Page 31 of A Story of Mates and Temptation

“It’s best not to tell him that, or he might never stop mentioning his all-knowing knowledge,” I tease, and she giggles. I sense him nearby, coming closer, and I can’t wait to see him. Her giggle stops, and she looks up at me. “I don’t remember having a mother, but I think you’re the closest I’ve ever got. I want to honour my mother’s memory, but I want you as more than my aunt and Ziven, my uncle. I’ve been really thinking we are one family, and I’m yours.” She looks so nervous, and it breaks my heart that she is worried at all. “I mean, you can tell me no. But I love you and you’re like a mum to me.”

“You can call me whatever name you like, and I will be your family forever, Hettie. I’ve looked at you like a daughter for a long time, too.” I stroke her hair. “And you’re so much more than just a niece to Ziven, too. We will always be together, and I want to raise you as mine.”

She bursts into tears, and I hold her, crying too. Both of us are a mess within seconds, and I let myself be, let myself enjoy this little girl whose life I have been blessed to be part of. When we have calmed down, she lies back and looks up. “One question. Why are we outside?” I ask.

“Well, the mountain place…it changed.” She shrugs a shoulder. “The dragons made it clear that they didn’t want us there anymore—not now that the war’s over. We had to come out to the forest to be safe.” She lowers her voice. “I secretly love it outside because I can see the sky and feel the wind again. I don’t want to spend another second trapped again. I like running free.”

“I like that too,” I whisper, yawning. I don’t know how, but I fall back asleep. When I wake again, Hettie is gone. Instead, thick arms are wrapped around my waist, holding me from behind, and it is night again. I must have slept another day and night away. I glance ahead, seeing Hettie sleeping in a smaller bed next to this one, and I sigh, sinking back into him, and he hums, pressing a kiss to the side of my neck.

“I’m glad you’re awake,” he speaks directly into my mind. “I was getting worried, even when I felt you were fine.” I turn over to look up at him, stroking his face. “The war’s over, Story. The king’s dead—you know that. Everything’s over. We won.”

“Tell me everything,” I whisper. “What happened after I passed out?”

“I caught you just before the treeline. I think you’ve changed.” He runs a line down my arm, tracing the silvered marks there. “The power—it was a lot for you to use, to wield, and it knocked you out. This connection we have now, us together…I was sure that you would wake. I kept you with me, close by, along with allour family and friends.” I listen in silence as he continues. “The city fell, not without dragon and fae deaths, though. Daegan won and took over, executing the vampyres that were left alive. He’s called for the other vampyres in the south to bend to him or die. Niko came up with a better solution to those who did not want to join the dynasties. He and Catherine are going to rule in the islands to the south sea, where no one has lived in centuries, and welcome vampyres who will feed off animals there and fae who wish to join, not as slaves, but as free people. But Niko is loyal to Daegan, and we both agreed through letters that this is safe—at least for now. That’s all that matters as we rebuild, Story.”

“That’s true.” I touch his chest, looking at him, enjoying every second of the slowness of the time we get together right now. His gaze flickers over me. “You…you’ve taken vampyres into your dynasty?”

“A good four hundred of them now and many more fae who clearly love their vampyre masters and don’t want to be apart from them. I’ve claimed my parents’ lands, and this is our home now.”

“These lands are our home,” I murmur.

“I want to rebuild with you,” he softly suggests.

It isn’t hard to tell him what I imagined for us, what I’ve always wished to call home. I’ve dreamt of us, of any future we could have, a million times, and it seems almost unreal to imagine we could have it all. “I want to live by the sea. I want to hear waves crash in the morning as we wake up together, and I want a library with moons hanging from the ceiling.”

His lips twitch into a smile. “A library?”

I nod. “Many levels. Many books. Even if I have to write them all myself.”

He smiles at me—smiles so bright, so pure. “I will design and build it.”

“I’m still mad at you.” I glower at him. “No more secrets and self-sacrificing bullshit. It makes having a future with you a little difficult.”

“We can do the mad, burning, passionate sex where you forgive me later.” He grips my hips, and heat pours through me for a second. His lips are soft as they brush mine. “But right now, I just want to stare at you. Just see you. Alive. Happy.” He exhales. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us, but with you, I know it’s possible. Anything is.” The future. It was once a fleeting dream of something unreal, and now it’s not. “To make something…to build you a home by the sea. For Hettie too. She can have it one day when we are gone together, when she is queen.”

“Not just Hettie,” I murmur, my heart pounding.

I take his hand and press it against my stomach. He frowns in confusion. “What?”

“The deities told me that I’m pregnant.” His entire body stills. “And I believe them because it’s true. Unbelievable and magical, but true. A miracle.” I take a breath, still trying to process it myself, and his shock is mirroring mine. “I don’t know or understand how this miracle has happened. I’m still in shock, but…it’s true. I know it’s true.”

He stares at me for so long I wonder if he is even breathing. “You’re pregnant.” A slow exhale fills the space between our bodies. “I thought you smelled slightly different, but…” Hisfingers press gently against my stomach, reverent. “You’re carrying my child.”

If I thought he was happy before, it’s nothing compared to the smile he gives me now. He pulls me to him and kisses me deeply. “Storm.” He groans. “You have given me everything I could have ever wanted.”

I smile as brightly as I can at him, just so I don’t cry all over him in bliss. We lie together for hours, not talking. We don’t need to talk—just holding each other until sleep pulls us under, is enough. When morning comes, I wake to find Calix standing over us, and he is grinning at us. He winks at me before putting on a pretend mad expression. “My mate is injured, and she said there is no excuse for lying in bed.” He crosses his arms. “You might be the king, but you don’t get the same excuse. Get up.”

Ziven groans and shifts beside me. “Remind me to kick his ass later for being a dick.”

Calix kicks his foot. Hard. Ziven glares at his best friend. “Your majesty, get your royal ass up, because there’s a fuck-ton of fae who want to swear allegiance to your pretty face, and you’re lying in bed.”

Ziven snarls. It’s playful though, and I chuckle low. “Did you just kick your king?”

Calix kicks him again, and I can just tell he enjoyed doing it. “We can train first. If you want to try to teach me why kicking you is bad?”

I roll my eyes as Ziven grins and stretches before sitting up. “I’m going to enjoy handing you your ass for breakfast.” Ziven kisses me and climbs up to his feet.

My mother walks past them, shaking her head as she watches the two of them with me while they are wrestling.

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