Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 20835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20835 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m more than willing to find out.”
She laughed. “Same. But I might need a little bit of a nap first. I’m kind of worn out.”
Taking her by the hips, I slowly lifted her and helped her out of the tub before getting out myself. She was like a newborn fawn, wobbly on her legs as I guided her toward the canopy bed I had built into the cave wall.
“We’ll have plenty of time to experience all the mated sex that we want. We have the rest of our long lives, after all,” I pointed out as I tucked her under the plush velvet comforter before sliding in next to her.
“Yes, we do.” Twisting her neck to beam a sleepy smile at me, she whispered, “Which makes me the luckiest woman in the world. I love you.”
Hearing her say those three little words would never get old. Not even if we lived for another thousand years. “I love you, too.”
As she drifted off to sleep in my arms, I let my fingers trail over the expanse of her soft belly, imagining it soon rounded with my child. Then I moved my fingers up to her shoulder, tracing over the mark. I finally had a mate, and I would never let her go.
EPILOGUE
MARIELLE
Evette and Laina hadn’t been joking when they warned me that Artemis would be just as greedy with my time when I was pregnant as he was when we first met. Or how fast he would knock me up.
Less than a month after we met, he’d woken me up with a kiss to my still-flat belly before announcing that I was carrying his baby. That was almost eight months ago, and he’d practically been stuck to my side the entire time except for when I was in class.
“I was so happy to be due in the middle of summer break because I could still take classes in the fall if I wanted to, but now I’m just beyond ready to get this baby out of me,” I complained, wiping the sweat off my brow. “I have never felt this hot in my entire life.”
“Put your feet up,” Artemis ordered, lifting my legs to slide a padded stool under my heels. “I’ll go grab one of your cold compresses from the freezer.”
We had been spending more time in the cave house since my semester ended and the weather started to heat. Since the cave system started at a lower temperature than the cabin, keeping it cool was easier.
Staring through the glass windows, I looked longingly at the hot tub. We’d had a lot of fun in there, but I hadn’t been able to use it since I had gotten pregnant. Even if I could, I wouldn’t want to right now because I already felt like I was cooking from the inside out with the air conditioner set to only sixty-seven degrees. It was a good thing Artemis ran hotter than most people, or else he’d need to be bundled up, and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the sight of his flexing thighs as he returned to my side.
“Here you go, my treasure.” Lifting my hair, he pressed the neoprene-covered ice pack against the back of my neck.
We had recently discovered it was the quickest way to cool me down, taking only a few minutes to help my body regulate my temperature. “Thanks, that feels better already.”
“Drink some water.” He handed me an insulated tumbler that he’d added more ice to half an hour ago because he’d said it wasn’t cold enough, even though the ice from earlier was still knocking against the sides every time I took a sip.
“And now I feel like my bladder is going to burst.”
Artemis reacted to my complaint the same way he had with the rest of them—by solving the problem. Lifting me in his arms as though I hadn’t already gained forty pounds, he strode into the bathroom and set me on the toilet. “There you go.”
My sexy mate had seen, touched, and licked every inch of my body, but that didn’t mean I was okay with peeing in front of him. So I shooed him away with my hand. “Out.”
He gave me the privacy I requested but stepped back into the bathroom as soon as I flushed, waiting for me to finish washing my hands before he carried me to the bedroom. “Wanna cuddle and take a nap.”
“Always.” I flashed him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry I’ve been so cranky lately.”
He set me on the mattress and fluffed the pillows so they’d be stacked exactly how I liked them. Then he stretched out next to me, cupping my rounded belly with his hand. “It’s okay, my treasure. All those years that I was a grumpy bastard were good practice for how to help you while you’re understandably irritable. Carrying my baby is tough work.”