“Our bed is empty without you,” Fane murmured into her hair as he pressed his face into her neck.

“Guess you should have thought about that before you told me I shouldn’t worry about anything but having our baby. As if I’m not capable of dealing with anything else—”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Luna,” he pleaded. “I was just saying that there was no reason to burden yourself with more. My father has entrusted Costin, Decebel, Cypher, and I with a heavy burden, but I can handle it.”

“But we’re a team,” Jacque said. “We’re supposed to handle things together. I’m not going to be some passive mate who sits around and waits for you to come home.”

“I’ve never expected that of you. But sometimes I need you to trust me as the leader of our family to know what’s best.”

“And you feel it’s best not to tell me whatever it is your father has forbidden you to share?”

Fane let out a sigh and his breath brushed gently over her skin. He lowered his head to her shoulder and rested his chin there so his lips were close to her ear. “Yes, my love. I feel it is best to not burden you with this information at this point.”

Jacque tensed. She tried to pull away from him but he wasn’t having it. Instead, he turned her in his arms and took her face in his hands. His bright blue eyes stared down into hers and they never ceased to take her breath away.

“I know I’m going to have to earn your trust back after all that I put you through.”

“No, Fane, I trust you.” She started to shake her head but he held her still.

“Not completely,” he interrupted her. “I shouldn’t expect you to. But what I do expect is for you to know just how deeply I love you. And how much I already love our unborn child. I don’t just want to protect you both, I need to protect you. It is as much a part of my DNA as the color of my eyes. You are mine—the pup in your beautiful stomach is mine—mine to cherish, love, and protect from whatever it is that could possibly hurt you.”

“Is there some threat to us or our child?” Jacque’s eyes widened.

“No, no, Luna. I wouldn’t keep that from you. Please” —he pressed his forehead to hers— “please trust my love for you, even if you don’t feel you can trust my reasons for not opening the bond completely.”

She could feel his worry through the small amount of the bond that was still open between them. Jacque pulled back so she could look up into his eyes again. She could never doubt his love for her, but she also knew from her own experience that love could make a person do irrational things.

Fane leaned down slowly, as if asking permission, and when she didn’t back away he pressed his lips to hers. It started out sweet and gentle, but Fane’s hunger for her took over and he quickly took the kiss to a whole other level. One of his hands slipped up the back of her neck and tangled in her curly hair while the other moved down her spine until it reached her lower back. Then he slid that hand around to her hip and pulled her as close as her pregnant belly would allow.

His lips trailed across her jaw and down her neck as his tongue periodically swept out and tasted her. Jacque heard his growl as she moaned in response to his touch.

“Come back to bed,” he hummed against her skin. His hands were already attempting to relieve her of her sleep clothes.

“Do I have a choice?” she asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

Fane’s answering smile took her breath away. He swept her up into his arms as if she wasn’t nearly eight months pregnant and carried her to their bed. “As long as I can carry you, I’d say, no, you don’t have a choice.” If she hadn’t been pregnant, she had no doubt he would have tossed her onto the bed and then pounced on her. But instead, he set her down on her feet and held her gaze with an intensity in its own that caused her heart to beat painfully in her chest. He undressed her slowly and it reminded her of the night they were married and bound. He’d been just as intense then and his eyes had not left her face until he’d had her so caught up in his touch that she wasn’t embarrassed. Jacque knew he was attempting to do the same this night because she was so self-conscious of her swollen stomach, dimpled thighs, and stretch-marked everything.

“Hush,” he told her having picked up on her thoughts. “You’re beautiful.”

“You’re just saying that to get me in your bed,” she teased.

She felt his grin against her skin. “Is it working?”

“Maybe.”

Just as her final piece of clothing hit the floor, Fane turned them so his back was to the bed and laid down pulling her on top of him. His eyes swept over her and the heat that filled them had Jacque shivering. “Guess if my words don’t work, I’ll have to try something else,” he whispered just before his mouth met her flesh.

Costin growled as he watched his mate walk into their bathroom and shut the door in his face. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, Sally mine.” He heard the whine in his voice and wanted to kick himself. He’d spent the evening fending off her questions about why he was keeping their bond closed. He hated seeing the hurt in her eyes, but he understood why Vasile wanted them to wait to tell the females—especially with one of them still nursing a pup and another with one on the way. He knew it was going to break Jen and Jacque’s hearts when they heard about all the deaths. It would break his mate’s heart as well, but he imagined it would be a tad more personal for the other girls because they had pups of their own.

“How exactly did you mean it then?” Sally said through the door bringing his attention back to her. “Because when you said, maybe we should try something new because things are getting routine, I took it to mean you feel like our lovemaking has become routine. Considering some other words for routine include, mundane, boring, dull, tedious, and commonplace, maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Did I misunderstand?”

Costin leaned his head against the door and banged his forehead against it. Dammit, he thought to himself. If he ever wished he could take back his words, it was the ones she’d just repeated. In his attempt to distract her, he’d stupidly suggested they spice up their love life, as if there was something wrong with it. Truth be told, his little healer was the opposite of boring when it came to their lovemaking. It had been a dumb thing to say, and as soon as the words had left his mouth and he’d watched her face fall, Costin had wanted to snatch the words back and swallow them down.