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I raised my brows. “Hold on, sir. When were you thinking we were going to have kids? Because we like, just got together, and now we’re already getting married. I was hoping we could settle into our relationship before bringing kids into the mix. You know, practice for a bit. Practice, practice, practice.”
“Why do you want to wait?”
“I just told you. Can’t we enjoy each other and the settling in phase before that all changes?”
“Changes that include a piece of you and a piece of me?”
“Stop,” I said, my insides melting.
“A piece of you and a piece of me with your attitude and my charm? Kid’ll be unstoppable.”
“Bones…”
“And when we can’t possibly think about shit getting any better, we’ll have another one.”
I sighed. “You’re holding my ovaries hostage with your words and it’s not fair.”
He cradled my face in his hands. “A year.”
“What?”
“We’ll wait a year, but I don’t want to wait too long. I’ve waited long enough and now that I’ve found you, I want to make a life with you. I want to make a home with you. I want to make a family with you. Okay, Duchess?”
“Okay.”
He leaned in close and brushed his lips against mine. “What were you saying about practice?”
I woke up to a dark room and a cold spot in the bed next to me. I reached out to touch his pillow, but the indent was long gone.
With a sigh, I rolled over onto my back. I stared at the ceiling though I couldn’t see. I didn’t need a clock to tell me it was the middle of the night. My throat was dry and the back of my neck felt hot.
I closed my eyes and prayed that I wouldn’t have one of my spells now. I couldn’t afford the time wasted when my body took me out of the world for several hours at a time.
“Please,” I begged the dark. “Not now.”
My feet hit the floor and I sat for a moment and then I finally switched on the bedside lamp. Bones’ pistol and phone were gone. I picked up my cell from the nightstand and glanced at the screen. Three thirty in the morning.
There was no way in hell I would be able to go back to sleep. My mind had kicked on, occupied with the several mountainous problems that had fallen into my lap.
I quietly crept from the room. As I passed closed bedroom doors, I heard the unmistakable sounds of shared pleasure.
My stocking-clad feet were quiet on the stairs as I descended. The lights were on in the living room and kitchen, but it was devoid of people.
I moved around the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. I texted Bones asking where he was, and when I got no immediate reply, I set my cell aside.
In a few days, I would be married.
In a few days, I would be standing in front of the board, my father’s legacy weighing heavily on my shoulders.
For the last couple of years, I hadn’t been ready to take charge, to take my rightful place within my father’s company as his heir. I relished in the fact that I wasn’t old enough yet and that I wasn’t married. Both those things had felt like protections from the weight of the burden I knew I’d soon have to carry. Now I feared it was the opposite—it would be my body that failed me. Perhaps I was more like my mother than I realized; we both collapsed under the weight of stress. Hers was a mental battle, mine physical.
My body rebelled against me. No matter how much I tried to cater to it. It was frustrating, not being able to rely on something that was supposed to function properly. No matter what I did, no matter what I fed it, even limiting the amount of stress in my life didn’t solve the problem.
It was unsolvable.
I finished off my tea and then laid down on the couch and spread a blanket over me. My eyes drifted shut of their own accord, and not even my overactive brain could go toe to toe with my body. I sank into oblivion.
I floated awake, encased in a warm cocoon. A heavy arm was slung across my waist and I smiled with my eyes closed and wiggled back against Bones.
