“It’s not fair, and it fucking sucks, but that’s the tradeoff. She’s worth the pain.” Calix doesn’t look away from Torin’s anguish.
“She’ll be waiting for you.” I whip my head around to see Grim standing on the other side of the room. I can’t believe I didn’t feel his return.
Torin’s face crumples, but he fights to keep the tears from falling. I wish I had something to say, some magical words that would ease his pain, but I can’t force a syllable past my lips. When I’m tempted to look away, I don’t, I watch as he takes a few precious moments and shores up the walls he’s built over the last several weeks, the ones that will allow him to function until it’s not so hard to remember his mate without feeling like he might fall apart.
“Thank you again.” Torin dips his chin and looks at each of us in turn. “You are always welcome here. If you ever need anything, I’ll be there.” With that, he turns away and walks out of the house just as quietly as he entered, and I feel like we let him down.
I look at Grim, knowing there are tears streaming down my face. “Isn’t there anything you can do?” I know the answer, but I have to ask.
The Angel of Death walks over and kneels at my feet. “I cannot create, Omnia. I can only ruin,” he replies, as if he believes himself to be a failure.
“That’s not true, Loverboy.” I feel the truth of my statement, and the lie that accompanied his. Reaching out, I take his hand and place it on my stomach, hoping he understands because words are just too hard right now.
Chapter 21
“This is a bunch of bullshit!” I toss my cards on the table. Uncle’s long, pointed fingers trail over the marbles, collecting his winnings. I rub my hand over my rounded belly and wonder how it is I haven’t won a game of cards in so long. It makes me think Uncle used toletme win.
He rises slowly, untangling his long limbs and revealing how very tall he is. I tip my head back. “Don’t be a stranger.”
Uncle’s lips peel back at my words, illuminating his rows of razor-sharp teeth in a macabre smile. “Stranger danger.”He chuckles, and it sounds like metal gnashing together. I feel a strong kick from the baby high up in my ribs. “Ugh, I need to get up.”
I use the arm of the chair to stand. Who knew having a big gut would throw off your center of balance so much? Uncle offers me his hand, and I take it, lifting myself the rest of the way up. The pressure in my chest dissipates, but I need to pee almost immediately. I groan and Gunnar pokes his head into the parlor. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t checked up on me twice already. He’s the mother hen of the group.
“Everything good?”
“Fine, I just need the bathroom.” I roll my eyes. He moves into the room as if he’s going to help me there. “I’m eight months pregnant, not a fucking invalid.” Pregnancy has not turned me into a Suzy Homemaker. This shit is hard, and anyone who says it’s not strange having a little alien creature inside you kicking and rearranging your organs is a lunatic.
As I pass Gunnar, he trails his hand over my ass, and I damn near melt right there. Stars, I’m fucking horny all the time—not that I wasn’t before—and boy they sure know how to use it to their advantage. “Stay put, I’ll be back,” I growl, as I speed waddle my way to the nearest bathroom.
Grim is standing near the door when I get out, dressed in only a pair of low-slung linen pants. “Uncle’s gone.” He runs his eyes over me as if I’m some fucking goddess, not a legging- and t-shirt-clad heifer.
“He is,” I confirm.
No sooner do the words leave my mouth when I hear an enraged, “Hey!” shouted from Gunnar. Before I can even blink, Grim swoops me up in his arms and carries me to the attic. Gunnar’s “Fucking poacher!” is muffled, but still rings clear, even up here.
Grim grins down at me with smug victory and satisfaction. “You can tell me how your trip went later.” I wrap my arms loosely around his neck, pushing my butt back so my belly doesn’t get smashed up against his flat stomach. I miss molding my body to his.
“Later,” he agrees, and leans down to place a soft kiss against my lips. I know I’m going to be giving myself over to him for the next hour or so. Grim still fucks like he has all the time in the world, which he kind of does.
He peels my clingy shirt off and tosses it carelessly on the ground. His eyes go right to my tits. They’re a little larger, but my nipples are much darker, a dusty pink, and he can’t ever seem to get enough of them. He palms the weight of each breast in his hands, thumbing my nipples and making my back arch.
“Did you miss me?” His voice is deep and low.
“I always miss you, even when you’re in the same room. I’m like some sort of death dick junkie,” I confess, but I don’t feel an ounce of shame. I know it’s the same for him. He’s only been gone a few hours, but he frequently leaves for hours at a time, so it feels like he’s never home enough.
There haven’t been any more unexplained Charmed deaths, not since Savannah. We went to my old school when we first returned from Torin’s, but left without any answers. I couldn’t even find Boogey to see if he had any more information to share with us. None of us have admitted it, but I think we’ve all kind of given up on trying to find Antonio, at least until after the baby is born anyway.
The past few months have flown by. Much to my astonishment, I was already over three months pregnant when I realized it. Our due date is just a very rough estimate, though, given by the doctor after doing an ultrasound to measure the baby, since I don’t have a history of menstrual cycles to use as a predictor.
Having three men in the ultrasound room went against the hospital rules, but no one was brave enough to ask any of them to leave. We got a few strange looks, but I think it had more to do with their good looks than it did with the fact that I had three baby daddies listed on my information form, and they were all with me. The place was filled with pregnant chicks, and if they were anything like me, they were all probably wishing they were in the same boat. I can’t even be mad at them for it.
Grim slides his hands down, barely touching my belly on the way to remove my leggings—the damn things are only held up by my hips and a prayer anyway, I can’t stand anything over my belly at this point. He doesn’t stop until he’s kneeling before me. I have to bend at the waist a little so I can see his face. Not too long ago, I would have hooked my knee over his shoulder and let him show me how much he’s missed me, but I’m afraid I would topple over because my balance is shit, so I brace my hands on his shoulders while he explores my exposed skin with his hands and soft kisses.
After a few tortuous moments of him touching me, he gives my ass a little crack with his palm. “Get on the bed.”
I turn around and give him a good view of my ass. The slap is still smarting, so I know he left a red spot, plus it’s one part of me that I feel is still completely mine. So much about my body has changed; it takes a hell of lot of confidence to embrace the transformation.
Grim is on me before I can even reach the bed. His front molded to my back. He must have lost the pants at some point, because I can feel the velvetiness of his cock against my ass. I moan when he wraps his arms over the top of my chest, crushing me to him as tightly as possible. Reaching my hands back, I feel the tight muscles of his legs under my palms.
