As Emily slept soundly by Theodore’s side, he couldn’t help but ponder a few things.
It was almost disturbing how protective and loving he was of a woman he didn’t recognize as his own. His instincts told him Emily was his, but he had no recollection of their time together. He didn’t know the good and the bad, and he made her cry more often than not, with his teasing.
Sometimes, he wondered if it was her pregnant woman hormones acting up or if he was genuinely hurting her. He couldn’t figure out how his not calling her dorogoya could make her cry so hard. And even as her crying pulled at his heart strings, he couldn’t bring himself to call her anything but lover – the same endearment she called him – or Ems.
She made him feel things he had never thought possible. He had always believed himself to be immune to women’s charms. And yet, after making love to her and marking her anew, he felt more connected to her than he had ever felt to another woman. Indeed, no woman could compare, not even Shirly, the sneaky and power-hungry healer he had once bedded for an entire month – his longest affair.
Emily didn’t whine, seeking attention, when he was working. That was definitely a change. She wasn’t one to cry just to get his sympathy either – or at least it didn’t feel that way to him. He was a big-shot businessman, and he was used to reading people. Admittedly, he knew how to get information out of people and also how to use it to his advantage… and although he was tempted to ask his sweet forgotten mate all about their time together, he didn’t want to upset her.
He caressed her face tenderly, wishing he could recall the time they spent together, hoping to get her to open up to him more. It felt to him like Emily kept her guard up at all times around him, almost as if she was afraid he’d hurt her, seeing as he didn’t recognize her as his mate. He wanted to assure her that he would never do that. He wanted to tell her that despite his potion-induced amnesia, he had never cared for anyone as strongly as he did for her.
He would have entertained doubts regarding her had his brother not called and mentioned her, calling her his mate.
He needed to recover his memories, whatever the means might be.
And thus, he texted his siblings.
As always he was succinct and to the point.
Urgent. Be at the estate tomorrow.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Considering the past few nights were basically restless, and after Theodore’s intense lovemaking the night prior, it was no wonder that Emily slept in a little bit.
She was woken up by a voice she would recognize anywhere.
“Where is she?” Serena asked, and Emily scrambled to put a robe on. She knew the princess enough to believe she’d barge into the master bedroom without thinking twice about it. And she did. “My sweet, sweet Emily, how you must have felt lonely!”
She had just fastened the belt around her barely showing tummy when Serena entered and hugged her tightly to her.
“I am so sorry you had to go through that, dearie,” Serena went on, uncaring of Emily’s unresponsiveness.
Emily put two and two together, and that was when the dam broke.
“You made her cry,” Tatiana said in a chiding tone from where she was standing at the door of the master bedroom.
“That wasn’t my intention,” Serena started fretting much like a child who had done wrong and was being reprimanded for it. “Forgive me, Emily?”
“I missed you, girls,” Emily said simply when she broke free of Serena’s hold.
She smiled hesitantly at Tatiana and this latter came to hug her as well.
“I cannot begin to imagine how it must feel like,” the dragon queen – and once werewolf princess – told her.
“Awful,” Emily said in between hiccups.
“Let it out,” she advised her.
And Emily went from basically silent tears to ugly, violent sobbing.
“I thought we weren’t supposed to make her cry,” Serena said almost petulantly.
“Crying can be relieving and liberating sometimes,” Tatiana said wisely.
Both girls then advised her to take a shower, saying they weren’t going anywhere, and that they were here to stay for as long as it was needed of them.
Emily obliged them, understanding that they no doubt smelled Theodore’s scent on her, not to mention the potent smell of sex in the air.
When she emerged from the bathroom, they were nowhere in sight, and she almost panicked. And then, she both felt their presence and faintly heard voices from downstairs.
She hastily put on jeans and a tank top, and then descended the stairs after combing her hair.
She found Liam and Theodore arguing heatedly.
“You shouldn’t have allowed her in to begin with,” the younger brother of the two stated angrily. “It is entirely your mistake, Theo. How foolish can you be?”
“I don’t recall how I let her in or for what reason, but the fact is that I did,” Theodore countered in a chilly tone. “And there’s no changing that, or the outcome for now. You’re here because I need your help, not your reprimands.”
Liam sighed in surrender at that, and then upon seeing Emily, he stopped pacing and went to hug her.
Theodore growled at the gesture.
“I don’t know where this came from,” he stated in a perplexed tone a split-second later.
At least his possessiveness didn’t go anywhere.
Then, Serena took it upon herself to break the heavy silence, “How can we help you, Theo?” She paused before adding resolutely, “You know where we both stand.” Liam nodded in agreement before she even finished. “We would happily give our lives for you. We are not above doing anything for you. Just say the word.”
“I will personally take care of mother,” he said after a beat. “It is hard to believe she wasn’t involved.”
“Yeah,” Emily agreed. “And now that I think about it, I believe she might have a hand in the Thomas fiasco too.”
“What Thomas fiasco?” Liam asked.
“Who’s Thomas?” Theodore questioned.
All stares were on Emily, and thus, she had to tell them what happened not too long ago.
“Is that why you quit college?” Serena asked.
Emily shook her head negatively. “I had to quit because of my severe morning sickness. And then, Shirly came into the picture… you know the rest.”
“You’re pregnant?” Serena squealed happily.
Emily nodded, a small smile stretching her lips.
And then, she was embraced by the all too sweet dragon princess.
“She’s pregnant, and you almost allowed harm to befall her, Theo,” Liam said almost pensively.
“It’s because I had trouble keeping anything down,” Emily defended. “I was severely sick for many days in a row. He called you to get you to send a healer, but since you didn’t pick up, he called queen Alexia.”
“So, what are your thoughts, Theo?” Serena then asked. “I don’t believe you called us here just to get snapped at repeatedly.”
It was her way of reprimanding Liam, Emily gathered. And he had the decency to avert his gaze.
“I am thinking of going for the seismotherapy,” he deadpanned. “I am going to need a strong sedative. And I’ll also need you present to protect Emily while I am out.”
They didn’t look thrilled with his idea to say the least. Emily, on the other hand, sported a confused frown. “What’s a seismo…?”