by Viola Grace
He growled and picked her up, burying his face in her cleavage. The silk was no impediment at all. She grinned, and it was an hour before she got an answer.
He muttered against her neck, “Better. Definitely better.”
“Right. So, this outfit is a keeper.”
“I will make it in a few colours for you.” He stroked her hip.
“I am rather partial to the grey.”
He lifted his head and grinned. “So am I.”
She ran her hands through his hair and stroked the pointed tip of his ear. When they went to bed, his glamour dropped like a rock. It was the nicest compliment he could pay her. Himself.
Chapter Twelve
After a crash course on holding a glamour that even Darius couldn’t see through, she was ready when Petal showed up for work.
The rattling thud of Petal’s car made Audra wince, but she greeted her old friend in the doorway of the greenhouse. She explained about the purchase and the new owner, the teashop and the plans for the expansion that had been mentioned in passing.
After Petal’s briefing, they got to work.
Petal went out for soil, and when she didn’t come back right away, Audra felt that something was up.
She glanced out and saw a grimy Petal being helped up by Darius and shepherded into the teahouse.
Audra crossed her fingers, but when Petal came out, shut down and blank, she knew it hadn’t gone well. Damn it.
Raiden cuddled with her on the couch as they watched a movie. She sighed. “I think that Darius is going to have to grovel a lot. I have never seen Petal so shut down, and I have seen her after she was attacked.”
“He can do it. He has to. He has already committed to her, and if he has irritated her as much as you say, she has some attachment to him. They just have to make peace with him being a moron.” He kissed her cheek.
“So, this is a pattern of behaviour?”
“Oh, every female wants spring. Endless stamina, golden good looks, and despite current information, he is usually quite charming.”
“I am not interested in him. So, where does that leave me?” She looked up at Raiden.
“The sole owner of good taste and sensibilities.” He kissed her slowly. “And my precious and gorgeous bride.”
She sighed. “I thank you for the compliment.”
“But you do not believe it.” He sighed and shifted their positions until he was on top of her. “I suppose I will just have to reinforce my perceptions and demonstrate them to you often and frequently.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I think you might have to. Let me know if it gets too fatiguing.”
He didn’t answer her with words, but she felt gorgeous a few times before they left the couch.
The next morning she had to pretend she had no idea who Darius was and what he meant to Petal. She kept her fully human glamour on tight and commiserated with Petal before leaving her alone so that Darius could apologize. He did a pretty good job, and soon, Audra was at work with her friend’s normal cheer.
Things progressed, and in a few days, Petal returned from her handfasting, and even Audra’s efforts couldn’t stop her from seeing through the glamour.
They compared notes, and Audra explained who she was handfasted to. They laughed and chatted, which was fine until a strange car drove into the lot. Audra heard the thud of a car door, and she saw the man with a pipe in his hand. Acting out of reflex, she grabbed the zip ties they used for trees and ran toward Petal. She needn’t have hurried. Petal had the man on the ground, and Darius was pulling his bride away from her attacker.
Audra flipped the guy to his belly and tied his hands up, and then, she tied his ankles together. She zapped him with enough lightning to short him out.
The police arrived, Darius and Petal spoke with them, and Audra cleared up the work that they had been doing that morning.
Audra wiped tears from her eyes with relief coursing through her. Petal now had a name for her stalker, and he was in custody, or he would be after he was released from hospital. She had unleashed a lot of fury on him.
She felt a familiar presence, and Raiden kissed her cheek. “What do you need me to do?”
He was serious.
“Um, we need to water everything that we planted today.” She blinked as the seed trays were treated to a gentle rain. She was a little jealous, but she knew that feeling the rain on her skin was possible anytime she was with him. Or, she could just lay on the seedling beds, and she was sure that she would get wet with his attention, and the rain would be over her as well.
She chuckled at the thought and finished the last planting for him to water.
When everything was tidied up and the following day’s stuff was prepared, they washed up and headed home.
She showered when she got home, and when she emerged in clean clothes, he was dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt. Raiden smiled. “Would you like to go on a date? Dinner, a movie, maybe a bar?”
“Please tell me that all three are not at the same place.” She chuckled and headed back to change. “And no bars, considering the ongoing project.”
“Where are you going? You look lovely.”
She grinned and glanced back at him. “Humour me.”
It took her five minutes to change and put on some above-the-knee boots. When she walked back into the living room, he did a double-take. The dress was a series of wrapped bits of fabric that made her already ample breasts look slightly larger. The neckline was a deep vee, and the rest of the dress hugged her body before swinging into a flirty skirt that ended at midthigh.
“So, what do you think? It has been a while since I wore a date outfit.” She looked down. “I picked it up on my lunch yesterday.”
“I like it. I like it a lot. Perhaps we should just stay in.” He looked at her in a way that convinced her that he was sincere.
“I would like to go out. I haven’t gone on a date in a while, and I want to remember what it feels like.”
Raiden smiled. “Then you shall. Our reservation is in half an hour.”
He offered her his hand, and they were off.
The destination was the VIP theatre. They were seated, got menus, and cuddled on a plush couch before she could even order.
She wasn’t wearing her glamour anymore, so she was surprised when they started to get attention. Audra whispered to Raiden, “Why are people staring?”
“The fey like to watch movies.”
She blinked. “Oh.” She sat up and looked around. “Oh.”
She looked at some of the faces who were looking at her, and there were a rainbow of colours and configurations from delicate and translucent to rough and almost stone planes. All of them were staring back at her, and as she met their gazes, smiles broke out, and they inclined their heads.
Raiden reached up and pulled her back against him. “This is a popular theatre for the descendants of Underhill.”
She cuddled up to him and opened the menu again. “You could have warned me.”
He looked over her shoulder. “Fine, I will warn you. As soon as the movie starts, my hand is going right down your neckline.”
She laughed and picked some of the items on the menu, using the screen to transfer their order to the restaurant.
When the food arrived, it came with a table that was set for them and the small plates and some warm handwipes to start things off. Audra fought her way to an upright position, and she started to pick bits and pieces that she liked from the variety of finger foods on the table. She took the small plate and leaned back against Raiden. She nibbled at one and then put the rest in front of Raiden’s mouth. His teeth neatly grazed her fingers, and they settled in as the lights slowly lowered over the next ten minutes.
She recharged her snack plate, and they finished as the opening trailers were beginning.
She settled against him, and true to his word, his hand went right into the low neckline. It was distracting, but she e
njoyed the movie though she couldn’t remember what it was about. Raiden’s other hand had slid up her skirt, and when he found out that she had skipped her underwear for date night, things became very distracting.
As a first outing in front of other folk from Underhill, it was a success, but they were still going to have to stream that movie at home. She couldn’t remember if it was a drama, comedy, or romance.
Six months later, the home in the country was reaching the finishing stage, and the tree nursery was doing well. Audra finished her walk through the new rows of Underhill seedlings and stopped in her grove on the way home. The trees of the faded looked like they would be fully grown the following summer. What they did after that was anyone’s guess, but they were happy and whispered and giggled to each other when she walked through. They were enjoying the idea of a baby. She could tell. The lower branches of the trees would reach out to pat her belly.
There were now four other groves of the faded on the property. Whatever the first grove was reporting was favourable as there were always another twenty giant acorns lined up for her when she arrived.
The heat was intense, and the sky was overcast, so she summoned some rain for the grove and all of her trees on the several hundred acres that she was the custodian of going around the house with the irrigation.
She giggled as the rain soaked her sundress, and then she walked back toward the building site. Raiden was standing near the shipment of lighting that had come in, and she called out, “Okay, bye, sweetie. I am heading back to the city.”
He nodded absently, and she saw the moment when he took in her wet self. “Hold it. Where do you think you are going?”
“Uh, home? I have to give Petal some tips on what she needs for the autumn and winter wreaths.”
He stalked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “Were you playing in the grove?”
“It has been rather dry around here. They needed a good dousing, and I needed practice.”
“You still aren’t good at keeping yourself out of the weather patterns.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Not really. No. Unfortunately, I like the rain.”
He sighed. “Lucky for me, bad for your wardrobe. What about the little one?”
She put her hand over his on her belly. “She’s fine. She doesn’t mind the rain.”
Raiden smiled at the house. “It will be ready before she arrives. The kitchen and bathrooms are being worked on this week. Then, it is furnishings and decoration work. In by Halloween.”
She chuckled. “I will be happy for in by Christmas. She will be here by Halloween, and I don’t want to rush things after that. I am going to need a few weeks to settle into a routine.”
“It will be fine, Audra. Everything will happen when it should and not before.”
She laughed. “And that is how I can tell you haven’t had kids before. You are so optimistic. Don’t worry, she will beat it out of you.”
Epilogue
Sneaking through the portal to get some of the willow branches she had collected for door wreaths was not the best idea considering that she was about ready to pop, and her back had been aching for hours.
She grabbed the bundle of red branches from the utility building, and then, she grunted as something squeezed her abdomen.
She whispered, “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”
The urge to make another wreath had driven her here, but the last two weeks, Raiden had been hovering and watching her constantly, so the moment Darius needed to discuss something, she had used her growing skill with portals and bolted.
Her water broke, and she sobbed. Things were going too fast.
She pulled herself to her feet and tried to walk back to the house where the stationary portal was. She would take a few steps, stop. Wait through the contraction. Walk again.
There was a roaring in her ears, but she thought she heard her name. She breathed through the hard clutch around her stomach, and then, Raiden’s hands were lifting her, and she was panting against her husband’s neck.
He walked quickly back to the house, and she grunted and dug her hand into his neck. When he tried to use the portal, it wouldn’t open for them. “What is going on?”
She chuckled. “I can’t go through. I can feel it pushing at me.”
He grunted. “Right. The magic isn’t stable because you aren’t. I am surprised that there isn’t a blizzard outside.”
She chuckled. “Don’t think I won’t. Can you put me down somewhere?”
“Right. I will bring the bed early.”
She wasn’t sure how he would manage that, but he carried her to the largest bedroom and felt the surge of magic before he opened the door and carried her in. She blinked. “Oh. That bed.”
The carved storm made of wood that the baby had probably got started in was there with billowing sheets and welcoming pillows. She muttered, “Put me down next to the footboard. I need that pillar.”
He did as she asked and supported her while she grabbed the carved wood. He reached between her thighs and gasped.
She chuckled. “Right. You get ready to catch. This is gonna be quick.”
Raiden caught their daughter four minutes later. There was a moment of silence, and then a light sucking sound started, and Audra laughed. Her legs buckled, and her grip on the bed was holding her up.
“Give me the baby, and then, get us to the bed while we wait for the rest of this to finish.”
Raiden was silent, but he followed her directions. He got her onto the bed with a towel under her. When the afterbirth made its appearance, he confirmed that it was complete, and then, it was time to cut the cord.
They worked in silence to tie off the cord with thread, and Audra eased one breast out of her wrapped dress and winced as the little one clamped onto it. “I didn’t think she would be so hungry.”
He laughed and kept one hand on the baby. “She takes after both of us then.”
She caught onto the reference and chuckled.
They sat together until the baby’s first meal had concluded. He put the little one in a diaper and a cute little onesie, kissed her little nose, and then looked at Audra. “You went through a portal in labour?”
She grimaced. “In my defense, I was only having a nesting urge with a lot of back pain at the time. I have been physically miserable for the last few weeks, so finding a project that got me out of the house seemed like a good idea. Why didn’t the portal let us through?”
“It reacted the same way it would have if a half-shifted shapeshifter tried to get through. It didn’t recognize you. You were also putting out a lot of energy. It wouldn’t open the door to a storm.”
She snorted and took her little one back. “Well, she is the first child born here, so perhaps we should name her here.”
He chuckled. “Our midwife is going to freak.”
“Probably. Tough. We did her job for her.” She stroked the baby’s cheek and smiled at the midnight puff of hair.
Raiden pressed his forehead to hers. “You took centuries off my life when I noticed you were gone.”
She sighed. “Sorry. I was following instincts I hadn’t dealt with before.”
“It’s fine. We are all fine.” He wiped a tear from his cheek. “So, do we want to try and bury the placenta?”
“Can we do that?”
“Yes. Where would you like it?”
She smiled. “You know what I am going to say.”
“You carry the baby; I will carry the rest.”
She nodded and slowly got to her feet. She was healing fast, but a person had just lunged out of her. Raiden kissed her forehead, and she felt the cool wash over her skin. The aches began to fade, and she walked with him. The baby was asleep in her arms, and the grove welcomed them when they arrived. Raiden walked to the centre of the space, and he pulled the soil apart with his hands, making a hole about two feet under the surface. He settled the cotton-wrapped bundle in the hole and covered
it up again.
Audra stepped to his side and carried the baby with her. “Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to our daughter, Amaya.”
Raiden smiled. “You settled on that one?”
“I did. Home city, the end, and night rain. It is a fun name. She can be Amy or Maya. I like names with options. Audra isn’t great. I was called oddball for most of my life.”
He sighed. “Well, let us do this.”
Audra held the baby out, and they each put their hands on the little squirmer. Together they said, “Welcome Amaya, princess of storms.”
The wind wrapped around them, and the rain began to fall. Thunder and lightning crackled around them, and the baby opened her eyes wide. She wasn’t scared, but she was definitely awake.
Audra watched the storm roll around them, and when it eased up, she cuddled her baby back to her chest and started walking back to the house. Raiden took her hand and wrapped his arm around her, supporting her as they got back to the portal and their home in the city. They would be in the new house in a few more weeks, but for now, Audra wanted to get into a routine with the little miss and discover how she reacted when she had her toes blown on.
Raiden ushered her through the new routine and tucked her in after her inspection by the midwife.
The bassinet was next to the bed, Audra was tucked in, and Raiden was next to her, spooning her. Audra smiled. “She’s going to wake us up a lot.”
“I don’t mind. I will just prop you up and hold her on you.”
She looked at him wryly. “Really?”
“Dearest, you sleep like you have been sedated.”
“Right. Well, this is our first night as parents. I am sure we will figure it out.”
He chuckled. “I am sure she is going to run us ragged. But, she can play with Darius and Petal’s little one.”
“Tiny little rivets between worlds. Cute though. Good night.”
