He walked toward her with intent, his desire surging and flowing as vampire lust came to the forefront. She must have seen it in his eyes, a warning. Her gaze widened, her nostrils flaring as she stepped back. A turbulent sea raged in her eyes, then for a flicker golden sparks danced inside that ocean.

He came to a dead stop right in front of her. Her eyebrows rose, then her eyes cleared.

Whatever he'd seen in her gaze disappeared as if he'd imagined it.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Maybe nothing," he said. "Maybe everything."

Amusement curved her lips. "What is it about you vampires always being mysterious and obtuse?"

Pulled in by her lighthearted statement, he smiled. "I can't hide the fact I'd like to toss you on the bed and make love to you again."

"Is that all you vampires think about?"

"I don't know. How many other vampires are you acquainted with?"

"Sorley and you. That's it."

He'd give her a piece of truth before he had to reveal that he'd deceived her earlier, albeit unintentionally. "The wanting to fuck you part is normal for a vampire. When a vampire finds a match it becomes difficult to keep from wanting to fuck daily. Many times daily."

She moved away from him slowly and sat on the bed. She reached for her socks and pulled them on. "Other than wanting me again, I sense there's something else you need to tell me. Several somethings."

He walked from one corner of the bedroom to the next, aware it made him appear nervous as hell. The news he must impart had never come from his lips before. He stopped pacing and sat on the bed near her.

"I've got only one piece of bad news," he said. "At least I think there's only one piece."

She smiled. "Oh, goodie. Then give it to me first."

He told her about Sorley, and her expression turned to pure concern. "Oh no. What are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure there's anything we can do now. If it comes to it...if it comes to it we'd have to..." He couldn't say it. His throat tightened.

"Kill him," she said with a soft, almost broken whisper.

"Yes."

"I'm so sorry, Ronan."

He couldn't sugarcoat the next piece of information. "I've talked to Yusuf a short while ago."

He gave her all the theories piece by piece and her gaze took on a shell-shocked quality, a woman outgunned and ready for execution.

Damn it. He'd hoped she wouldn't take things so hard. "It's not for certain. Sure, and the sickness you've experienced doesn't have to be from-"

"It isn't. It can't be."

"You have to take the pregnancy test."

She frowned, the ice in her eyes as deep and thick as a glacier. "I don't have to take anything."

Right away he'd come on too strong.Back up a step, Ronan old boy. "It's not only the sex between us that gives us more power to defeat the ancient one. It's the new life we make."

Clarissa stared at Ronan, what he'd revealed about a potential pregnancy sending her mind and heart into a tailspin of epic proportions. Her heart pounded, a flush heated her body. A rushing filled her ears. She turned her gaze on him and saw in his eyes something she'd viewed more and more in the last few hours.

Worry. A longing for her to understand. No matter what she felt about the startling revelations of the last few moments, she knew he cared for her. Maybe he didn't feel the soul-grinding, devastating emotions she experienced, yet she knew in her heart he would do everything in his power to keep her safe.

He straightened his spine as if making himself taller would make the information more palatable to her. "I can see your turmoil."

"Oh, it's more than that." When he walked to the bed and sat down next to her, she stood and marched to the big revolving cheval mirror near the dresser. She surveyed her body.

"Are you saying that I could be manifesting signs of pregnancy already?"

His voice came soft and husky. "Most likely. The acceleration is a normal part of a vampire mating. In terms of mortal pregnancy you're probably more like three weeks along."

Instinctively she put her hand to her stomach and held it there in complete awe. Then her anger returned. "You told me vampires can't conceive."

His reflection came up behind her, and another vampire truth went down the toilet. She could see him in the mirror.

"I didn't lie."

"Huh."

His gaze held contrition. "I didn't know vampires could conceive at all until Yusuf told me. Apparently only three pregnancies have occurred during the entire time I've been immortal."

Curiosity overran her annoyance. "Are vampire children...do they need blood? Do they have fangs and live forever?"

She saw his lips twitch with humor. "Yes, yes, and yes."

She moaned softly and turned away from the mirror. She walked past him and to the window. Pulling the curtains apart to look out, she took in the winter scenery without really seeing it. She knew she perused the outdoors to avoid thinking about the now.

Reality came forward anyway. Lives depended on her and Ronan and the decisions they made. Clarissa turned back to him. "What happened to those three vampire children?"

After he explained she asked, "So if even one of these children had lived, we wouldn't be having this conversation? Because they would have had the power to slay the ancient one?"

Ronan stood and walked toward her, and she tried to keep her anger fed. "Very possibly."

Close enough to touch, Ronan's face held remorse and stern determination. He would see her through to the end whether she wanted him to or not.

You got that right. You could tell me to get out of your life and I wouldn't.His silky voice filled her mind.

Become a stalker?

Sure and you would have to send the cops after me to get me to leave.

But you'd always come back.

Tenderness warmed his eyes to brown chocolate tinged with yellow. "That's the size of it."

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Without thinking she reached up to touch his face and savored the warm heat beneath the stubble on his face. He clasped her hand and kissed the back. A shiver wiggled through her body straight down to her belly as his tongue touched her fingers in a quick caress. His gaze filled with a soul-wrenching tenderness that burned her antagonism to cinders.

"You're still angry with me?" he asked.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. "How could I be? You had no way of knowing it would come to this." When she opened her eyes, she looked deep into Ronan's gaze.