Page 23 of Dreaming of Darkness

Traum licked a strip down my shoulder, a soft purr rumbling in his chest, “Yes. And then, as you can imagine, I will fuck you again, and again, until we are too tired to move. My venom will keep us tied together for as long as it takes for the bond to be complete.”

“And then?”

Traum’s chest was rising and falling quickly against my back, “And then I’m yours, Bailey.”

“How will we live together? Can I stay here? Or do you come to the living world?”

Traum’s grip loosens, and I turn to look back at him. His face is serious, his eyes still blown black. “I don’t know. I hope Arafel will have those answers for us.”

I nodded, a question I’m dying to ask burning in my throat. “What about your family? Will they accept me?”

That earns me a beautiful smile. “They will love you.”

“And–” my throat tightened, “Can we have a family?”

His smile vanished in an instant, his eyes twitching as he looked at me. “Do you mean children of our own?”

My belly hollowed out as I tried to read his expression, but I was already too far in to stop now. “Yes, I always wanted a big family.”

His claws skimmed my sides, “And you would want that with me?”

My eyes found his, dark and serious. “Of course.”

His ragged exhale broke the tension between us as his hands reached around, palms smoothing over my ribs and down to my belly. “Fuck Bailey,” his hands stopped, cupping the softness of my belly there, “It wouldn’t have mattered. I would’ve worshiped you every day for the rest of your life regardless, but the idea of you carrying my young.” His head dropped into my hair.

“I do not deserve you.”

I pressed my hands over his. “I wouldn’t be yours if you didn’t.”

We knelt there in silence for a moment, just soaking up the quiet enjoyment. My body still ached for him, but there was a kind of ease to it now. Like this wouldn’t be the last time we could be like this.

Because nothing could deny it. The fates had decided.

And while deep in my heart, I knew what I wanted. I also needed to know more. ***

Traum

I wasn’t sure the last time I was this nervous.

Maybe it was because the Lord of this realm stood in front of me, wings flashing in the

morning light as he paced back and forth. He’d been doing this for some time now and I could tell that Bailey was getting anxious.

After our talk this morning, I’d pulled us both into a bathtub filled with bubbles and scrubbed every inch of her. Now, I was regretting it. While any Other who came close would smell my essence in her skin, I was hating that she no longer smelled so strongly of me otherwise.

Not that Arafel was going to try to take her from me. But Gods, I was a frustrated male. I wanted to take Bailey somewhere safe, so we could be together, talk. I could explain what my life was like, she could tell me of hers. Things that would’ve come up naturally in courting. Except we were being thrown straight into the heat of it with this issue with the Underworld boundaries.

Not that it should be our problem.

“Arafel, please, you’re making me dizzy,” A human woman said, walking into the small dining room. She was pretty, but not as pretty as my mate. She stopped by Arafel’s side and reached upto plant a kiss on his cheek.

I gave her another once over. My brother had mentioned Arafel’s human mate. She had been unfortunately affected by his touch at a council meeting, but somehow their friendship had not suffered. He claimed she just gave him a wide berth whenever he wasn’t in gloves. Her devotion to her demonic mate was obvious.

Arafel grunted, then moved back to the table where Lucia was seating herself across from Bailey and me.

“It’s so nice to meet you, Traum, I consider your brother a friend,” Lucia said, her eyes bright as she met my look with a smile. “I’ve heard Rifa is quite close to delivering her baby. How exciting for your family?”

I glanced at Arafel, who had stopped pacing and lurked behind his female. “We are very excited. My family is known to be quite unusual because we are so large. Incubus do not usually have so many young. My brother is thrilled to have his own.”

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