Page 38 of Bonded Ever After

He smiles.

Then she hesitates. “Do you mind if I ask you about the Ash Realm?”

Xarex relaxes a little. “I’ve never been, but many of my people have.”

“What do you know about it?” she asks.

He takes a minute to think. “It’s very dangerous. There isn’t much to eat. And just about everything will kill you.”

“So, like here?” I say.

He laughs, like that’s the most outrageous thing anyone could ever say. “It’s not dangerous here, silly. My people have no fear of our realm… but the Ash Realm, everyone fears it. We only go there if absolutely necessary.”

“Great,” I mumble. So the Ash Realm should just bea blast.

Elora gives me a look, so I try to keep my doubts about the Ash Realm to myself. She’d decided that that’s where we were going, so that’s where we were going. It’s just my job to make sure we make it through there safely. We’d have to read our fathers’ journal more carefully at the cabin before the Ash Realm. It’s basically our only clue about how to survive in the next world.

As we continue eating, my mind starts working. “Oh,” I say, then turn to Xarex. “Do you happen to have any books on childbirth or any knowledge about it?”

Xarex glances at Elora, his brows raised with an unspoken question.

She smiles. “Yes, I’m pregnant.”

The joy on his face warms my heart after all the terrible responses to her pregnancy in Paradise Falls. “A baby is the greatest of blessings. If I had my way, these trees would be full of the sounds of children’s laughter. Congratulations! This is very fine news!”

“We’re pretty excited,” I admit. “And a little nervous, since it looks like we’ll be doing this thing alone.”

Xarex’s expression grows more serious. “I will get you a book that will help you with everything, and I will share all my knowledge with you before you go. Your nerves will fade away, replaced by all joy.”

It’s weird. I think I’m going to miss him when we go. He truly is a good guy.“Thank you.”

He returns to his tree and brings me a book that seems to have been written by a healer specializing in childbirth. Just as he promised, he walks me through several different scenarios for childbirth. Elora looks a little disturbed by all of it, but I take thorough notes. Because when Elora goes into labor, her life, and the life of my baby, will rest on my shoulders alone.

We talk for several hours, until Xarex seems to run out of things to say, then we thank him, tell him goodbye, and keep walking, knowing we’re close to the cabin. Knowing it’s time for bed.

Elora holds my hand tightly, and even though she doesn’t say it, I can tell Elora is a bit rattled by all the unknown elements in our future. But I try my best to reassure her, because of all the things I don’t know about our future, I know that Elora is my everything.

When we arrive at the cabin, we shower, change, and lay in bed together, feeling content, like everything in our world is perfect, even though it’s not. A fire crackles near us and the warm blanket covers us like a cloud.

I lace my fingers with hers as she lays against my chest. “I can’t believe I’m actually here with you. There was a time that I thought I’d never get to touch you again.”

She shifts, so she can look at me. “Callum, you know things would have been different between us before this if we weren’t the two families…”

My heart aches a little, and my insecurity surfaces. “Can you honestly say you would have chosen to be with me if it wasn’t forbidden?”

She gives me the strangest look. “Why not? It’s not like I chose to complicate my life because this was forbidden. I chose to complicate my life because I wanted to be with you.”

I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “You deserve someone better than me.”

“No, I deserve you. A man who is excited for our baby. A man who has protected me at every turn. Callum, I’m lucky to have you.”

It’s hard to believe that. “I’m lucky to have you.”

She flashes a smile. “So, we’re lucky to haveeach other.”

Releasing my hand, she leans in and kisses me. Her lips are soft, melding to my own, and within seconds I feel myself heating up. This woman is like a goddamn magnet and my dick is full of metal. And as her hand curls around my erection, I know she knows it.

It only takes her a second to slip her hand into the slit of my boxers, and then we’re skin-to-skin, and every nerve in my body is alive. Our kisses become more and more desperate, and I reach into her shirt and start to play with her breasts, flicking the hard peaks and making them harder, which only makes my blood run hotter.

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