Bound by Light (17 page)

“Oh, that’s lovely.” Elspie smiled. “I’m
going to see if I can find something as well while you try that
on.”

Sydney blushed. “Okay, be out in a bit.”

Sydney ended up buying both the red and a
similar one in blue, before they realized it was time to meet Thane
at the restaurant.

On the way out of the shopping center,
Sydney was distracted by the strangest little hole-in-the-wall shop
that had random little tchotchkes covering shelves and tables all
over the space. She was drawn to the “awards” shelf and couldn’t
stop a giggle when she found a gold plastic Oscar with “Best Lover”
on the prize plate.

“Elspie, look.” Sydney held up the
statue.

“Oh, my word.” Elspie giggled.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but Thane’s never
won an Oscar, right?”

Elspie shook her head. “No, no he
hasn’t.”

“Bonding night gift, check.”

“No, that’s what the nightie’s for, love.
Wait until the ceremony.”

“You’re a genius.”

Elspie rubbed her fingernails on her shirt.
“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Sydney grinned and paid for her little gem
and then they headed out to the waiting car.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Elspie
asked Sydney as they headed away from the shopping center.

“Thane said a place called Kaylee, I think,”
Sydney said.

“Oh! Cèilidh.” Elspie grinned. “It’s one of
Prince Brodie’s properties. It’s a new club downtown and it’s
virtually impossible to get into. We’re lucky Brodie and Thane are
such close friends.”

Sydney nodded. “I’m just looking forward to
seeing Thane. Is it strange that I miss him so much?”

“Not at all,” Elspie assured. “Marsh is
flying in tonight because I’m missing him. He’s dropping the kids
off at Mum and Da’s and catching the first flight out.”

Sydney chuckled. “So, even after years of
being together, you still feel that way?”

“Aye.”

“That’s so lovely.”

“Aye, love, ’tis.”

The car pulled up to the back of the club
and their doors were opened. Sydney let out a quiet squeak when
Thane leaned in and pulled her out, wrapping his arms around her
and lifting her off her feet.

“Hi, love. Bloody hell, I missed you,” he
said between kisses.

Sydney giggled, sliding her hands into his
hair. “Pretty sure I missed you more.”

“How do you figure?” He lowered her to the
ground. “I’ve had to pine away the afternoon without you. You got
to do something fun.”

“You’re right in theory,” she countered.
“But retail therapy didn’t help distract me, so
obviously
I
win this argument.”

“Okay, love. I’ll let you have that.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“Starving.”

“Brodie organized a private room for us, so
we don’t have to worry about cameras.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Aye.” Thane grinned. “Els? As soon as
you’re done snoggin’ yer mate, we’d like to eat.”

“Marsh is here?” Sydney asked, unable to see
behind the car.

Elspie tugged her mate out from behind the
car, her face a little red, more than likely from Marsh’s beard.
“You’re sneaky, brother.”

Thane laughed. “I can’t take any of the
blame, love. Marsh took care of the details, I just picked him
up.”

Elspie grinned. “Well, thank you for picking
him up.”

Marsh kissed Sydney’s cheek and then they
all made their way into the club. Dinner was much more low-key than
they’d experienced before. Sydney snuggled against Thane as the
four of them had a quiet dinner and headed back to the
apartment.

The rest of the evening was spent watching a
movie and then Sydney crawled into bed with Thane, falling asleep
safely tucked against him.

* * *

“Kade?” Samantha called, and waddled into the
library, her hands resting on her enormous belly. After delivering
Pepper’s baby, the family had returned to Inverness to prep for the
party. Gillian had also traveled with them so she’d be close.

“Aye, love,” he said, and left his desk to
wrap an arm around her. “Are you okay?”

She rubbed her belly. “Just some
twangs.”

“You should rest.” Kade laid his hands over
hers. “In case he comes.”

“He’s not coming yet.” Samantha smiled. “He
wouldn’t dare.”

Kade chuckled. “Sweetheart, all of this
happened with Liam.”

“No, it’s a little different,” she
countered. “Besides, I’ve had a conversation with our wee Phineas
and told him he has to wait until after the party.”

“Which is in a week,” Kade pointed out. “I
think he’s coming tonight.”

She shook her head. “But I have too much to
do.”

“And it will all get done, love.” He wrapped
his arms around her. “You have a family who can help you, and your
parents get here tomorrow.”

She dropped her head on his chest and took a
deep breath. “Kade?”

“Yes, love.”

“My water just broke.”

“I know.” He bent down and lifted her in his
arms, carrying her out of the library and up to their bedroom. Once
he settled her on the bed, he called for his staff and then dialed
Gillian’s number.

“She’s laboring?” Gillian asked.

“Aye. Her water broke six minutes ago.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

“Thank you.”

Gillian hung up and Kade made his way back
to Samantha. “Let’s get you out of those clothes, love.”

Bearnas, the head maid, knocked on the door
and entered when bid. “I have sheets, milord.”

“Thank you,” he said, and wrapped his arms
around Samantha. “Up, love.”

She slid off the bed and looped her arms
around his neck, dropping her head on his chest and taking a few
deep breaths. “I feel him, baby. He’s coming.”

Kade felt her contraction and took as much
pain as he could while Bearnas got the bed ready. Gillian fluttered
in less than five minutes later and helped Kade get Samantha on the
bed, just as she begged to push.

Pepper arrived less than a minute before
Phineas’s head crowned and grabbed Samantha’s hand, kissing her
cheek. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Nice of you to show up,” Samantha retorted,
and then let out a groan as she pushed.

Pepper grinned. “I’m always right on
time.”

Phineas Dalton James Gunnach arrived ten
minutes later, nine pounds, six ounces and twenty-two inches long.
He had a full head of blond hair and cried for about a minute
before Samantha settled him to her breast and he latched on like a
pro.

“He’s perfect,” Kade whispered, and kissed
his mate and new son.

Samantha stroked his head. “My wee Finn. He
looks just like Li—”

“Sam?” Kade’s heart raced as he felt her
lose her grasp with consciousness.

“She’s bleeding quite heavily, your
majesty,” Gillian said.

Pepper took Finn from Samantha just as her
arms went limp.

“Shite.” Kade jumped off the bed, gently as
to not jostle Samantha and then laid his hands on her stomach.

“I need to get a bit of this bleeding under
control first, milord,” Gillian said. “Then you can heal her.”

The waiting was torture as Gillian worked to
get Samantha to a place Kade could do some good.

“All right, milord. She’s ready,” Gillian
said.

Pepper laid a hand on Samantha’s shoulder as
she cradled Finn and Kade did the final healing, doing only what a
mate could do. It took longer than he felt should be normal before
she started to come around. He kept his hands on her even as she
blinked her eyes open. “What happened?” she asked, and frowned.
“What’s wrong?”

“Don’t move, love,” Kade demanded. “There
was a complication.”

Samantha reached for Finn. “Give me the
baby.”

Pepper nodded and laid him in Samantha’s
arms. Samantha settled him at her breast again.

“I’ll check again, milord,” Gillian said,
and Kade gave her some space.

“What’s going on?”

“You hemorrhaged, milady. It appears the
bleeding has stopped now, but we’ll watch you for the next few
hours.”

“I’m okay, honey.” Samantha reached for
Kade. “The baby’s okay.”

Kade took her hand, but couldn’t relax.

“Kade,” Samantha pressed. “Come and see your
son.”

“She’s fine, milord,” Gillian said. “It’s
all right.”

Kade settled beside Samantha again and
kissed her gently. “I’m so proud of you, love.”

She smiled. “This was nothin’.”

He chuckled and kissed his son’s head. “You
scared the shite out of me.”

“Don’t cuss in front of the baby.”

He rolled his eyes. “Aye, love.”

If Samantha was being bossy, she was feeling
better. This relieved him more than anything.

Pepper slipped out of the room, returning a
few minutes later with Liam. “Someone wants to meet his
brother.”

“Mama,” he called.

“Come here, baby,” Samantha said, and Pepper
settled him beside her.

“Gently, Liam,” Kade said.

“Aye, Da,” he whispered. “Baby.”

“Yes, baby.” Samantha smiled. “Phineas.”

Liam gave a toothy grin. “Baby.”

“Yes, baby.” Samantha giggled.  “I
don’t know if I’ll get used to how advanced our babies are compared
to human babies.”

“It is weird to have them speaking in
complete sentences at barely a year old,” Pepper agreed.

“I didn’t realize this was strange,” Kade
said, giving Liam a goofy grin.

“Not strange, but certainly unique,” Sam
said.

“LiLi, are you hungry?” Pepper asked.

He nodded and raised his arms for his auntie
to pick him up.

“Cody and Chelsea are downstairs with Uncle
Con. We’ll go get some dinner, okay?”

Liam cupped her face and smiled. “’K,
Peppy.”

Pepper kissed him. “You are going to be
heartbreaker.”

“He already is,” Samantha complained.

Pepper grinned, leaning down to kiss her
cheek. “Well done, Mama.”

“Thanks, Pep. Love you.”

“Love you too. You rest. We’ll take care of
the kids. Payton and Brodie are on their way.”

Kade rose to his feet and kissed Liam’s
cheek, then Pepper’s. “Thanks, love.”

“Anytime.”

“I’ll come with you,” Gillian said. “I’ll be
here if you need me, milord.”

“Thank you, Gillian.”

Pepper and Gillian left the room and Kade
settled in for a watchful night. Regardless of the scare earlier,
Samantha appeared to be fine now. Kade couldn’t feel anything off
in her body so he held his wife and they got acquainted with their
new son. 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

T
HANE HUNG UP the
phone and walked into the kitchen where Sydney was cooking
dinner.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

He smiled. “The king and queen have a new
wee son. He was almost two weeks early.”

“Oh wow. How are they doing?”

“Very well.”

“Elspie said that when there’s a familial
bond, the women often deliver around the same time.” Sydney raised
an eyebrow. “Maybe we should postpone going early.”

“Sam still wants us to come tomorrow,” Thane
said. “And apparently, Liam’s birthday is going on as planned, so
we’re all still invited.”

“She’s up to a party already?”

Thane nodded. “Gestation for Cauld Ane women
is six months, love, and healing is immediate, so she’s doing very
well.”

“Six months?” she squeaked.

“Aye, love.” Thane chuckled. “Does that
frighten you?”

She shook her head. “Not when it’s happening
to someone else.”

He wrapped his arms around her from behind
and kissed her neck. “There’s no rush, sweetheart. We’ll wait until
you’re ready.”

“I appreciate that.” She sighed. “Big
time.”

“Do you want children?”

She turned in his arms and looped them
around his neck. “With you? Yes. Hundreds.”

He laughed. “Hundreds?”

“Okay, at least two... or four.”

Thane kissed her. “Four will be good.”

“Or maybe five.”

“However many you want to give me, love.” He
kissed her again. “I’ll be happy.”

“This is my decision, then?”

“Considering you have to do all the heavy
lifting... yes.”

Sydney smiled and ran her fingers through
his hair. “Well, we’ll have one and then see where we go from
there.”

“Sounds good.” He kissed her again and then
patted her on the bottom. “Want some wine?”

“Yes, please. Dinner’s almost done.”

“Your cousin said your meatballs are ‘to die
for.’” He did his best imitation of Lucy and Sydney laughed.

“I absolutely see why you get paid the big
bucks for acting.”

He gave her a theater bow. “Thank you,
milady.”

“It doesn’t get you out of chores, however.
Set the table, mister movie star and we’ll eat.”

“Where are my people?” He snapped a finger
in the air. “Staff? Staff? Where are you?”

Sydney dissolved into giggles. “You are
ridiculous.”

* * *

The next afternoon after flying first class
into Inverness, Sydney and Thane slid into the SUV the king had
sent to bring them to his home. The drive from the airport through
the Scottish countryside was breathtaking and Sydney found herself
constantly oohing and aahing the further into the wilderness they
drove.

“We’re almost there,” Thane said, and took
her hand. “Just over this ridge.”

Sydney couldn’t keep her mouth closed as
they crossed the drawbridge and pulled into a large courtyard. It
was like a little city within the remote country setting with
people milling around, she assumed preparing for the guests who
would arrive in a week.

The car was met by very official gentlemen
in kilts, and one opened her door while the other opened Thane’s.
“We’ll get your bags, sir,” the man closest to Thane said.

Thane nodded and held his hand out to
Sydney. She took it and they made their way to the front door. It
opened before they could ring the bell and Thane smiled. “Good day,
Mr. Winston.”