Sweet Temptation (The Sweet Trilogy #4)(103)

With pleasure, I type. U ok? It’s been insane here.

Here too, she says. Lots to tell.

Hm. I wonder what she’s been up to. Hopefully no visits from unwanted Neph. My neck goes hot with irritation thinking about other Neph hunting her down.

She texts me with an address in Riner, Virginia, and I book my flight for the following morning. All joking aside, I hope she’s all right.

And I hope she’s naked.

The fog of Anna finally lifts when I open my eyes to find her on top of me in the passenger seat of a car in Virginia. I feel as if I’ve been hit with a sledgehammer of clarity as I realize what a single-minded dolt I’d been since I showed up this afternoon and found her lying at the poolside in a bikini.

Bum side up.

Yeah. I’m pretty sure I spent a good part of the day making everyone uncomfortable as I stalked Anna, trailing her through Patti’s house. And it’s just my luck the whole lot would be here to witness my temporary madness—Kope, Zania, Jay, the twins, Blake, and worst of all, Patti. They all know we’re married, but that doesn’t make it any less inappropriate.

I’m just glad my head is semi-clear when her father shows that afternoon—in the body of the famous rapper who’d been hospitalized days ago, no less. Big Rotty. As far as Duke blunders go, this one is f*cking brilliant. If I weren’t still so afraid of the bastard, I would’ve laughed my arse off. Then, before he leaves, he puts his hands on my shoulders and says, “You take care of my girl, you hear me?”

It’s still strange to hear him say things like this. To have his approval.

And now, here we are at two in the morning, snuggling in the twin bed of Anna’s dorm room, as if this day hasn’t been one strange event after the next. Despite the madness of our lives, anyone who saw us on campus tonight probably thought we were your average college couple.

Funny thing, appearances.

Anna’s news was unsettling. I can’t handle thinking about how my father was here, in this room, just a short while ago. In his new, young, American body, no less. Apparently the “new” Pharzuph is an even grander piece of work than the old one. Anna says he wreaked havoc on campus after cornering her. I can’t believe he found a new host body so quickly, never bothering to inform me, but I can believe he didn’t waste any time sniffing out Anna. I’m immensely relieved we decided to get married when we did.

Anna snaps me from my dark musings as she runs a hand teasingly up and down my forearm, which is flung across her waist. She’s acting as the small spoon, nuzzled tightly in the crook of my torso and thighs. “I want you to dream big with me,” she whispers.

Dreams . . . This is dangerous territory for me. I know I’m lucky to have this moment, and all the moments that led up to this one. To wish for a future? It feels like tempting fate. Nothing except this very second is guaranteed. But for Anna, dreams fuel her, give her hope. So I’ll let her have her fun.

“Tell me your dreams for us, sweet Anna.”

She snuggles closer to my chest. “It starts with us defeating the Dukes. We survive and they’re gone.” I peer around the dark room as she talks. “We can do whatever we want with our lives. I know you love music, so I figure you’ll still work in the industry in some way. When I finish college, I want to be a social worker. I’d be able to gauge the danger kids are in better than a human would, since I can see their emotions. I’ll be able to rescue children from bad situations.”

I immediately think of Marissa’s nieces, and how Anna would have probably tried to save them by now, with no fear for her own well-being.

“I can picture that,” I whisper. I move the hair off Anna’s shoulder and kiss her warm skin. If only more people had Anna’s bravery. If only I had it.

“We could live wherever you wanted,” she goes on. “Patti would probably follow us. After a few years of working, we could think about adopting. I know Patti would just die to babysit while we work.”

Er . . . “Wow. Kids.”

“Yeah,” she says dreamily. “Like five or six.”

“Five or six? You’re a nutter!” I have to laugh at the thought of little Kaidans-in-training. “One boy. Maybe two boys, but even that’s pushing it.”

Shite, she’s got me entertaining this ridiculous notion.

“We have to have girls, too!” Her voice is filled with happiness, but again the thought of Marissa’s nieces flashes through my mind, and all the girls I’ve hurt. All the daughters and sisters and future mums I helped lead down paths they may or may not have been able to find their way back from.

“No girls,” I say.

She turns to look at me, and the small space is suddenly stifling. I sit up.

“What’s wrong?” Anna asks.

I rub my eyes to clear their faces from my vision.

“I can’t even . . . Just the thought of having to care for a girl, watching all the bloody gits sniff around her with their red auras . . . it would kill me and I would deserve it, because I was the worst offender of all.”

“Kai . . .” She touches my arm, and I feel like shit.

“No.” I can’t play along anymore. “I’m sorry, luv, but kids are not my dream. Especially girls.”

“Okay.” Her voice is soft and gentle. “Let’s try to get a little sleep.”