“You just want to lay here with the sun on your face, doing nothing?” he asked, incredulously.
“Is that such a problem?”
“No. It’s not like you, though.” He reached out to touch my chest, stopped, and pulled back. Probably thinking about how I winced this morning when he tried the same thing.
“Come here.” I pulled him down to whisper in his ear. Lorcan’s body went stiff and still.
“I...you’re sure?”
“As sure as I can be without medical confirmation.” I don’t try to conceal my grin. “Around next November, if all goes well, we’ll have a daughter.”
Lorcan rolled onto his back. He stared blankly, wide-eyed, up at the sky. “Holy shit. Why didn’t you tell me you were stopping?”
“I was just sort of...testing the idea. I figured I could change my mind.” I poked him in the ribs. He flinches. “It never occurred to me you weren’t taking them.”
He reddened. “I never started.”
I groaned.
“You are such a liar!”
“I am not. We said either of us could quit taking them whenever we wanted. Both of us got veto power. Well, I didn’t expect you to stop taking them ever, and if you did, I wanted to be ready.” He covers me with a tight hug. “I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
“Me too, Lorcan.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Me too.”
EPILOGUE
EIGHT YEARS LATER
“Can I take off the blindfold yet?”
Lorcan’s low chuckle was a promise. A shiver worked slowly down my spine. Silk slid away from my face. City lights flashed past our car window. New York City, to be precise. Arya was finishing her master’s degree at Columbia University, in journalism. Not that she needs the credentials, having already established herself in the field, but she wanted them and it’s our policy to fund education for any Auralian who wants one.
“Where are we going?” I asked. Lorcan put one arm around my shoulders and brought me in for a kiss.
“That, Princess, is a surprise.”
I didn’t correct him. I just smiled and kissed him again. “Is there a reason you requested the green dress?”
Every year, he plans an extravagant celebration for me, to make up for the two awful birthdays I spent in the castle. I’m sure months of effort went into making this night possible.
“I have fond memories of you in it.” His hand trailed down my bare arm. His mouth at my throat, nipping that spot that never fails to melt me from the inside. “You look great.”
After three children, I’m surprised it still fits.
We stopped in front of an unassuming limestone building on a quiet block. Lamplight overhead turned Lorcan’s hair—still an overlong mess, partially obscuring one eye—never change, my love—an unnatural shade of orange.
“This way.” He made a show of folding up the silk blindfold and placing it into the pocket over his heart. My heels aren’t made for narrow alleyways. This one is surprisingly clean.
“If you’re planning to fuck me in an alleyway for my birthday, Lorcan, I will castrate you,” I whispered.
He glanced over his shoulder at me with a bemused expression. “No, you wouldn’t, and now I’m tempted to. Unfortunately, that’s not why we’re here. This is the back entrance. Avoiding paparazzi.”
“Like your sister?” I asked sweetly.
“She’s already inside.”
Arya has made a name for herself as the official royal photographer of Auralia. Mostly, this involves taking pictures of her brother and me, hence my joke.
