pound baby born to a mother in the fifty-fifth year of the nineteen hundreds.

Kai remembered feeling sorry for the Italian mother who had given birth to him. Now, that could be her.

Shaking her head, she decided to drop the conversation for now. She still had nine months to prepare for what would come from her. And even though she had been fascinated and awed at meeting his dragon, in the back corner of her mind, she prayed a small dragon wouldn’t come crawling out of her.

“You need to get into the office. I need to go see my sister.” She kissed him quickly and stepped back before Aodh could deepen it. “I’m sure she is scared and probably upset about everything that happened yesterday.”

“Morlie is stronger than you think.” Aodh grasped her hand and continued their path to the door. “Don’t underestimate how much she understands.”

Her brow furrowed as she stared up at the big man.

“I know my sister, Aodh, better than anyone. Hell, until you explained this new situation to me, I was clueless about what types of things my government was doing, but I worked and negotiated in the world as it is now. Because of the length of her illness, Morlie’s ingenuous about many things in the world. ”

Aodh stopped right behind the door. “Just promise me you’ll listen. Try not to be her avenging mother.” Still holding her hand, he raised it to brush the tip of his finger over her belly.

Clever, Kai picked up on Aodh’s message, clearly indicating where her child was instead of her sister across the hall. Kai ignored the tremors and her annoyance at his words and said, “I’ll give my sister all the support she needs.”

Thankfully, he didn’t press further. Aodh reached for the door handle.

Before he could pull it open, she touched his to arm to halt him momentarily. “Aodh, I want to keep our situation,” she said, placing a hand over her lower abdomen for a moment so he wouldn’t misunderstand what she was referring to. “Just between us for a while.”