Eliran finished his exam with Ryder present; everything looked fine as far as he could tell this early in the pregnancy. It left me numb that I was actually pregnant. I was freaking pregnant! Ryder hadn’t been playing with words. Eliran had shown me the blood work and had even done the test with me standing beside him watching his every move.
I sat on the exam table numb, unable to put into words what I felt. Sheer panic was gnawing at my insides as I pictured my future here with Ryder and his entire harem of women. Where did I fit in? Ryder was the freaking Horde King, and I was a flipping concubine. No, correction, I was his pregnant concubine!
I was willing to give this a shot. I was, however, not willing to become just another female pining after his Highn-ass to visit me in said harem. Nope, was not happening. I turned to find him watching me, his eyes back to the beautiful golden color that haunted my dreams.
I wanted to throw myself in his arms and listen as he told me everything was going to be ok. But, this was real life…or, more to the point, my life and shit like that never happened. I was doomed by a destiny that had my entire life planned out for me.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked, trying to get out from inside of my mind where shit was getting deep.
“You’re having my child, period,” Ryder snapped heatedly.
“I didn’t say I wasn’t, Fairy. I asked what now, how do we make the baby strong enough that it is accepted by the land?” I asked, letting the fear I had felt about being with Adam and producing his child finally out.
Ryder’s face went from cold to worry in a flash of an eye. He hadn’t considered this? So much for thinking he could figure this one out. “It’s my child,” he replied simply, as if because the child was his, it would live.
“The children of Faery are dying; the sickness is hitting the strongest Caste first…which is Horde, right?”
“We will figure it out together, Synthia. It’s my child; do you think I’d allow anything to happen to you or my child?” He growled.
“I didn’t say that!” I said defensively. “I want to know how to ensure our child isn’t one of the many dying.”
“Eliran, get everything you need for this pregnancy. Take Ristan with you, and go find whatever it is you will need to take care of Synthia and our babe.”
My heart flipped and did a little jig as it hit the floor with my reality check…and bounced away. This was really happening. I was having Ryder’s child…correction, I was having the Horde King’s love child.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” Eliran said and nodded to Ryder before he turned and sifted from the room.
There was total silence in the room now. All I could do was sit and stare at Ryder. Gone were his wings and Horde looks. He looked as he had in my world, once again. It was hard not to throw myself at him and thank whoever had gotten us here. Because here, was without Alazander, and here was better than what I could have hoped for no matter how fucked up here was, I was still with him.
“Come, I’ll take you to where you will be staying. I have things that can’t be put off any longer now that I am King of the Horde,” he said gently as he reached out a hand for me to join him.
“Ryder, tell me it’s going to be okay. Tell me you want this,” I whispered unable to fight the feeling of needing him anymore.
He walked slowly to me and pulled me from the table until he held me against himself firmly. His body was hot and hard but comforting as his heat stole the chill from my bones. He tilted my head until I was looking at him. His mouth lowered to claim mine; his kiss searching, and demanding.
One second we were in the exam room of Eliran’s small clinic, and the next I was in his arms and back in his elegant bedroom. He broke the kiss after a few moments and I had to remember how to breathe. Kissing him here in Faery, without him hiding his powers was electric.
“I want to kiss you until your lips are sore, and I want to whisper dirty words into your pretty little ears, Synthia, because it makes my cock so fucking hard, and it turns me on to know you’re hearing it and anticipating it.” He kissed my neck softly. “I am King now. I am not sure I can be what you need me to be. I am king first and foremost here,” he pulled back and looked at me smiling gently. “We will be okay now, nothing will ever harm you. Nothing will ever hurt you again. I promise you this.”
“What if you’re what hurts me? And where am I being sent?” I asked.
“I don’t want to hurt you either, Pet. For your protection, I would prefer you stay in the Pavilion while I hold court to deal with quarrels between the Castes of the Horde. For now, I would like for you to take over a room that is part of my chambers.”
~~*