Page 216 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“I didn’t mean to make you upset,” Kat said when silent seconds ticked by.

“You didn’t, kitten,” he sighed. “As we’ve both said repeatedly in the last ten minutes, we simply need time to adjust.”

She nodded as she stood, shifting on her feet and worrying her bottom lip. He knew what she was going to say when she opened her mouth, and he stopped her before she could.

“Go rest, Katya. I’ll finish this.”

The words were harsher than he’d intended, more command than request, and because it was so ingrained in her, she didn’t argue. He knew it was pure habit when she bowed her head before quickly leaving the room.

“Fuck,” Axel cursed, throwing the scrub brush across the room. It hit the wall with a loud smack, water and soap suds flying everywhere.

He sat back, elbows resting on his bent knees as he shoved his fingers into his hair.

He wasn’t sure if any amount of time would allow him to adjust to this.

A few hours later, Axel found her on the sofa in the living room. She wasn’t reading anything. Instead, she was curled into one end, clearly lost in thought. Her amber eyes immediately met his. Whether she heard him coming or felt him, he didn’t know.

“So this orange juice…” he started, watching the crease form in her brow. “Are we out?”

“Yes,” she sighed. “I spilled the last of it.”

He’d figured as much. He’d done more than clean the kitchen floor and scrubbed that room spotless, letting himself get lost to the mindless tasks to avoid thinking about the fuckery his life had become. It probably wasn’t up to anyone’s standards, but for his first time cleaning a room, he was pretty fucking proud of it.

During all that avoidance cleaning, however, he’d found the empty orange juice container. The same juice Kat was drinking several glasses of every day since they’d come here. He was fairly certain she was drinking more orange juice than eating peanutbutter at this point. He was also certain the sudden cleaning of the kitchen floor was in large part due to being upset about spilling the last of that orange juice.

Axel crossed the room, taking a seat next to her. Lifting her legs, she draped them over his lap as she twisted to see him better. Her hand landed on her swollen stomach that was more than obvious now. Admittedly, Axel didn’t know much about pregnancy. It wasn’t something he thought he’d be dealing with for several decades. But he knew Fae and Legacy pregnancies were shorter than mortal ones by about a month or so, the magic in their blood helping the babes grow faster. But it also made the pregnancy harder on the females with so much extra magic intheirbody too. He knew there were cravings and amplified emotions. He knew he was now responsible to protect her at all costs, and at the end of this, a tiny little life would be his to guard too.

An entirely new life.

That was terrifying.

“I can get you more orange juice, Kat,” he said softly, tracing a line along her calf. His gaze was still fixed on her hand where it splayed across her stomach.

“Can we go get it?”

“I can have it delivered. I know?—”

“I know you know people, Axel,” she interrupted. “I just wanted to go… I don’t know. Walk around, maybe?”

“You know why we can’t,” he said. “That Mark Eliza gave you has long since worn off, and even if it hadn’t, it’s getting pretty hard to hide.”

She looked away from him when she said, “I know.”

“And I’m too recognizable,” he added.

“What does that matter?” she argued. “You are still royalty here.”

“Yes, but?—”

He hadn’t told her yet. He hadn’t filled her in on Bree and the vampyre’s requests and plans. He’d been too concerned with getting her back here safely and keeping her protected. Too focused on keeping them secluded so word didn’t get out that she was pregnant. Everyone knew about the fire Fae the Arius Kingdom had acquired. She was more than recognizable now, and with everything he’d put her through these last months, he hadn’t wanted to add to that burden. Because he’d been raised that to love someone was to protect them at all costs, even if it meant keeping secrets, but he supposed this was another thing he needed to adjust to. The whole Theon and Tessa debacle had proven that.

“Axel?” Kat pushed.

He rubbed at the back of his neck. “There are some things you don’t know.”

“I understand if it is not my place to know,” she answered.

His brows knitted together because he didn’t like the sound of that at all.

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