Point of No Return (18 page)

“You’re only being sweet because you’ve
gotten what you want,” I said tiredly.

“Would it be so bad to be already pregnant?”
he said, lifting my face with his hand gently so I had to look at
him. “Ours will be a beautiful baby, Love. I will see to your every
want and whim.”

I gave him a half smile. “It’s going to hurt
Theo if it’s yours and it’ll hurt you if it’s his. It’s a no-win
situation for me.”

“Has your love for him returned?” Devlin
asked, curious. “You don’t act as though you’re head over heels for
him.”

I moved closer to hug him, resting my head on
his shoulder. “My feelings for you are no different, nor mine for
Danial. Maybe that was also something Titus just said to upset
you.”

“Don’t tell me what you think I want to
hear,” Devlin said sternly. “Tell me the truth: do you love
Theo?”

I moved back, giving him a dark look. “I’m
telling the truth. Yes, I love him, but my feelings for you haven’t
changed.”
Despite some odd thoughts here and there,
anyway.

“Sorry, Love,” he said gently. “Come back
here, please. I want to hold you.”

I went back into his arms. We stayed like
that for a while, just embracing in the warm water, not
speaking.

“We should get out,” Devlin said, rising and
offering me his hand. “Come, I’ll make you a fire.”

Devlin helped me out, wrapped me in a towel,
then led me to the fireplace. As I dried off, he added a few more
logs. Soon the burning wood was crackling merrily.

We sat down on the gold love seat, and he
pulled over our shoulders a long white blanket of soft, fluffy
yarn.

“What is this?” I said, feeling the fibers.
“Wool? Angora?”

“You should know, being a country woman,”
Devlin said with a smile. “It’s alpaca.”

“Ah. It’s wonderfully soft,” I said, stroking
the blanket.

Devlin looked down at me, his great golden
eyes shining in the light from the fire. “Are you hungry?”

I was lost in his eyes, and didn’t answer. He
leaned in to kiss me, and I kissed him back, my arms going around
him.

He kissed me chastely, then drew back, his
expression both seductive and happy. “You’re right, we are
unchanged, Love. Still, I need to know: are you hungry?

I hugged him tightly. “Yes. But I’m happy to
stay here if you are.”

“We can, if you wish,” he answered. “Among
her talents, Serena is a short order cook. She can make you
dinner.” He kissed my hand. “Besides groceries, I’ve also laid in a
supply of chocolate. Danial reminded me of your favorite foods this
morning.”

“Did he?” I said, laughing. “Be careful, Dev.
He might have told you wrong items just to make you look bad.”

“Why would you say that?” Devlin said, hurt.
“Danial wants you to be happy, for me to treat you well. He would
not deliberately sabotage us. He is enjoying our shared Oath, that
things have worked out between us three.”

Shame suffused my face. Danial would never do
what I had just accused him of. I moved back from Devlin, upset.
“I’m sorry I said that, Dev. I don’t know why I did—”

“Maybe the reason is your condition,” Devlin
said soothingly, bringing me back into his arms. “Danial warned me
to watch for any sign that you might not be yourself.” He kissed me
harder, then brought my hand down to rest on his stiffening penis.
“I am so looking forward to your lust,” he whispered. “I can’t wait
for you to demand that I take you. Just the thought of it—”

The Lust was a double-edged sword, prompting
me to entice violence from my lover along with sex by whatever
means necessary. If I was pregnant with his child, Devlin would
find that out soon enough.

Devlin’s lips moved to my neck, his fangs
pricking lightly in his passion “—I’ve fantasized about you coming
after me, tearing my clothes in your haste—”

I didn’t need The Lust to give him his
fantasy.

“Take me to your bed,” I said gutturally,
grabbing his hair in my hands and pulling it back roughly. “I want
to ride you until you scream—”

Unbidden, the image of Lash below applauding
suddenly came to mind. I faltered, but Devlin had already thrown
the wrap aside and bolted to his feet. He leaned over to pick me
up.

Forget Lash; he’s not important.
“You’re going to scream for me again,” I demanded quickly. “I want
to hear you come.”

“You will, Lover,” he said seductively. “Come
here.”

I grabbed Devlin’s throat. Startled, he went
motionless.

“Tonight, I want it all,” I ordered, my eyes
flashing as I squeezed. “Prove to me you’re the best, Lover, or
face the consequences.”

Devlin’s lips parted, then he lunged for me.
With fangs bared, he strode to the bed carrying me. Falling back on
it, he maneuvered my hips over his, then drove up into me with so
much force I let out a scream.

“Me first,” he panted, his hands clamped on
my thighs, holding me immobile as he slid in and out of me as fast
as he could. He closed his eyes, his body straining beneath mine as
his back arched.

“Deeper,” I hissed at him, digging my fingers
into his chest. “I said all of you!”

Devlin’s eyes opened, their red-gold depths
hot as flame. With the next thrust, he put himself inside as far as
he could, letting out a sharp cry of fulfillment.

My cry echoed his, pain edging my pleasure.
Devlin was panting hard, possessing me as if he might never get the
chance again. I screamed with every fierce movement of his body in
mine, my hands gripping his skin, slippery with sweat.

Devlin’s body began to tense, his orgasm
moments away. I concentrated, using my internal muscles to squeeze
him, tightening my body around his.

Devlin let loose a savage cry, his eyes like
twin suns, his body shaking. Then he screamed my name, convulsing
under me in orgasm. “Saaaaarrrrrr!”

He jerked a few more times, then lay shaking,
gasping for breath. I stroked his chest gently, loving his tremors
beneath my fingers.

“I can never get enough of you, Dev,” I said,
kissing his brow. “Not ever.”

Devlin raised his head, his eyes bright.
“Good. My desire’s always been strong, just like my libido.” He
kissed me. “I’ll need you to fulfill both for a long time,
Love.”

His talk about not being exclusive sprang to
mind. “Just me?”

Devlin rolled over onto me, putting his
finger to my lips. “Stop,” he said firmly. “We are going to be
together for a long time. I love you. That means all of you, Sar:
your confidence, your fearlessness, your tenderheartedness that you
hide behind your tough exterior just as I hide mine—”

I smiled. “You know me better than I
thought.”

“—
all the things that make you who you
are. It’s true that as the years pass we might not be together as
much and I might take a lover besides you—”

I frowned at him to tell him he was off his
intended path. He ignored my look.

“—
but I won’t love anyone else like
this. I don’t love easily, Sar. I never cheated on Anna, and I
won’t be with someone else without your permission.”

“Good to know,” I said uncomfortably. “Though
if you want to just sever our bond then, we could—”

He pushed me back to the bed, dominant. “We
are never breaking our Oath, ever, end of discussion.
Understood?”

I nodded.

“Good. You must listen to me carefully now,
Love,” he said, somber. “I have something important to tell
you.”

Chapter Ten

It was going to be very bad, by his tone.
“What happened?”

Devlin let out a breath. “I had a call from
Samuel this morning about Harriet.”

“And?” I prompted.

“Samuel reported that Harriet’s blood has
turned “summer-like” already. He and Perseus took the same potion I
took last week. They’re actively trying.”

While my sympathy went out to Harriet, as I
wouldn’t have wanted either Samuel or his nasty ally Perseus to be
my bedfellow, I didn’t see why this was so upsetting to Dev, given
his views on a female’s right to refuse. “Why are you upset? It’s
not because of her situation.”

“Because I don’t know what will happen,”
Devlin said, his eyes sliding away from mine in guilt.

“To her or to them?” I demanded. “What did
you do?”

“What I had to in order to keep you safe,”
Devlin replied stridently.

“Which was?”

He sighed heavily. “I had Titus do a spell to
change her blood to resemble yours.”

My sudden save at the Gathering hadn’t been a
miracle, but instead a well-orchestrated diversion. “How?” I got
out. “When?”

“Titus took a sample of your blood that night
I marked you. When I first got to the Gathering, at the beginning
of the evening, I watched to see who might be with a woman they had
just met. Harriet was with some low level vampire. He’d just picked
her up that night, hadn’t even tasted her yet. In an opportune
moment, I injected her with some of your blood, and a
transformative spell that Titus had prepared.”

“You tasted her after? She tasted like
me?”

Devlin shook his head. “Luckily, no other
vampire there, save Danial and I, had tasted you, or they would
have realized that Harriet’s blood didn’t taste the same as
yours.”

God, this was diabolical
. “Why’d that
vampire let you taste his girl?”

“He knew who I was, what I’d been. He knew
enough about me not to refuse me when I asked to taste her.” Devlin
hugged me. “She tasted like flowers, Sar, but not like summer.” He
nuzzled me. “Not like you.”

And there was no way in hell she’d birth a
dhamphir, even if she managed to get pregnant. Devlin had known
that, and still doomed her. “If months go by and Harriet doesn’t
get pregnant, they are going to suspect something.”

Devlin nodded. “Samuel and Perseus are both
cunning and intelligent. If they dig deeper into her past they’ll
find out they were tricked, and that the culprit was me.”

“How long do we have?” I ventured. “A year?
Less?”

“We have a year at most,” Devlin said,
resigned. “It’s well known that it took me a year with Anna, and
you and Danial about six months. Titus also checked his histories
for reported incidents of human pregnancies resulting from
vampires. While some of the documentation is likely wrong, the
average is still about seven months.”

Those other women through the years had
all died
. “What’s your plan?”

Devlin gently kissed my throat. “I don’t see
a way out, Sar. That was why I was so upset about you possibly
being pregnant by Theo. We need you pregnant by me when or before
they find out I tricked them.”

“How’s that going to help?” I said
sarcastically.

“They won’t act until you’ve had our child,”
Devlin answered. “That will give us that many more months to find
another woman whose blood is really like yours. Even now, many
vampires are scouring the globe, looking. It’s a matter of time
before more are found.”

When they had, they were going to wish
they hadn’t been
. My skin crawled. “Dev, I have a better
solution.”

“Tell me, please,” he said curiously.

“I never wanted all this attention,” I said,
choosing my words carefully. “I was lonely when Danial met me,
without many prospects but the surety of hard work until I died.
Now I tend to look back on that with nostalgia.”

“I do not understand, Love. Are you
unhappy?”

“No, but everything’s so complicated now. I’m
too much in demand, with three men on my dance card, and more
looming in the shadows, waiting for an opening. I can’t live like
this for much longer.” I took his hand. “I’m happy to be here with
you, but understand, I’m not a teenager looking for a party, or a
flavor of the month. I’m a grown woman who’s looking for a
relationship.”

“We are building one,” Devlin replied, giving
my hand a squeeze. “In any case, there is no going back for a
‘do-over’. All the other Rulers know who you are now, and what you
look like. You must accept your situation, Love.”

Devlin’s tone was soft, but under that
softness was hard, cold steel.

“I do accept it,” I said slowly. “But I want
you to understand that after I have your child, I...um, I want to
get my tubes tied.”

Devlin looked at me in silence for a few
heartbeats. “Are you asking me for permission?” he said finally.
“Because of the Oath?”

“No,” I said. “It’s my body, so it’s my
choice. But like you said, we’re in a relationship. It matters that
you’re on board with this decision.”
And under those damn
vampire laws, Camlyn may not give me one without notifying you
first.

“You’re correct that you’d be safer,” Devlin
said. “I’m ‘on board’, as you called it. One child is enough for
me. But where does that leave Theo? You’ve made a point about how
he’s hoping for—”

“Having Elle almost killed Tawny,” I said
guiltily. “Everyone was quick to assure me that I wouldn’t have
that kind of trouble having Theo’s baby, but I don’t care. No
matter how much he wants another baby, he’s not going to get one
from me.”

“Have you told him that?”

“I will,” I said defensively. “But I can’t
very well say something like that when I might be having his, can
I? I’m so angry and frustrated that I’m in this position.”

“Shh, Love,” Devlin soothed. “I agree with
you that having a normal baby is a big drain on a woman’s body.
Having two extraordinary babies should be the limit for you, unless
there is something Titus or Stephen could do to help. Let’s ask him
next time you go for a checkup to instruct us on the best path to
take. Titus I’ll speak to tomorrow.” He hugged me. “I want a child
badly, Love, but not at the cost of your health.”

He’d said he was on board with my plan, but
everything he’d said in the past indicated that was only after I’d
given him a child of his own. I didn’t reply.