The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series) (34 page)

              Basically, I just needed to marry her.

              I almost laughed out loud realizing I had just decided I would get married as easily as I barked orders for people to follow. And then the laughter died in my throat when I realized I didn’t just want to marry Amelia to protect her, I wanted to marry her because I loved her.

I wanted her to be my wife.

I needed her to be
my life
.

              Now I just had to tell Amelia all that.

              “Do you want me to stay with the humans while they recover?” Jericho asked, pulling me out of my life-changing thoughts. The men around us moved to deal with the dead bodies and repair what they could of the ancient ruins that had become our battlefield.

              “No, make sure they’re set up. Make sure they won’t leave until things are settled and then I want you to escort Talbott and Lilly to Omaha. I’m throwing them an engagement party and they should probably be there for it.”

              “Do you think this is the appropriate time for that?” Jericho asked, sounding very doubtful.

              “No, it’s not the right time for a party. But it is the right time to remind our people what we fought for, what we defeated Lucan for. This Kingdom is fragile, and the announcement of Terletov is going to shake us up. But I want them to remember that freedom is our top priority. Lilly and Talbott’s wedding will do just that.”

              “Plus, they’re your friends, right?” Jericho pressed and it felt good to joke a little after the traumatizing night.

              “There’s that too,” I laughed low and deep.

              Jericho sobered suddenly, “Avalon, is Eden…. I’m assuming she’s alright?”

              “She’s fine,” I assured him, hating the way his eyes flashed and deepened with emotion at the sound of my sister’s name. “I just talked to her. We didn’t have anything to worry about.”

              “That’s good news,” Jericho breathed a sigh of relief and then offered, “Good luck with the Regents. Say hello to my parents for me.”

              “Good luck with the humans,” I echoed.

              And with that we split up. I took my people and followed Silas to the path that would eventually lead us to his hidden garage. Jericho and Sebastian finished loading up the two eight-passenger vans and headed down the mountain to Lucan’s, my, the Kingdom’s airstrip.

              Amelia was immediately in my arms after saying goodbye to her brother and I dipped my head to claim her mouth with mine.

              “I have something to tell you later,” I whispered against her soft lips.

              “Is it good or bad?” she asked in her sweet accent.

              “It’s life changing. I hope you’re ready for it,” I teased, moving to pay her neck and jawline some much needed attention.

              “Should I be afraid?” She asked in a breathy voice.

              “Absolutely,” I murmured. Even after the sweat and dirt of battle caked her skin, she still tasted irresistible. I pulled her body flush against me so that I could feel every part of her. I was suddenly very, very excited about what marriage would mean for our relationship. Even after the horror of what we were facing, Amelia was still the best and brightest thing in my life. I could not wait to make her mine completely.

Chapter Thirty-One

              I woke up on our beach, a little disoriented. The first reaction I had was panic and action, but two seconds of well thought-out decision reminded me this was the place I created for Amelia on her birthday.

The night was comfortably warm, a gentle breeze floated over me and the moon overhead was impossibly bright. Stars twinkled above for miles and miles, stretching as far as this dream world would go. The sand felt like a plush cushion beneath the cotton blanket I lay on top of. The water lapped against the distant shore in harmony with nature, musical and soft.

              I was a little out of it as I tried to remember where my human body was and how I got here. I rested my hands on my stomach, completely comfortable and willing to think it over for a minute when I turned my head and met the biggest golden brown eyes ever created.

              Amelia.

              “Hey,” I whispered in the darkness.

              “Hey,” she whispered back. She was on her side, on top of the pale blue blanket of her own creation. I fell in love with the fact that she recreated our world, and that she was contented enough to add her own touches.

              Her hair spilled over her shoulders and framed her delicate face. Her lips were pursed and the emotion behind her eyes worried me. I turned on my side so that I could look her properly in the eyes. I ran the back of my knuckles along her jawline in concern. She lifted her face into my touch and I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face if I wanted to. This was so close to my idea of perfection, it felt unreal.

              “We’re still on the plane to Omaha,” she explained. She must have read the confusion on my face.

              “I figured,” I murmured. I was waking up, but taking my time coming back to myself. The battle in the Andes had taken it out of me, and the two day travel back to Lima and an international airport without sleep hadn’t helped. There was only one jet in Lucan’s old hanger and Jericho commandeered it in order to get the rescued prisoners back to Romania. Silas moved on with Christi Ludu and the other Titans to see if they could find his lost colony. And the rest of us were forced to fly commercial back to the States. I was fine; but it was just like somebody had slipped me a sedative the minute I finally sat down in first class. “Are you alright?” I asked Amelia, her pinched expression and furrowed brow had me nervous. She did not look alright.

              Amelia shook her head, and then buried her face in the crook of her elbow. Her body shook once and her breath hitched into a sob. I scooted closer immediately, pulling her into my arms and wrapping her up inside my embrace.

              “Hey, it’s Ok,” I whispered into her hair.

              She nodded against me. She didn’t cry again, but she stayed close to me, burrowing as close against my chest as she could get.

              “What’s the matter?” I pressed when I felt like she had gotten some control back.

              She waited a full minute before answering. She took even breaths and kept her face flush against my chest. When I breathed, she moved with me. I loved the way she fit against me. “I was just…. I’m just trying to process everything that happened. Watching those men die was…. traumatizing. And then finding those nuns and the Immortals. Avalon…. I…. I just needed to feel safe.”

              She took a deep breath and cuddled closer, although there was hardly any space left between us. I tightened my grip around her, loving that she called me here. Pride and testosterone spread like rushing rapids inside of my veins as I realized Amelia pulled me into a Dream-Walk because
I
made her feel safe. On the outside I was the perfect picture of comforting boyfriend, keeping her close and comforting her as best as I could. On the inside I was more like Tarzan beating my chest in victory.

              Avalon, King of the jungle.

              I pushed those thoughts down, or tried to and nuzzled my face into the crook of her hair, breathing her in. She was intoxicating. And she trusted me. I had never felt like more of a man in my life.

              We laid like that for the rest of the flight, ignoring the outside world, wrapped in our own, isolated cocoon. When the “fasten seatbelt” light finally came one, Amelia was settled down and relaxed again. We exited our dream world and reentered reality closer than we had ever been. And I was satisfied with the knowledge that our relationship was equally as secure.

----

              “You look like hell,” Eden mused when she picked us up at the Omaha Eppley Airfield.

              “It’s good to see you too, sis,” I grumbled, throwing my backpack in the trunk of her Land Rover while Eden and Amelia hugged tightly. Amelia left her luggage in one of the vans in Peru when we split up with Jericho. I was lucky to have left quite a bit of clothing at Sylvia’s house from when I lived with her, but Amelia was going to have to go shopping for a little bit of everything for now. The only thing she had managed to keep with her was her passport and ID to function in the human world. I appreciated her practicality.

              I even found it sexy.

              “I cannot believe my brother let you be a part of that,” Eden sighed irritably, squeezing Amelia even tighter.

              “Please,” I grunted. “Amelia can take care of herself.” I believed this, I wasn’t ever going to let her take care of herself again, but I did believe she could. I had also noticed how Amelia bristled against Eden’s words and I knew that she hated feeling like everyone babied her. I wouldn’t baby her. I would protect her when she needed me, but I would never deny her the capable woman she was.

              “That doesn’t mean she should,” Eden countered.

              “Because you’ve always sat back and let others fight for you?” Amelia leveled her gaze with my sister’s and I bit back my laughter.

              “Touché,” Eden huffed.

              “She’s got a point, E,” I smiled. I put my hands on Amelia’s shoulders, loving the delicate feel of them beneath my fingers and pulled her back against my chest. I dipped my head so that I could feel her soft hair against my cheek. “Told you, she can take care of herself.”

              “This is really happening, isn’t it?” Eden stared at us in disbelief.

              “This is really happening,” I answered before Amelia could make up some excuse.

              “Well, we’re uh, we’re just giving it a trial run,” she explained anyway.

              Eden looked us over with a tight squint to her eyes and then laughed softly. I knew she was keenly aware of my feelings so I knew her scrutiny had more to do with Amelia’s emotions. I held my breath until Eden came back with something smart to say.

              “Careful, Mimi, my brother does nothing half way,” she winked at me and I relaxed.

              It wasn’t what Eden had teased Amelia with, it was the confidence in which she did it. Not only did Eden approve of us, she believed there was a mutual attraction between us.

              These were all things I knew and could easily convince myself with. And if things were going slow and naturally between us I wouldn’t have had to worry about them anyway, but since I planned to marry this girl and do it soon I had to hope she was tracking right along with me.

              Gabriel, who had been a silent observer grunted something unintelligible and moved to sit in the front seat of Eden’s car. Yes, even though I was not only King but the brother of the driver, Gabriel had surreptitiously called shotgun. Bastard.

              It wouldn’t have mattered at all, especially since I actually preferred to sit with Amelia in the backseat, but truth be told my legs were way too long for the backseat. Hell, I was way too big for the backseat.

              Guess Amelia and I were going to have to cuddle.

              The rest of us followed suit and climbed in Eden’s banana colored SUV. Titus, Xander and Xavier had driven off already in Syl’s convertible that Kiran drove down to the mid-sized airport.

              The ride back to Sylvia’s house was filled with a recap of the battle for Eden. Gabriel said his piece now since he would be bunking at Amory’s old house with the rest of the guys.

Amelia gripped my hands tightly in hers while I retold Eden with excruciating detail what happened. Eden visibly paled when I talked about the human prisoners and the suicides and I worried about the health of her baby under this much stress.

              She shook me off in our mental shared consciousness though, promising that even though her emotions were unavoidable the baby wouldn’t suffer because of her despair. And even though I believed what she said, her health became another important reason to wrap this Terletov thing up.

              “You’re with child,” Gabriel grunted with surprising tones of reverence in his voice when our conversation had died down. He had somehow known and I had to wonder for just four seconds if he read our minds, but then shook that notion off. He was incredibly perceptive.

              And possibly he could read our minds too.

              But probably not.

              Eden looked stunned for just a moment before she was able to recover, “I am.”

              “Incredible,” Gabriel murmured, looking at Eden like he had never seen anything like her before. “Avalon didn’t say anything.”

              I wanted to defend myself, but Eden beat me to it, “We just found out. We’re waiting to tell the Kingdom until the engagement party for Talbott and Lilly that Avalon’s planning.”

              I hadn’t known they were going to make the announcement that soon, nor did I know she realized the engagement party would be so soon. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but for some reason Eden using her magic to use our connection for information did. Especially after her shocking bouts with morning sickness, I really believed my sister had to have Kiran remind her constantly to use her magic.

              She was adorably oblivious.

              “This means everything to your people,” Gabriel all but whispered. “Your grandfather would have been….” Gabriel’s voice broke just a fraction and while my jaw dropped in surprise from his show of emotions, Eden’s instantly filled with huge tears that slipped from the corners of her eyes and trailed helplessly down her cheeks. She swiped at them with the back of her hands and the car swerved destructively across three lanes of interstate. “Amory would have been amazed.”

              I wanted to roll my eyes at my sister’s dramatic emotions until Gabriel’s last words. I expected him to say “proud” or “pleased” or anything but “amazed.” His word choice filled the car with the same tone as his reverent awe and for the first time I sat back and admired what an incredible miracle Eden was carrying. After the sordid past of our people and the impossibility of the baby inside of her I had to agree. It was amazing. Eden was amazing.