The Bride Hunt Box Set: Books 1-3

by Charlene Hartnady

  “Also,” Surge continued. “With regards to the whole team work thing, my lord,” he quickly added.

  Torrent folded him arms.

  “Did it extend to the queen? Working as a … team to satisfy her?”

  “No,” Torrent growled. He couldn’t help but to react.

  “One of the human sayings is ‘sharing is caring’,” Surge smirked. Torrent could see that he was joking. It still irked him that he dared think of his female, the queen, in that light. It didn’t matter that she was sexy and that Surge was justified. The male wasn’t, after all, blind.

  Torrent wasn’t smiling. “Fuck off and fuck you and any male for who—” He took a deep breath. “Moving on …” The male didn’t mean it. No one would dare touch his mate. Of course others looked at her … in that way. She was sexy … ‘groan worthy’. Candy was … he cleared his throat. “Let’s get going. We only have so many daylight hours.”

  The males removed their pants and he followed suit. He was just folding the garment when the door to the hall flew open. “Torrent!” Candy yelled.

  She sounded afraid. Torrent couldn’t see her through the sea of males.

  “Your female must have heard our conversation and came running,” Surge mumbled and a couple of the males chuckled.

  Torrent narrowed his eyes on Surge and rumbled a warning. The male paled and looked at his feet. “Candy,” he called to his mate. He could scent her. Could scent … fear.

  Why the fuck was she scared?

  The males moved to make a path. His female’s face was pale. Her eyes were wide. She didn’t look at any of the others, she didn’t blush or turn away. His female was still shy when dragons were in a state of undress. It was something that he normally found funny. A group of males this large should’ve had her covering her eyes.

  Her lack of reaction scared him more than her pale skin or her trembling hands. Torrent quickly closed the distance between them. “What is it? What’s wrong? What happened?”

  At last she seemed to notice that they were surrounded by an audience. Still no blushing though. “Um …” her lip wobbled.

  “Surge,” he all but snarled. “You take over the leadership role. The Eiffel Tower is your mark. First male back, wins.”

  “Thank you, my lord,” Surge said. He began to address the team.

  Torrent turned his focus back to Candy, back to where it belonged. “Come with me.” He put an arm around her. There were a few dragons in the great hall. They nodded their heads.

  The scent of her fear and confusion only grew worse. “I’ve got you.” He opened the first door they came across. It led to the great library. There was one male present. “Please, give us some privacy.”

  The male nodded. “Of course, my lord.” He bowed to Candy as he passed them. “My lady.” Then he left, closing the door behind him.

  Torrent’s heart was beating out of his chest. He turned to face Candy, putting his hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  “There’s something wrong with me,” she blurted.

  Torrent ran a hand through his hair. “Wrong? How wrong? Did something happen?”

  She nodded. “I’m sick or … something …” She widened her eyes. “I … it can’t be … it just can’t.” She tore out of his grip and paced away from him.

  “Candy—” There was a hint of anguish in the way he said her name. A hint of desperation. It was how he felt right now. “What are you saying? I don’t follow.” His hands felt clammy. His heart-rate picked up even more. So much so, that he put a hand to his chest.

  She bit down on her bottom lip. “I felt something inside me. It wasn’t normal. It wasn’t.”

  She looked like she was freaking out. What she was saying made zero sense. “What do you mean?” He took in a few deep breaths, trying to calm the fuck down.

  “It’s just … it was …” She was breathing deeply, her eyes still wide. “Oh god. It can’t be. Either I’m crazy or I’m … no way … sick. I must be sick.” She nodded.

  “Stop.” He walked over to her and grabbed both her hands in his. “Take a deep breath.”

  “This is no time for breathing. No time for doing anything other than panicking.”

  “Panicking won’t help.” He gave her hands a squeeze. “I love you. We can get through anything. Just for the record,” he calmed right down, “you can’t be sick. I don’t know how I could’ve forgotten something so important. Since mating with me, you’ve become too strong. You couldn’t pick up so much as a cold.”

  “Oh shit! I feel sick.” Candy pulled her hands free and went to sit down on a nearby sofa.

  Torrent went and sat next to her.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Everything is going to be okay.” She sniffed and turned to look him in the eyes. Then she smiled. It was tense but there was also genuine happiness there.

  “What?” He could feel he was frowning.

  “I think I’m pregnant.” She sucked in a deep breath. “I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant. I can’t think of any other reason. Oh god …” She covered her mouth, still looking shocked. “My boobs, my weight gain. My lack of ovulation … shit! I must be. I don’t understand though, I’ve had my menstruation like clockwork.”

  “Okay … back up.” He didn’t want to get excited, or to get his hopes up. It couldn’t be. Her scent. It hadn’t changed. She couldn’t be pregnant, could she? “What made you—”

  Before he could finish, she interjected. “I felt him kicking. I felt it. Clear as day. At first I was sure that I’d imagined it. That maybe it was gas or something,” she giggled. “It wasn’t gas. No way it was gas.” She smiled. Her eyes were still wide and her face was still pale but she looked much better. “Thing is, I’ve been getting a lot of gas feelings lately. I didn’t think anything of it. My tummy …” She stood and lifted her dress. “It’s more rounded than … I don’t know … look at it.”

  “You can’t be,” he exclaimed, watching her expression change. From someone excited to one who had just had their hopes dashed. “I’m sorry but you can’t be …”

  Then she lifted her chin and pursed her lips for a moment, seeming to come to a decision. “I know what I felt. It was, it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It happened a couple of times and it was kicking.”

  “You only scent of you. Okay, that’s not entirely true, my scent is there as a mate. It would’ve changed and become more pronounced if you were pregnant with my child. Unless …” No! Fuck! “Could it be a human child?”

  “Of course it’s a human child,” she blurted. Then her expression changed to one of anger. “Oh! Human, as in not yours.” She put her hands on her hips. Candy licked her lips. “No damned way. I was so careful. I told you that I had only had sex with one person for the longest time and even that was few and far between. We always used a condom. It had been months since we last – you know – before coming here.” She lifted her eyes in thought. “I’d say close on three months. You are the only person I’ve ever had unprotected sex with,” she was half yelling at him. “As in ever. The only one.”

  “Okay.” He hooked an arm around her. “I had to ask. We have to … get to the bottom of this.” She was still tense. “I’m sorry.” He cupped her jaw and forced her to look at him. “I’m sorry.”

  She finally gave a nod. “How do we find out? Can I pee on a stick or something?”

  What? He must have heard wrong. “Humans pee on sticks to find out if they are pregnant?” Humans were strange creatures. He wouldn’t tell Candy that, of course. He valued his life. “I don’t see how peeing on a stick would …”

  She laughed. “No, silly. Not real sticks. Devices that contain chemicals that change color or … never mind, it’s not important.”

  It was his turn to pace. He ran a hand through his hair and massaged the back of his neck. There was a knot forming. His muscles were wound tight. “I have no clue about any of this. I planned on researching it all when the time came.” He exhaled. “Okay.

I have a plan.”

  “Good! What is it?”

  “Sky.” He already felt better. “There’s no-one who knows more about pregnancy than she does.”

  “Aside from women who have actually given birth?” She raised her brows. “Not that I have anything against Sky. I love Sky, she’s my bestie.”

  “Let me rephrase that, there’s no-one who knows more than Sky about pregnancy who we can trust to keep this quiet.”

  Candy nodded. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

  It had to be something else. In fact, he was sure that there was a perfectly good explanation. The more he thought about it, the more it made perfect sense. Disappointment welled up in him.

  Chapter 26

  There was no other explanation. None. In fact, now that she finally realized it, she wondered how she could have ever missed the signs.

  She’d been peeing often, her back ached as of late. Her boobs were huge and tender. Her belly was rounded. She’d felt movement and if she was honest with herself it wasn’t for the first time. Today was the first significant kicking she’d felt though. It was the first time she’d been unable to ignore the obvious.

  She was pregnant. It needed to be confirmed, but she was pregnant. Candy felt scared but she also felt excited. No wonder she hadn’t ovulated. Flip, she was going to have a little Torrent. Would the baby have his eyes, his smile?

  She put her hand to her belly. It was surreal. She rubbed her skin in a circle, feeling so emotional it was all she could do not to cry. She willed the little one to kick again but there was nothing. She was going to be a mom and Torrent was going to get his wish sooner than expected. He was going to be a dad. Parents. They were going to be parents. She smiled past the lump in her throat.

  Sky choked out a laugh. “You should see the goofy smile on your face. Then again, you look like you might cry at any second as well.”

  “What do you think?” She tried to keep her back straight, to stay normal.

  “Mmmmm.” Sky narrowed her eyes as she examined Candy’s belly. “Hard to tell. You have a definite bump but I don’t know how you looked before.”

  “Flat. My female’s stomach was flat,” Torrent said. His eyes were dark and his arms were folded across his chest.

  “You did mention that you’ve been eating a lot lately.” She shrugged. “I suppose that in itself could be a sign of pregnancy. Increased weight, in itself, is not a good enough indication though. Dragon females don’t get bigger breasts when pregnant. We do not feed our young in this way. Your weight gain in this area is more than likely due to your general increase …”

  “Sky,” Torrent sounded irritated. “Is my mate pregnant? She can’t be …” he went on, “I would scent it on her. Surely we could scent it.”

  Sky scrunched her nose up. “Excuse me.” She gave Candy a quick sniff, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Then she shook her head. “I only smell human. I mean,” she pulled a face, “I can smell you.” She looked at Torrent as she spoke. “You are all over her, but it’s not coming from inside her. Her scent hasn’t changed other than from being your mate.”

  “Exactly. I’ve never known a female not to take the scent of the male, that special pregnant scent.”

  “Yeah, but …” Sky looked thoughtful for few beats. “There’s never been a royal, water dragon before either. Not where the female was a human.” She shrugged. “We don’t really know what to expect, do we?”

  “I guess not. Shit! How do we find out for sure?” He was tense. He kept curling and uncurling his fists. His hair was a mess from grabbing and tugging on it.

  At least he was dressed. Sky had tossed him a pair of Lake’s pants soon after they arrived at her door. It was for her benefit. Candy couldn’t help but feel weird with her mate naked in a room with another woman.

  “Um … there should be a heartbeat. If the baby is big enough to kick, it should have a steady heartbeat.”

  Torrent sucked in a breath. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

  “Do you think so?” Candy asked.

  Torrent smiled. He nodded. “Yeah. Sky is right. When I’m in that area my mind is on other things.” He bobbed his eyebrows. “I could have easily missed an extra beat here or there. Especially since my tongue—”

  “Okay,” Candy blurted. “Can you check? Please? I really need to know.”

  She didn’t feel so sure all of a sudden. Maybe it was because she wanted it so badly. She hadn’t realized it before but she wanted a baby. She really wanted a little one. Torrent was ready. More than ready. It was only when she didn’t ovulate that she realized …

  Torrent gripped the back of her neck. He looked deeply into her eyes and gave her sweet smile. “I would love for you to be pregnant …” He was breathing deeply. He closed his eyes for a second and then kissed her. It was quick and deep. He broke the kiss. “But …”

  Why did there always have to be a but?

  “If you aren’t pregnant, please don’t be upset. We’ll rectify the situation as a matter of urgency. You’ll be fine, we’ll be fine. Fuck.” He put his brow to hers. “I’m saying all the wrong things.”

  “No, you’re not,” she said as he moved back.

  “I love you.” He brushed his lips to hers before dropping to his knees.

  She pulled her dress up again, bunching it just under her breasts.

  Torrent put his head against her belly and closed his eyes. After what felt like an age, he pulled back. His face was a closed door. He looked tense. He looked ... different.

  He put his hand against her belly and smiled up at her. “My son.”

  “Oh god,” she whispered. “Are you sure?”

  Torrent was grinning from ear to ear. “I’m sure. You were right.”

  Candy squealed as Torrent jumped up in a graceful move, wrapping her up in his arms. “You’re pregnant. We’re going to have a baby.”

  She buried her head in his neck. A tear may or may not have fallen. She was just so happy. She was bursting with the emotion.

  She looked up in time to see Sky slip away. The she-dragon had tears coursing down her cheeks. Flip!

  “I’m so happy.” Torrent said as he picked her up and spun her around.

  One month later …

  “Sit.” Torrent motioned to the couch. His mate looked tired. She had rubbed her eyes one too many times for his liking and her feet were swollen. Her belly even more so. She was still as sexy as ever though. All curves. Her cheeks were flushed. Her mouth more kissable than ever.

  “I’m fine. I can do it.” Using a finger, she swept some hair behind her ear.

  He shook his head. “I know you can, but I don’t want you to.”

  “Is it so bad that I want to prepare a meal for the man I love?”

  “I don’t want you to overtax yourself.”

  She sighed. “Frying a few steaks is hardly taxing myself.” She clutched her lower back. It was aching more and more as his son grew bigger. She tried to downplay it, but he could see it by the way she carried herself, by the way her lips pursed together as she held her back.

  “See.” He glanced at where her hand was rubbing. “You need to sit. I’ll cook if you feel like steaks.” By the glint that appeared in her eyes, he could see that she did.

  “Mmmmm.” She licked her lips. “This meat craving is nuts.”

  “Dragons enjoy their protein. It is normal for you to crave meat. I take it that you’d like your steak rare?” He raised his brows.

  She licked her lips again. “Yes, please.” Then she grimaced, her hand returned to her lower back.

  “Sit!” he half-growled at her, hoping she would listen to him for a change.

  “Have I told you lately how bossy you are?”

  Torrent had to laugh. “This morning, if memory serves. I insisted on going down on you.” He winked at her.

  “That wasn’t what we argued about. You wouldn’t let me return the favor.” She smiled, looking so damned beautiful it nearly took his breath away.