“Emelee can’t have children,” I blurted out, and Donovan looked utterly shocked.
“What? You have known? How?”
“First, my heart breaks for Emelee. That’s no reason for her not to marry. But how did I find out? Blake told me. When she met Emelee, she used her powers to feel her out. Apparently she has been doing that and not saying anything to anyone. She wants to know who her allies are. Anyway, she sensed this with Emelee mostly because she had a strong inkling Emelee empathized with Valerie. God, don’t be mad at sweet Blake for sharing with me. She is just a young girl with these extraordinary powers and is walking around with an incredible amount of information, in a new place without her mother.”
I’d lost count of how many times his lips caressed my forehead, but this time they made their way across my cheek. “I would never be upset with Blake. She is a child, and my niece. She was moved here, separated from her mother, and expected to act as a Rubian. That’s part of the issue with Emelee. My mom started to think I could raise Blake with her.”
“No!”
“Right, she belongs with Magnum, not me.”
I nodded. Donovan was a softie when he wanted to be.
“But remember when we made love in your bed and it felt like our powers were suspended? I know you felt it.” Donovan changed subjects like a toddler.
I nodded again. This time slowly.
“Abraham said we are stronger than we think. We’ve served Rubia well and our capabilities are expanding. He sees no reason why we cannot be together—forever.”
“We can?” I heard myself asking, hope coloring the two words.
“Especially since I revealed your mom’s secret agenda. So yes, my sweet Tulya, we can be us.” He gathered me closer, if that was possible. “Abraham is going to tell your uncle his revelations, and your mom has backed down after I called her out. Not to mention, she’s afraid not to have the medic’s support in her own Minister campaign,” he added.
“Oh,” I breathed.
“I love you,” he stated, turning us front to front, my body melding to his.
“I love you too…but what about Hawaii?” Panic settled in my chest for the umpteenth time. “I don’t want to steal your dreams, but I live in Rubia.” I hated to admit it, but this was all I’d ever known and it was my home.
“Babe,” he muttered, cupping my cheeks, “I can go back and forth. I’m not my dad. And he wouldn’t want me to be a carbon copy of him. That’s what my mom wants. But I’m me, and I can own a hotel and live here. Plus, it’s a decent place for us to visit when we need a break.”
The tears started falling, and Donovan gently wiped them from my cheek with his thumb.
“It’s all going to be fine after you say yes.”
“What?” My throat cracked as the same one-word question I kept asking came out.
“Yes, to marrying me.” He looked at me dead center. “I can’t get down on one knee because I’m lying here with you and I don’t want to move. Also, I clearly don’t have a ring yet. I’ve been busy, but I need to know.”
I swallowed every last excuse, and said “Yes” as quickly as I could. I was foolishly and helplessly in love with Donovan Malachite.
We’d started to kiss, our hips looking for friction, cold waves filling my spine in only the way Donovan could make happen, when I stopped suddenly. Pulling back, I said, “But we can’t have kids… You know what our mothers said. The powers mixing.”
“We can,” he said, placing his lips on my temple.
“But…what if our kid is evil? Or has no ability? We will be shamed by everyone, further angering Ezza and Ceci.”
“We are not going to allow either of those scenarios to happen.”
“How?”
“You want to talk about this now?” His hand smoothed a hair off my face.
“I have to know.” It was the best feeling to be able to speak freely with Donovan.
“Abraham has some ideas, but mostly he thinks IVF and growing the fetus outside for a little bit will allow him to make sure it has a Rubian capability.”
“So, not the real way? I mean the traditional way. You know, sex?” I felt myself blushing despite having been naked with Donovan several times.
