Love in Fantasy (Skeleton Key) (19 page)

She sniffs, “Watch your language, young man.”

“I’m sorry.” His voice holds genuine remorse, but there is still a hard edge to it. “I don’t know how you’ve convinced yourself of this, but what is it going to take to dispel this absurd notion?” Odette tenses, waiting to hear what the crazy woman has come up with.

“I’ve added several mattresses to her bed. We’ll put something small under the lowest one. If she’s really a princess, she won’t be able to sleep because she’ll feel it.”

Odette covers her mouth in a bid not to laugh hysterically, but it turns out to not be necessary when she realizes Dylan is taking it seriously. “Fine,” he gruffs, “I’ll take care of it, and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“She has to sleep there alone, Dylan. Otherwise, your restlessness from the item will keep her awake anyway. Not that you were planning to sleep with her, I’m sure. I’m sure you want to make your mother happy.”

Dylan doesn’t say anything but Odette swears she can hear his eyes roll. He moves out of her line of vision and there is another beat of silence. He must be giving her a kiss on the cheek, then he says, “Goodnight, Mother.” Odette clearly hears the sound of her patting his face, as though he was a child.
Oh, brother.

She steps back and waits for the door to shut and Dylan’s steps back to the bathroom. He pushes the door open and smiles, holding out a t-shirt and a pair of his boxer briefs. “Here, sweet pea, as much as I’d love to keep you just as you are, I’ve already fucked you senseless in my mother’s house. I suppose we can give her something and sleep apart.” His eyes darken and he steps close. “You never sleep naked unless you’re in bed with me, is that clear?”

“Okay,” she says, agreeing easily because she doesn’t like to sleep naked unless she’s plastered up against his warm skin.

He grins and pecks her on the nose. “Good girl.” He shows her to the other room again, both of them pretending the stack of mattresses is the most natural thing in the world. She climbs up after he turns her to jelly with a scorching kiss, then he leaves, turning off the light and shutting the connecting door.

She shifts around, trying to detect where the “something” is, but she isn’t able to find it. She begins to wonder—no! Punching her pillow in annoyance, she flops down and goes to sleep. Later, half awake, she shifts to try and get comfortable; it felt like something was digging into her back. It was a very painful, fitful night’s sleep.

Dylan sits on the ground, back against the wall, and his long legs stretched out in front of him as he watches Odette sleep. He’d driven all night to be here in the morning, unable to wait any longer. After he’d arrived, he’d sat down, fallen asleep, and had the weirdest, yet sexiest dream. . . Content to enjoy the beauty before him, he knows he made the right choice. There had been a plan, an elaborate, amazing, thoroughly romantic plan, but he was impatient and done trying to hide things from the love of his life. He’d informed his mother last night that he was going to propose to Odette and she needed to get on board. In order to be a part of her grandchildren’s lives, she needed to respect their mother and treat her kindly. He’d saved the threat for extreme measures, and it had been necessary, gaining her instantaneous agreement, as he knew it would.

He was already in the car when he’d received a call from Odette’s twin, Shelby. She was worried about Odette, who’d been so upset by everything, she was making herself sick. He quizzed Shelby for a good ten minutes, making her detail exactly what she was talking about. The thought that his woman had been in such a state of stress, she was getting sick, had a rock settling in the pit of his stomach. As Shelby talked, something in the back of his mind was trying to get to the surface, but he couldn’t get a grasp on it. A few minutes later, it hit him like a ton of bricks and his face cracked into a wide and ecstatic smile. It hadn’t left his face since then.

Odette shifts restlessly in her sleep, tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable until finally, she groans and sits up. She rubs her lower back and glares down at the mattress, then realizes there is a lump under her mattress pad. She huffs and climbs out of bed, stomping on the floor and she puts her feet down. She bends over, incidentally, giving Dylan a fantastic view of her very appealing ass.

Reaching under the pad, she retrieves the box he’d slid underneath her fifteen minutes ago. She stares perplexedly at the blue velvet box in her hand, then lifts her head, her eyes darting all around the room until they land on him.

“Dylan?” she breathes. He grins and opens his arms wide. She scrambles over to him straightaway, straddling his legs and snuggling into his embrace.

“Hey, sweet pea.” Dylan buries his face into her silky hair and inhales her sexy, citrusy scent. It calms him before he can start to get nervous. “I love you, you know that?”

She angles back so she is looking at his face with almost a shy smile. “I hope so.” Her demeanor shifts a little, and he sees worry creep into her eyes. “Because, um, I have something to tell you.”

He places a finger over her lips to silence her. “Me first, please?” he pleads, blinking his eyes in a way he knows she can’t resist. And, sure enough, she giggles and motions for him to continue. He holds out his hand wordlessly and waits. She glances at his open palm with confusion, then, it suddenly clicks, you can almost see the lightbulb above her head turn on.

Looking at Dylan’s hand warily, she clutches the box to her chest possessively. “You already gave it to me,” she mutters. He laughs and can’t resist a short kiss.

“I promise to give it back, as long as I like your answer.”

“Why do I have to give it back for you to ask?” she pouts.

He raises a challenging eyebrow and wiggles his fingers. Huffing, she puts the box in Dylan’s hand and he sneaks one more laughing kiss.

“Odette? Sweet pea?” he coos softly. She grins and wiggles impatiently on his lap. “I love you more than any man every loved a woman. I want to spend eternity with you. Marry you, have babies with you, and rule my kingdom together. Will you be the queen of my heart, my name, and my kingdom?”

“Hell, yes!” she screams and launches herself at him, kissing every thought right the fuck out of his head. When she sits back, she snatches the box, but he swipes it right back with a glower. Opening it, he takes out a necklace made from a delicate, platinum chain, holding a platinum charm shaped like a pea pod, holding three perfectly round jade balls. Hanging next to it is a charm with the words “
Sweet Pea
” inscribed.

Odette looks a little crestfallen but tries valiantly to hide it. Dylan can’t keep from chuckling and her expression shifts to suspicious. “To remind everyone you’re my sweet pea,” he tells her as he clasps the chain around her neck. Then, he dips a finger in his pocket and pulls out an intricately weaved, white-gold band, with a three-karat, queen cut diamond perched on top, flanked on either side by a princess cut green diamond. Odette gasps as Dylan slides it onto her left ring finger. “To remind everyone you are my wife, my queen.”

She throws her arms around his neck, sobbing and he frantically thinks of something to say to get her to stop crying. Logically, he knows they are happy tears, but anytime she cries, it guts him. Then, he remembers. . . “Sweet pea, about the baby part—” His sentence goes unfinished when she hiccups, then lurches back with her hands over her mouth. Dylan jumps to his feet with her in his arms, and races to the bathroom, getting there just in time for her to empty her stomach.

“I guess we’ll have to move up the wedding date,” he comments smugly. “Looks like I already got a head start on the making babies part.”

Ovaries go BOOM

O
dette and Dylan are officially engaged (with the rock, and holy fuck is that a rock, to prove it) and having a baby. I beat back the yearning I feel coming on, screaming foul and yelling at it to get right back in the dugout. Cheeky little bitch, trying to stealthily round the bases and steal home, attempting to consume me with baby fever.

My sister is positively glowing, and I’m determined to keep my focus on her, ignoring the searing gaze burning into my back. Until I feel the heat of his body right behind me. Oliver’s arm slips around me, his big hand splaying across my belly, and keeping me from moving when he steps even closer and I’m pressed up against him. His hot breath bathes my ear, sending tingles skittering down my spine. “I can’t wait to see you with my baby in your belly,” he confesses softly. “You’re already so damn beautiful, baby. I don’t know how I’m going to let you out of bed. It can only get worse once you’re full of a little life we create together.”

I swear; my uterus skips a beat. Then, his supple lips brush my neck and it’s all I can do to stay upright. His dark chuckle tells me I’m only standing because he’s holding me steady. “I can’t wait to hold our little one,” he whispers against my skin. Uninvited images flood my mind.

A gorgeous, black-haired baby with stunning blue eyes, in the arms of its unbelievably sexy daddy.

BOOM

Sulking, Wilhelm? Really?

I’m fighting with everything I have not to drag Pippa to a secluded place and fill her with me until she’s knocked the fuck up. The time when I’ll finally be able to let go of my tightly reined control is getting nearer. And, my body seems to know it, reminding me at any given moment how much it wants to get lost inside Pippa.