After the two months at sea, I left my job as a faux-pirate and moved in with Adrian, Angelica, and Joan. Even though I’d known Adrian was wealthy, it didn’t really sink in until I first entered Adrian’s massive house and saw solid-gold doorknobs, an entire closet of wine, real Persian rugs, and antique furniture. Where I was from, houses with second-stories were considered expensive, but this was something entirely different. Even my room was the size of half my mom’s house. If Adrian had told me right then that he’d had an estate in London or that he was the heir to a long-lost throne, I’d have probably believed him.

I still couldn’t quite believe that this was my home for an indeterminate amount of time. This seemed like it was too good to be true. This whole time I’d been thinking I was fabulously wealthy because I had fifteen-thousand dollars in the bank, carefully saved from my time sailing. How wrong I’d been. Adrian could probably tip a waiter fifteen-thousand dollars if he really wanted to.

There was plenty to do in his house. Sort of. He had a piano and violin, an actual, genuine Stradivarius, which would have been great if I’d been able to play an instrument. His tennis court was impressive, but I had a terrible backhand. And so forth. The only room I really enjoyed was the library. Adrian’s personal library was bigger than Pensacola’s public library, and I spent hours curled up in that room reading all the books I could.

I was tired, and after reading one of Adrian’s earlier works, I’d curled up on the sofa beneath the window. I felt vaguely cat-like doing that, a thought that gave me a strange sort of pleasure. I liked imagining myself as a lithe, lazy creature with nothing better to do than rest in warm beams of sunlight filtering through the glass.

“I gave you a bedroom for a reason.”

I cracked an eye open and stretched on the sofa. “Leave me alone. I’m asleep.”

“Are you?”

“Mmhm. And if I’m not, so what? I’m not allowed to sleep on the sofa?”

“I don’t want your feet on it,” Adrian said. “You’ll stain it, and that sofa costs more money than you’ve ever made in your life. It’s lasted for three-hundred years.”

Holy crap. With a frown, I sat upright and rubbed my cheek against my shoulder. “I’m just so tired,” I mumbled.

“Of course, you are. You’re carrying a baby.”

The softening of Adrian’s eyes was nearly imperceptible, but while living with Adrian, I’d discovered that his face wasn’t nearly as emotionless as I’d once thought. It was just that his emotions manifested more subtly than most people, in the littlest crinkling of his eyes, the barest hint of smile, or the faintest furrowing of his brow.

“Do you want me to fix you anything?” he asked. “Tea, maybe?”

“No, I’ll be fine.”

We stared at one another in silence. My eyes trailed down to my stomach. I’d definitely gained weight; my stomach strained against all my old clothes. Adrian had bought me new ones, but I was still trying to learn how not to have a heart attack when I read the price tags.

“How was the…article?” I asked.

Adrian had been in his study all morning working on his article for The New York Times. The one about his time on the cruise ship.

“Fine,” he replied.

“I’d love to read it. I doubt I could offer much feedback, but maybe some encouragement?”

“Let me finish it first,” he said. “I want to alter some of the passages I’ve written in reference to you. I might wait a little longer to finish it anyway. It’d be nice to end it with the birth of my child.”

“Sounds poetic.”

“Yes, I think so. I mean, I could fudge a few details, but I think I’d rather just wait.”

“Speaking of our child…do you care if it’s an alpha or an omega?”

“As long as the baby is healthy, I’ve no preferences. Besides, it’s not as if you can magically make it one or the other,” Adrian said. “As long as I have a healthy mate and a healthy child, I think I’ll be fine. What more could I ask for?”

“World peace?” I suggested.

“You’re cheeky for an omega,” he growled. “I’ll still gag you if you talk too much. Gag you and tie you to your bed. Then, I could have my wicked way with you.”

Adrian’s nostrils flared as the first hint of my arousal danced in the air.

“That’s how you ended up having to take me in,” I said. “Maybe we should wait on that.”

“Oral sex is perfectly safe, and that’s a very pleasurable way of silencing you.”

I gulped and tried my best to give him a sultry, come hither look. “You know; I think my memory is a little fuzzy. I can’t really remember the last time we did that, so I guess you’ll have to refresh my memory.”

“Unfortunately, the cook has already prepared lunch for us,” Adrian said. “I wouldn’t be opposed to dessert, however.”

“Are any of the staff alphas?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “There’s no one to smell your arousal but me.”

“Hmm. But I must know. This article of yours, did you tell everyone I was a good lay?” I asked.

Adrian sat beside me and tossed his arm behind my shoulders. “No. I told them you were a perfectly respectable young man. Don’t make a liar of me, Lancelot.”

I leaned in close and pecked his cheek. “Okay,” I said. “I am a perfectly respectable young man.”

Adrian rolled his eyes. “I told them you were lovely,” he said. “Like one of the Fair Folk. Very elegant and fine-featured with grey eyes like a stormy sky and flecked with gold dust. And I told them your hair is like the leaves of autumn, brown and gold. And that you have skin that’s as white as marble and a body blessed by the goddess Aphrodite.”

“Aphrodite?” I laughed.

“The goddess of beauty, obviously.”

“Beautiful,” I said.

“It suits you, then,” Adrian replied, tracing a finger over my cheekbone.

“I think having another baby is softening you up,” I said.

“Do you like that?”

“I like you,” I replied. “No matter how soft you are.”

Adrian nodded and relaxed against the sofa. “Maybe,” he said, “I’ll just lay here with you for a while.”

“I’d like that,” I said.

He wrapped his arms around my waist, and I let my head fall back against his shoulder. “I really do adore you,” I said.

“I adore you, too,” Adrian replied. “More than I thought I’d ever adore anyone again after Elizabeth. She’d have liked you.”

I smiled. Really, I didn’t think Adrian would ever give me a compliment that meant more than that one.

The next few months had a sort of dream-like quality to them. Although I was still becoming accustomed to being pregnant and I was subjected to frequent doctor’s visits, the rest of my life seemed to have shifted into a sort of magical dreamland where nothing much changed. I felt like Cinderella or Belle. Cinderella because I suddenly had vast amounts of wealth at my disposal. Adrian had handed me three different credit cards and left me to my own devices with them. Belle because things just appeared. Adrian had a large staff, so there was never any need to clean or cook. Meals appeared, and surfaces were cleaned as if by magic.

Of course, there was also Adrian himself. He was always around, Angelica, too, when she came home from school. It was strange, but not unwelcome, to have so many people living with me. Of course, on the cruise the crew had all kind of been like family, but being on the same ship wasn’t quite the same as living in the same house with people.

And here I’d gone from days chasing children to facing my new, mortal foe, objects far above my head. Screw Adrian and his height. I stared at the kitchen cabinet which was probably the perfect height for Adrian but definitely not the perfect height for me. I stretched up to get the jar of peanut butter, and holy crap, that was a bad idea. I winced at the angry pull in my stomach.

Oh, crap. That had hurt. I couldn’t move the way I once had, and with a scowl, I landed back on my feet. With a frown, I massaged my belly. “Sorry,” I said.

Adrian peered into the kitchen. “Sorry?” he echoed.

“I may have overextended myself in trying to reach the jar of peanut butter,” I said.

Although Adrian looked bemused, he walked into the kitchen and effortlessly plucked the peanut butter from the cabinet. “You need to be careful,” Adrian said. “There’s a reason the doctor told you not to strain yourself. For heaven’s sake, you already look like that baby’s just going to pop out of you at any second.”

“I know. I’m just not used to being taken care of, and I have at least another month.”

“Well, get used to it,” Adrian said, although his tone held no real heat. “Another month or not, don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

“Thank you,” I said, as he handed me the jar of peanut butter.

“Sure thing, Lancelot. Are you going to eat that straight out of the jar?”

“I totally am.”

Adrian handed me a spoon, and I happily scooped out a giant heap of peanut butter. “Good for you,” Adrian replied.

While I let the peanut butter melt in my mouth, I paused and considered him. There was one question I’d been wondering about for weeks, and for some reason, when he handed me the peanut butter, the question suddenly shifted to the forefront of my mind. “Hey, what happens after I have the baby?” I asked.

Adrian arched an eyebrow. “Why, you stay here, of course,” he said.

“But for how long?”

Adrian brushed my bangs back from my eyes and smiled. “For as long as you like.”

“But what if that’s like…years,” I said.

Adrian rubbed my stomach. “It takes years to raise a child,” he said. “That makes sense.”

“I know, but I’m not worried about you tiring of the baby. I’m worried about you tiring of me.”

Adrian laughed. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ve got plans for you.”

“Do you?” I asked.

He put his finger straight into the jar of peanut butter and licked it off. Adrian grinned devilishly. “I sure do, Lancelot.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“It’s a surprise,” Adrian said. “I’ll tell you in…a month. Maybe two.”

“What if I don’t want to wait?”

“Too bad.”