Page 33 of Under the Dragon's Spell
"Kind of. I mean, it's been a while, but we'd been together for so long, and I'd started thinking I'd be with him for the rest of my life. I thought I was in love."
"Were you?"
"To be honest, I'm not so sure anymore. When I'm…" I stopped because I was about to say things I wasn't sure I should be saying yet. Like how everything somehow seemed more intense with Tyrel than it ever had with my boyfriend—the man I'd been ready to have babies with.
"I'm not sure I believe in love," Tyrel said. "My kind does not hold it in high regard. Yearning for it is seen as something very human."
I shrugged. "I'm human, and I believe in it." After everything, I still did. Maybe Rory hadn't been the right partner for me. Maybe I'd never find the right partner, but that didn't mean he wasn't out there somewhere. I hadn't lost until I gave up the search.
"So tell me what happened between you and Rory."
The request made me lick my lips. Having a baby was important to Tyrel in more ways than the sentimental—when he found out that I had trouble getting pregnant, would he still be interested in me? Would he still give me a chance?
Only one way to find out.
"Rory wanted a baby," I said. "We both did, really." It had been my dream since I'd been young. A family of my own. One that functioned better than the one I'd grown up in. "We had some trouble conceiving, and then eventually he went out and fucked other people until he knocked someone up."
"Sounds like an unpleasant fellow."
I snorted.
"He couldn't get you pregnant?"
I only nodded, unable to get words out through the lump in my throat. This was the moment of truth. I looked at Tyrel, trying to judge his expression, but he kept it carefully neutral.
"No wonder you didn't want to tell me that," he said eventually. "Did you see a doctor when you were having trouble?"
"We did. Well, I did. Rory didn't want to get checked out. He was convinced the problem was with me."
"And was it?" Tyrel's face was still blank, but I could see the way his hands tightened around the edge of the bench.
"The doctor didn't find anything wrong with me," I assured him, remembering my own relief that day. "I could never convince Rory of that, though. When he knocked the other guy up, he simply told me that I needed to get out." And the memory still made me feel like a kicked puppy. Maybe things hadn't been as intense with him as they were with Tyrel, but I'd loved that man all the same. At least, I'd thought I did.
"What a loser," Tyrel said. He inched a little closer, until our shoulders were touching. "Listen to me. I'm not Rory, and when I try to have a baby with you, I won't just try." One of his hands wandered up my back and into my hair. He tugged lightly at the strands in my neck and I tilted my head back. As soon as I did, he placed a kiss on my neck, sending delicious heat down my spine. Then his lips wandered up to my ear. "You will have my baby," he said. "And it'll be happy, healthy, and powerful." It sounded like a promise, and I believed it. Maybe only because I wanted it so much. Ridiculously so.
And I enjoyed having Tyrel so close to me, feeling his breath on my skin…
But he'd made me another promise tonight that he hadn't fulfilled yet, and if I let him go on, we might both forget it.
"Tyrel…" I said, gently stopping him with my hand.
He backed off, shooting me a quizzical look.
"About your family…"
"You'd honestly rather talk now?" I didn't think he could see my growing erection in the dark, but he eyed my groin anyway.
"How many chances to talk to you will I get before deciding to have your baby?"
He sighed. "Fine. I suppose you ought to know what you're getting yourself into." He made it sound like I'd already said yes to all his propositions.
"There was something about your brother," I prompted.
He looked ahead at the garden, his eyes taking on a faraway look. "Kylan." He spat the name like it was an insult. In his mind, it probably was. He shook his head. "If you really want to know, I need to go farther back than my brother. It's truly… You remember about my sire?"
"Your father?"
"If that's what you'd like to call the man. If he can even be called a man. In truth, he's a coward."
