Page 385 of Never Kiss a Fae
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
“Nine weeks.”
More pacing.
More mumbling.
I glanced at Exos, and he gave me a look that said, “What did you expect?”
I had expected her to understand and believe she was more fae than human. I had also expected her to be pleased that she would come to term in nine weeks, not nine months. Who would prefer nearly a year as an incubator when they could be done in roughly two months?
Of course, I wouldn’t say that out loud now. Not with Claire in her tender condition. My usual go-to of pushing her to accept fate wasn’t going to work this time. She might not feel it yet, but her hormones and body were already changing. Adding more stress to that transition wouldn’t be helpful for either of us.
So rather than speak, I wrapped a blanket of mist around her and allowed the droplets to tease her exposed skin. She wore a cute little skirt and button-down shirt that I very much wanted to remove from her body. But something told me that would not be welcome in this state.
I also adored her hairstyle choice. It was a damp braid commonly worn by Water Fae. All she needed was her crown to fit her role as queen of my kind. She didn’t wear it often, only to formal events. But I sometimes fantasized about her wearing those jewels… and only those jewels.
Something about this woman always sent my mind to my groin, which perked up with interest as she turned around to reveal her dampening shirt.
No bra.
Fuck.
Exos’s sapphire gaze flashed with interest.
He’d misted back to the Water Kingdom with us. It was technically my night with Claire, and I had intended to take her to dinner with my father and his mate, but I’d postponed that dinner to brunch tomorrow. I needed to calm my little queen down first.
“Nine weeks,” she said for the umpteenth time, shaking her head.
“Yes, that’s roughly sixty-three days,” I informed her dryly.
So much for my calm approach.
She spun to face me as though she’d forgotten I sat on our bed a few feet away. My gaze immediately dropped to her tits, those beautiful dusky nipples were completely visible beneath her shirt, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Perhaps my mist blanket had been a bad idea.
But I absolutely didn’t regret it as the fabric started to mold to her chest.
“Days?” Claire repeated.
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, little queen. Sixty-three days is plenty of time. Nine weeks. Would you prefer to be carrying around a faeling for nine months? That’s an awfully long time to be pregnant, don’t you think?”
Exos grunted beside me, whether in agreement or to chastise my directness, I wasn’t sure. I also didn’t care.
“How am I supposed to gather all the requisite approvals for the Interrealm Fae Academy insixty-three days?” she demanded. “You should have told me about this before I agreed! You knew how important that academy is to me. And now there’s no way I’ll be able to get this done, Cyrus. I’m going to have a baby in nine weeks!”
“Technically, it’ll be closer to seven now,” I murmured, which was apparently the wrong thing to say, because she screamed.
I flinched.
Exos groaned.
And I recalled the warnings from the Healer about Claire’s impending hormonal changes. Phase two came with a lot of physical and mental imbalances, nurturing instincts, and general nesting practices. It was the longest of the pregnancy periods and the hardest.
Phase three was the one I rather looked forward to.
