“He carries your blood and your magic, so he will be protected.” He glanced at Linc, like he was issuing a warning. “You need to come home, Bennett. It’s the only place you and the child will be safe. The wolf can tell you no different. Even if the Council allows your union, there will be those who will always be after you. But back in our realm, with me and your kind, you’ll be safe.”
He reached for her, but she backed away. Away from everyone. “Safe from what?”
“From the company of wolves and vampires,” her father bit out.
And there it was.
She crossed her arms. “Those wolves and vampires are my friends and family. I’m not running off to some place I’ve never been with some guy who thinks he can tell me what do. If you thought this power display of yours was going to win me over, you couldn’t be more wrong. If anything, you’ve proven exactly the opposite. I’m not leaving the people I care most about. As far as I’m concerned, you can go to hell.”
Her father growled, but to his credit—though little good it did him now—he softened his tone. “My daughter, I meant no offense—”
“Just stop.” Everything from the past few weeks seemed to come crashing down on her at once. Her head ached, and her body trembled. “Linc, I need to go home. Now.”
They walked away together.
Once they were out of hearing distance of her father, Linc said, “Just say the word, and I’ll have every wolf in the area tear him apart.”
“What do you mean every wolf in the area?” She looked around, and only now did she see the high numbers of security coming out of hiding from behind trees, bushes, hell, everywhere a person could hide.
“Just you and Nick?” She pulled away from him. “Isn’t that what you said?”
Linc put up his hands in supplication. “You had to know I couldn’t take that chance.”
“The last thing I need right now is for you to be an overprotective asshole.”
“Think about this,” he said. “If your father’s intentions hadn’t been honorable. If he had tried something—”
“Then we’d have a fight neither of us wants,” her father said.
They both turned and saw him walking toward them.
“What do you want?” Bennett said.
“I was worried I’d triggered something within you. Unbound you in some way.” He shook his head. “Please know, the last thing I would wish you is any kind of harm. I only wish to protect.”
“That disease seems to be going around.”
She hated how he flinched, but she couldn’t curb the anger in her voice.
“You did overreach. But it’s just a killer headache. Probably a combo of North Texas allergies and not eating breakfast. Sorry guys. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I still think it best we get her home,” Linc said in a clipped tone.
“I’ve already called Jacinda,” Nick added. “She’s going to meet us there. Just to make sure you’re all right.”
“Fine,” she said. “Fine. Oh my, God, my life has taken a weird turn. I’m hanging out with wolves, vampires, witches, and fae. I don’t even know what half of you are.” She waved a hand toward the security team. “Right now, I need a warm bath, a chicken fried steak, and some mashed potatoes. And pie. The baby really wants some chocolate pie. This kid has a thing for chocolate.”
“And you’ll have it,” Linc said. He guided her toward the car.
“Your majesty,” Nick said. “Why don’t you come with my wife and I? There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.” His tone brooked no argument.
Her father started to speak but then stopped. He simply came forward took Bennett’s hands in his. “Are you well, darling girl? Please understand, it was not my wish to cause you harm in anyway.”
Bennett’s head hurt like a mother, but she was fine. His concern seemed genuine, but she wasn’t going to give him an easy out. He didn’t deserve it. “I’m fine.”
He frowned. “Really?”
“Really. It’s just the last few weeks have been full of all kinds of crazy. It wasn’t your magic. It was just everything. Plus, the pregnancy hormones, which just intensify all of it. I think.”
He touched the top of her head, and the pain receded—even the wooziness disappeared. Was healing another of his powers?
“We’ll talk later,” he whispered.
“Maybe. But only if you stop with the bossy crap. I mean it. If you want me to trust you, don’t try to pull me away from what’s most important to me. Understood?”
“Understood. Get some rest, darling daughter.” He followed Nick to the other limo.
She got into the limo with Linc and, finally alone, relaxed into the seat. “I can’t figure out if he’s a good guy or a bad guy,” she said honestly. “He hasn’t done anything that would make me suspect him of being evil, but he’s a little too good to be true.”
Linc glanced back at her father’s car. “It’s wise to be wary. Sometimes people are too good to be true.”
“You’re the one who told me to give him a chance.”
“Had I a clue as to how much magic he holds, I would have been kicking his arse out the door hours ago. Beings with that much power, who have lived as long as he has…”
“What?”
He looked out the car window. “I don’t know, love. I get no sense he wants to harm you or the babe, but I’m not sure how he feels about the rest of us.”
“You think he’d try to hurt you?”
Linc shrugged. “I think if he wants something, he’ll do most anything to get it. Men like him are always planning and plotting. He’s managed to stay in power for hundreds of years for a reason. He’s smooth, but Nick’s on it. You don’t need to worry. He won’t try anything, not while we have you so well protected. And I think we have his adoration of you working for us. He doesn’t want to upset you.”
Bennett had done her best to set her father straight. And the man had seemed apologetic, but…she didn’t trust him.
Because Linc was right. Sometimes a person was too good to be true. She wasn’t going to write him off. Not right then. But she wasn’t going to drop her guard, either.
“Love, can I ask you something?”
She sighed. “If it’s some big decision I need to make, it will have to wait. I’m done for the day.”
“Nothing like that. You said that you don’t want to leave the people you care most about. Did that include me?” His voice was low, almost a whisper.
Did he really have no idea how she felt about him?
“Yes. I do care for you, Linc.” She was still too afraid to admit more than that. Let him take it how he wanted. If they got out of this okay, there would be plenty of time to figure out what they meant to each other.
He had tried to give her father the benefit of the doubt, even though she could tell it was the last thing he wanted. Should she do the same for Linc?
Should she trust the father of her child?
God, she wanted to, but it was tough.
She’d been alone for so long, and she couldn’t just forget why that had worked so well for her.
He’d said he cared about her.
Maybe.
He took her hand in his and squeezed.
“Thank you.”
She wasn’t sure what for, but at the moment, she was too tired think about it any further.
For now, she’d trust him to see her through what was about to come.
For now.
Chapter Seventeen
While Bennett rested, Linc went up to his studio. The gardens had inspired him to make some changes to a pair of jeans he’d been designing. He wanted embroidered flowers down the seam and one each on the pockets.
He would call them the Bennetts.
His cell buzzed and Marina’s photo popped up. He didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she’d keep calling if he didn’t answer.
“Lincy darling. Can I come for my fitting today? I need to fly to Morocco for a last minute
shoot. I won’t be back until next week.”
Crap. He’d forgotten about getting things together for the book. He’d been so consumed by Bennett and the baby that he’d actually neglected his work.
When had that happened? His work had been everything to him.
Bennett would probably sleep for a couple of hours, and he really did need to get the fittings done.
“Sure. Come on in. I didn’t know you were in town.”
“Great,” Marina said. “There was a shoot yesterday for Neiman’s Christmas catalog. I’ll be there in about ten minutes.”
Which, in Marina’s world, was at least an hour. That was fine. It would give him time to put the designs together and stitch up the prototypes. Usually, he’d have someone from his team come in and do it, but he was faster than all of them put together. And he could use the busy work to keep his mind off the morning’s events.
He shouldn’t have been happy that Bennett didn’t seem that impressed by her father’s powers. And she’d told him twice over her chicken fried steak that she was afraid something like that might be inside of her. Even if she could access that power, she didn’t want it.
Thank God for the smallest of favors. If her father had thought to woo her to his side, he’d done the opposite. She was confused, which would give Linc time to plead his case. Twice he’d wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but both times he’d reminded himself why he had to keep those feelings to himself.
He needed to keep his distance so that he could be the protector she needed. Which meant he couldn’t tell her how he felt. He wouldn’t protect her body only to injure her heart.
He found the thread and fabric he needed and started working on the top Marina would be wearing in the photo shoot.
An hour later, his phone buzzed. The doorman wanted to know if it was okay for the model to come up. He already regretted agreeing to the meeting, but he couldn’t avoid work forever. And to be honest, he needed to escape back into its familiar comfort.
“Lincy,” she said as she came inside, air-kissing his cheeks. “Ready for me?”
The double entendre wasn’t lost on him, but he wouldn’t encourage her by acknowledging it.
“Yes, let’s get you fitted.” He turned toward his workroom.
“No time for a little play?” She reached out for his shoulder, but he pulled away.
A few months ago, he might have welcomed her touch and its momentary distraction. But now? There was only one woman’s touch he craved. Scared the hell out of him, but there it was.
“Not anymore,” he said. “I’m with someone.”
She pursed her lip. “You’re always with a special someone,” she said.
Sometimes the truth hurt.
“Ouch. Guess I deserved that. This is different.”
Marina shifted her hip to the side and crossed her arms. “How different is different?”
“I love her,” Linc said.
Fuck. There they were, the three little words he’d denied. It felt good to say them out loud.
And to Marina’s credit, it looked like she appreciated the significance of what he’d said, because she smiled and dropped any pretense of seduction.
“I must meet this woman who tamed the playboy’s heart.”
Hopefully, that’ll never happen.
The last thing he wanted was Marina and Bennett comparing notes.
He just wanted the fitting over so he could get back downstairs and tell her. Would she believe him? Shite. He’d need a plan. She would think it was about the baby.
He loved the child and had from the moment he’d heard about him. But he loved Bennett, too. Whether she was giving herself to him, or yelling at him with that wonderful attitude of hers, he loved her with all he was.
And he would protect the woman he loved. Her father? He would handle that now. Bennett would no longer be caught in the middle.
In the workroom, Marina started stripping, but he paid her nudity no mind. He no longer saw naked bodies. They were forms to which he fit his clothes. Not that he didn’t appreciate women—he always would. But there was only one woman who could tighten his cock with a glance.
Nick was right. Linc had fallen for Bennett long ago.
“Ouch,” Marina said.
Crap, he’d stuck a pin in her.
“Sorry about that. Here, slip it off. It just needs a few adjustments. You can get dressed and go.”
He was already in the other room when he realized “needs a few adjustments” was just an excuse for a moment to take out his phone in private and bring up a photo of Bennett.
She’d worked her way into him so fully, so completely he was no longer in control of himself.
He wanted to call her and share what he was experiencing for her, but he couldn’t tell her the depth of his feelings yet without blowing up the situation into something neither of them could handle.
Hell, it was a big enough problem that he was having these feelings in the first place. He couldn’t keep her safe if he didn’t keep his emotions in check.
This was bad. Really bad.
But there was a bigger problem than his emotions. Bennett’s father. He was the person Linc needed to call. He was the person who needed to know how much Linc felt for Bennett and what he would do to protect her.
The phone rang only once before her father picked up.
“Wolf,” he said. Just the one word.
“Fae King.” Linc paused. “Let’s settle this. Once and for all.”
…
Bennett cricked her neck and stepped back from the painting she’d been working on. She pursed her lips. Maybe it needed some tweaks on a few of the animals, but it was a good start.
She was using canvas to work on the style she wanted to use for the mural in the baby’s nursery. She’d taken parts of the gardens they walked through earlier and done some sketches. And then she created some tiny animals. Sweet little things, so far from her regular artwork, it was crazy.
But edgy, which was what she was known for, didn’t really work in the beautiful nursery Linc had created for their son.
She sighed and set down the paintbrush.
The day had been too much of everything. The way Linc and her father had argued, she’d had half a mind to tell them both to shove their overprotective asses out the door and out of her life. But she couldn’t say good-bye to her father, not when she’d just met him.
And Linc? He deserved the chance to be a father to their child. But she wasn’t sure she could be around him and be just friends.
Stupid me. Why do I always fall for the wrong guy?
She stepped away from the painting. Her art was the one thing that could soothe her, but it wasn’t working.
“Knock, knock.” Casey walked in, her arms full of packages. She’d rung earlier and said she was coming down.
“What is all of that?”
“Presents. I was really worried about you, so I made Nick take me shopping after we dropped off your dad.”
“Presents?”
“For you and the baby.”
“Oh.” Bennett smiled as she took a few of the smaller bags from her friend. “Thanks. All of this is for the baby?”
They sat down in the living room. Bennett had the forethought to perch on the edge of a leather chair. She was a messy painter, and there was no telling what might be on her clothing.
“And you. Do you have anything for the nursery? I bought some stuff, but it’s mostly clothes. Did I tell you Nick made me play twenty questions to find out the sex of the baby? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just assumed you knew. Everyone else seemed to. You could have just called me.”
“Yeah, but getting it out of Nick was way more fun.” Casey waggled her eyebrows.
Pushing herself with her arms, no easy feat with her increasingly large belly, Bennett stood and motioned toward the nursery. “Come here, I want to show you something.”
They stepped into the small room together, and Bennett
bit her lip as Casey looked over the nursery.
“Oh, my God,” Casey breathed. “This is beautiful. You guys did such a great job. I want to live in here. It’s magical.”
“Not us. Linc. He did everything. And he didn’t buy the bedding, he made it.”
Casey’s hand went to her chest. “That’s so fucking sweet.”
“Hey, no cussing in front of the kid,” Bennett admonished.
Her friend gave her the eyebrow.
“I know. I’m not exactly a saint. But I’m working on it. Yes, it was so sweet. I ugly cried in front of him. How’s that for a thank you?”
“Awww. He probably secretly loved that you adored it so much.” She set the packages down. “Some of these are for the baby, but I also bought you some maternity clothes.” She gave Bennett the once-over. “Which you are so not touching until you get cleaned up. What have you been doing?”
“Working on ideas for a mural to go behind the bed. I’ll show you in a minute.”
“Oh, yes! It’s going to look perfect there—I can’t wait. Okay, so it’s a boy. He’s going to need some of these.” She pulled out some cute little onesies. “I got like six different sizes because we don’t have any idea how big he’s going to be when he comes out. Nick said sometimes supernaturals can be a little bigger than humans.”
Bennett cringed. That video from the Lamaze class flashed through her mind. Ouch.
“Yeah, don’t remind me. Oh, I forgot to tell you about Lamaze. I wanted you to be there in the delivery room with Linc, in case he freaks out. But maybe you could just watch some of the videos online. I’m not going to lie, you may rethink the kid thing if you do.”
Casey smiled. “I wanted to know what to do, so I already watched two of them online as soon as you said you were pregs. I couldn’t finish it. All the screaming and pushing. I’ll be there for you, but it’s good to have Linc. He may be the one picking me up off the floor.”
They laughed so hard that they had to hold each other up until they calmed down.
“And I bought a ton of outfits.” Casey held up the tiniest tuxedo Bennett had ever seen. “Nick insisted we buy a Cowboy’s uniform, a Dallas Stars jersey, and this cute little Ranger’s outfit. Oh, and I forgot got about these little shorts and top from the Mavericks. And I thought maybe this could be his coming home from the hospital outfit.”
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