Bound by Devotion

Chapter Thirteen

"Alex could have gotten you to safety."

"I didn't want safety, Kornae! I wanted you all with me. I came so close to losing Gideon and don't look at me like that." The shuttered empty look was back in his eyes. But she pressed on. "I came so close to losing him and all I could think about was getting him back. What do you think losing all of you would do to me?" She reached up and touched his face. "I'm selfish, Kornae. Horribly selfish and it would kill me. When I thought you were going to kill yourself, just the thought of it broke me. What do you think seeing it would do?"

"The same thing that would happen to me seeing you fall." His words were low but she heard them.

"Then you understand now. I felt a way to help. I could see what was needed to possibly right matters. Did I know I was going to gain help from it? Nope. But I had hope that what I was doing was right. That by feeding them strong Seelie blood, it was ease their starving. I had time to see things clearly, because I wasn't fighting. I was standing there helpless and I saw it."

"Do you know what it did to me to turn and see you on the ground, those things heading to you? You argue about doing things that are necessary and I understand. But it works both ways." His fingers dug in more and that wasn't fair. She swallowed and he kept talking. "I can't watch you put yourself in those situations, Eve. It's like a fist to the gut to see you so vulnerable. I can't watch you die."

"I didn't die."

"You could have."

"I can't live my life afraid of what could happen. That's not who I am. You know that's not me. I live by my emotions and I can't be anything else. If you can't —."Her words were stopped by his lips and she melted into his kiss. His fingers held her tight and she rose on tiptoe, trying to get closer to his mouth.

He moved an arm, wrapping it around her waist and he pulled her tighter, holding their bodies together.

"Sex it is," Gabe said and she held her arm out, gifting him the sight of her middle finger.

Kornae's breath was warm when he asked, "How do you stand them?"

She pulled back with a laugh. "It's called love. I wouldn't have them any other way."

He moved his fingers across her face, sweeping her hair back as his eyes studied her. "He was right."

"Who was right about what?"

"Sebastian. He told me that you always won."

She laughed and slid her arms around his back, holding him tight.

He went stiff in her arms and she would have thought it about her touching him. But it wasn't. Because she felt it too.

The feeling of a thump that came from her womb.

~~~

Fallon had asked Kornae if they had spoken, and Kornae looked confused. He still didn't talk to the baby, but he softly bared her belly and ran his fingers gently over the curve. She had a feeling that was as good as it was going to get with him and she was right. Because, as much as she was a raging hormone, he wasn't.

There came that soft thump again and his fingers twitched against her skin.

"I'd always hear that when someone first felt their baby move, it was more like a butterfly." She laughed. "But those were humans."

"The Fae don't waste time, do they?" Gideon said as his arms crossed her chest.

"I guess not," It happened again and she laughed.