A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark #2)(79)
Author: Kresley Cole

Emma glanced from Nïx to Annika. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

Annika raised her palms, shaking her head. "I never imagined you thought about this at all, much less that you were under this misimpression."

To Lachlain, Nïx said, "When Emma yearns in her heart for children, it begins. She’ll have to eat regular food for at least nine months."

Emma smacked her lips and grimaced, not relishing the thought of masticating.

"Doona hold your breath. I’m no’ keen to share her."

"Very well. Until then" – Nïx paused to give him a lascivious grin – "honeymoon!"

Emma and Lachlain sat stunned.

Nïx waved an impatient hand. "All this would have come out during the three hour pre-joining counseling that you two are required to do."

That weekend after Emma and Lachlain’s small, straightforward ceremony, and the raucous, bizarre party afterward, the members of the coven lounged in the TV room, sprawled over furniture, eyes glued to the television.

Lachlain and Emma sat among them, but he was restless, unable to watch the movie when Emma was making lazy circles on his palm with her fingertip.

Lachlain had invited only Bowe and Garreth to the festivities, though everyone in the clan hankered to meet the wee queen who’d felled Demestriu. But his kind liked to drink and rib and be boisterous, and he could just see the mad Valkyrie, who didn’t drink – anything – reacting poorly. The preternatural versus the natural mixed with liquor.

But Lucia had "gone on walkabout," as the Valkyrie called it, or "fled," as Garreth more accurately termed it, and Lachlain had completely understood when Garreth had set out after her. Bowe had accepted, but after absently congratulating him that night, he’d spent an hour huddled in a corner with Nïx. Afterward, he’d been cryptic and preoccupied and had flown out early.

Casting looks that dared anyone to nay-say him, Wroth had audaciously shown up with a laughing Myst by his side. But the coven seemed to treat Wroth with the same indifference they showed Lachlain, who’d mostly been shrugged at as if he’d always been a fixture. Except for Annika – after she’d spotted Wroth, her chin hadn’t been lifted quite so proudly, and Lachlain had heard her mumble, "Furie’s going to kill me…"

Lachlain shifted restlessly. He thought he was finally strong enough for them to leave tomorrow. He was physically ready to resume relations with his wife, and wasn’t eager to do it under this roof.

He stood and offered his hand, and with a shy smile she slipped her hand in his. As they crossed in front of the screen, they barely dodged a volley of popcorn.

He didn’t know where he was taking her, maybe out into the night fog. He just knew he wanted her, needed her, right then. She was too precious to him, too good to be true. When he was inside her, with his arms tight around her, he felt less like she’d slip away.

But they only made it to an empty hall before he pressed her against the wall, cupped her neck, and demanded once again, "You’ll stay with me?"

"Always." Her hips arched up to him. "You love me?"

"Always, Emmaline," he grated against her lips. "Always. So damn much you make me mad with it."

When she moaned softly, he lifted her so she could wrap her legs around his waist. He knew he couldn’t have her here, but the reasons why grew hazy with her breaths in his ear.

"I wish we were home," she whispered. "Together in our bed."

Home. Damn if she hadn’t said home. In our bed. Had anything ever sounded so good? He pressed her harder into the wall, kissing her more deeply, with all the love he had in him, but suddenly they were falling, his balance somehow lost. He clenched her to him and twisted to take the impact on his back.

When he opened his eyes, they were tumbling into their bed.

Eyebrows raised, jaw slack, he released her and levered himself onto his elbows. "That was…" He exhaled a stunned breath. "That was a wild ride, lass. Will you no’ warn me next time?"

She nodded solemnly, sitting up to straddle him, pulling her blouse over her head to bare her exquisite br**sts for him. "Lachlain," she leaned down to whisper in his ear, brushing her ni**les over his chest, making him shudder and clench her hips. "I’m about to give you a very…wild…ride."

Yet after everything that had occurred, his need for her was too strong, and he gave himself up to it, tossing her to her back and ripping her clothes from her. He made short work of his own, then covered her. When he pinned her arms over her head and thrust into her, she cried his name and writhed beneath him so sweetly. "I’ll demand that ride tomorrow, love, but first you’re going to see wild from a man who knows."