Christine Feehan - Dark Celebration 17

«I do.» Her lower lip trembled and tears filled her eyes. «I thought I did.»

He bent his head to capture her mouth with his. «Do not cry, Tempest. I would much rather feel the heat of your temper. Your tears are heartbreaking.»

She attempted a soft laugh in the midst of their kiss. «Tears are normal.»

«Not for you. You are far more likely to throw a very hard snowball at me and call me names than cry.»

He kissed her again, and Tempest could taste his desperate need to comfort her. It shamed her that she couldn't stop wanting to weep-and it was so unlike her. She wanted to crawl into a hole and pull the soil over her head. She wanted to cling to Darius, another trait so unlike her. He simply held her, rocking gently back and forth as if she were a child, and when she looked up at his face, his black gaze moved restlessly-ceaseless in his vigil to search out danger around them.

«Its so beautiful here, Darius, it doesn't seem as if we could possibly be in danger. I wish you could find a way to relax and just enjoy life-even if it's only for a day or two while we're here.»

He touched one stray tear with his fingertip and brought it to his mouth. Tempest found the gesture curiously sexy. Her stomach did a funny little flip-a sensation she was becoming used to. She secretly found Darius the sexiest, most attractive man in the world, but she wasn't about to let him know that-not with his bossy ways.

«I am relaxed. Being vigilant does not mean I cannot relax. I want to examine you, Tempest. Not because I think anything is wrong, but just so neither of us is worried.»

A slow smile drove away the tears. «You mean you're worried. Go ahead then. I don't

like it when you get upset on my account.» He was the most protective being she'd ever run across in her life. Darius could hardly bear for her to be out of his sight. If she did have some kind of strange illness, she'd never have a moment without Darius at her side. Even when the band performed onstage and he was working security, he kept Tempest beside him. If he needed to ease his mind by examining her, she was all for it.

Darius wasted no time, his body simply dropping away from his spirit so that he moved in complete freedom, a white hot light of pure energy entering her easily. Darius took his time, looking at her blood, her heart and lungs, moving lower… For the first time in his life he lost his focus and found himself back in his own body, sweat breaking out, his heart pounding. He stared down at her, panic in his eyes.

«What is it? What's wrong?»

His heart thundered in his ears. She looked so anxious, her eyes enormous, but holding such trust it steadied him as nothing else could. «Nothing is wrong. In fact everything is right.» He stole another deep, calming breath, gripping her wrists, pinning her tightly against his chest. «What do you know about babies?»

«Babies?» Tempest drew back, shaking her head in adamant denial. «Absolutely nothing and it's going to stay that way. I've never even held a baby. I didn't exactly have parents, Darius, to show me what to do, so if you have a sudden yearning for children, you're going to have to think about finding another lifemate. Of course, then I'd begin immediately taking body parts off of you, but what the heck? You wouldn't need everything for another woman, now would you?»

«Our women always know when they can get pregnant.»

Her eyebrow shot up. «How?»

He shrugged, looking confused. «I do not know. I suppose they check. I should have been aware of your breeding cycle.»

«Breeding cycle?» There was horror in her tone. «I don't have a breeding cycle. That's just disgusting. Do Carpathians have birth control? I thought you could control that. You control everything else.»

«If we are paying attention.»

«Well, start paying attention. If you can control the weather and call down lightning, you can certainly keep us from having babies. I'm a mechanic. I fix things. Every time Corrine comes in with her baby, I go out the back door, or hadn't you noticed.»

Darius managed another long breath of ice cold air. He tightened his hold on Tempest. «I have been alive for centuries, and in all that time, I never thought once of birth or babies. Once I found you, all I could think of was what a miracle you are to me, not checking for cycles.»

Tempest shrugged. «I didn't think about it either. So now we'll just be careful.»

«It is a little too late to be careful.»

There was a small silence. Tempest pulled back slightly to stare into his dark eyes. «What are you saying?»

«You are pregnant with our child,» Darius announced.

She shoved him hard, throwing herself out of his lap to scramble away, struggling to her feet, hands on hips, glaring at him. «Okay. That's just not funny. I don't do babies, Darius. And I'm not in the mood to have you joke with me about it.» She pointed a shaky finger at him. «You never once said you wanted children.»

«Tempest, I would not even consider joking about such an important thing. You are carrying our child. I saw it in your body, nestled safe and sound, growing every day. I should have been instantly aware, but I have been more concerned with our safety and did not consider that such an event could happen.»

She backed up, looking frightened. «I can't have a baby, Darius. Really. I can't be a parent. I'm a mess.» She shook her head. «You're mistaken. You have to be mistaken, that's all.»

Darius sat in the snow regarding her with a raised eyebrow. «I very seldom make mistakes, Tempest, and certainly not of this magnitude. It is shocking to me that I never noticed the heartbeat. It is very strong. I obviously need to be far more vigilant where you are concerned.»

«Is that all you have to say? Darius! Carpathian women are not supposed to be able to get pregnant very easily. I'd better be Carpathian after going through the conversion.»

«Baby.» His voice was low, a velvet soothing caress. «Of course you are pregnant. It explains everything.»

«Everything?»

«Your mood swings, the tears, the temper. I have heard it is easy to have accidents such as the ones in the kitchen.»

«Oh you have, have you?» Her teeth snapped together. «There's about to be another accident right here, Darius. I don't have mood swings. As for a temper, you're impossibly bossy and would make the easiest going person lose their mind.»

«Check for yourself.»

His calm, steady tone set her teeth on edge. Just once she'd like him to be wrong-and this was the perfect moment for it. She needed him to be wrong. Surely she'd know if she

was going to have a baby? And he would have known. He knew everything. Tempest took a deep breath and let go of the physical world around her.

There it was. A tiny heart beating, little more than that, but definitely a new life. Tempest observed in total amazement and awe. This tiny creature lived inside her. A part of her-a part of Darius. «How come I didn't know?»

She was barely aware of Darius standing beside her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. «I should have known,» he said gently. «It was my responsibility to watch over your health at all times. I was so busy worried about enemies, it did not occur to me to think about pregnancy, but I should have.»

She leaned into him, murmuring aloud, more to herself than to him. «What in the world are we going to do? I have no idea how to take care of a baby.» She looked up at him, afraid to be happy, afraid of the love and joy already growing. «You know me, Darius. Other than you, I've never really gotten attached to anyone.»

«That is not entirely true. You are very attached to the others in the band. I can feel your affection for them.»

«It isn't the same thing as having a child. I could drop it. And I have no idea how to be a Carpathian, let alone a Carpathian parent. This is so scary. What are we going to do?» She clutched his hand, feeling desperate.