He pressed his lips to my ear and nibbled on it. “May I ask you one question before I give you my oath forever, my love?” He waited until I nodded, moving his hand over my stomach. “Would you carry my babe one day? Would you ever allow my seed to give us a child?”
I turned to look at him, not hiding my shock at all. “I don’t know. I didn’t think you would ever want that.”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, rubbing my skin before cupping my breasts. “I had a dream of watching you nurse our babe at your bosom and I felt such happiness that I wonder now.”
“I’m not against it, one day, maybe. I’m not a no, but I’m so hunted and the idea of risking a baby—who could have the same crazy blood—I don’t know.”
“I’m fine with that answer,” he promised me when I started to get upset. “I think I needed to hear you wouldn’t deny me because of who I am or my house.”
“No, you idiot,” I sighed, smiling when he pinched my nipple hard. “I don’t know where I land on kids, but if I’ll marry you, then that’s not an off-the-table option--just not anytime soon.”
“We’ll just have to enjoy practicing how to make them,” he offered.
I burst out laughing. The joke wasn’t all that funny, but he tried so, so hard to say the right things sometimes and not upset me that he said the strangest things.
And I loved that about him. Hell, I loved him. I loved all three of them.
Fine, I loved four of them, but one was hard to love when I was so hurt.
6
We were up with the sun the next morning as there was tons to do, guests to see to, and a lot more decisions to make with the Chris/settlement situation. He was up with Tyson and several others, probably getting caught up.
And suddenly I was jealous. I had no idea why, but I was seriously jealous and seconds from dragging Tyson away from the man he loved.
What the fuck?
“If I might help,” Nora said from my right, giving me a knowing look. “As someone who has a spirit animal and a tight bond with the head of the clan in my coven, I know that look and the emotions I’m getting off of you.”
“Okay good, because they’re confusing the shit out of me,” I admitted.
“Tyson, darling, we need you for a moment,” Nora interjected loudly, interrupting the conversation.
“Of course,” he agreed, smiling at me. “Good morning, My Princess. What can I do?”
“Tell your princess that finding your lovely partner you thought gone won’t take her from your side,” she answered. “As your lion can become territorial, her spirit animal is all cats. While happy for you, that part of her that adores and trusts her knights is conflicted that you would leave the coven for him.”
Tyson gave me his normal calm and gentle smile. “I wouldn’t. I vowed to always be loyal to you and that will never change. I’m not leaving our coven and I will stand at your side, partner with me or not, My Princess. My brothers are here and we have way more than their settlement. I’d rather abduct Chris here where we could have a real future and screw that settlement.”
I blew out a slow breath. “Okay, good, cool.” I rubbed my neck, glancing from him to Chris. “Sorry, I have no idea what that was, but I was seconds from pulling a bitch move and we’re not romantic or like that. This is still new to me.”
“You’re not centuries or thousands of years old like the others?” Chris asked me.
“She just turned twenty-three,” Tyson said quietly. “And while I get this is all confusing, she has guests visiting and others who might challenge her authority, so please call her Princess Inez when we’re not hiding from humans. If you’re in the know, you have to act like it.”
“I hate it, but he’s right,” I sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“A coven kidnapped her for world domination, she killed the princess, and they became her coven, but they’re old and some aren’t getting on track with us like I’m sure a lot from your settlement wouldn’t be,” James summed up quickly.
Nora waved them off, clearly up to something. “Inez, I’d like you to meet Maddy, head of clan Dogo. Maddy, this is my daughter-in-law, Princess Inez of House Garner.”
I did a double take when I saw the tall, muscular black woman as I wasn’t sure I’d been near a woman so big so closely, but also because she was head of her clan when I’d only met men so far. “Really? Finally, a clan with a woman in charge, huh?”
Her lips twitched as she dipped her head to me. “Yes, as we’re a matriarchal society being—”
“Wait, don’t tell her,” Nora cut in, giving me a curious look. “I want to see what Sebastian told me of.”
I nodded, knowing what she meant. He’d asked me before to try and figure out a shifter’s animal. I used that power that had helped me find items for the quest before, and stared at Maddy. I wasn’t sure I wanted to answer at first.
“You won’t offend her,” Nora promised. “No harm intended. I’m simply curious. What is your instinct telling you?”
“That I do not want to fuck with her,” I confessed, amusing several people.
“Most feel that way about me, Princess,” Maddy chuckled.
“Must be nice,” I drawled. “No one takes me seriously at all.” I moved a bit closer, but not completely in her personal space. “But that really is what I feel. Like you don’t play nice with others and something
