Declan leaped up, spraying pumpkin goop everywhere. “Miss Juliana!”
“Wait!” Quinn grabbed for Declan’s shirt, but he was too late. As fast as Quinn was, Declan was faster. In one breath, Declan was right next to Juliana’s car as she opened the driver’s side door.
“Hello, Declan,” she said as he wrapped his little arms around her.
Quinn was going to have to talk to her about what happened with the condom. He’d given himself a deadline, and now it had arrived. He’d call her tonight after Declan was gone.
“Do you want to decorate pumpkins with us?” He hopped up and down, looking just like Kellan had at that age.
A memory flashed through Quinn’s mind of a six-year-old Kellan, jumping up and down as he waited to dive off the cliffs near their cave during one of their early fishing classes. As hatchlings, they’d learned human academics, but they’d spend more than half their time diving off the cliffs into the choppy sea below, catching fish.
“Declan. Miss Juliana might be busy.” He smiled in her direction to show he wasn’t going to force her into interacting.
Of course, Declan’s face fell, and Juliana was looking right at him.
“I’ll come and see your pumpkin,” she said to him.
He cheered up and grabbed her hand, and they made their way over to Quinn’s house.
“Hello, Juliana,” he said in the calmest voice he could muster. He smiled, but internally, his dragon was in a frenzy with the need to claim his mate. His house still vaguely smelled like her, and that kept his dragon in a constantly agitated state.
Now, her enticing scent was close by, and his dragon wanted him to do something about it.
“Hello, Quinn,” she said. She smiled at him, and it seemed genuine.
His dragon was right, though. He’d given her a few weeks to chill out, and now he was going to tell her the truth, and he was going to win her back. She’d fallen in love with him once, so he could make her fall in love with him again. He just had to put some effort in. It wasn’t going to happen if he was sitting inside his house, moping.
Declan convinced her to sit down with them, and Quinn handed over his carving tools. Within twenty minutes, she’d carved a very nice traditional pumpkin face into Quinn’s pumpkin and helped Declan carve a soccer ball into his.
“Wow!” Declan yelled. “I need to take this one to my house.” He stopped and tapped his foot. “Or maybe not. I’m going to trick or treat here. So, I’ll see it.” He peered at Juliana. “Will you have candy, too?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I think I will. What kind should I get?”
Declan spun around a few times while he pondered the question. “Definitely Skittles! And Twix! And Laffy Taffy!”
She laughed. “Okay. I’ll get all of those things and have a special bag just for you.”
He gave her a big hug, smearing pumpkin all down her arm. Clara and Kellan showed up to pick him up, and it took a good twenty minutes to pry him away.
After he was gone, Quinn touched Juliana’s arm. “Can you stay for a moment? I’d like to talk to you.”
“Sure,” she said.
She followed him inside, and he started to pour them both a glass of merlot. Then, remembering what he had to tell her, he poured them both a glass of iced tea, instead.
She sat on the sofa, and he sat down in the armchair. It was the same space they’d sat in after he helped her when she’d broken her arm. That seemed like a million years ago to him.
“There are a few things I wanted to tell you. None of it’s an excuse. As you know, I was born in Ireland with Kellan, Liam, and Brennan. We lived in a peaceful tribe of dragon shifters. Life was idyllic, and I had little knowledge of the outside world. Our kind had a pact with an ancient coven. A coven of witches. They began to kill humans, which violated our pact, so Kellan’s parents, who were the leader of our tribe, broke off our agreement with them and tried to protect the humans. The witches were enraged. They came after us, and most of my tribe was murdered in the process, including my parents and my sister. The survivors scattered all over the world, and the four of us stuck together. We moved to Texas because Kellan thought they’d never look for us here, in a place so unlike our birthplace.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said.
“Thank you.” He continued on with the story. “So over the last thirteen years, we’ve all trained ourselves to never reveal anything about being a shifter. We dropped our accents, we abandoned our home, and we trained Declan to never give himself away. We live in a constant state of denying our instincts and our true selves,” he explained.
“That sounds awful,” she said.
“It can be, but the pretense is part of who we are now. I’m only telling you so you’ll know my background, just like I knew yours. You were right. You shared every part of your painful past with me. I should have had the courage to do the same with you. I regret it, and it won’t happen again.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“I want another chance,” he said.
“I can’t, Quinn. Not yet.”
“I can give you time, but I won’t give up.”
She chewed on her lip, then nodded.
“There’s something else,” he said.
She looked at him expectantly. “What is it?”
Fuck. Quinn did not want to tell her this, but he wasn’t going to hide it. “Do you remember the last time we slept together on the night after the attack at Quinn’s house?”
She nodded. “I don’t think I could forget it.”
“I got a condom out. Then I saw you were crying, and I must have dropped it and forgotten about it because the next morning, the packet was on the floor. Unused.”
Her hands came up to her mouth. “So, we didn’t use birth control.”
“No,” he said.
She took a deep breath. “Okay. That’s been what? Two weeks?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe I should take a pregnancy test.”
Mate. Hatchling. Mine.
His dragon was elated at the prospect of a baby. Juliana’s distress over possibly getting pregnant with a man she was furious with was lost on his dragon. He and Juliana had never even gotten to the point of talking about kids. They’d barely been together before he’d fucked it all up. Quinn had no idea how she felt about the topic.
She drained her iced tea. Then she stood up. “Thank you for telling me.”
He walked her to the door and grabbed her wrist. “I love you. I’m not giving up.”
“I’m not ready. Not now.” She paused with her hand on the door handle. “I’m glad you told me about your past.”
Then, she was gone.
His dragon howled at him in fury. Quinn agreed. He drove straight to the lake, where he transformed in his shifter form and spent the next two hours swimming under the surface of the lake, propelled solely by the raging emotion that blinded him.
21
Juliana
Pregnant? She could be pregnant with Quinn’s baby right that second—a baby that would be a dragon shifter, just like Declan.
How did she feel about that?
Freaked out, yes, but also really freaking excited. She loved kids, and she’d always wanted them. In the back of her mind, she couldn’t have ever imagined raising them in the environment she grew up in, steeped in the culture of the Romanian mafia and all the dysfunction that came along with it.
A baby with Quinn was an entirely different story. She might not be ready to forgive him, and she might not trust him to be honest with her if he thought he could protect her better by lying, but he was a good person. He’d be a great father. She wouldn’t worry for one second about him raising a child. In fact, she couldn’t think of a better person.
Would the baby look like her, with dark hair and Romanian features? Or would the baby look Irish like Quinn and have his sandy blonde hair and blue eyes?
She’d just drained the glass of tea at his house, but she fixe
d herself a glass of water with lemon. She didn’t even know if she was pregnant. She needed to take a test. She grabbed her purse and hopped in the car. If she went to the grocery store, anyone could see her, and they’d know instantly what she was buying and why.
She hadn’t told anyone in town that she and Quinn were living separately. Of course, Clara and his brothers all knew, but even Kate didn’t know. Juliana wasn’t sure what she was going to do, and for now, she was just going to keep living in her house next door to him.
She drove toward Dallas, hoping she’d find a pharmacy along the way where she’d be more anonymous. Twenty minutes later, she had the test in hand and drove back home. At home, she followed the instructions, took the test, and then set a timer. She paced, waiting for the results. When the timer went off, she stopped pacing and stared at the white stick, where a faint plus sign appeared.
She was pregnant.
She was pregnant with Quinn’s baby.
Oh, God. She had so many questions. She was going to have to talk to Clara. Declan wasn’t hers biologically, but she’d be able to answer some of Juliana’s questions. Her hand came to cover her still-flat stomach. In nine months, she would have a little baby dragon shifter.
One week later, she still hadn’t told Quinn about the baby. He came over each night and dropped off either food or some kind of gift. It was really nice, and honestly, it was starting to affect her. He was so committed to her, and he loved her. Yet, she still was stuck on the fact that he had hidden himself while she had laid herself bare. Maybe it was stupid, but it was an important point for her. She thought Quinn understood, too.
On a Friday night, one week after she’d found out she was pregnant, she saw Quinn carrying a suitcase to his car. In all the time that she’d known him, he’d never left on a trip, with the exception of their honeymoon. He’d told her he and his brothers often took trips, but she hadn’t seen it happen yet. Maybe they were going on a guy’s trip, somewhere they could cut loose and not pretend.
She opened the door and hurried down her front walk. “Hey,” she called out.
“Hi, Juliana.”
God, she always loved hearing him say her name. Now that she knew about his true origins, she imagined she could hear the Irish lilt in his voice when he said her name. “Are you going out of town?” She realized whatever he did was absolutely none of her business, but she had to ask.
He might not know it yet, but he was the father of her child, and even if they didn’t reconcile, she planned for them to raise this baby together. If this child was a shifter like Clara said it would be, then he or she would need Quinn’s influence as well as the companionship of all three of his brothers and his nephew.
She rubbed her stomach. It would be such a happy family to grow up in, unlike her own lonely childhood.
He stepped closer to her. “You know how I told you about the witches and the coven that attacked our tribe?”
She nodded.
“Not long ago, we forced the witches out of our territory. They have strict instructions on how to behave, but they are notorious for breaking all the rules. Every so often, one of us goes to check on them. I haven’t taken my turn yet, but it’s time now.”
“You’re going to Ireland?”
“Yep. Kellan’s got the jet ready for me.”
“Is it dangerous?”
He didn’t answer immediately. He opened his mouth, but she held up her hand. “Be honest.”
“Yes. One of the witches almost killed Kellan while we were fighting them. They’d spent thirteen years perfecting spells that could harm us.”
Her heart seized up. She did not want him in danger. Clara had told her that after Juliana’s family attacked, the shifters weren’t in any real danger because most humans wouldn’t know how to fight them. The witches did. They had already destroyed Quinn’s biological family, and she’d heard the story of how they’d kidnapped Clara and Declan.
“Do you have to go?” she asked. This big, strong man was the father of her child. She might still be irritated with him, but she wanted him to be safe. He had to be around to raise his baby.
“Yes. I have to go. The others have gone, but because of my patients, it’s been harder for me to get away. I’ve cleared my schedule, and it’s my turn.”
“Please be careful,” she said, not trying to hide the way her voice sounded like she was pleading with him.
“I promise I’ll be careful. I don’t relish doing this, but we can’t let them fester again, or let them stew in their own anger for thirteen years like we did last time. Their power has to be checked, and we’re the only ones willing to do it.”
“I understand. I admire your commitment.”
He frowned at her. “Are you feeling okay? You look pale. Clara said there’s a flu going around at the school.”
She really should tell him. It wasn’t right to send him off into a dangerous situation without telling him he was going to be a father. She opened her mouth, but all that came out was, “Yes, I’m fine. No flu here.”
He studied her eyes. “Okay. Kellan’s going to come by every so often, and Clara said she’d love for you to stay with her while I’m gone.”
Her eyes misted up. That was classic Quinn. Always looking out for her. Instead of it pissing her off that he was still minding her business, it made her weepy with emotion. Damn hormones. Before she could stifle it, a sob escaped her mouth.
Dammit. She was a mess.
“Juliana. What’s wrong?” he asked.
She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth against his. She kissed him with a passion unparalleled even to the night of their honeymoon. One of his hands came up to circle her waist, and he kissed her back. His other hand brushed strands of hair away from her face. He kissed her for a solid minute and then pulled back, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment. He kissed her forehead.
“God, that was amazing. You’re amazing. I love you, but I have to go. Can I call you?”
She pressed her lips together to keep from sobbing again. “Yes. Call me.”
He gave her one more hard kiss on the lips and then climbed into his car. He had backed out and begun to drive away when she lost it. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and panic seized her chest. What if she didn’t tell him, and he was killed by the witches? What if he died alone, never knowing he was going to have a baby shifter? The baby would be the only person alive in the world that was related to him, the only shifter that carried his genes. He would want to know. Hell, she would want to know, too. Hadn’t she just lectured him about telling the truth?
She put her hand on her stomach and began to run. She called his name. “Quinn!” she yelled.
His dragon-enhanced hearing must have worked because he hit the brakes immediately. The red lights on the bumper of his car lit up, and the car jolted to a stop. He leaped out of the car, not bothering to shut the door, and ran toward her.
“What’s wrong? I knew something was wrong. Has your family shown up again? The vampires said everything was going well with the FBI and the court cases.”
“No. My disgusting family hasn’t shown up, and they never will. They don’t like losing, and you beat them, big time. This isn’t about them.”
“Then what’s it about?”
She looked around, and it dawned on her that they were standing in the middle of the street in November, and Quinn’s car was parked at a crazy angle with the door open. Was this any way to make a baby announcement?
Maybe it was. Maybe it was fitting for them. They’d met when she’d fallen off a ladder and broken her arm. They’d faked a relationship and lied to everyone in town. They’d gotten married to save her from her criminally-inclined family.
“Let’s get in your car,” she said.
“Please tell me what’s wrong.”
“In your car,” she insisted. At least they’d have some privacy.
They walked to his SUV, and true to fashion, he opened the passenger’s side door for her.
Once he was in and his door was closed, she took a big, cleansing breath.
“I don’t want you to go to Ireland.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“I don’t want you to die.”
He turned to face her. “I’m very unlikely to die,” he said earnestly. “I’ve faced these witches before.”
“But it’s possible. Right?”
“It’s possible, but the likelihood is very, very small.”
“I have to tell you something.”
He waited.
She fidgeted in her seat. It was suddenly really hard to get the words out. She thought of all those cute baby announcements she’d seen over the years. The cute photos of three sets of flip flops, the Christmas card with three stockings, and the tables set with three plates to show that the man and woman were moving from being a couple to a family of three.
She had done nothing like that. She’d chased her husband down the street like a lunatic, begging him not to go on a very necessary trip. Which she had no right to do, seeing as how she’d left him and their marriage right after the honeymoon.
All of her reasons had made sense at the time, but now with the prospect of having his child and seeing him about to go do yet another selfless act—protecting the world from these evil witches—her reasons suddenly seemed not so important.
“Juliana. What is it?”
Her mouth went even drier. Words failed her. “Oh! Wait,” she said. She had a picture of the pregnancy test. She pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled a few days back. “Here,” she said, thrusting the phone at him.
He stared at the photo. “What is this?” he asked.
Oh, right. He’d probably never paid attention to a pregnancy test before. “It’s a plus sign,” she said. “It’s positive.”
“Positive? For what?” Then it obviously began to dawn on him. His entire body froze. His blue eyes sparkled. “Are you pregnant?”
She nodded.
Doctor Dragon's Fake Bride (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 2) Page 12