Page 48 of Prince of Tides
“Don’t you think it’s, I don’t know, a bit early?” I asked. “We don’t know anything about the baby or its gender.”
“I know,” Laurie said, slapping at the controls as she died. “Damn. But, Rip, I’m going to enjoy every moment of this pregnancy. I’m not going to go through it being all calm and boring about it.”
I chuckled. “I wouldn’t ask you to.”
“I have to find a doctor, too. Another thing to add to the list,” she said, licking her lips. “I’m going to have some water. You want a glass?”
“Would love one,” I said, hiding a smile as she went to the bar and poured two glasses from the tap.
“I’ve been so thirsty the past week. It must be the pregnancy, but holy,” she muttered, draining her glass.
I hid a smile. There was a rather obvious reason why she was so thirsty, but that would have to wait. For now, I wanted her to enjoy the pregnancy and the fact she was having a baby.
Not just her. You are, too. This is your child. Your heir.
That sank home, and I paused halfway through my glass.
Laurie noted that. “Everything okay?”
I nodded. “Yes. Fine,” I said, smiling at her. “Just … a momentary hitting-home of the fact that I’m going to be a father.”
My heir. I’d never thought about having children that way before. I had long known I wanted to be a father. But now it was happening, and the reality was starting to set in. The child would be not only my offspring but also the heir to the Tidal throne.
I couldn’t wait too long to tell Laurie the truth about the child she carried. It would be quite the shock and adjustment, I was sure, and the farther along she was, the more the shock ran a risk of harming the baby. Our baby. But I didn’t want to spoil the current mood either. She was sohappy, and I longed to preserve that feeling for her.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, reaching out to lay a hand on my arm.
I swallowed at the spark that zipped through me at her touch. Every time, without fail, my body surged to life from her simplest touch.
“Yes,” I said, reassuring her. “Lots to process. Lots. All good. Just mindset changes. I will admit I’d expected to be with my mate and that our children would be planned. I hold no regrets, I assure you. I just have to change my mindset.”
Laurie smiled softly. “I understand. I thought I’d be married, with a wedding, white dress, a day all about me, that sort of thing. Then we’d spend some time being husband and wife.Thenwe’d try for kids. Very traditional and stereotypical, I know, but I was okay with that. Now, I’m going to be okay with this.”
I smiled. “I agree.”
“Maybe I’ll end up being your mate, and you’ll be my husband,” she said with a wink. “Who knows.”
“I would like that.”
I longed to tell her the truth. That I knew she was my mate, the one woman I would be with for the rest of my life. The words were there, on the tip of my tongue, ready to spill from my lips if I would just let them.
But I held back. I didn’tlikekeeping secrets from Laurie, but I wanted to break it to her bit by bit so that she wasn’t overwhelmed. It was not the time for that. We needed to know one another better first. Then I could reveal the truth about what I was, where I was from, and all that.
I glanced out the window, set high into the wall. An outdoor light let me see the snow as it fell heavily. Fighting back a grimace, I forced myself to accept that I would have to stay the night.
Not all of me was upset over that, of course. More time spent with my mate was never a bad thing. Besides, she was with child. Instincts told me never to leave her side now. I should be there to provide for her every need so that she had nothing to focus on but growing our baby.
Instinctively, I knew that if Laurie ever found out I had that thought, she would eviscerate me with words. She wasn’t helpless, and if I treated her as such, I would do nothing but push her away from me.
However, as much as I needed to be with Laurie, I was torn. Rip, the dragon, knew his place was with his mate and babe. Prince-Heir Riptide, leader of the Tidal Clan, was needed back at the Tidal Bastion, where I could lead our people properly. It was high season for incursions, and I wasn’t sure how long I could be safely on Earth. I might have already been there too long. The not knowing was killing me.
I had to fight the urge to sweep Laurie from her feet and take her with me to my home. It wouldn’t go over well, I knew, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. The longer I spent with her, the more my dragon instincts took over.
She was my mate. My woman. Shebelongedto me, and I belonged to her, and she should know that, consequences be damned. I should take the prize and deal with anyone who got in my way, like her ex, in the worst of ways.
Mine.
I growled, trying to fight down the possessive nature rising inside me.
