Page 72 of The Lord of Whispers

I dropped his hand as I moved to instinctively cover myself back up, my mood no longer matching the tone of our exchange. “Just say it, Jay,” I said, thinking I knew what he was going to say.

He had said that his obligations to Lady Vitruvian would not come up again for some time, but he was going north. He would probably see her and…

“Elizabeth’s pregnant,” Jay replied, assuming his stoic facade again.

That wasnotwhat I’d thought he would say.

“I…” I spluttered. “Congratulations?” I finished awkwardly.

In any other circumstance, it really would be a cause for congratulations. The fae had been unable to conceive for decades. I was among the last generation of fae born.

“Alarie, this doesn’t change anything,” he admonished.

“How can you say that, Jay? You’re going to be afather. Elizabeth is going to be the mother ofyour child. The first fae child to be born in, what, twenty years?”

“But that doesn’t changeus, Alarie,” he reassured me. “The baby is going to love you as much as I do,” he said, already showing a tenderness I’d not seen before at the prospect of being a father.

“And this will be my last trip without you,” he promised fiercely, grabbing my hand and pulling it to his chest. “Elizabeth’s pregnancy will be announced at the Spring Ball. But after the Ball, we can announce you as consort to House Vitruvian, and we will end this charade. Then you can be by my sidealways.”

And with this all-consuming, life-altering declaration, he raised my hand to his lips with a kiss.

I was speechless, so I just nodded my head and leaned in, accepting his kiss. Jay grasped my shoulders with his strong hands and pulled my bare breasts into his body, kissing me possessively. Then my gallant high lord, who had already given too much to the last war, left my room to prevent another.

35

Alarie

Imet Luke at Bar Louie. I’d chosen a mid-length, clingy, cottony black dress for the night, something different from the blue I almost always wore these days. Something simple that I made slightly sexier by pairing it with a pair of wedges that wrapped around my ankles.

Luke was leaning against the bar, chatting with one of our regular bartenders. He was always dressed to the nines, but outside of the High Court, I would often find him in various stages of undress. Tonight, he wore a sharp black suit, but he had already disposed of his jacket, leaving the suspenders to his pants exposed. His tie was untied and hanging loosely around his neck, the sleeves of his white button-down were rolled up to his elbows, and his brown hair was slightly curled, probably from him running his hands through it all day. The exposed straps of his suspenders only served to further highlight his muscled frame, the way the thin straps seemed just barely capable of stretching over his large shoulders before leading the eye down to his pants.

Rhett wasn’t there. He must have been in too deep with whoever was his date for the night to join us. I walked up to the bar, the click of my heels on the bar’s floor announcing my arrival. Luke, still leaning on the bar with his ass poked out and a foot propped on the bottom ledge, turned his attention toward me.

“Al!” he bellowed in excitement, like he didn’t see me all the time.

“What’s up?” I greeted, popping the straps of one of his suspenders against his muscled back.

We shared our first beer of the evening, sitting at the bar.

“Guess that explains why Jay was in such a foul mood,” Luke commented in response to my rendition of why Jay’s trip to the north was necessary.

I didn’t mention Lady Vitruvian’s pregnancy, but I did hint at issues with the border wall.

“Yeah, that must have been it,” I replied.

Luke flashed me one of his prized smiles and said, “So, when’s the announcement?”

My heart dropped, worried that Luke knew that Jay planned to announce me as House consort. Or that Elizabeth was pregnant. But he couldn’t, I reasoned, calming.

“What announcement is this?” I asked coyly.

“Al, I know competition when I see it. Tell me Jay doesn’t intend to name you counselor at the Spring Ball,” Luke replied.

Relief flowed through me. “You want some competition? How about I beat your ass in horseshoes?” I quipped.

I was actually quite good at horseshoes and had humbled Luke and Rhett any number of times on the back deck to Bar Louie.

“Let’s do it, little girl,” he teased. “But don’t come crawling to me when you’re three sheets in the wind.”

---