“Come back to what?”
“How fucked up that is,” he said. “You might be used to having people issue verdicts on your behalf, but I’m not. They sent you here under false pretenses with the expectation of me planting my seed in you. How that doesn’t infuriate you is beyond me.”
“If it was fate, it was going to happen with or without their intervention.”
“Leaving you no choice but to comply?” He shook his head. “I disagree. The intention of foresight is to have an opportunity to change it; otherwise, what’s the point?”
“So you would prefer me to have refused and not created a child?”
“No, I wouldn’t change anything about how we met or what ensued. But your elders played you, and I find that unacceptable.”
“I see.” She agreed that they should have been allowed to choose and that what her council did was wrong. “But I wouldn’t change the outcome either. They must have known that.”
“Did they?” Incredulity colored his features and tone. “That remains to be seen. We need to learn more about what they’ve predicted, as well as Skye, so we can better prepare ourselves. To protect our child, Caro.”
He took the mug from her and set it aside, then grabbed her hands with his own. “Your son suggested sending me to Osiris, and if I thought that would protect you and our child, I’d think about it. But until we know more, that’s not an option either of us can select. We need to be a team. That’s the only way this is going to work.”
Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity in his expression and in his eyes. He meant every word; of that, she had no doubt. Could she partner with this man? The one who essentially tricked her into bed that first night they met, promising her information that he later withheld?
He had granted her a semblance of freedom these last two weeks to do whatever she wanted. Caro had tried misting more than once, and he didn’t stop her. No compulsion. She’d remained, mostly because she wanted to know more about Osiris’s seer. Now that information mattered even more.
“A team,” she repeated. “And if I would prefer to be in the sanctuary of my own people?”
“The same beings who sent you on a bogus errand with the intention of impregnating you with my child?” He smirked. “If that’s your desire, then I’ll either follow you or do what I can to protect you from here. But I would request—beg, even—that you wait to decide until after we know more about the prophecy.”
Her lips threatened to curl. “Beg?” She might enjoy seeing that.
His gaze narrowed. “This is a serious conversation.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “You begging is very serious to me.”
“Now you’re teasing me,” he growled, wrapping his hands around her wrists. “I’m trying to discuss something important, and you’re smiling.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“Your eyes are smiling.” He moved closer, sliding between her legs and lowering her palms to the armrests of the chair. “You know what I think?”
She bit her lip and shook her head. Though, she had an idea of where he might be headed given the devilish glint in his dark green eyes.
“I think you like me,” he replied. “In fact, I think you might even find me useful during this pregnancy.”
Her eyebrows rose. “In what way?”
“Hot chocolate, for one.” His fingers slid from her wrists to her knees and started exploring upward beneath her dress. “I can also offer pleasure, something I hear pregnant women fancy.”
“Both impractical.”
“Are they?” His fingers slid up her thighs to her panties. “You were quite pale earlier, Caro. Yet, your cheeks are glowing healthily now. Why do you think that is?” The husky quality of his voice stroked over her, heightening her senses.
She cleared her throat. “My nap.”
“Mmm.” He traced the lace over her hips and continued inward toward her center. She dug her nails into the chair as his thumb unerringly found and pressed her pleasure point. “Your nap in my bed. Why did you choose that location, angel?”
Her lips formed several words that didn’t escape clearly, or really at all.
This shouldn’t be happening.
Not like you can get pregnant again, some unknown part of her whispered.
