Oh, crap. Me and my big mouth. I thought we were on the same page, but apparently not.
“Aefre,” he says, “Are you seriously telling me you are considering giving Her what She wants?”
“I have to consider it, and what Drake wants,” I whine. “You saw what happened before. I won’t be responsible for an all-out war between them. It’s bad enough I caused the Faeries to fight...”
“You were not responsible for that,” he practically shouts at me, his eyes going black. “That fucking bastard created that problem.”
“Regardless,” I say, patting his hand to calm him. “I need to at least think about it, okay?”
“No, it’s not okay. You stamped on your promise to me because you said you didn’t think you wanted a child. Now you are considering having two that are not mine? You said you would only consider it with me,” he says, getting upset.
“I know and I’m sorry. But try to see this from my point of view, please,” I beg him. He has to understand. But there is only one way he will, so I add, “I have reconsidered my promise to you. We will keep trying.”
His eyes light up before he closes them. “You swear?” he asks. “On your life that you mean it?”
“Yes, my love,” I say, and I do. If I’m doing this, then I might as well jump in with both feet.
He crushes me to him and says, “Then I will accept this, because I know you are special, and you were created to do special things. It has taken me a long time to get my head around it, but I do, my beautiful wife.”
I hug him back, loving him even more for saying exactly what I want to hear. But I know he has said it for precisely that reason. I don’t believe him, but I can only hope that he will see this through with me. Cole, on the other hand, is going to be a major problem. “Thank you,” I say quietly.
He gives me a squeeze and changes the topic rapidly as he does, “Also, seeing as you have decided to date outside of our marriage, I propose that we have our own.”
I snort in amusement. “You? You want to take me on a date?”
He regards me wryly. “Not exactly,” he says. “What I am proposing is certain days alone with you. Just the two of us. Cole, of course, will get to pick his days as well, but I need time with you alone.”
That’s what he wanted to ask me? And here I was worried about his demands. “Yes!” I say straight away.
He chuckles at my enthusiasm and says, “Good, because it is October next week and there is a certain anniversary that I want to celebrate with you.”
I stare at him in surprise. Vampires, by nature, aren’t sentimental creatures. Anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, they all fall by the wayside when you’ve been around as long as we have. “Really?” I ask him. “We have never once called it an anniversary or celebrated it.”
“Well, we should,” he says. “The day I turned you was the best day of my life.” He smiles his made-for-me smile and I kiss him.
“I love you,” I say. “Yes, I want to do that.”
“And I want you on our wedding anniversary, of course, and one other day of your choosing. You and Cole will pick your three days between you.”
I nod eagerly. What has gotten into him? Since when did he become so reasonable and generous?
“Now, there is something I have to tell you,” I say, and he turns his attention to me seriously at my tone.
“What?” he asks, almost in dread.
I stand up as this is weird. And I would rather have talked to Cole about it first, but as we are here discussing things, I might as well tell him.
As I pace, I say, “Do you remember the day after we got married, when Cole mentioned his bond to Devon?”
CK nods but remains silent, wondering where I am going with this.
“Err,” I pause, trying to say this tactfully. “Well, erm, Devon came to me the other day with a rather surprising statement. It seems that this bond of theirs, there is more to it than we thought.”
“Meaning?” he asks, but I am sure he knows what I am trying to say.
“Meaning, it seems he has feelings for Cole, that are different.” I use Devon’s word for it. Luckily for me, CK nods sagely as if he knew all along and no further explanation is required. “I see,” he says.
Not so lucky for me, I now have to tell him the next part, and then the part after that. “Devon has asked me if I will talk to Cole about it and see what he would accept in the way of the three of us together,” I say in a rush.