He splayed a hand against her belly. “You’repregnant.”
Dareena’s breath caught in her throat. “Pr…pregnant?” she whispered. Her world seemed to tilt sideways as she looked down at the big hand pressed against her abdomen. Was she really carrying a dragon baby so soon after meeting theprinces?
“Yes,” Alistair confirmed, a smile in his voice. “I’ve been around enough pregnant women to recognize the scent. Not to mention,” he added, tweaking her nipple, “your breasts are more sensitive thanusual.”
Dareena squealed, batting his hand away. “Stop that!” she scolded, and he laughed, nibbling her shoulder. The shock of Alistair’s impromptu announcement was eclipsed with blinding joy, and she grinned so hard her cheeks began to ache. “I wish Drystan and Lucyan were here with us right now. We must tell themimmediately!”
“No.” Alistair went still, his voice hard. “We can’t risk the elves reading the message first. They can’t know about this,Dareena.”
The joy vanished as swiftly as it had come. “Damn,” she said softly, tears springing to her eyes. For a moment, she’d forgotten all about the elves. “You’re right. If the elves find out I’m carrying a child, it will only make me a more valuablehostage.”
“I’m sorry,” Alistair said softly. “I wish things were different. I wish you were safe at home in your bed, and that we could celebrate together. Instead, you’re in enemy territory, and you’re saddled with a useless lug who can’t evenshift.”
“Oh, hush.” Dareena turned in his arms so she could cup his face. “It’s not your fault that you’re not up to your usual strength,” she said. “The same thing would have happened to Lucyan or Drystan. I’m glad to have you with me, Alistair.” She kissed him gently. “I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t by myside.”
“Neither would I,” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Your eyes are more luminous than usual,” he observed, a curious note in his voice. “I noticed it after we crossed the border—you seemed to glow with newvitality.”
Dareena nodded. “I’ve long suspected I have an elven ancestor in my family tree,” she explained as she traced the lines on Alistair’s face. “I think being in the elven lands might be awakening something insideme.”
Alistair’s eyes lit with hope. “Perhaps you’re capable of elven magic, then. I might be useless, but if you are able to harness your power in anyway—”
“We’ll be able to better protect ourselves from whatever Prince Arolas has planned,” Dareena finished. From what Tariana had briefly told her, she knew he was the real enemy, not the king. “I’ll see if the king will let me access the library. Perhaps I’ll find something that can get us out of here, or at least alleviate yoursymptoms.”
“My little bookworm.” Alistair smiled fondly, then tucked her head beneath his chin. “If anyone can find the answers to our problems between the pages of a manuscript, it’syou.”
As Dareena pressed her cheek against his chest, she listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat and let it rock her to sleep. Tomorrow, they would visit with the High King and find out if there was anything they could do to convince the elves to let themgo.
And maybe, just maybe, Dareena would discover more about her elven heritage,too.
9
The next morning,Dareena and Alistair were woken by a bloodcurdlingscream.
“What is it?” Alistair jumped out of bed, ready for battle. Unfortunately, he was also stark naked, and the maid who’d opened the door only screamed louder at the sight of him, her eyes popping so wide Dareena wondered if she would have to reach out and catch them before they landed on thefloor.
Certainly, it was possible the woman had never laid eyes on a specimen as fine as Alistair. But did she have to act as if she’d never seen a naked manbefore?
“By the gods!” She pointed a shaking finger at them. “You…with your brother’swife…!”
Oh.
“It’s not what it looks like!” Dareena clutched the sheet to her chest as she sat up, trying to find the words to explain. But really, what was there to say? Itwaswhat it looked like. She was in bed with Alistair, and as far as the elves knew, she wasDrystan’swife.
An assumption she would have to correct immediately, shedecided.
Dareena and Alistair exchanged helpless glances as the maid whirled about and left the room. “I wonder if I should call her back?” Dareena muttered as the door slammed shut behind her. She was going to need some help dressing this morning, afterall.
Alistair sighed. “I suppose I should have sent you back to your own room last night,” he said, perching on the edge of the bed. The muscles in his broad back flexed as he ran a hand through his shoulder-length blondhair.
“Nonsense.” Dareena wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing her bare breasts against his back. His warm body felt so good against hers—she was tempted to pull him back under the covers with her and make love with him again. “You need me, Alistair. For whatever reason, touching me makes you feelbetter.”
“You’re damn right it does,” Alistair growled playfully, twisting around to catch Dareena’s mouth in a steamy kiss. She clung to him for a long moment, their tongues tangling, as heat gradually built in her veins. If she reached forward right now, Dareena knew she would find his cock, hard and ready for her already. Her pussy clenched with need at the thought of lowering herself onto him, of riding him until they both sawstars.
“You should go back to your rooms,” Alistair said, reluctantly pulling away. “I imagine the reason that maid came to wake us is because the king wishes to see us today, and the last thing we need is for her to come back and see usin flagrantedelicto.”
Dareena laughed and slid off the bed. “No, I imagine she would have a conniption.” Giving Alistair one last, longing look, she opened the adjoining door and returned to her ownroom.
After donning a robe, Dareena spent the next twenty minutes unpacking her trunk. She’d picked out the dress she was going to wear to see the king—a gown of deep red velvet that went beautifully with her complexion—and was laying it out on the bed when a different maid returned with a breakfast tray. Dareena ignored the speculative look in the elven woman’s eyes, merely thanking her for the food and asking her to draw water for the bath. She imagined the prudish maid from before had already told the other servants about her “adulterous” activities, and word was spreading like wildfire throughout thecastle.
