pulled his shirt on over his head. “You remember how Elliot was.”
I thought of the youngling. He’d been crazed, almost as if brainwashed by the Winter Court. “But we have to try.”
Caden’s gaze flicked to mine, and then he came forward, smoothing my hair back from my face. “You look so delectable right now.”
I didn’t need a mirror to know my hair looked like I’d been, well, rolling around in bed.
“But we don’t have to do anything,” he continued. “I want you to sit this one out. Stay here, and I’ll come back to you as soon as I can.”
My brows lifted. “You want me to just sit and wait for you?”
“You don’t have to sit and wait, so to speak.”
I narrowed my eyes as I stepped back, out of his reach. “Why do you want me to sit this out?”
He lowered his hand. “You’re still recovering, Brighton. That’s the only reason why.”
Taking a deep, even breath, I reminded myself that he was coming from a place of concern, and there was no reason for my head to spin Exorcist style. “You took my word when I said I was ready earlier.”
His head tilted slightly. “I did.”
“And we just had pretty active sex,” I said, proud that my cheeks didn’t catch fire.
Caden’s eyes heated though, and his voice roughened. “We did. I would’ve loved to do it again.” He paused, his gaze sweeping over me. “And again.”
A delicious little shiver danced over my skin, and it took me a second to get my mind back on track. “If I was ready for that, why wouldn’t I be ready for a questioning?”
“You mean an interrogation.”
“Whatever.”
“What we did and what I’m about to do are two different things. You won’t like what you see down in that room.”
“I’ve seen some really grotesque interrogations carried out by the Order, Caden, but you’re right,” I replied. “What we are about to do will be a hell of a lot easier than what we just did.”
“And what you guys just did was very loud and seemed very active.” A voice came from the doorway—the open doorway. I turned, finding Tink standing there. “I definitely think Brighton is physically ready…for just about anything.”
Oh my God.
“Dixon got scared,” he continued. “He’s hiding out under the coffee table right now. Traumatized by all the sexing going on.”
I had no words.
“By the way, you guys left the door open,” Tink explained.
My lips parted as I shot Caden a quick glance. He didn’t seem at all perturbed by that fact. Meanwhile, I wanted to bury myself under the bed. How could we have been that distracted?
Well, I knew exactly how we were that distracted.
“I was kind of worried at first. The sounds were interesting.” Tink grinned as my eyes widened. “Shouting. Crying. Moaning. A totally different kind of crying—”
“Oh my God, Tink. You can stop now,” I exclaimed. “Seriously.”
“What?” He lifted his hands. “I’m just happy you finally got some—”
Tink shouted as I picked up my flip-flop and winged it at his head. Caden chuckled, and I had half a mind to throw the other shoe at his face. He ended that thought with one smoldering, fond look.
“Come on,” he said, his gaze light despite what had happened. “You need to find better shoes if you’re coming with me.”
Relieved that he wasn’t going to try to keep me wrapped in a bubble, I nodded and started for the closet.
“How about these?” Caden asked.
I looked over my shoulder. He held one of the knee-high boots, all helpful like.
He winked at me. “I have such fond memories of these.”
“I’m going to throw that boot at your head,” I warned.
Caden grinned. “It would be worth it.”
* * * *
Sitting in the front seat of Caden’s SUV, with him behind the steering wheel, and Tink in the back seat, I still found it weirdly funny that Caden, the King of the Summer fae, drove. Shouldn’t he have a driver or something?
Tracing the outline of the iron cuffs on my wrists that hid the daggers, I wondered if at some point, as the baby grew, I would have difficultly handling iron. I didn’t think so since contact with my skin didn’t mean contact with the baby, but I supposed that was something I needed to keep an eye on. Wishing there was a guide for expecting fae mothers who were also members of the Order, I wiggled my toes inside my black combat boots. Obviously, I hadn’t put on the other boots.
They did, however, end