Page 35 of Wedlock (Vampire Bachelor Games #3)

The knock on my door is firm and loud, and my heart jumps into my mouth immediately.

I know that knock.

Looking down at the baby on my breast, I bite my lip in consternation, excitement, and not a little fear, before answering.

“Come in.”

Just as I knew he would, Falcon stalks through the door, frowning slightly when he sees me sitting before the fire, my shirt open.

“If this is a bad time…”

“It’s not.”

I return his frown, but drink in the sight of him as he walks to stand with his back to the fireplace, flicking me a quick glance before staring down at the baby.

Tonight he’s dressed all in black. Black commando pants, black muscle-hugging, long-sleeved shirt.

It’s one of the rare times I’ve seen him without a suit, and the almost military cut of his attire accentuates his strength and height.

He’s never looked more dangerous, or more sexy, and I gulp and look away, following his gaze to our child.

“Your son is hungry, again,” I shrug, grimacing as the baby, as if understanding, bites deeper.

Falcon gives a faint, sharp, intake of breath, and I raise my eyes to his.

“What?”

“I didn’t expect to see you so scarred,” he says quietly.

“I’m only human,” I blush, knowing he’s referring to the bite marks covering my breasts, “and I don’t heal as quickly now that I’m not under the obedience bite — but I don’t mind. I’d rather a billion scars than to have my mind trapped again.”

Self-consciously, I pull the fabric of my shirt closer around me, so only the swell of my breast and the baby’s head is visible.

“I came to tell you I’m leaving,” he says gruffly, as though reminded of where he is and suddenly confused as to why he’s even telling me this.

“You’re going to the Princess?”

“What? No,” he scowls. “I’m going to find Viper. Mother met with a Court informant who gave some idea of where he might be.”

I school my face to neutral. The last thing I need is to accidentally reveal that I was the one who told her where he was.

I didn’t have specifics; I’d just told her of my impression of where Viper’s body was.

I had to tell her something to throw her off the scent over why I wanted to see Asumpta.

I’d babbled that I planned to visit the kitchens to describe the place to Asumpta and see if she’d ever delivered Viper’s meals to a location like the one I’d glimpsed.

But Eleanor knew where it was as soon as I described it.

It was a forest on Spider’s estate. The trees I’d seen were imported by his family two centuries before.

They grew nowhere else in the country. She’d rushed from my room; I presumed she’d gone straight to tell Falcon, but instead she’d left the castle.

Once again I had to assume she was headed for the Court, since she was dressed in all her finery.

What she does there, who she talks to, I have no idea.

Knowing Eleanor and all her secrets, I never will.

At least her son always lays out his cards. A raging open book of insults, suspicions and spankings, there’s never anything hidden.

I blush at the thought of those spankings, and swallow hard before looking back up at him. I wonder what’s really going on for him to visit me now. I hope he doesn’t suspect I was the informant. I need to divert him away from this subject just in case I slip up and reveal something I shouldn’t.

“And you’re telling me you’re leaving, why? This isn’t a courtesy you’ve bothered with in the past, husband .”

I know my tone is acerbic, but I seem to only be able to swing between cooly polite and awful whenever he’s near now.

His jaw clenches.

“I know you don’t care to hear anything I have to say, but given the nature of my quest I felt duty-bound to tell you that should I not return I’ve put measures in place to ensure the boy is cared for.”

“By boy, I presume you mean your son?” I snap. “The son you still won’t acknowledge as yours.”

“Yes,” he pushes his hands into his pockets and studies me, ignoring the second part of my statement. “Tiger will still be cared for should something unfortunate occur while I’m away.”

“And if it doesn’t? I guess something unfortunate will still happen, won’t it? Because I can’t be in the picture, and neither can your son , if you marry the Princess.”

‘Not that I’m going to stick around long enough to find out.’

He frowns and meets my eyes, his expression almost pained. It seems like he wants to tell me something, but as I study him he shakes his head, and his eyes turn dark and cold once more.

“The boy will inherit the title of Lord Dragonspur regardless of when, or if, I marry the Princess. I accept he’s mine, although I have no proof of this I’ve decided it’s preferable to have him inherit than have the seat dissolve or have it land in the lap of someone like Spider, who has long desired to claim and absorb it. ”

“So, you’ll remarry and won’t care about this title any longer? The title you’ve fought your whole life to keep?”

He gives me a quizzical look.

“I thought you’d like to know that I’ve formally acknowledged the infant. But yes, if I remarried I’d have a new title.”

“Asshole fits you nicely, why not stick with that one?”

“Angelina, I didn’t come here to fight with you…”

“No? Well I guess either way we won’t have to worry about that happening for much longer.

But tell me, future King Asshole, why now?

Why decide now to tell me that you’ll give the baby the title even though you still don’t believe the boy is yours?

You have no proof he isn’t. I wasn’t forced to sleep with Jag until a few weeks before I ran away.

I couldn’t run away until the quickening, which even a vampire as thick as bricks would understand is three months into a pregnancy.

What will it take for you to really acknowledge that this child is yours? ”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“It does to me.”

“I don’t know,” he murmurs.

“I think you do. I think you refuse to acknowledge him because then you’d have to think back on the last night we spent together. From memory you told me you loathed me that night and you were going to replace me with Sophie.”

“And your note to my mother said you wanted no part of my life,” he snaps, “so what does it matter to you if the boy takes my title?”

I frown at him.

‘My note? Does he mean the one I wrote to Eleanor when I first escaped?’

“I can hardly even remember what I wrote that night, Falcon. I had only just had my mind freed, just escaped, just found out I was pregnant. All I knew was that I needed to let your mother know I’d been under a thrall, and I was scared shitless that you or Viper would find me.”

“You could have come to me!” He roars, causing the baby to unlatch and cry out.

I place my hand over my infant’s ears as I hiss my reply.

“You fucking BIT ME! You wanted to kill me. If Jag hadn’t stepped in you probably would have.”

He looks pained at my reminder and shakes his head, but I carry on.

“Regardless of the past. The boy is yours, Falcon. I’ve never called him Tiger, because his name should be Talon, and he should be your heir.”

He sighs heavily and looks at the ceiling.

“As I said, I’ll ensure my affairs are in order before I leave.”

“You accept that he’s yours?”

Looking back down at me, he stares into my eyes for a long, long minute.

“If that’s what you need to hear, yes.”

I let out a long, quiet breath and take my hands off my baby’s ears. Even though I’m planning to escape and take my boy with me, it’s a strange relief to know Falcon finally acknowledges that the baby is his.

“You’ll do this now, in case something unfortunate happens?”

“Yes.”

“And why should something ‘unfortunate’ happen to you?”

“Because if my mother is correct and Viper lies dead on Spider’s Estate, and if I ascertain it was not Jag, but Spider who killed him, I’ll be honour-bound to end Count Dartlore once and for all.

If I win our battle and the Queen finds out I harmed the Count, she will end me.

I’m confident I’ll succeed and not be discovered of course, but just in case, I’m hedging my bets. ”

Frowning, I pull the baby from my breast and rise, moving to walk over and place him securely in the centre of our vast bed, before turning back to face Falcon, hands on hips.

“So, he’ll win.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ll go and attack Spider and get yourself killed just as your evil half-brother and he probably planned all along.”

His brow rises and I realise, too late, what I’ve said.

“Half-brother?”