Rik sat on the edge of the bed, his face conveying confusion, guilt, elation, and pure, smug masculine satisfaction. Sam also noted that he looked exhausted, heavy shadows beneath glassy eyes, his jaw scruffy, and he had obviously slept in his clothes.

Torn between the urge to kiss him silly and throw something at him, Sam huffed and puffed, "You're lucky coffee is sacred, you potent son-of-a..." She paused, eying his mother—his mother, standing beside the bed and beaming with such sincere joy, Sam couldn't help but melt a little bit—as she corrected, "Sidhe. Son-of-a-Sidhe."

Rik's mother laughed, a bright, tinkling sound that drew a reluctant smile from Sam, as the older woman—who looked no older than either of her daughters, dagnabbit—rested a delicate hand on Sam's shoulder. "It's okay, chère. You two should talk. I am just happy you are both here, and safe."

Leaning down, she gave Sam a kiss on both cheeks before she glided toward Rik. Grasping both his cheeks in her hands, she pressed a tender kiss against his forehead before she bustled out the door, closing it quietly behind her.

Sam stared at Rik as she slowly drank her coffee. Mmm, so good! She groaned aloud, eyes sliding closed as she savored the rich, dark brew perfectly prepared, with a thick, rich foam and just enough sugar to cut the bitterness. And it was served in a massive mug. Perfection!

"Baby," Rik's voice was low, rough, "You can't make that sound while you're in bed, and not expect me to pounce."

Oops.

Blushing furiously, still clutching her coffee protectively, Sam opened her eyes to meet Rik's heated gaze, which was currently fixated on her lips as she licked away the foam.

Oops.

When Rik made to act on his threat, Sam held up The Hand. "Oh, no, no, no! You've got some 'splaining to do, Rikard-o."

"If I'm Rikky Rikardo, does that make you Lucy?" Rik teased, his large hand somehow managing to locate her ankle beneath the thick duvet.

"Uh, no," Sam shot that shit down, hard, though she had to fight the urge to giggle. The jerk was trying to distract her!

"No pouncing, no Lucy jokes, no nookie," Sam said firmly.

"Fine," Rik chuckled, then turned serious as he met her eyes. Taking a deep breath, he began, "So, I'm a Sidhe..." He trailed off, blinking at a sudden thought before he gave Sam a suspicious look, "Which you apparently already know."

Oops.

Sam gave a reluctant nod. "Yeah, I do. Apparently, I inherited the Sight, which has been in my family for many generations. My glasses keep me from seeing things, but without them, I see magic and stuff."

"How long have you known?" Oh, that tone was flat.

Squirming, trying to make it look like she was just getting comfortable, Sam looked down into her coffee. "Um, pretty much since that first day. I told Clara that first evening while we were having dinner and discussing the Landsmaster position."

Sam scowled. Looking up, her tone was flat this time as she said, "You know, the position that you didn't want me for because you wanted to give it to my ex-fiancé."

And this time, it was Rik's turn to look sheepish. Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, the other lightly rubbing his thumb along the inside of her ankle—and damned if that didn't feel incredible—he coughed. "Honestly, it's a bit more complicated than that, but considering how big the Estates are, I figured I'd just give you both the position. His resume came to me from someone whose recommendation was more of an order."

Rik looked thoughtful for a moment, "I'm still not completely sure what's going on with that, but we'll work it out."

"You want me to work with my ex-fiancé?" Sam sputtered.

Rik shrugged and grinned, "Hey, at least your ex hasn't tried to challenge me to a duel, or try to kill me. Besides, why would you want a puppy like that when you've already claimed my hand?"

Eyebrows wagging salaciously, Rik wriggled the fingers on his left hand at her. "That reminds me. When are you going to make an honest man out of me? I mean, you won the hand of your fair ford and saved me from a Fate worse than death."

Rik must have seen the panic on her face—okay, she really had to work on hiding her thoughts better—because his wicked grin turned understanding.

"It's okay, baby, I know it's quick. Hell, we've only known each other for a week, and this whole anam cara thing is new to you. There's no rush."

Pointing to the left side of her chest, where her bare shoulder and arm peeked out from beneath the duvet, revealing the mark that had extended down to her elbow, Rik said softly, "We're already partially bonded. We can complete the bond in our own time, under our own terms."

Straightening his shoulders, Rik gave her a charming half-smile, "I want to woo you properly. I don't want you to ever regret our union, or to feel that you were rushed or had no choice in the matter. Our engagement can be as long or as short as you want."

"But..." Sam started, then stopped. When she looked back down at her coffee, Rik was suddenly at her side, crouching down. Carefully, he took the mug from her hands and set it on the bedside table before he gently cupped her face, turning her to face him as he gave her a soft, tender kiss.

"I love you, ma petite flamme," he said as he pulled back and met her eyes. "I have loved you since I was born, my heart was made for you and you alone. But I have done nothing to deserve your love. Yet. Please, give me the chance. That's all I ask, just a chance so I can properly sweep you off your feet."

Eyes burning with unshed tears, Sam sniffed and gave a watery laugh. "You already swept me off my feet." Reaching up, she took his hands and placed them on the duvet, over her stomach, "And we're doing it all backward, apparently, since we're already expecting our first child."

Rik shrugged, but his attention was fixed on where his hands rested on her belly. "Ah, baby, this is our fairy tale. We get to decide how we get to our happily ever after and just what it's going to include."

He looked up and gave her that grin of his, the one that was both charmingly boyish and wickedly male. "And personally, I'm hoping that our happily ever after is going to include a lot of..."

Sam's held breath exploded in a whoosh when Rik began buzzing angrily. It took her an embarrassing few heartbeats to realize that it wasn't Rik buzzing, but his pants. He just stared at her in consternation, his hands fisted in the duvet as he stopped trying to slowly ease it down over her breasts.

Giggling, Sam pointed, "You may want to take care of that."

"If we ignore it, maybe it'll go away," Rik muttered, his eyes traveling back down until they were once more fixated on the creamy swell of her breasts.

When the buzzing stopped, Rik exhaled in relief, only to curse softly as it immediately began again. Falling back on his haunches, his eyes never leaving Sam's breasts, he fished his phone out of his pocket.

"What?" he barked without even glancing at the caller ID.

Sam couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the line, but going by the resigned expression on Rik's face, it had to be important.

"Yes, we're both safe. We're fine." He rolled his eyes as the voice on the other end continued, the angry tone audible as whoever it was yelled at him. Then he went right back to staring hard at her breasts, as if his vision alone could rip away the duvet covering them.

Clearing his throat, Rik sighed. "We're in France. At Mom's."

Silence on the other end. Then a shout had Rik wincing and pulling the phone away from his ear. "Yes. Look, she's fine. We're talking right now. What? No! Fine, fine. I'm putting you on speaker now."

Flicking the call over the speaker, Rik set his phone on the bedside table as he told Sam's breasts, "Baby, please let everyone know you're fine so your family doesn't start World War Three, please?"

Put on the spot, Sam glared at Rik, but cleared her throat and said, "I'm fine. Just passed out from exhaustion..."

"...and pregnancy," Rik added in a low voice with a wicked grin.

"Pregnant? Who's pregnant?" Clara shrieked, making both Sam and Rik wince.

"I have not had enough coffee yet to deal with this," Sam groaned, falling back into the plush pillows of the bed.

"Hello? Are you still there? Rik? Sam?"

"Yes!" Sam shouted, throwing an arm over her eyes in a vain attempt to try and block out the brewing shit-storm. "I'm pregnant. Your brother and his mystical, magical fairy sperm invaded the castle, then decided to get cozy and leave a present."

"Who knocked up my baby girl?"

That voice had both Sam and Rik sitting up at attention. The low, dangerous question was dark and laced with an overt threat. Swallowing, Sam looked at Rik, who looked back at her with a guilty expression that lasted all of a second before his eyes traveled downward.

Gasping, realizing she had unwittingly revealed her bare breasts, Sam threw a pillow at Rik's head as she drug the duvet back into place.

Catching the pillow, Rik cleared his throat as he said, "I did, sir." And yes, he called her father 'sir,' even if he was more than three times the other man's age, and not just out of politeness. "We're engaged, and as soon as your daughter gets around to asking me to marry her, then she'll make an honest man out of me."

"Hmph," was all the response Rik received from Sam's father. "Baby girl, you okay?"

"Yes, Daddy," Sam said. "I'm fine, and we'll be back as soon as Rik gets us a flight home."

"You get on that, boy," Seamus said before Jean-Paul's voice came over the line.

"Now, now, there's no need to rush back. It was a rough day for you both. Relax, get some rest and when you're ready to head back, we'll have one of the corporate jets bring you home."

"Grand-père, what happened?" Rik asked, his tone serious as he finally tore his hungry eyes away from Sam's re-concealed breasts.

Jean-Paul sighed. "It looks like Evangeline was under a powerful geas. When she was about to submit, the magic backlashed and took her arm. We believe Mona was behind the geas, but she escaped and we have not been able to find her."

A geas? Sam looked at Rik in confusion, he said simply, "A magical command or prohibition. It's like an Oath, giving the victim power under strict rules, not quite a curse, but damned close. Unlike an Oath, it doesn't have to be given freely, and unlike a curse, a geas can actually grant incredible power."

"Lord Sinclair," Jean-Paul said into the silence, "will be staying at the Estates for a while to consolidate his new reign. He does wish to see you both when you return."

Rik gave Sam an indecipherable look. She just shrugged.

"About what?" Rik asked.

"Je ne sais pas. I don't know, but it will hold. Now, romance my new petite fille like a proper Frenchman, or I shall be most upset, oui?" Jean-Paul laughed. "Let us know when you wish to return home. Adieu." The line went dead, leaving Rik and Sam looking at one another in consternation.

"Well," Sam drew out, reaching for a croissant as she broke eye contact. "Guess we'll be staying here for a little while."

Rising to his feet, Rik loomed over her, remaining quiet until she looked up at him. He gave her a mischievous grin as he reached out and tucked a strand of her wild hair behind an ear.

Rik trailed his calloused finger down over her bared shoulder, tracing along the undulating rose vines twisting just beneath her skin.

"Whatever shall we do?" he purred as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.