Taken by Moonlight (73 page)

Yes,
only fair.

She was
silent for a moment, and he moved to his side, watching her as the moonlight
played across her skin. He could easily slip into her mind to know what she was
thinking but he waited for her to tell him.

Marry
me.

At his look
of confusion, she clarified,
You’ll have to marry me. My parents won’t
settle for less. It can be a small ceremony, with Eli, Raoul, Sloan, my family
and Drew.
She paused and her eyes grew sad for a moment before she pushed
it away and forced a smile.

Whenever
you want to and whatever you want, Vivienne. I already have the license.

Really?

Yes,
alainn
. I always intended to
marry you, for the sake of legality if nothing else.

When she
frowned, he explained.
Mating is much more serious than marriage. A contract
can be broken, but there is only one way out of this, and I hope it does not
come to either of us for many centuries.

She smiled
up at him. Locking her arms around his neck, she kissed him.
I love you,
Conall.

Vivienne,
you have only to look into my mind to see how much I love you.

Chuckling,
she teased.
I never pegged you for a romantic, mate.

He rolled
onto her and smiled.
I’m not romantic,
alainn.
I’m honest.

As he
lowered his head to hers, her last coherent thought was that she could live
with honesty. Oh yes, she certainly could.

If Vivienne
thought Conall treated her like a priceless China vase before, she was wrong.
They had been mated for about seven months and Vivienne was pregnant, heavily
so.

She’d known
about a week into her pregnancy, when she’d awoken to find there were other
presences in the room with her. Scoping the room, she’d found no one, and then
she’d recognized that the presences, the auras, were inside of her. She’d
wanted to take a pregnancy test to be sure, but when Conall had come to her
that night, he’d held her after they’d made love, and had spent long minutes
lovingly caressing her belly. Just as she instinctively knew they were there,
so did her mate, her husband. That was confirmation enough for her.

As the
weeks passed and she began to show, Conall grew even more protective. Her first
and second months were bearable, and she found him amusing. She’d even teased
that if she had daughters, he would be the typical, intimidating father, except
unlike most fathers, the threat of breaking bones limb by limb could actually
be achieved. By her third month, Conall didn’t want her going anywhere without
Sloan or Raoul, even places in Cedar Creek, like Zahira’s house. By the fourth,
he seemed intent on establishing a rule that included her staying inside the
house, or in the back yard, off her feet.

She was not
having it.

The
resident doctor had told her that much like a human pregnancy, nine months was
the normal time of delivery for females who conceived in their human bodies,
which she had done. He’d said slightly earlier or later was fine, and had been
monitoring her. Her fifth month was when she really began to show. It was
almost as if overnight, she went from having a slight pooch to a beach ball.
With that constant and obvious reminder of her state, Conall grew even more
protective.

He didn’t
want her leaving Cedar Creek without him, period. Zahira had mentioned that the
males became irrational during the first pregnancy but she hadn’t stated just
how much. By her sixth month, she found herself constantly between amused and
irritated. She grew irritated with him for his extreme over protectiveness, but
when she was allowed to think back on it, she found it amusing. Conall would be
a great father.

“You’ve
been smiling since you got here. What’s so funny?” Cassie asked from where she
was perched, lazily, on their parents’ sofa.

Vivienne had
arrived only minutes earlier at her family’s home to find that her sister,
who’d rented a very nice apartment in the city, was visiting as well. The
television was on, and Cassie was watching Discovery as they did an entire
segment on extinct predators.
Shocker
.

“Nothing,”
Vivienne replied, moving her body around to get to a more comfortable position.
It was May, but her pregnancy made her feel like it was August in the Caribbean, so she wore a sleeveless, summer-like dress. She’d come with an overcoat just in
case it became chilly.

“Nothing
meaning your black-haired, blue eyed hunk of man?”

Cassie
chuckled when Vivienne nodded and her smile grew wider. “Spit it out. I need
other forms of entertainment.”

“He doesn’t
know I’m here,” Vivienne said softly, grinning when Cassie shook her head and
eyed the door suspiciously. Her sister had changed, not drastically but enough
to notice, in seven months. She’d cut her hair into a short pixie cut, and
permed it. Vivienne hadn’t liked it at first because it made them look
different, but the cut had grown on her, and now she thought it suited her
sister well. After the search for Drew had turned up negative and the worst had
been assumed, Vivienne had found herself speaking to Cassie almost daily. She
would sometimes call her just to hear her voice, to make sure she was fine.

“I’m
positive he’s on his way here right now,” Cassie murmured, turning to look at
the door as Evelyn stepped through with a tray filled with tea and sweets. From
the moment she’d opened the door to find Vivienne there, she’d gone into the
kitchen for the cookies. Pregnant Vivienne had a strange obsession with all
things cookies.

“Conall
just called,” Evelyn said, shaking her head when Vivienne grinned and grabbed a
chocolate-chip cookie, looking extremely proud of herself. “I told him you were
sitting in my living room, having a snack.”

Vivienne
nodded, and bit into the treat, sighing as she chewed. “What did he say?”

“That he’s
five minutes away,” Evelyn replied, trying to hide her smile as her daughter
frowned.

Cassie
laughed. “I told you so.”

She’d
barely made it to her second sugary delight when the doorbell rang. As Evelyn
stood and went to answer it, Vivienne turned and glared at her mother.

“You two
are funny.” Cassie shook her head. “Strange, but funny.”

Her mother
opened the door and she heard her mate’s voice moments before he came to stand
behind her chair. Leaning down, he kissed the side of her neck, his standard
form of greeting, before acknowledging Cassie. He took a seat on the couch next
to her sister and smiled at Vivienne as he watched her.

Feeling
wary, she picked up another cookie and ate it slowly, wondering at his jovial
mood. He was normally upset, throwing mantrums when she did these things.

Moments
later, Sloan entered the living room murmuring greetings as he took a seat.
Evelyn brought out more tea and cookies, and the two
weres
thanked her
as she placed them down. Cassie and Sloan fell into an easy conversation. Her
sister had been to Cedar Creek numerous times in the past months, and seemed to
fit in perfectly with Sloan, Raoul, and Eli. They all adored her, probably
because she was so fascinated with them. Well, with their wolves.

Still
confused at her mate’s strange mood, Vivienne finally relented and inquired,
Why
aren’t you mad?

You look
beautiful,
alainn
.

Flattery
will get you nowhere. I’ve seen myself in the mirror, and I understand the term
whale, okay? Why aren’t you mad?

He frowned
briefly but then his smile returned.
Because I knew you would come here.

How?

I can
access your thoughts, remember?

Feeling
silly, Vivienne sighed and grabbed another cookie, this one was covered with
melted Swiss chocolate. The babies obviously liked chocolate as much as she did
because it was the one thing she could wolf down for breakfast, lunch, and
dinner.

Why
didn’t you stop me?

Because
you weren’t in any danger.

I’m
never in any real danger and you stop me anyway.
She recalled times she’d wanted to
walk through Cedar Creek alone when Conall had attempted to stop her because
she might fall and hurt herself or the babies. Those arguments were always
funny—in hindsight.

Sloan
was following you.

Vivienne
glared at Sloan, but he was talking to Cassie, and didn’t notice.
I’m not
leaving for at least another hour or two.
It was important to savor the
times she escaped Cedar Creek because they were few and far in between.

That’s
fine. I’ve got nothing to do.

His smile
was contagious and she found herself shaking her head and returning it.
You
really do look beautiful,
alainn
. Although isn’t that dress a bit much
for spring?

Her smile
faded and she glared at him.
I’m the one carrying two other beings. I get to
decide how hot or cool I want to be, okay?

Of
course,
alainn
.

His
concession was so quick that Vivienne grinned and nodded, leaning back in the
chair and covering her mouth as she yawned. It was only three o’clock but she
wanted a nap, one where Conall’s body was draped around hers.

Tired?

She nodded.

Let’s go
home,
alainn
.

Upstairs.
Let’s go upstairs.

Vivienne
stood, and shook her head when she couldn’t see her feet. Conall stood
immediately.

“I’m going
to lie down,” she told Cassie, who lifted a brow at Conall when he began to
follow her.

“Lie down?
Is that what they call it now?” she snickered, chuckling when Vivienne shot her
a killer glare. Sloan seemed to be biting in his own laughter as he avoided
Vivienne’s eyes. Little did they know that a few weeks ago, their humor would
have been justified.

When they
arrived in her room, Vivienne removed the soft slippers her mother had provided
and moved onto the covers. She retreated to give Conall enough space on the
bed. As he settled in next to her, she rolled onto her side and sighed when he
pulled her against him, burying his face against her neck. His hands settled
protectively on her swollen belly, and he began to rub lightly.

I do
love you, Conall. Even if you are insanely overprotective at times.

A low
chuckle touched her ear before she fell into a deep sleep.

Conall
continued to rub at her belly until a swift thump greeted his hand. He grinned
and moved his hand a few centimeters down. It didn’t take long for the thump to
come again. One of them had to be a boy. Or both. He’d begun to recognize a
trend of the late. If he caressed her belly, the kicks would come, but when she
did it, they remained silent. Even Cassie wasn’t treated to ‘fight-night’ when
she caressed her twin’s belly. So from that, he’d gathered that he would have
at least one son, as the territorial instinct was usually common to males, even
unborn ones.

Two months
later, he was proved correct. Vivienne gave birth to twins, a red- faced,
golden-eyed boy who came out screaming, kicking his legs and pumping his little
fists, and a blue-eyed little girl, who was smaller than her brother, and much
quieter.

Conall took
one look at them and fell in love for the second time in his life. As Vivienne
was cleaned, he and Evelyn held the babies. The girl eyed him curiously, as if
trying to understand who it was that held her. He placed a finger at her cheek
and she grabbed it and tried to bring it to her mouth. Her brother began to
wail once more, fussing against his grandmother as he did so.

They were
hungry.

Once they
were fed, swaddled, and sleeping, Evelyn left them alone. She planned to stay
with them for some weeks to help her daughter with the twins.

“I’d like
to call the girl Anabelle,” Vivienne said softly, wincing a bit when she
attempted to move her lower body. Conall frowned at her wince but she smiled
and shook her head, reassuring him.

“It’s a
nice name,” he said softly, turning to the crib where the infants slept. Little
Anabelle. “I like it.”

“Good.
Since I chose one of the names, I guess it’s only fair that you choose the
other.” She chuckled softly, and Conall gently stroked her face.

“Cadan.”
There was great pride in his voice. He turned to the crib again. As Vivienne
waited, he explained, “It means ‘little warrior’.”

Chuckling,
Vivienne shook her head. “He’s not even a day old and you’re thinking of him as
a fighter.”