He had her upside down, his big hand gently cradling the baby’s face a few inches above his thigh. Her lower half was stretched out across his lap. The child slept soundly, which was rather bizarre because that didn’t appear comfortable at all. Unless she was a stomach sleeper.
Caro crept closer to see what the other woman was doing. Me, she thought. What I’m doing.
How very strange to observe herself in this manner, but she was too fascinated by it to question the abnormality. Instead, she watched as the magic flared from the fingertips caressing the child’s lower back.
A rune, she realized, her eyes widening. I’m creating a rune.
“You’ve turned it into a heart,” the male mused.
“Yes, I’m disguising it,” she replied, a smile in her voice. “It seemed appropriate with her being our little heart.”
The man’s lips pulled into a breathtaking grin, one that gave Caro momentary pause. I recognize that look. It stirred a foreign warmth inside her, one that seemed to spread heat through each of her veins.
This was much better than the pain that lurked inside her.
“It will still protect her against Ichorians, just like Leela’s original mark intended. But now it’ll conceal her from my familial line, too.” Has my voice always been so soft? Caro wondered, listening to herself speak. “We’ll have Vera shift our memory to only remember that part, not the concealment aspect.”
“We’ll need to do the same for Gabriel,” the male murmured.
“Yes,” Caro agreed. “And Leela, too.” She sighed, the enchantment flickering as she sealed the rune with a final swipe of the branding pen. It was a tiny needlelike object that oozed skin-altering ink. She set it to the side and met the male’s gaze. “It’s done.”
“How long will it take for her to heal?” The male’s tone held a touch of concern to it, one that sent another wave of heat through Caro’s insides.
“A few hours at most.”
“Should we bandage it?”
“No. But we should keep the area clear.” She glanced at the stairs. “We should put her in the bassinet and let her sleep it off.”
“She won’t wake until I release the compulsion,” he replied, carefully rotating the small child in his arms to cradle her properly. His green eyes smiled down at her, his pride radiating through the bond. “How is something so tiny destined for such greatness?”
Caro followed his gaze, her heart giving a small pang of longing. She didn’t quite like the pain that little look caused. Yet she found herself creeping forward, needing to see the child more clearly.
So beautiful, she thought.
“Because we created her,” she heard herself say. With a frown, Caro glanced at the woman and found her staring directly at her. “She’s ours.”
Ours?
The memory faded away, lifting up into the bedroom, to the male stripping off the woman’s dress and laying her on the mattress while the baby slept soundly in an adjoining nursery.
What are you doing? she asked herself, confused by the shift. Where’s the ceremonial robe? What child are you creating now?
Because it was clear that their intention was to mate. Yet it seemed they were doing this for self-fulfillment, not for practical means.
Why would I do such a thing?
A moan spilled from her own lips as the male licked a path downward to the apex between her thighs. Caro’s legs clenched as though it were happening to her as well—which, she supposed, it was.
How strange a sensation to watch something happen from outside her own body yet feel it deep inside.
Her stomach tightened as the woman on the bed writhed, the male devouring her in a cyclone of ecstasy and strength.
Oh, she thought, her spirit burning with the remembrance of just how that felt. Oh, I like that.
It caused her knees to quiver, her body flaring with a yearning she hadn’t experienced in such a long time. Yes. More. She closed her eyes, pretending to be the female on the bed. With the moans and pants so familiar to her ears, she could almost be her, could almost feel his teeth against her sensitive folds and his tongue on her clit.
Her back bowed, the rapture spilling out of her on a tidal wave of sensation.
