She closed her eyes and did as he told her, easing herself away from the cliff of pleasure.
“I’ll tell you when I’m near,” he pressed his lips. “And you push yourself over then, alright?”
“Mmm.” Oh, god, she thought, it was so nice to have him on her.
He changed his angle and pace, and she heard the change in his breathing. “Now, Lia.”
She cried out as the orgasm hit hard, and heard his cry echo hers, until he lowered over her, gasping for breath. She worked her hand out from under her and he caught it in his, threading their fingers.
“I love you,” he pressed his lips to her shoulder. “I’m going to make some breakfast.” He lifted from her and reached for his jeans.”I was going to ask you what you wanted, but you distracted me, and now it’s going to be bacon and eggs, because I’m starving.”
She rolled over. “Bacon and eggs sounds good. I might have a shower,” she said. “And then I have to read the grimoire. I should have read it as a child as my grandmother wanted me to do, perhaps all of this would have been avoidable if I had. If there’s a solution to this, the book may be where the answer lies.”
“Good thinking,” he leaned over and brushed his lips over hers. “Alright, I’ll leave you to shower and read, and make some food. I think we’re both short a few good meals. Don’t spend too long in the bathroom. I feel better when you’re in the safety of the turret, and it keeps my wolf calmer.”
“Alright.”
She showered quickly and returned to the turret. She opened the book. “Cover to cover,” she decided and turned to the first page.
The family tree meant something different now that she knew that Evelyn had been Wingless, and the eventual diminishing of the line into the one thread was due to her family hunted by other Wingless.
The picture of Evelyn and her father was more poignant.
Raiden brought her up breakfast and ate with her sitting on the bed and watching her read. Once she’d finished, he took the plate away, and returned with a bottle of water.
“I think you should drink this.”
She looked up at him surprised by the tone of his voice. “Raiden?”
He laid a pregnancy test onto the book. “It was in with the groceries that Tara and Alatar brought.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. “Raiden…”
“It’s okay, Lia,” he put his hand on her shoulder. “I hope you are pregnant.”
“Raiden…” She fought back tears. “I don’t think Lucian used protection.”
He turned her chair and squatted before her, his hands on her knees. “Lia, look at me,” there was alpha command behind the order, and she fought against it, feeling shamed.
“Lia,” he murmured as she finally dragged her eyes to his. “Vampires are different in their nature. Whatever made them, it changed them in a different way to werewolves. I don’t know about the rest of the Others, but I know that vampires are only able to have children with other vampires.
“But more than that, what happened with Lucian, was not your fault. It was not your fault, and if it were his child, we would raise it and love it anyway, because it wouldn’t be its fault either. So, drink your water, go downstairs and do the test, and let’s find out if we’re going to have a baby.” He put the water bottle into her hand.
“What happens if I am?” She turned the bottle between her hands. “Will turning me hurt it? Will it be half werewolf if we wait? What will it be? What if it’s been affected by the blood Lucian fed me? Or everything else that has happened to me?”
“Lia,” he was agonizingly gentle. “I don’t know the answer to all those questions, but I can tell you that you wouldn’t be the first mate turned pregnant, and the baby will be fine. As to the rest, we’ll work it out if it’s a problem, but were-cubs are tough, and I’m pretty sure it will be okay.”
He opened the lid of the water. “Drink up.”
“It might be too early to tell,” she said. “I don’t know about these things, Raiden. I just haven’t, you know,” she shrugged awkwardly. “Had a period since we…”
“And you were ovulating when we met,” he nodded and stood, taking the box off the book. He opened it, easing the pamphlet out. “I had a read of this whilst I was making breakfast, and it says it can tell pregnancy from five days after conception. If you were ovulating when I met you, you’re already a week overdue, so I don’t think we’re too early.”
“You read the pamphlet,” she stared up at him in astonishment. With the jewel tones from the stained-glass window falling over him, he was breathtakingly gorgeous, his dark hair falling in his eyes and his cheeks shadowed by stubble.
“Of course, I read it,” he was amused. “It’s my baby, too. I want to know how these things work.”
She lifted the bottle to her lips.
He smiled at her capitulation and opened the pamphlet onto her book. “According to this, you just open the cap, and after you start peeing, you stick the brush end into it,” he was completed unembarrassed talking about bodily functions. “Put the cap on and wait for two minutes. Then it tells you if you’re pregnant or not. Alright?” He looked at her expectantly.
“I can’t just pee on demand,” she smiled despite her reservations. He was excited, she realized, and eager to find out. She almost hoped that she was, in order not to disappoint him.
“I might not be,” she cautioned him, trying to manage his expectations. “Other things can disrupt periods, and mine are a bit erratic anyway.”
“I know,” he assured her. “And if you’re not, there will be another time, and we’ll consider this a practice run. Next time, we’ll be experts with pregnancy tests.”
“I love you,” it was a devastating ache in her chest, a kind of wonderment at the beauty of the man he was, that brought tears to her eyes. “I love you so much, Raiden.”
He caught her up against him, almost spilling the water, and held her tightly, burying his face into her hair. “I love you too, Lia. Desperately. I want to make a life with you, raise a family with you, run under the moon with you, and grow old with you. You are mine. My mate. My life.” He released her, framing her face with his hands, and kissed her lingeringly.
“Now, drink the water, and let me know when you take the test,” he leaned back. “If I stay up here with you, I’ll drag you back onto the bed and you need to read your book.”
“Bed seems like a good idea,” she smiled. “But I should read the book.”
“After the test.”
“Yes.”
He grinned, a flash of white teeth, and then ran down the stairs. She wondered what he was doing down there, as she drank more of the water and returned to the book, setting the pregnancy test to the side.
About half an hour later she eyed off the pregnancy test. “Alright,” she told it. “Let’s find out.”
He must have been listening for her with his keen hearing, because when she stepped out of the walk-in-robe, he was at the bedroom door. “Time?”
“Talk about pressure to pee,” she laughed, embarrassed. “Go down the hall or something, or you’ll give me stage fright.”
“Alright,” he grinned, and left.
She followed the directions of the test and watched it develop as she washed her hands. She wasn’t surprised to find him outside the bathroom door waiting, as he would have heard the water from the toilet flushing.
“Well?” He looked at the test, and exclaimed, his lungs emptying as he caught her against him. “Yes,” he said emphatically between his teeth, a growl in his tone and the Other dominating his eyes. “Yes.” He gripped her tightly. “Mine, my mate and my cub.”