39. Aurora

39

AURORA

T he next morning, for the first time since I had married Slade , I didn’t take the baby-stopper pill.

I thought about it… I even took one bright green pill out of the tray and held it in my hand. But ultimately, I put it back. Why ? Well , honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure.

Part of it was that Slade had given me a whole new perspective the night before when he had explained that Clan Cruel wasn’t just extorting money—they really did protect my home world. And part of it was the fact that he was so protective and so thoughtful of me—not to mention determined to give me pleasure. But the biggest part was what had happened between us the night before.

After Slade’s conversation with his father, we had taken a bath together for the first time. Usually it was Slade bathing me, but he had decided to come into the bathtub with me after I begged him to, so I got to have a little fun.

Naked and unashamed, I had straddled my new husband and taken his long shaft in both soapy hands. Looking into his eyes, I had slowly stroked him off, right there in the tub. I kissed him as I worked his shaft and he panted and growled my name, gripping my ass in his big hands as he rocked his hips in time to my rhythm.

Then , just as he was shooting his golden seed, he groaned,

“ Gods , Aurora — I fucking love you!”

To say his words shocked me would be an understatement. I almost forgot what I was doing and stopped in mid-stroke. It took me a minute to regain my composure and by the time I did, Slade was finished coming.

I thought he might have said the words in the heat of passion. I had heard other women at Court say men will say or promise anything during sex. But after we dried off and climbed into bed together and Slade pulled me close to his side, I plucked up the courage to ask about it.

“ Slade …” I began, tracing a pattern with one finger on his broad chest. My head was resting on his shoulder and his long arm was around me.

“ Mmm -hmm?” He sounded half asleep and I almost lost my courage. But then I made myself say,

“ Did you mean it? What …what you said in the tub?”

“ You mean when I shouted ‘ I love you’?” he asked dryly.

He sounded more awake now and I tilted my head up to see that he was looking down at me, his golden eyes glowing in the dim room.

“ Yes —that,” I said, nodding. I expected him to put me off or say that he had only been joking but the big Brute surprised me.

“ Of course I meant it, baby.” Tilting his head down, he kissed my forehead. “ You’re my Fated Mate ,” he murmured. “ How can I help loving you?”

“ I … I don’t know what to say,” I said at last, feeling stunned.

“ It’s okay, baby—you don’t have to say anything,” he rumbled. “ I understand if you don’t feel the same way…though I hope you will sometime in the future.”

“ We haven’t been together that long,” I pointed out. “ Barely a week.”

“ I’ve been in love with you for years ,” Slade said simply. “ You’re the only woman in the galaxy—hell, in the whole fucking universe—for me.”

“ I thought you only wanted me to bear your heir,” I said faintly.

“ Of course I want you to— I’d love for you to be the mother of my children,” he said. “ But the main thing I wanted when we made our deal was just to have you like this—to hold you in my arms.” And his arm around me tightened, pulling me closer, as though to prove his point.

“ You tricked me,” I accused. “ I bet you were just waiting to see if my brother messed up so you could use the tribute money as an excuse to get me!”

“ Hell yes I did— I won’t deny it,” Slade growled. He tilted my chin up and looked more deeply into my eyes. “ I’d crawl over broken glass and go through all the fires of all the Hells to have you, Aurora . And I’d kill anyone who tried to stop me. You are the only woman I want—the only woman I’ll ever want. And I have no shame about anything I did to get you and make you mine .”

Then he took my mouth in a kiss that left me breathless and panting and overwhelmed by the intensity of his emotion for me.

That was the main reason I didn’t take the baby-stopper pill. Because Slade loved me and he wasn’t ashamed to admit it. To be honest, I thought I might be falling in love with him, too. I even considered throwing away the green baby-stopper pills completely. But I knew how hard they were to come by on L’Crist . So I decided to keep them and give them back to Pansy when I went home for a visit.

I tucked the little tray back into the lining of my luggage and went to pack some of the dresses Slade had bought me. I hoped, like he did, that this stay at his father’s house wouldn’t be long. I liked being alone with him in the penthouse and I couldn’t imagine we would have as much privacy in his father’s mansion.

I had no idea how right I was…or what a mess was about to unfold.