Chapter Twenty-Eight
Devlin let Eva go upstairs first while he tried to secure the downstairs area. It was still pretty dark out, dawn was a few hours away but they were exhausted. The interior was dark and they’d found candles. Eva had taken them upstairs. He couldn’t board up the window but he wanted to make sure if someone else came through it, they’d be given some warning. He angled a chair there and put a bowl on it. If anyone entered that way, they’d step on the chair causing it to tilt and the bowl would fall. Should make enough noise to wake them up.
He also placed some marbles he’d found in a bowl in the study on the wooden stairs. It wasn’t much, but it might alert them to anyone coming up the stairs if they managed to enter the house some other way. Climbing up the stairs, he saw a glow coming from the room on the right. He moved past what looked like the master bedroom, which was at the top of the stairs. He glanced inside and understood why she didn’t choose it.
The room down and across the hall was where he’d spied the glow from a candle. Immediately, he noticed the drapes were pulled so no one should be able to see the light in the room. No sense in announcing anyone was in the house.
Devlin left the door open and stood at the side of the bed.
Eva was already laying on it, her hands behind her head staring at him. She’d stripped down to her panties and tank, her clothes were on the floor, the candle rested on the nightstand near her. Her guns and knife sat by it. “Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. He quickly took off his weapons, stripped down to his boxers and joined her on the bed. He wished he could have taken a shower. Devlin could no longer stand to smell himself, and that wasn’t good. They’d only been able to take sink washes in a gas station they’d passed earlier using water they’d found in the store behind the counter. It didn’t matter, he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. The world had taken a beating, still was and they were both still standing or lying as the case may be.
Devlin pulled off her remaining clothes as well as his own and tossed them toward the foot of the bed. He took her into his arms and she came willingly to him, wrapping her arms around him and sliding her leg between his legs. Their lips met in a hungry explosion. Like this was the last time they’d share a kiss for who knew how long. He could feel her hunger for him, because it matched his own. He was so glad they’d found each other. That they were each coming to accept the other. She’d never be happy with what he did but at least she understood the need for him to do it, even that in some instances it had to be done. He understood her desire to remain neutral to help the soulless who deserved it, wanted it, as long as she wasn’t distant with him. That he couldn’t take. He craved her too much.
Rolling her onto her back, he moved over her, all the while continuing to keep his lips plastered to hers. Not like she was letting him go either. Her hand held onto the back of his head, keeping him right where he was and he was happy to oblige for a while. But he had other places on her he wanted to taste.
As he moved off her mouth and she arched her head back to expose her slender neck he suckled the side of it. Then moved onto her beasts. They were a reasonable handful. Enough to cup without any excess overflow. He lowered his mouth and encircled her areola, flicking his tongue over the tip.
She moaned and arched against him encouraging him to take more.
He did.
Gently, he bit on her tip then laved his tongue over it. Feeling her nipple grow harder in his mouth. Her heavy pants were in harmony with the pulse of his own body. He eased himself off one nipple and moved over to the other, giving it the same amount of attention while his other hand skated across her stomach until it rested over her heat. With the heel of his hand, he pressed against her core. She opened her legs wider to give him better access. He could feel her wetness against his skin.
“So very ready for me, aren’t you?” he murmured against her breast while looking up at her. Her mouth was wide open like she couldn’t get enough air and her eyes were closed. She looked like a woman in the midst of a good orgasm. He smiled as he moved off her breast and down her body, intending to make her come a few times, enjoying her pleasure before he got his fill. Knowing he would be the only one to ever see her this way.
Her fingers moved through his hair pushing his head farther down her body, as if to make sure he would go where she wanted him to. She should have no fear of that. Nothing was going to distract him. He’d always want her.
She moaned and her body shuddered under him when his mouth covered her pussy opening. He flicked his tongue in and out of her, teasing her, readying her. Her nectar coated his tongue and he couldn’t take it anymore. This wouldn’t be the slow leisurely lovemaking he’d envisioned in taking his time with her. Slow was overrated, the world proved it could end at any time, and he needed her now.
With a quick move, he’d settled his body between her legs and slid his cock into her sex before she could complete a full breath. She opened her arms, wrapped her legs around his waist, and welcomed him into her heat.
“Ah, Eva, ah baby.” Those were the last coherent thoughts he was able to turn into words for some time. The rest of the time, he was completely immersed in pure unadulterated pleasures of the flesh. He plastered his mouth to hers. They took from each other. And neither could get enough.
Eva didn’t know yet if she was coming or going, in truth it didn’t matter as long as she did it encased in Devlin’s arms. She’d wasted so much time and all because she didn’t want to have to deal with the fact that he was the man who would father her children. She was in love with him, but perhaps had been too immersed in her role of being the new generation of Chroniclers to see it. Maybe not so neutral after all.
She’d wanted a partner, a man like she remembered her own father being. He was there to support her mother in her role as a Chronicler. He was a scholar, who taught at university, not a soldier. When her mother had died, her father had been with her. It was fitting that they died together. They’d been very much in love and he’d been there every step of the way to help raise their children. But their love was a softer kind, not the fiery fervor she shared with Devlin. Yet, even her mother kept a secret from her father, as she would have to keep the same secret from the man who would father her children.
Unable to fall asleep right away, she tried to see his features in the scant light the candle provided. All she could see were the sharp shadowy planes of his fine features. She didn’t need light to know what he looked like. His features were etched into her memory. Devlin was stubborn and a protector. He wouldn’t be the laid back man her memories of her father showed he had been. Devlin was a warrior. He’d want to fight; it had been engrained in him. And that more than anything was what scared her and why she looked for an alternative. Stupid, yes. She, of all people, as a Chronicler should know you can’t outrun fate. Some outcomes were very clear if you only opened your eyes and looked. The problem was no one bothered to look or worse, ignored what they did see. Her eyes were wide open. Now.
Eva rolled to her side and backed up against Devlin’s warmth. His arm tightened around her waist. She wasn’t running any more, but come morning she’d need to have a conversation with him. It’s not every day a man finds out he’s going to be a father. She was pregnant. She knew she was; she could sense it. Even if it was only less than a week old. Their firstborn would be born in nine months and as her mother and hers before her, the oldest of her aunts would attend the birth. All seven of them. She felt a pang of sorrow, her mother wouldn’t be there nor any of her siblings, but she wouldn’t dwell on what she couldn’t change.
She wondered how Devlin would feel about this. Not like it was a good time to bring a kid into such an unstable environment but it was out of her hands. She was quite capable of taking care of her child, the first one, but there were more to come and they would only have one father. One that she loved very much. Such was their way and with Devlin by her side, all of their children would thrive. They would all be born from the love her parents shared. She would hold to that whenever she felt the loss of her family. She was creating a new one now.
When Eva opened her eyes, she could make out shadows within the room. The sun must have been just peeking over the horizon. She yawned and wanted to stretch but she was well and truly caught in Devlin’s muscular arms.
He must have known she was awake as his arms and leg flexed over her, pinning her even more into the firm mattress. “Morning,” he whispered in her ear then kissed the edge of it.
“Morning,” she said, twisting around until she was facing him. His eyes were still closed. She smiled. “We need to talk.”
His eyes snapped open, he blinked then rolled to his back. “Any time a woman says those four little words, brings nothing but trouble for the men.”
She punched his arm.
“Hey,” he said, rubbing it and tried to pull her into his arms.
She held her palms up, holding him back.
“What is it?”
“I’m pregnant.” She didn’t mean to blurt it out like that but she couldn’t come up with another way at the moment. She knew she was pregnant but she wasn’t sure how to tell him they’d have a total of seven children either. What she would never be able to tell him was that one would be a set of twins, and one of those twins he’d never see. Never know she existed. Such is the path, the oath, the secret the Chroniclers must keep. A task that had been written and carried on for over a thousand years. One hurdle at a time.
His jaw went slack, his eyes seemed to glaze over like he wasn’t quite there. His entire body stilled.
Maybe she really shouldn’t have just said it like that, but she wasn’t sure how else to say it other than to just come right out with it. She waited several thumping heartbeats for him to respond, when he didn’t she spoke again, “I know this is a shock—”
“How—how do you know for sure? I mean it’s been what, only about a week at most since the…the first time.”
Eva punched him again.
“What!”
She sighed as he had a point. “Chroniclers have…gifts besides longevity. I just know that I am with child as I know the color of the sky.”
He took a deep breath. “Okay, okay. First drugstore we find we can get one of those test things.”
She smiled.
He shifted back a bit and glanced down at her flat stomach. He placed his large hand over it and his eyes went wide.
“What is it?”
Glancing into her eyes there was wonder in his gaze. “I—I used my senses. I think I can sense her.”
“Her?” she asked.
“Yes. Her. Feminine energy. It’s a girl.”
Eva needed no further proof he was the one for her. This was merely more proof. Even she couldn’t read the sex of the unborn child until he said it, she’d just assumed it would be a girl. Chroniclers were always female.
They were both smiling like lunatics.
“You really are happy about this?” she asked.
His expression softened and he ran his fingers through her hair. “How could I not be? I’ve wanted you for a very long time. Long before we actually came face to face in New York. You know that. We would have been together long before this if you hadn’t pushed me away. But I understood. I didn’t like it, but I understood.”
She kissed the inside of his wrist.
“But now…can you live with the fact I’m a hunter? That I do have to kill the soulless who prey on humanity.”
“Would you give it up? Retire?” The air in the room was already stuffy but with her question, nothing seemed to move. Not even her breathing.
“As much as I…care about you and our child, I cannot give up being a hunter. You know that. Just like you can’t stop being a Chronicler.”
His words weren’t unexpected, but she had to ask the question. Part of her hoped he would give it up. What he did was dangerous, even more so as the area had to be rebuilt and soulless would be running rampant. But she didn’t want him hurt. Couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt or worse. She was selfish, she wanted him to give up being a hunter, to be safe and to help her protect the Chronicles. There’d be no more seeking soulless out to be redeemed for her either. Even before she got pregnant, Eva knew what she’d been doing was dangerous, yet necessary in this age, but when it came right down to it, she did have a replacement.
Devlin must have seen something of her thoughts reflected in her face. He pulled back and sat up. “We better get a move on. We still have a long way to go and while we don’t have to worry about the soulless, there are still humans around that could be dangerous.”
“Devlin,” she spoke his name and he turned around to stare at her but she wasn’t so sure what to say.
He raked his hand through his already messy hair. “I get it. I understand, I do. I know you worry about the danger I’m in when I go out. But you’re out here with me, you know we’re careful and well trained to handle anything. And as a Chronicler out there on your own, you’re not safe.”
She opened her mouth to protest that statement, but he held up his hand stalling her.
“You might see yourself as neutral and maybe at one time you were, as far as the fighting is concerned. But you were never off limits, not to the soulless. They’ve already killed two of you to get the Chronicles we’re searching for. Okay, we have one back but still looking for the second one and now this lost Chronicle. And the soulless are now hunting you. At least one of them.” He leaned over, took her hand, and squeezed it. “He or she will never get close enough to you to ever harm you. I will kill anything that threatens you or our child.”
She loved him even more. “My hunting days are over. But I will still help any who come to me wanting help.”
“Fair enough.”