Page 109 of Labor of Love

I bring his forehead to mine. His sweet honey caramel fills my lungs, making my cock pulse in my pants. “Because stress changes your body chemistry and can make it even moredifficult to conceive,” I explain. “I didn’t want you to put more pressure on yourself.”

“Eight weeks. That’s it?”

I kiss his lips. “Sweetheart, our year is up in nine.”

He flinches as if I’d just punched him in the gut. A whoosh of air leaves his lungs that almost sounds like a sob. “So soon?”

“Yes.”

Iri takes a breath. For one short minute, we’re silent. Then he springs from my lap and practically sprints into the bedroom.

“What just happened?” I ask, sitting forward.

“I’m going to take a test,” he calls over his shoulder before disappearing into our bedroom toward the connected bathroom. His voice carries to me before I hear a door close. “I’ll be right back.”

I’m left sitting there dumbfounded and staring after him. That was a strange turn of events. But… at least he’s taking a test again. Right?

5

LUKEN

Ilean back in the chair with a heavy sigh and close my eyes. My phone beeps a couple times with incoming texts. Probably because I stopped responding when I got sidetracked with Iri.

My eyes open and I look at all the files Iri found that are open on the computer screen. I wasn’t hiding it, exactly. The folder is sitting on the desktop labeled ‘One Year.’ I guess he either never noticed it before or simply never cared to look until today.

Maybe I left something up, and he followed the file trail to the folder. That’s also entirely possible. There’s a good chance that I was subconsciously doing something so Iri would find the folder and prompt a response from me. Then I could stop hiding it and tell him.

I pull out my phone and send them a message again.

Well, he knows.

Hakan

You can’t just leave it at that. What happened?

Instead of typing it all, I hit the call button on the chat, and three faces immediately pop up. They’re together. Becausethey’re always together. I smile when I see them and can’t help but imagine what it would be like to be surrounded by their warmth right now. Holding Iri in my arms while our pack surrounds us.

“What happened?” Hakan repeats.

Sighing, I relay the events.

“Ouch,” Rhydian says. “I think you should have thought that through a little better than keeping it on your desktop, baby.”

I grin and close my eyes again. “I think I wanted to be caught. I never wanted to keep it a secret. Keeping a secret makes it feel wrong. I just didn’t want to burden him with something else that’s going to put pressure on him.”

“How did he take it?” Hakan asks.

“Not bad. I knew he’d be upset that we needed to leave, and he was. But I’ll be honest and say that I’m so damn relieved he didn’t object at all. He wants to be with me enough to agree to leave.”

“Of course he does,” Daunt says, and I can hear his purr through the phone. I grin.

“What was his response to us?” Rhydian asks.

My eyebrows knit together. “I don’t think he had one. I think I overwhelmed him with all the basic information about what’s going to take place, so he only asked the most essential questions. I’m sure he’ll have questions once it settles in his head.”

Daunt sighs. “I get it, but fuck, I’d like to know how he feels about us.”

“He doesn’t know us like Luken does,” Rhydian says. “I imagine that he’s going to be wary and hesitant, but he’s also going to trust Luken and take his lead concerning us.”

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