She blinked at him, unable to answer due to her teeth sweating as she fought the urge to release all the emptiness in her soul into the trash can again.
“If there’s any question at all, my suggestion is you get pregnant for real.” She snorted but he didn’t look amused. “I mean it. I’m sending you home today with something that will make that happen if it comes down to it. Consider it a failsafe.”
Her lips twitched but she didn’t laugh, afraid that if she opened her mouth, her stomach might interpret it as permission. Cora took his hand in hers and squeezed, grateful that his nuclear option meant bringing life into the world, whereas hers had been to take it away. Of course, it was always nice to know that if desperate times came, there was more than one desperate measure available to her.
It took an hour for her body to stabilize and she hated every single minute of it. Dr. Bauer had Annie install an IV in her arm for hydration, but for a little while there it felt like hell was empty and the devils were all flowing out of her mouth at a high rate of speed. When she returned to the palace, Finn met her at the door.
“Are you okay? You didn’t answer your texts, and I called.” His eyes were wide, and his hair looked like he’d been finger-combing it. He’d dispensed with his suit coat down to his waistcoat which only emphasized how his strong, broad shoulders tapered down to that narrow waist. And the way those pants framed his perfect ass? It was a damn good look and if she felt better, she’d say something about it. The level of sheer, unbridled lust she was feeling for him was disconcerting as hell considering how sick she’d been only recently, but to be fair, he was pretty damn hot.
“I’m sorry, I was at the doctor’s office.” She held up the bag Annie had given her as proof.
“Okay, so then my original question stands.” He crowded closer to her, something she enjoyed immensely as he smelled deliciously of bergamot and soft woods. Brows drawn with worry, he chewed on his full bottom lip as he searched her face. It was easy to forget that they were having this conversation in front of the Guards, though, really, that played well with the plan.
She took a breath and realized that her stomach wasn’t through with its reign of terror. She managed to push him away just in time for her to dry heave right on the cobblestone. “Fuck,” she breathed, face sweaty and feeling both too hot and too cool. Nothing came up, but that was a matter of her being dead empty, still hurt like a bitch though. She turned back to see three thoroughly horrified guards and was immediately overwhelmed by Prince Worrywart. “Highness, I am so sorry—”
He shook his head, cutting her off as he herded her inside the palace and down the corridor with a firm and protective arm around her waist. “Absolutely not. C’mon, let’s get you to bed. I thought you went to the doctor to get well. They let you go like this?”
“It’s more complicated than that,” she panted, each step heavier than the one before. “I’m actually fine.”
Finn’s face was the last thing she remembered seeing before she went down.
* * *
FINN
“I swear to the gods, if he poisoned her, I’ll kill him myself.”
Vasi rolled his eyes at his best friend as he paced and tugged at his cufflinks to roll up his sleeves. “She’s fine, she fainted. That shit happens. When she wakes up, she’ll tell us about it, and we’ll go from there.”
“You didn’t see it. You don’t know.” Goddamn, he had no idea she could even be that pale, an ashen cast over her dark skin, and thankfully, he was able to catch her before her head hit the marble floor, but it was inarguably the scariest thing he’d ever seen. And that included the time his brother filled his bed with garden snakes when they were ten.
From the moment she’d gone down, he hauled her into the suite, setting her up on the bed in the biggest pile of pillows he could find. He’d summoned a doctor and Vasi, because he needed someone with a clear head because he was losing his damn mind with worry. The doctor had left just recently, with a comment to call him if she didn’t awaken within the hour. Within the hour was not a good enough timeframe for him.
He smoothed a hand over her forehead, taking the time to appreciate how delicate and peaceful she was asleep, because she certainly was neither of those things when awake. “I mean it. I’ll kill him and feel good about it.” He folded her hand between both of his, content just to feel her warmth.
“Well, hopefully it won’t come to that,” his best friend reassured him as he stood and headed over to the liquor cabinet. He poured out two tumblers and set them on the coffee table, gesturing to Finn. “Hovering’s not going to help.”
“Oh, so you’re a doctor now?” he replied acidly before closing his eyes and driving his fingers through his hair for what felt like the millionth time. “I’m sorry.”
Vasi waited to reply until Finn had joined him on the couch. “Don’t worry about me, we’re fine.” He handed him his drink and stared over at the bed. “She’s gonna be fine, too. The Commander is made of tougher stuff than either of us.”
“Stop calling me that,” she groaned softly from the bed.
Finn was at her side in an instant, clambering onto the bed and curling around her to help her sit up. “You checked out on me.” He didn’t mean for it to come out like an accusation but couldn’t stop himself.
“Not on purpose, I assure you.” She blinked a few more times, her eyes much less glassy and her dark skin returning from its frightening ashen pallor. Yawning so hard he feared she’d pop her jaw, she smiled up at him sweetly. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I wasn’t worried at all,” Vasi minced as he came to stand at her bedside with a smirk. “You’re too mean for anything to do any really lasting damage.”
“I’m not mean,” she pouted. “Maybe it’s just my reaction to your sparkling personality.”
“Crow.”
“Owlet.”
“Carrion feeder.”
“Plague carrier.”
“Enough!” Finn’s eyes bounced back and forth as Cora and Vasi nipped at each other. It was surprisingly playful for two predators. Turning back to her, he tucked her against his side as he snuggled down in the pillows. “What happened at the doctor’s?”
Her wicked grin should have been the warning. “I don’t know, what do I smell like?”
“The hell kinda question is that?” Vasi demanded with a grimace.
Cora blinked at him, with the desire to smack him writ clear across her face. “One I need him to answer.”
Finn frowned and sniffed the air tentatively. “Sweet, soft… Really, really good.” He took a deep breath and held it, staring at her the whole time. It was amazing, whatever it was, and somehow, the longer he looked at her, the more beautiful she became to him. “What… I don’t understand. Are you… glowing?”
* * *
CORA
“You’d think so, right?” She beamed up at Vasi, whose look straddled the lines of concern and vaguely horrified.
“Holy shit! Did you go out and get actually knocked up?” The Night Watch Commander looked like he was on the verge of a hysterical freakout, and she knew he’d seen combat.
“No, but no one outside of this room knows that. I think if we keep it to the three of us—and Devon and Xander—we stand a better chance of pulling this off. It’s not that I don’t trust Driscoll, but we need seasoned operatives now and I don’t have time to train up the FNG.”
Vasi snorted and Finn asked, “FNG?”
“Fucking new guy. She means Driscoll.” He looked both disappointed in her opinion and amused at the same time. He was a complicated man.
“He’s sweet, but the stakes are way too high for him to cut his teeth.” Cora shooed Finn away from the bedside and went to the table where he’d set her belongings. She laid out and explained each and every test, piece of paper, and the other associated elements of sealing this cover down tight. They were bulletproof for the moment.
Finn joined her on the couch, his thigh touching hers and
his arm casually around her waist like he was cuddling her. “So you smell so delicious—”
The rumbling growl in his voice sent a shiver down her spine she had to work to hide. “To make my mate feel more attached and protective over me since I’m expecting. It’s what your family will be looking for when we announce it to the world.” She licked her lips, his blue eyes immediately falling to them as his pupils expanded. “Is it working?”
Finn’s predatory grin was nothing short of scalding as he looked her over, even showing a little fang. His fingertips lightly traced the fine hair at her temple as he rumbled, “You have no idea.”
She cooed and preened under his attention before focusing on the task at hand. “Just to be safe, I got a boost on the glamour as well.”
Finn frowned, his look of desire melting into one of concern. “Is that why you got so sick?”
She nodded. “Doc said it was a side effect of both the hormones and the glamour. It should be fine by tomorrow for when your father gets sprung from the hospital.”
His features softened considerably when she explained that. “Good, because you scared the hell out of me.”
The kiss he pressed to her hair just above her ear warmed her from the inside out. It may have been a side effect of the hormones, but she really did enjoy his affection. “I’m sorry,” she murmured as she admired the ridiculously defined muscles of his forearm under her palm.
Finn tipped her chin up, leaning in to kiss her, when Vasi cleared his throat loudly. “So… question.”
She smoothly turned her attention to the scowling owl and did her best not to giggle at the disgruntled growl in her ear. “Yes.”
“Will the prince be immune? To the new glamour, I mean. Obviously, the hormones are quite effective.”
Cora hummed as she thought about it, paying no attention at all to the small circles Finn was rubbing on the divots at the base of her spine. “Should be, mostly. The glamour and all that were made using his DNA and mine, both, so in theory, we should both be immune. There may be some residual effects or something, but nothing serious. Certainly nothing that’s going to blow my cover.”
Vasi nodded but looked unsettled. “Alright, well, get some rest. Tomorrow is showtime.”
Cora gave him a genuine grin. He was a pain in the ass, but he wasn’t bad people. “Thank you, Commander.” He nodded at Finn and took his leave, and then they were alone.
They’d been alone before, lots, but for some reason, now it felt different, closer. More intimate maybe. These hormones were a trip, and she damn sure did not want to allow them to make decisions on her behalf. The potential consequences were immense.
“Have you eaten?” she asked, casting about for a safe topic.
He shook his head. “I was too freaked out when you got sick. I can send for something. You have any requests?”
“Low key and bland is fine. I’m wanting cheese. Like swiss cheese. Is that weird?”
Finn blinked, looking her over speculatively as he reached for his phone. “Cravings, huh? You’re sure you’re not pregnant?”
He said it as a joke, but she heard the concern in his voice. “I’m good, I swear. I just want cheese.”
“As you wish.”
While he was up calling in their order, she went over to her bags and pulled out her pajamas. She wasn’t going anywhere tonight and there was no reason at all not to be comfy. Except maybe his appreciative glance as she made her sleepwear selection.
The feelings before all this were already making this case much messier than normal, and now she was physically compromised in addition to emotionally. As mad as she wanted to be at herself, the fact was, she was in this voluntarily from jump. Foolhardy was a bad look, but stupid was worse. She knew better and now here she was, fucked, or rather, on the near side of ‘probably should not be’.
Unable to linger longer in the en suite bathroom, she stepped out into the room in a giant, fluffy robe that hid her tank top and shorts. She was feeling vulnerable enough without adding to it with her clothing choices.
Finn quickly herded Cora back to the couch, making sure her feet were up, and she had a pillow behind her back. “I don’t want you getting sick again.”
“Thanks, but it’s not necessary, I feel fine now.”
“Uh huh. I had to carry you in here, you’ll excuse me if I’m a little concerned.”
He continued fussing over her until she laid a hand on his arm. “Finnegan. I’m okay. Really. Relax.” His mouth was set in a mulish line, but he didn’t argue. Cora let him pick up her feet and settle them in his lap, his huge hands warm and comforting as they rested on her ankles.
“I like taking care of you,” he said simply, his thumb skating over the arch of her foot. His deep voice colored with sincerity. “You have done so much for me, you’re doing so much for me, and…” He hummed in annoyance, frowning down at her feet. “I just want to look after you the way you’ve been looking after me, okay?”
Her heart stumbled over in her chest at his pained admission, but she had no illusions about this. At this point, since she couldn’t tell what was the hormones talking and what was actually real, it was a safer bet to assume his outburst was entirely hormone based and go from there. “That’s truly not necessary,” she assured him.
Pulling her feet from his lap, she wrapped her arms around her knees, body language as closed as it could be without a lock. “I don’t need you to take care of me. Really.”
A knock at the interior antechamber door kept the argument from really getting traction. One of the kitchen staff, an older Hircine woman wheeled the cart in the moment he opened it. She kept her eyes locked on Cora like she expected her to sprout additional heads or attempt to eat her. Her reputation preceded her, she supposed, and felt marginally bad for it.
Finn wheeled the cart past her in the direction of the bed. “C’mon.”
She watched as he pulled the cart around to her side of the bed, er, the side of the bed she’d been sleeping on, and set up their dinner. “I can’t eat laying down.”
The quirk of his eyebrow over his shoulder as he looked at her was clearly a challenge. “And you won’t eat if you don’t get your butt back in this bed. You need to rest. Hop to it.”
Time stretched out between them as she remained on the couch, at this point out of spite more than anything else, and he sat on the side of the bed munching on… whatever he was munching on.
“Dammit,” she grumbled as she left the couch and stomped back over to the bed. His triumphant little grin made her want to smack him. She had just pulled back the blankets when he grabbed her arm. “What?” His eyes dropped to her robe and she growled. “Oh for fuck’s sake. You gonna tuck me in, too?”
He blinked slowly at her as his lips twitched. “Maybe. If you ever get your cute little ass under the blankets I will, yes.”
“You think my ass is cute?” At this point, she was deliberately fucking with him as she handed him the robe and did as he asked. He had the dome off his food, a large stack of sandwich quarters and a steaming bowl of what smelled like tomato soup, both of which made her empty stomach growl.
“You still haven’t eaten, I’d settle down if I were you.” All the heat in his warning died when she saw the tiny smirk and twinkle in his eye. He stacked the pillows behind her and made sure everything was super fluffy and comfortable before she laid back. It was going to be hard to go back to her normal bed after this.
The moments the blankets were in place, he ran his hands down the outside of her thighs, making good on his promise to tuck her in. Then he revealed her dinner with a flourish, a plate of cheese cubes he placed on her lap, each skewered with a toothpick.
“Really?” she asked as she held one up, twirling it between her fingers.
Triangle of a grilled cheese sandwich in one hand, Finn took a toothpick and pressed the cheese cube to her full lips. “Shut up and eat your cheese. Calcium is good for the baby.”
Tears leaked out of the corners of her
eyes as she laughed at that. She would have fallen over but didn’t want to get food everywhere. They ate in silence, with him sneaking the tiny sandwiches onto her plate in exchange for cheese cubes.
Belly full and finally settled, Cora nestled into the pillows and sighed contentedly. It had been the longest of long damn days and all she wanted to do was sleep for a week. That feeling was underscored when Finn dimmed the lights and grabbed his sleep pants and ducked into the ensuite.
“Thank you,” she whispered as he finally extinguished all the lights and slipped under the blankets next to her.
“For what?” Finn scoffed as he shifted around to lay on his side facing her.
She turned her face toward his voice. “You know, taking care of me. Fragile flower that I am, falling at your feet ‘n all.” His blue eyes seemed to catch all of the faint light in the room, leaving them almost shimmering in the shadows.
“You’d be surprised how many women have tried that before.” The wayward blanket slipped down the steep angle of his chest and pooled at his waist, and it was not fair that she got to sleep in bed with him and not really do anything about it.
“Great, now not only am I gravely embarrassed, I’m derivative.” Blowing out a deep breath, she turned and faced the door as she’d done the night before, hopeful that the heat in her cheeks would dissipate quickly.
“Not hardly.” His arm around her waist pulled her back to him, cradling her against his body as he spooned up behind her. “And you don’t have to thank me. With everything you’re doing for me, this is the very least I can do.”
His soft, rolling growl and breath across her neck made her toes curl and her body ache with the desire to melt back into his warmth and enjoy all that his body had to offer. “Sleep well, Finn.”
There was no point in feigning sleep because he could hear her heartbeat, so they lay there in silence with all the things she wanted to say left to die on her tongue. Responsible adulthood sucked and she wanted a refund.
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