“Prove it.”
“So eager,” he murmured as he guided her forward with his hands on her hips. “I love this little demanding side of you I’ve unleashed.”
“You give yourself too much credit.” A taunt, one that excited her because she knew it would prompt Sethios to react.
“When I’m done showing you this, I’ll remind you why I deserve all that credit.” He nipped her neck sharply, causing her to squeal with delight.
I don’t even know who I am anymore, she thought. Why is that so thrilling?
They stopped outside a closed door. “Go ahead, Caro. Open it,” he whispered against her ear.
Her lips curved as she turned the handle, then parted as she saw what lay beyond the threshold. “Oh, Sethios…”
“One of my favorite phrases,” he teased as he nudged her forward into the nursery.
“How did you do all this?” she asked, awed.
The walls were a pale blue dotted with white butterflies that reminded her of the wings she hid when in corporeal form. Stars hung from the ceiling above a crib decorated in bedding boasting similar colors, and a rocking chair sat off to the side along with a dresser and a diaper-changing table.
“You’re right,” she breathed before he could explain himself. “It’s perfect.”
“Not bad for a first-time dad, huh?” He wrapped his arms around her belly and kissed her neck. She was due in about two weeks, give or take. Sethios continued to marvel at how fast the baby grew, but Caro considered it relatively normal for a Seraphim birth.
“It’s perfect,” she repeated. “Is this what was in all those boxes?” The poor delivery man kept showing up with items every day, including items for other rooms in the home.
Sethios may have purchased the property, but he kept it understocked compared to the condo in Paris. She understood that he meant for this to be a last-resort location, however, so he hadn’t invested as much in it. That had all changed over the last week and a half.
“Yes.” He rested his chin on her shoulder. “I also ordered clothes for up to six months since I didn’t know what to expect size-wise.”
“She’ll be small.” Caro placed her hand over Sethios’s forearm. “And grow the same as a human infant.”
“You keep saying that, but I won’t be able to believe it until I see it.” He pressed a kiss to her throat and then to her cheek. “So you like it?”
“I do.” Perhaps even loved it, though she didn’t truly understand the difference. She fancied Sethios quite a bit as well and wondered where the lines between emotions existed.
Everything was so new to her. Seraphim simply did not live in this manner, but the more she considered it, the more she realized that all feelings held practical purposes. Happiness, for example, brightened her outlook. No longer did she see the world in black and white, but in coats of color. Whether practical or not, she preferred it.
“One more thing,” he said, releasing her to retrieve a plain box from the floor. He placed it in her hands and slipped his arms around her again, chin on her shoulder. “Open it.”
Caro eyed the gift with interest. “Hmm.” She removed the top and peered at the shiny silver blades. “Knives.”
“Knives,” he confirmed softly. “To replace the ones lost in New York and Paris.”
She drew her finger along the sharp edge. “You had them engraved with our initials.”
“His and hers edition.” He kissed her neck. “We’ll keep them in the bedroom.”
Her stomach tightened at the thought. “In the nightstand?”
“Naturally.”
“I approve.”
“I thought you might.” He nipped her pulse and sighed. “Not to derail a most enlightening subject, but have you heard from Gabriel yet?”
She shook her head. Aside from the tendrils of contentment flowing from her son, she hadn’t spoken to him since he dropped by their first evening in Montana.
“Are you worried about him?”
