Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29381 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Guilt and grief craters in on me. I turn my face away, not wanting to show the wizard who broke my heart the tears I can’t seem to stop.
As I silently sob, he caresses my long, loose hair gently. “Cry if you need to. Let it out.”
I shove my tresses back self-consciously. My mother, raised in another time, always preached that wearing my hair down was a sign of wantonness. In the past, I let my hair down for Raiden, showing him every facet of my inner temptress. He didn’t want me for more than energy and pleasure, so I shouldn’t read too much into his current concern, beyond compassion or care for the vessel carrying his youngling.
“I’ll be fine.” I try to pull away.
Raiden holds firm. “I should have a healer check you and the youngling. You’ve been distraught, and such emotions aren’t good for an expectant mother.”
I drag in shuddering breaths and will myself to calm down. “Don’t bother. There’s nothing wrong.”
His thumb caresses my cheek before his fingers curl around my nape. His touch makes me shiver. Suddenly, I’m bombarded by thousands of intimate memories—and foolishly wanting a thousand more.
“Have you been feeling well? Is the pregnancy normal? Any problems?”
I’ve never heard Raiden’s voice so gentle, and I hate acknowledging how deeply it tugs at my heart. “No problems.”
That isn’t totally true, but he doesn’t need details.
“Tabby, until—”
“Don’t call me that anymore.” He whispered that name when he held me, kissed me, made love to me. He called me Tabitha when he walked away from me. Once he did that, he lost the right to speak any sort of endearment to me.
He sidesteps my anger. “I heard that you experienced sickness early on. That you nearly miscarried.”
I gasp. How could he possibly know that?
“You never told me.” He actually looks hurt by that fact.
I toss off the covers and leap to my feet, horrified to discover that he’s stripped me down to my bra and knickers. Spearing him with an accusing stare, I grab the top blanket, wrap it around me, and shove my hair behind me again. “You no longer have the right to look at me this way, to touch me so familiarly, to pretend you care about the baby. You made yourself very clear when you said you wanted nothing to do with mating and fatherhood.”
“Because I’m no good for you.” He withdraws. “I’m not cut out for mating. My association with the Doomsday Brethren is too dangerous. And I’m not capable of the devotion you sought. I’d rather see you happily settled and safe.”
“And allowing my parents to pawn me off on Sean Blackbourne made your life much easier, didn’t it? In days, he and I were to exchange the words that allowed you to go, guilt free, back to your warring and whoring.”
Something cold hardens his face. “Exactly.”
“I shouldn’t be here.” I shake my head. “I shouldn’t have come.”
Safety was my first concern. I knew Raiden would protect me from Mathias, but perhaps I underestimated Sean. His family is powerful. Maybe he could keep me and my youngling equally shielded.
“You did the right thing.”
I shake my head. “I didn’t. I’m going to Sean. Now.”
“The hell you are!” He’s on his feet in an instant, blocking my path to the door. “You can’t teleport in or out of this house without my permission.” It’s a common safety measure. “As far as I’m concerned, you’ll stay here. I’ll keep you safe, even if it takes my last breath, and you know that. What do you know about Sean?”
That he’s going to shoulder the responsibility Raiden rejected.
Anger boils in me, morphing to a new and sharper fury. I slap Raiden across the face. He recoils from the blow, a tic working in his jaw, but says nothing. A red mark blooms across his cheek, but he doesn’t raise a hand to it. Doesn’t say a word.
“I gave you everything,” I shout. “Everything! I revealed myself to you in a way I’ve never done with another lover. I opened my heart and body to you. Yes, I knew your reputation, but when you came back to me again and again, I allowed myself to hope that you cared. That I meant something to you. And you knew that. You knew how badly I wanted you for a mate, how totally I gave myself over and over. I think I willed your seed to take root, praying that you would…”
God, I sound so stupid. So foolish and naive. I bedded down with one of the most notoriously carnal wizards ever, and I got exactly what I deserved. Still, the debilitating pain of his desertion staggers me.
Something flickers in his eyes—pain? Regret?—before he erases all expression from his face. “You’re right. I took advantage. I…the way you revealed yourself slowly to me, unfurling each time, shedding your ladylike inhibitions to embrace the sizzle between us, how could I refuse when you kept tempting me?” He shrugs. “Sorry. Next time, don’t offer yourself.”