Stressed as she could tell Harlan was, he was patient with her. He didn’t rush her, or make her feel silly for being so excited about staying in a hotel that he had likely visited a hundred times.
“I’ll bring you back for a longer stay,” he promised her as they stepped into their suite.
Zia flicked the heavy, sunlight-proof curtains back from one huge window and peered out at the blazing streets just below them. Neon lights spilled color across the glittering sidewalk, and m-enhanced cars zoomed confidently through intersections. Somewhere not too far away, just across a stretch of dangerous water, Solbourne Tower loomed over it all.
“When things are safer?” she finished for him.
There was a small, frustrated sigh behind her. “Yes.”
Zia cut a look over her shoulder and felt her chest constrict. Her poor vampire looked wrung out as he stood by a velvet couch, his eyes on his phone. “Still nothing?”
The skin around his eyes tightened. “Still nothing. War has officially broken out between Felix and Yvanna, but there’s no sign of Julius. He’s gone completely dark.”
Concern for him was a heavy weight in her stomach. Harlan was constantly checking his phone, getting updates from his guards, and fretting about her safety. She also suspected that he was anxious about how she was taking his increasingly strict rules, and that only added to the stress bunching the muscles in his shoulders.
“We’ll be home soon,” she reminded him. Drifting back over to where he stood, she shucked her outer layers and tossed them onto the couch.
Zia gently pressed on his wrist until he lowered the phone. Harlan’s eyes snapped up to meet hers. They were dark with worry, and the lines on his handsome face were deeper, etched with the weight he carried.
Heart swelling with tenderness for this man who had known so much cruelty, she slipped her arms around his back and held him tight. Her voice was muffled by his chest when she said, “Thank you for doing this tonight, baby. I know it was hard for you.”
A warm hand cupped the back of her head. His other arm banded around her waist, holding her so tightly, she thought she felt him tremble. “My Zia, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
She knew it. Gods, did she know it.
The poor man barely even slept anymore, but still he did everything in his power to please her, to shower her with affection. Not a day went by when she felt like an afterthought, or that he wished he didn’t have to worry about her. She feltloved.
Zia tilted her head back and propped her chin on his chest. “Just because Iknowyou would do anything for me doesn’t mean I should ever stop thanking you, Harlan. That’s not how this relationship works.”
His lips quirked up in a small, veryHarlansmile. “I know.” His thumb swept over her cheek. “I love you, my Zia.”
“I love you, too,” she answered, smoothing her hands up and down his back. “You did great with my family tonight, by the way.”
Immediately, his expression went from warm to faintly disbelieving. “Did I?”
“Baby steps were made,” she insisted. “My mother didn’t yell at you, and my brothers thought you were mysterious and cool. They’ll warm up more with every visit. This was just a test run. Besides, all the kids liked you. As far as the rest of the family is concerned, that makes it a done deal.”
Harlan tilted his head slightly. Something in his expression changed, though she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what. “I liked the kids,” he said, slow and measured. With no warning at all, he bluntly asked, “Do you want children?”
Her heartbeat stuttered. For a moment, Zia’s mind blanked. “I…”
Didshe want children? Did she want a crowded home full of screaming babies with fangs? Did she want to sing silly songs and put too many bubbles in the bathtub and plant a special garden with her children? Did she want to feel the visceral terror of holding a newborn for the first time, knowing they werehers?
Did she want to touch baby soft skin and look into dark brown eyes just like Harlan’s?
“OfcourseI want babies,” she breathed. “I’ve always wanted kids, and if they were yours, I’d— Yes. Yes, I want to have babies someday.”
Harlan blinked slowly once before his expression softened. “Then you’ll have babies,” he promised her in that imperious way she loved so much. “As soon as you want them.”
“Is now too soon?”
She was only half joking, considering she would at least need to get her IUD removed before they really started that journey, but he seemed to miss the humor in her tone when he answered seriously, “It usually takes about six months for the venom to change your body enough to allow for impregnation, and I don’t want you pregnant while Julius is still a threat.”
Zia moved her hands to his waist. Gripping his narrow hip bones, she asked, “So… what? Three more months?”
He arched a brow, but he couldn’t quite hide the excitement shining in his dark eyes. His tone was dry when he replied, “So eager to have my children when you won’t even bond with me?”
She stretched up onto her toes to kiss the scar on his chin. “I’ve been waiting for the right time.”
