Chapter seventeen
Dreams of Silver
“You’remarryingVincent?”Instantly,Sterling’s demeanor turned cold, like he was erecting a shield of ice between us. I was still in his lap, yet we suddenly felt miles apart.
I gave the tiniest nod, not trusting my voice to give a verbal answer.
“I see.” His head dipped, and his snow-white tresses spilled over his gaze, but not before I caught the pain behind his eyes.
I climbed out of his lap and knelt on the rug before him. Splaying my hands over his thighs, I canted my head to catch his gaze through his screen of hair. “Say something. Please.”
The elder vampire waited an uncomfortable amount of time before answering. “Do you know what fae weddings entail?”
My throat convulsed. “It–It’s a mating ceremony.”
Sterling’s face was emotionless, but I could read him well enough by now to catch the devastation blackening his demeanor. “If you’re aware of what you’re getting yourself into—” His usual silky cadence took a dark bend. “—and what you’ll be getting out of it, then congratulations.”
A fat tear rolled down my cheek. “You don’t need to do that.”
He raised his head, the lines across his face deepening. “And what is it I’m doing?”
“Pretending you’re okay.”
Sterling shifted in his seat, his hands balling into tight fists on the chair’s armrests. “Tell me, Miss Baxter. How would you like me to react to this news, knowing full well how madly obsessed I am with the idea of being the one to sire your heir?”
The vampire’s aura turned harsh. I leaned away instinctually, but he snatched my arm, fingers clamping over my wrist and holding me prisoner.
He arched down, pausing when he was a kiss away. “Perhaps I’ve been too polite and soft-spoken with my intentions. Have I failed to properly convey my desires?”
“You were very clear. But Ster—”
“I told you I will stand behind whomever you decide to father your first child and that we shall do it in your own time. However, you’ll have to forgive me for failing to be overjoyed by your decision. A half-hearted congratulations are all I can manage at the moment.”
He released my wrist and sat back in his chair with a disgusted look aimed at his hand as if it repulsed him by how it had manhandled me. “Forgive me for being so…emotional. Your news caught me off guard.”
“Ster, listen to me. It’s not what you think. Vin’s monster wants me to marry him, but more than that, he wants to secure an heir for the fae throne.”
Sterling scowled. “That’s impossible. Your firstborn must be the heir to the vampire throne.”
“I know that. The vampire throne is my priority. Vin understands that too, and that’s why he agrees that my secondborn will be the leader of the fae people. If they choose that path, that is. I’m not forcing any kid of mine into ruling shit they don’t want to rule. I know firsthand how crap that can be.”
My mate struck me with a thunderstruck look that sent a lance right into my lungs. My chest heaved, drawing in breath after breath.
My eldest mate leaned toward me and took my head gently in his hands. “What are you telling me, Ruby?”
“I’m telling you, I want you to be the first. In the beginning, when I was told I had to pick a king, I chose you. I knew from the second I saw you that you and I were meant for something big. I love all my mates. But our child should be the heir to the vampire throne. I understand why you don’t want to be king. You had to suffer through years of watching my father use and abuse the throne. You deserve to take something you hate and turn it into something good. Something that will continue to be good long after we’re gone.”
He moved so fast that in one beat, I was on the floor kneeling before him, and the next, I was in his lap again. He held me by the back of my neck, angling my gaze to his. “Tell me this isn’t a dream.”
I leaned into him, my lips tenderly brushing over his. “It is a dream. But my decision is very real. I want you to be the father of my first child, Julian.”
Hearing his true name in my mouth, he gave a slow blink. He never blinked. When he opened his eyes, they were glossy, swimming with emotion. “I’m at a complete loss for words.”
“Then say nothing. Just kiss me.”
He did.
Sterling kissed me like it was our first time. Like it was our last. Like there was no other kiss that would ever or could ever compare to this one. As a vampire with four mates, there was an eternity of kisses ahead of me, and still, I knew there wouldn’t ever be another kiss like this. This was the pure, unbridled expression of an ancient being overjoyed with a gift he’d thought he was incapable of receiving.
