Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,98

the tumble of Aida’s curls to drag her tight against his hip. Shoving her damp cheek against the coarseness of his brocade tunic, he continued to cast his gaze about, as if the one who caused her sorrow would present themselves.

“You did, you perfect ass,” Aida wailed, though she flung her arms around his waist. Burrowing against him, disregarding the way the adornment of his clothing scratched her face, she sucked in deep lungfuls of his scent. Each breath was let out with a broken sound, as if the loss of it pained her.

Er’it let her pull him down onto the bed, his furrowed brow refusing to smooth as Aida continued to cry. Careful of her massive belly, he gave a rough purr and matching caress that did nothing to comfort, refusing to do anything more than lie beside her as Aida pressed her open lips to his neck, shoulder, and beard-rough cheek.

“What is wrong with you?” Aida demanded in a snarl, wrenching his hair to turn his face to hers. “Why are you not mounting me?”

Er’it recoiled. With topaz eyes wide, he looked at Aida from crown to toe before meeting the tearful midnight blackness of her gaze once more. Aida wailed and shoved at his chest, her legs kicking at his where they tangled with her skirt. He didn’t want her. She’d grown too fat, too hideous for him, and now he regretted it all.

“You smell… different.” Brows crashing down, he pushed his face against Aida’s neck to take a deep breath, letting it out in a disgruntled rumble. “Are you well?”

“This is your excuse for not touching me?” Aida shrieked, scrambling from the bed to stalk toward the wide balcony and back. The dull ache grew, twisting through her middle to latch on with gnawing teeth.

“Are you ill, kou’vera?” Alarm flared in his amber gaze, his usual precise movements faltering as he hurried to follow Aida. Touching his hand to her forehead despite her snarl, he looked her over once more. “I will fetch Maruk.”

“I don’t want Maruk! I want my Abyss-cursed mate!”

Aida squeaked and slapped her hands over her thighs, the thick liquid spilling from her to drip upon the floors as frightening as it was humiliating. Babbling incoherent apologies as tears of shame welled in her eyes, she was unprepared for the sudden wrenching sensation ripping through her hips.

“I hate you,” Aida hissed, glaring through the dripping strands of her hair at the male pacing beyond the edge of the bed. “I will never lie with you again!”

“Careful,” Er’it murmured, narrowed gaze drawn to the tight swell of Aida’s belly as she groaned and doubled over once more.

“Never, do you hear? I will cut it off!”

“You would miss it too much, kou’vera.”

“You did this to me,” Aida wailed, thumping her fists against the twisted sheets of the bed. “It is your fault. We are not even wed! It will be a bastard.”

“It will be the heir to Denath and all the cities I have conquered, kou’vera. You were mine the moment I found you. No one will care that it could not wait until after the ceremony.” Er’it attempted to approach again, and again he found himself the subject of Aida’s vicious temper.

With a cry worthy of any general on a bloody field, she flung the feathery cushion with expert precision. Catching Er’it on the side of his face, the rough weave turned his cheek a dusky pink. Aida’s victorious snarl turned to a scream of agony as the ache in her lower back spread in a crimson-hued wave through her middle.

“It’s taking too long.” Muffled in the bunched satin beneath her, she wasn’t sure Er’it heard her until his heat enveloped her back. He surrounded her, squeezing her in a painful embrace.

“Maruk told you the first might be difficult.” Though his voice strained to be soothing, his agitation was evident in every bunched muscle and the tense line of his jaw as he set it against Aida’s shoulder. “I will fetch him if it goes on much longer.”

“You thrice-cursed pig, purr for me.”

That he could do. Er’it purred long and loud, the rich resonance echoing through the room well into the night. He rocked Aida as she screamed and writhed, kneading the tense muscles of her back as she lay listless upon her knees. Er’it continued as Maruk made quiet reassurances and still went on past the point they all became concerned.

When the moon dipped beneath the horizon and only the stars sparkled in