by Denise Agnew
“Kill him,” she said with a soft, almost broken whisper.
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry, Ronan.”
He couldn’t sugarcoat the next piece of information. “I’ve talked to Yusuf a short while ago.”
He gave her all the theories piece by piece and her gaze took on a shell-shocked quality, a woman outgunned and ready for execution.
Damn it. He’d hoped she wouldn’t take things so hard. “It’s not for certain. Sure, and the sickness you’ve experienced doesn’t have to be from—”
“It isn’t. It can’t be.”
“You have to take the pregnancy test.”
She frowned, the ice in her eyes as deep and thick as a glacier. “I don’t have to take anything.”
Right away he’d come on too strong. Back up a step, Ronan old boy. “It’s not only the sex between us that gives us more power to defeat the ancient one. It’s the new life we make.”
Clarissa stared at Ronan, what he’d revealed about a potential pregnancy sending her mind and heart into a tailspin of epic proportions. Her heart pounded, a flush heated her body. A rushing filled her ears. She turned her gaze on him and saw in his eyes something she’d viewed more and more in the last few hours.
Worry. A longing for her to understand. No matter what she felt about the startling revelations of the last few moments, she knew he cared for her. Maybe he didn’t feel the soul-grinding, devastating emotions she experienced, yet she knew in her heart he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.
He straightened his spine as if making himself taller would make the information more palatable to her. “I can see your turmoil.”
“Oh, it’s more than that.” When he walked to the bed and sat down next to her, she stood and marched to the big revolving cheval mirror near the dresser. She surveyed her body. “Are you saying that I could be manifesting signs of pregnancy already?”
His voice came soft and husky. “Most likely. The acceleration is a normal part of a vampire mating. In terms of mortal pregnancy you’re probably more like three weeks along.”
Instinctively she put her hand to her stomach and held it there in complete awe. Then her anger returned. “You told me vampires can’t conceive.”
His reflection came up behind her, and another vampire truth went down the toilet. She could see him in the mirror.
“I didn’t lie.”
“Huh.”
His gaze held contrition. “I didn’t know vampires could conceive at all until Yusuf told me. Apparently only three pregnancies have occurred during the entire time I’ve been immortal.”
Curiosity overran her annoyance. “Are vampire children…do they need blood? Do they have fangs and live forever?”
She saw his lips twitch with humor. “Yes, yes, and yes.”
She moaned softly and turned away from the mirror. She walked past him and to the window. Pulling the curtains apart to look out, she took in the winter scenery without really seeing it. She knew she perused the outdoors to avoid thinking about the now.
Reality came forward anyway. Lives depended on her and Ronan and the decisions they made. Clarissa turned back to him. “What happened to those three vampire children?” After he explained she asked, “So if even one of these children had lived, we wouldn’t be having this conversation? Because they would have had the power to slay the ancient one?”
Ronan stood and walked toward her, and she tried to keep her anger fed. “Very possibly.”
Close enough to touch, Ronan’s face held remorse and stern determination. He would see her through to the end whether she wanted him to or not.
You got that right. You could tell me to get out of your life and I wouldn’t. His silky voice filled her mind.
Become a stalker?
Sure and you would have to send the cops after me to get me to leave.
But you’d always come back.
Tenderness warmed his eyes to brown chocolate tinged with yellow. “That’s the size of it.”
He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Without thinking she reached up to touch his face and savored the warm heat beneath the stubble on his face. He clasped her hand and kissed the back. A shiver wiggled through her body straight down to her belly as his tongue touched her fingers in a quick caress. His gaze filled with a soul-wrenching tenderness that burned her antagonism to cinders.
“You’re still angry with me?” he asked.
She shook her head and closed her eyes. “How could I be? You had no way of knowing it would come to this.” When she opened her eyes, she looked deep into Ronan’s gaze. “Let’s get this done. Where’s the pregnancy test?”
* * * * *
Clarissa headed down the hallway to give her friends the news. Never in a million years did she expect to be announcing something like this in front of several people at once. When she came to Pine Forest she knew strange things would happen, but never, ever like this. She didn’t know what to think about the test results. At first glance at the test she’d smiled, then at second glance realism took over and she frowned. What would she do now?
When she arrived in the living room only Lachlan and Erin sat on the couch. Jared and Micky were nowhere to been seen. “Where are Jared and Micky?”
“While you and Ronan were talking we decided it was best if we all stayed together in the same house until things settle down. They’re making a quick trip to the hotel, check out, and move in here,” Lachlan said.
“Good idea.” She smiled even though it felt false. “We’ll be safer together, I hope. Where’s Ronan?”
“He went outside to cool down.” Lachlan gave her a reassuring smile. “I think he was about to hyperventilate. And I’ve never seen him do that.”
Erin’s gentle eyes were supportive, and she knew this newfound friend understood the emotions bobbing and weaving inside her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I…I’m glad you had the test on hand.” As awkward as an elephant in an elevator, she stumbled for the right words. “I’ll find Ronan and tell him first.”
After retrieving her coat, she stepped out into the fading daylight as it skimmed across the porch. Ronan stood under the overhang, his cloak on and the hood pulled up to shield him. He turned quickly, an eager light in his eyes.
When he held his hand out to Clarissa, she put her fingers into the warm grip of his palm and allowed him to guide her down two steps.
“I did the test,” she said, her mouth dry and her heart aching with unshed tears.
He didn’t answer, but drew her close. She hadn’t prepared for a situation like this all her life, but now that it occurred she could only hope she would know what to do next.
“Tell me,” he said.
She could hardly enunciate the words. “I’m not pregnant.”
His eyes narrowed, then closed. He drew in a deep breath. When he didn’t speak, she cupped his face in her hands.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
He folded his arms around her and brought her close. He buried his face in her hair and breathed a few words in Gaelic she didn’t understand. She opened her mind to his stray thoughts. Instead of hearing words she saw pictures. A vision erupted in her head full-blown and in vibrant color.
Ronan walked alongside the bank of a river at twilight, his cape flapping in the breeze. His hair fluttered in the wind and he turned to look at her. In the distance she saw towering castle walls. She held a small hand in hers; a boy of about three with burnished brown hair and brown eyes that toddled along with her. Ronan smiled with joy and pride and held his hands out to them. She picked up the little boy and walked eagerly toward Ronan. Love made her ache with a happiness she couldn’t have imagined long ago. When they reached him Ronan embraced them both.
The vision faded.
She drew back and looked deep into his eyes in the dimming light. “Is that what you want? Or is it what I want?”
His mouth opened and she saw moisture in his dark eyes. He drew in a shud
dering breath. “While you were doing the test I was running all these scenarios through my mind. And my favorite one was the scene you just witnessed. I wanted you to be pregnant not for this town’s survival, but for us. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until I fantasized about what it would be like to have a family. Until today I never expected to have a family. It would have made me a very happy man.”
A shimmering, bursting happiness settled in her heart. Tears filled her eyes again. This time she let them flow over and trickle down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”
“Ah, sweet colleen, don’t cry.” Deep and husky, his voice held deep regret. “We’ll get through this somehow. I swear to you.”
Silence wrapped them as he drew her deeper into his arms and pressed her face against his shoulder. The wool cape felt rough under her cheek, but it held Ronan’s scent and she breathed deeply. She sank into his comfort and for a space in time she forgot they had a real problem.
“I guess the nausea and pain was really from just screwing like a bunny,” she said with a dry throat.
He laughed softly. “Probably.”
He turned her face up so he could look at her, pain etched in his features. His lips brushed her forehead as he clasped her head between his palms. Teasing the delicate skin, he traced his lips slowly down to her cheek and nuzzled her. Her skin tingled in delight. He kissed his way to her chin, then to the other cheek. She quivered with longing as fresh need arose within for his affection. His attention moved to her ear and as his hot breath touched her there, she shivered again. The cold couldn’t reach her here, and the bliss she felt wiped out all worry. She surrendered another piece of her heart to him.
Ronan licked her earlobe. “Sweet Ireland, you make me crazy.”
She shivered as his tongue dipped into her ear, mimicking cock moving in and out of cunt. Teased beyond endurance, she arched her hips into his and felt evidence of his arousal. A maelstrom of tender emotions surged inside her.
“We’re making out in the backyard,” she said softly. “And we haven’t discussed what this all this means.”
Even under the cloak hood, Ronan looked more handsome and loveable, more delicious than any man she’d known. Her heart throbbed for him, wanted him, needed him.
He brushed his fingers over her forehead then tasted her lips. “I couldn’t bear if anything happened to you.”
Trembling emotion, tender and loving, swept through her soul. She knew it right then, if she hadn’t been aware before. She wanted to be with this man, vampire or not, for the rest of her life.
“Ronan—”
He put his finger to her mouth. “I trust what the seer and Yusuf have told us. You must get pregnant for us to save this town. We don’t have all the answers, but it’s a part of the puzzle. But if you say you don’t want a baby we’ll find another way to conquer the evil stain.”
Surrendering her fears, she told him the unqualified truth. “I did a lot of thinking waiting for the pregnancy test results. I know a baby would change everything for me and it isn’t something I’d planned to do for some time, if ever. But now I do want this. For me, for you, and for this town. I want your baby.”
His eyes flared, red and gold and yellow mixed in the dark irises. Without hesitation he moved in and walked her backwards until his body pinned her to the wall. His mouth covered hers, his kiss assertive and deep. He didn’t ease her into passion this time, but pushed her headlong toward a soul-stirring, gut-wrenching desire to mate and mate hard. He took her breath away as his tongue brushed hers repeatedly, staking his claim. As her palms brushed over his cloak, she wished she could feel his hard chest and powerful muscles. Reaching up to his shoulders she held on for dear life, buffeted by a tide of longing and desire more swift then a waterfall. Carried away by the heady way he made her feel, she decided nothing mattered but pleasing Ronan and taking him into her body.
Shifting her away from the wall, he gripped her ass and squeezed. She moaned into his mouth as his thigh slipped between her legs and pressed up against tender, already aroused tissues.
Oh, she wished they could be naked and do it here. She allowed wanton hunger to carry her along.
We can do it here. As silken and seductive as a wet dream and building her feverish need for him, Ronan’s voice smoothed into Clarissa’s mind.
Without a word more he turned her around and faced her toward the wall. His big body kept her cozy warm and away from the elements. He unzipped her coat and slid his hands under her sweater. A flick of his wrist and he unhooked the clasp on the front of her bra. She gasped as he cupped her breasts. Callused but tender, the steady, plumping action of his hands warmed her entire body. He avoided her nipples but they turned hard and aching in anticipation of his touch.
Not yet, he said in her mind.
Then he reached between her body and the wall and undid her jeans. He pulled her jeans and panties down so they hung to her knees. He worked his fingers between her legs from behind so he could play with the slit that turned moist and hot with desire. Spreading her slickness over highly sensitive folds, he strummed every inch of soaked flesh. When his fingers found her clit and spread her slickness over the excited tissue, she almost groaned loudly. As he massaged, a fire grew higher and hotter, the strokes only pausing when he drew his fingers back to her cunt and slipped inside.
She bit back another moan as he dipped in first one finger, then a second. Her palms flattened against the wall as her eyes closed. She ached as he continued a maddening exploration of wet, hot, engorged territory. Just imagining the moment when he’d slip inside her and pump her full of seed sent coils of radiating heat into her lower body.
“Sweet colleen, you are so wet and hot.”
He undid his jeans and shoved them down. Suddenly, he dipped his cock into her cunt, a quick little probe that made her gasp in surprised pleasure.
“Please,” she whispered as his heat wrapped around her like a blanket.
Again he plunged inside, but this time he didn’t withdraw or stop. He drove forward and she muffled her cry as he speared straight into her.
With unbearable slowness he withdrew, then arrowed deep. Wedging his thighs against the back of hers, he kept his movements short and rhythmic. He clenched her hips between his palms, anchoring her. Each rub of his cock caressed sensitive, exquisitely aroused tissues. The back and forth friction opened her wider, deeper as she absorbed his thrusts.
Sensation spilled over and reduced her to a mindless drive toward completion. On the edge of consciousness, she heard their primal sounds, the gasp for breath and small moans of pleasure that fired her need. Her heart pounded a new, relentless beat in time with his cadence. Eagerly she spread her legs as far as the clothing around her knees would allow. Merciless, he took the hint and stepped up the pace. Stroking now with sharp digs, he thrust hard and sure.
Her skin flushed, heated, her breath panting between parted lips. She couldn’t stand the pleasure; her cunt clenched his body as his thrusts now pounded inside her slickness. Beyond speech or thought, she allowed her body to fly free.
Climax hit her hard as it rose up and stung her clit, then burst with staggering intensity in jolts of bliss. She quivered and shook as the orgasm rocked her core.
He gave one last, stabbing thrust. His cock swelled and he gasped out, “God, how I love you!”
He burst inside her and moaned low in his throat. His revelation made her shake as another climax ripped through her in small, unbelievably delicious shivers.
Tears filled her eyes and she sobbed with happiness. Immediately he slipped from her body and pulled up her panties and jeans. He rearranged his clothing. Turning her around, he kept his body against hers.
He cupped her face and his intense, worried gaze held a fiery copper. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
She smiled through her tears. “I’m wonderful. Did I hear you say you loved me?”
Clarissa never thought she’d see a bashful smile on his hard face, but this time he
grinned and it came across almost embarrassed. “Sure and I suppose you want to hear it again?”
“Oh yes,” she said, a little breathless.
He kissed her deeply, his tongue wrapping and twining with hers in a dance seductive and loving. When he came up for air he confessed, “I love you so much I ache. I never thought I could feel like this again. Please tell me you feel the same way about me?”
He looked a little boyish and uncertain, an expression she never expected to see on his face. With a tender melting in her heart, she slipped her arms around his waist and smiled. “I love you. I love you so much.”
Pressing his forehead to hers, he closed his eyes. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that.”
“Then let me tell you again. I love you. You were wonderful. I thought I was going to split into a million pieces.”
Low, sinful laughter filled her ears. “It’s colder then a well digger’s arse out here. Let’s go inside where I can love you properly.”
Yes, that sounds so good.
They finished fixing their clothes. Inside the house Lachlan and Erin sat close together on the couch, their arms tightly around each other as if they, too, felt the heat. They loosened their embrace, but Clarissa could see the adoration and need thrumming between the other couple. When they learned she wasn’t pregnant, disappointment entered their eyes. Lachlan and Erin knew how important this had become. Micky and Jared walked in a few moments later through the utility room with their luggage. When they heard the news, resignation passed over their features.
“There must be something else we can do.” Desperation tinged Micky’s voice and she blushed. “We can’t expect Ronan and Clarissa to just…”
Lachlan shrugged. “Aye, we’ll start thinking of an alternate plan.” His gaze flicked to Clarissa and Ronan. “Just in case.”
The radio blasted a new report about the sporadic crime around the small city.
“I hate to ask what it’s like out there,” Erin said to Micky.