“I’m pregnant?”
Some of the darkness left his face, the hard edges softening in the dim light. “You are. You have been for several days.” A frown creased his forehead. “From the time before I began locking you in during battles. You have not let me touch you since.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know. We always know.”
She stared up at him, trying to get a breath and get her mind to grasp what he’d said. He seemed larger than life. Pain brought her back to reality.
“Taso, you’re hurting me.”
He nodded, as if that were his intent, but he loosened his grip on her arms. He didn’t move away, just rested his hands on the bed beside her shoulders.
“We know...from feel, from scent.” He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. “You smell like wild honey and wine and spices. And now...” He looked down at her, eyes shining. “Now there is a different scent, new and fresh, like the first rain in spring, the first grass that pushes through the ground. New life.”
He moved one hand to her stomach, sliding lower, resting there. His hand was warm, almost hot, and for a moment she could feel what he felt; life, growing inside her.
Anger and frustration melted away in a swirl of confusion. “For real?”
“For real.”
“Since when?”
“Just two moons.”
Six weeks, not much more. “Oh...” She looked up, searching his face. “When were you going to tell me?”
He lifted one brow, his eyes taking on a bemused look. “Do women on your planet not know?”
“No. Not always. Not at first, at least.”
Taso shook his head. “It is that unnatural condition you put yourself in. It keeps you out of touch with what is important.”
There was no argument she could give him for that. She tried a smile, even though her face felt numb.
“Does it please you, knowing this?” There was a hint of uncertainly in his eyes, in his voice.
“It does.” She blinked, her eyes suddenly filled with tears. “It does. But I think it scares me too.”
His laugh startled her. It was soft, a whisper against her skin.
“I understand.” He leaned down, kissing her hard. “But I am here. I have fought for you, and with you, for your heart, and for this life with you…inside of you. And now, I will be here for this. Be scared, if you need to be. Just know that you are not alone. That you will never be alone again.”
He held her then, and for the first time, she knew in her heart, there was no uncertainty. She was in the right place, with the right man. For the right reasons.
* * *
The baby was born nine months later, almost to the day from the time Taso had told her she was pregnant. With no discernable seasons in this world, she could not say if the baby was born in spring or summer or winter. She knew what season it was on Earth, but here, the sky was almost always cloudy, the trees in the distance deep green, and the land between the two, brown dirt and silvery green with low plants.
She had not fought in those months, although she’d watched from the walls each time. It seemed bad luck not to watch Taso, watch how he fought for what he believed in. It felt like she was betraying him, if she wasn’t there in spirit, at least.
The wolves had continued to attack, but the tiger Clans had begun to join them, as the wolves had begun to travel to other provinces. She’d been adamant that Taso not travel after he’d gone once. She’d been unable to sleep, and when she had, her sleep had been full of terrible dreams. When he’d come back, shouting his victory from the walls, she’d told him the first lie since she’d met him. She’d told him it was bad for the baby, if he were away. It wasn’t strictly a lie, because she couldn’t see how tossing and turning every night he was away, could do the baby any good.
To her surprise, he’d agreed without a fight. He still saw his Clan off to battle, but from the walls, or the barracks, or the gate. And then he’d return to her, and make long slow love to her. He’d asked her once if that was bad for the baby, and she’d laughed. It could do only good, she’d said, to have the baby feel the love of its parents.
“It’s a boy.”
Taso held the newborn in his hands, held it as if it were the most precious thing he’d ever seen. There were women in the room, midwives, willing to help with delivery. Taso hadn’t let them near her, insisting on holding her hand, wiping the sweat from her brow, screaming with her when the pain came, hard and grinding. There were times when he shouted louder than she did, and she remembered glimpses of the women, standing in the corners of the room, looking on in something like awed shock.
“Give him to me.”
He wrapped the baby in a blanket, wiping its face with a wet cloth. “He’s hungry. He sounds hungry.”
“Probably. But...” She pushed herself up, and one of the midwives moved in, stacking pillows behind Veronica’s head and shoulders. “You can’t feed him. So can I have my baby now?”
He handed over the baby, reluctantly she thought. There was no hesitation in Veronica; she pulled down the shoulder of her gown, held the baby, felt him latch on. And then suck like a bull calf.
“Oh my God, ouch!” She stared at Taso, then smiled. “He’s a lot like his father.”
Taso smiled, a purely male smile of a man who has just seen his son born, who has just helped bring him into the world. And who could not keep his hands off the baby. He reached out, pulling back the edge of the blanket, watching the baby nurse. He touched the baby’s head, his shoulder, reached out to the little hand. The tiny fingers groped, then wrapped around Taso’s big finger.
Taso looked up, met her eyes. She lay back, reached out, and took Taso’s other hand.
“What are we going to name him?”
“We have time. There’s a ritual for that...” But he wasn’t listening to her. All his focus was on the baby, watching as his son let go of Veronica, closed his eyes, and fell asleep. Before she could say anything else, Taso stretched out beside her. Veronica settled back against the pillows. The women, with nothing left to do, filed silently out of the room. The three of them were left alone.
“You must sleep.” He pulled a blanket up over himself and her, careful of the baby, not covering his face. “And I am tired.” With a massive yawn, he set one hand on her arm, his fingers reaching over the edge of the blanket, touching his son’s hand.
“Giving birth is hard work.”
Before she had a chance to either agree or remind him who had done all the work, he was asleep. She lay still for a moment, looking down on the thick dark hair of her husband, and the head of her son, covered with a few curls with that same black hair. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. She was home.
About Catherine Vale
Catherine Vale, a Canadian romance author, has been writing fiction for as long as she can remember, but it wasn't until she wrote her very first paranormal romance story that she found herself hooked on the wild side of powerful shifters and dominant alpha men (of the furry kind!).
Catherine writes sci-fi, and paranormal romance for readers who are willing to take a walk on the wild side of love. Her stories always include powerful alpha males, curvy gals, and a happily-ever-after. Girls with curves and guys with growl. What more could you want?
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Other Books by Catherine Vale
Broken Moon (Were-wolf shifter romance)
Darkest Days series (sci-fi alien romance)
Tigers Tango (ménage were-tiger romance)
The Wolves Next Door (ménage were-wolves romance)
On The Prowl (series)
Kiss of
Fire (dragon shifter romance)
To Catch a Cheetah (cheetah romance)
Burn, Baby, Burn (dragon shifter romance)
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Dark Side Of The Moon (BBW Paranormal Were-Bear Shifter Sci-Fi Romance) Page 16