Page 105 of Midnight Enchantment

Taking her in his arms, he gazed into her eyes. Something was troubling her. It would have been so easy to read her mind, but he had promised not to do it once they were married. She deserved her privacy. But if this went on much longer, he was going to break that promise.

Resting his chin lightly on the top of her head, he closed his eyes. And frowned. Liliana’s heart beat slow and steady but he detected another heartbeat, one that beat faster.

Lifting his head, he opened his preternatural senses. What he was sensing was beyond impossible, yet there was no denying it.

Liliana was pregnant.

And there was no way he could be the father.

Cursing under his breath, he put her away from him, his eyes blazing red. “What have you done?”

Liliana stared at him, every instinct for self-preservation on high alert. His rage was a palpable thing. “I … I don’t know what you mean.”

“No?”

“Raedan, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

“Who is the father?”

Lily blinked at him. Had he lost his mind? “What on earth are you talking about?”

“You are pregnant,” he hissed. “And we both know it cannot be mine!”

Pregnant! “But … But that’s impossible!”

“Tell me his name.”

Tears burned her eyes. “I can’t believe you think I’ve been unfaithful to you!”

“Stop lying to me, Liliana. I can hear the baby’s heartbeat. I can sense his presence in your womb.”

Pregnant? She wrapped her arms around her waist in an age-old gesture of protection. Pregnant? That explained everything—why her breasts were so tender, why she had been nauseous every morning, why she was tired all the time. Pregnant.

“I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning,” she said. “Blood tests will prove who the father is.”

Lily went to bed early, mainly to avoid Raedan. How could he believe she had been unfaithful to him? And yet, she couldn’t really blame him for what he was thinking. Transylvanian vampires couldn’t sire children. Everyone knew that. And then she frowned. But Raedan carried her father’s blood—a lot of it.

She smiled into the darkness. That had to be the answer.

Raedan entered Liliana’s bedroom. She lay on her side, her cheek resting on her hand, her hair, black as the night, spread across the pillow. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, he placed his hand over her belly and opened his preternatural senses once more. And then he bit her, ever so gently. Her blood was warm and sweet and familiar.

And he knew without a doubt that the child was his.

“Liliana?” He whispered her name. “Liliana?”

Her eyelids fluttered open. He flinched when he saw the fear reflected there. “What’s wrong?”

“I am sorry I thought you had betrayed me,” he said, his fingers stroking her cheek. “But what else could I think?”

“You could have trusted me.”

He nodded as guilt pierced his heart. “I should have known you would never betray me. But how could I believe otherwise? It is impossible for me to father a child.”

“You drank from my father,” she said, sitting up. “I think his blood made a change in your DNA or whatever vampires have. His blood is very powerful, you know.”

He thought that over a moment. He carried Quill’s blood, as did Liliana. Somehow, it had allowed them to conceive. “Can you forgive me?” he asked, taking her hand in his.

“I love you, Raedan. There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. And then she laughed. “I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s face when we tell them.”

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