Anna (Book 2, The Redemption Series) (21 page)

“
You knew I loved you,” I say to him, watching the past Malcolm turn from me and walk away.

I couldn’t see his expression back then, but I c
an now. He looks confused and slightly shocked because of the way I’m looking at him. All the clues about our bond were there for him to see, yet he still tried to deny how he felt about me. At least until Lilly came down from Heaven and made him realize what a fool he was being.

Malcolm
looks at me and says, “Now you know about my past and my present. Our future is writing itself, but I want to show you what I hope it will look like within the next few years.”

Malcolm turns me so I’m facing away from him and brings m
y back up against his torso. Our surroundings slowly fall away to be replaced by the two of us standing on the veranda of the highest tower of the palace in Cirrus. The clouds drift by on the ever present artificial wind, and I feel Malcolm’s hands move against my belly, but something feels funny about the action.

I look down and see that I’m pregnant
. Malcolm has clothed me in a loose fitting sleeveless lavender gown. I hear the sound of children’s laughter and look to the side of us to see a slightly older Lucas playing with a little boy and a little girl who can’t be much older than two years old.

Malcolm leans down and kisses my bare shoulder
tenderly.

“
How many children do you see us having?” I ask, leaning further back against him as I let myself revel in his dream of our future together.

“
As many as you will let me have,” he murmurs against my neck.

I close my eyes and smile.

“Then we may need a bigger palace.”

Malcolm chuckles and my heart warms with joy.

It’s a perfect future. And I, for one, plan to make sure it comes to pass.

Chapter 17

When we wake up, I wrap my arms around Malcolm because I never want to let him go. I feel him stroke my hair and gently run his fingers through the long strands. We just lie there in the quiet of the room, simply enjoying being close to one another. It’s a perfect moment for me until I feel the muscles just below my abdomen begin to cramp. I wince from the unexpected pain.

“
Are you all right?” Malcolm asks, his voice filled with concern.

I sit up in the bed and feel the
twinge happen again. It’s an odd sensation, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before.

“
I’m having muscle spasms for some reason,” I tell him, placing my hands over where I feel the pain.

“
Is it your time of the month?” Malcolm asks me.

I look at him in confusion.
“My time of the month for what?”

“
You’re a woman…” Malcolm replies like this statement alone should be enough of a hint. Apparently my continued confusion is showing on my face. “Women of childbearing age normally have a monthly cycle…”

“
Oh, that,” I say realizing what he’s talking about. “I’ve never really had many of those.”

“
But your twenty-one, Anna. This sort of thing should be a normal part of your life by now.”

“
I did have one right before I turned thirteen,” I say, recalling that eventful day in my young life. “But I haven’t had one since.”

“
Didn’t you think that was peculiar?”

“
Honestly, I was just relieved it went away. It’s not exactly something I wanted to experience again.”

Malcolm looks concerned about this piece of information.

He gets off the bed and holds a hand out to help me up also.

“
Let’s go talk to Millie,” he says. “She has to know the reason why.”

As we walk out of the room, I ask,
“Do you think something’s wrong with me?”

Malcolm glances at me
, and I see the worry in his eyes.

“
It’s not natural for someone your age not to experience a monthly period. Didn’t any of your girlfriends ever ask you why you weren’t having them?”

“
The only real friend I had was Auggie, and it wasn’t exactly something he would have asked about.”

When we make our way downstairs, we find Giles mopping the
wood floor of the foyer and Millie dusting the furniture ahead of his progress.

“
Millie,” Malcolm calls out, “can we have a private word with you?”

Millie leaves her dust rag on the small table by the front door and walks over to us wiping her hands
clean on the bottom of her white apron.

“
Is there a problem, Master Malcolm?” Millie asks, looking from Malcolm to me with worry.

Malcolm tugs me along as we walk into the adjacent sitting room with Millie following close behind.

Once we’re well out of earshot of Giles, Malcolm turns to Millie and asks, “Why has Anna only had one monthly cycle in her life?”

“
Oh…that,” Millie says, looking a bit sheepish. I have to assume it’s because she’s having to discuss such a private matter with Malcolm. “Empress Catherine told us it would be a side effect of the shots.” Millie looks at me. “Do you feel it coming, my sweet? Have the cramps started?”

I nod.
“Yes. What do I do?”

Millie shrugs helplessly.
“There’s really nothing that you can do except let it happen. But we will need a few supplies for you to handle the…a… effects of it.”

“
Wait a minute,” Malcolm says, “I want to make sure I understand you correctly. Did you just say the shots prevented Anna from having her cycle?”

Millie nods.
“Yes…at least that’s what we were told.”

Before I have a chance to react properly, Malcolm has me in his arms and is kissing me on the mouth with an urgency that makes me tingle from
the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

“
Oh my,” I hear Millie say, sounding flabbergasted by our public display of affection. “I’ll leave the two of you alone… to discuss this.”

Malcolm continues to kiss me and realization hits. He isn’t passing out. The fact that I started my cycle is proof that the poison is finally out of my system. I wrap my arms around Malcolm’s neck
firmly and phase us directly to his bed. He instantly notices the change in our surroundings and pulls away from me breathing hard.

“
Anna,” he says tenderly, “this doesn’t change anything.”

“
It changes everything for me,” I say, bringing his head back down to mine, not intending to let him out of his bed until after he makes love to me.

Malcolm pulls away again.
“Anna…”

“
Stop talking so much,” I tell him, pulling his head back down to mine again.

I know Malcolm wants to make love as much as I do. I can feel the evidence of his ador
ation pressing into me.

We kiss for a long time
, but Malcolm doesn’t do anything with his hands to encourage the hope I have that he intends to go further than just kissing.

I finally break the contact of our lips to look into his eyes.
They’re filled with pent up desire for me, making him look almost drugged, but there’s also a look of grim determination on his face.

“
Could we just make love once?” I suggest, thinking it’s a reasonable request. “And then you can do all the courting of me you want.”

Malcolm shakes his head, completely shattering my hope of spending the day in his bed
in various compromising positions.

“
Please don’t make this any harder on me than it already is,” he says. “I meant what I said to you this morning, Anna. You don’t deserve anything less than the best of me.”

I sigh in resignation because I know there won’t be any changing his mind, at least not yet.

“If that’s the way you want it,” I say, unable to hide my frustration and disappointment.

“
Anna,” Malcolm murmurs, looking down at me with so much love and tenderness it makes my heart tighten inside my chest, “don’t be mad.”

I sigh again.
“I’m not mad, Malcolm. But I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed. I meant what I said earlier too. I’ve wanted to make love to you since the moment we met. And I don’t say those words lightly. I can honestly say that I’ve never felt like that about anyone I’ve ever met. You saw the evidence of my devotion to you when you first saw me. And considering what Lilly told you, I can only imagine that I’ve loved you for a very long time, even while I was in Heaven. My body, mind, and heart have belonged to you for who knows how long. I’ve already waited so long to be with you. But, I guess I can hang on a little while longer if it’s that important to you. All I ask is that you not make the wait totally unbearable.”

“
It won’t be unbearable,” Malcolm promises, smiling at me. “I plan to make it the most memorable part of your life thus far, Anna. I can tell you I love you a million times over, but let me show you with my actions just how much you mean to me.”

“
Couldn’t you do that just as easily by making love to me sooner rather than later?” I tease, knowing it won’t change his mind.

Malcolm chuckles
. I like feeling the vibrations from his laughter against my chest. It’s a little thing, one most people would take for granted. To me, it’s one of the most magical things in the world. It has the power to make me feel content.

“
Trust me, I want to make love to you so badly right now I’m almost ready to give into your request. But I know I would end up regretting it because I would be disappointed in myself for not giving you the experience of a lifetime.”

I wrap my arms around Malcolm’s neck and simply bring his head down to mine to hold him close.

“All right,” I say. “I promise to try and keep my hormones under control during this courtship of ours. I can see how important it is to you.”

“
Thank you,” Malcolm whispers in my ear, kissing me just below the ear lobe.

“
If you don’t want me to just strip you down naked right here and now,” I tell him, “we need to get out of this bed and do something else to take my mind off of doing just that. What else did you have planned for us to do today?”

Malcolm lifts up slightly and looks at me.

“I plan to perform a miracle,” he says unexpectedly.

“
Did you achieve sainthood and not tell me about it?”

“
I’m not sure showing you how to cook will count towards sainthood in my father’s eyes, but it should. Like I told you before, there hasn’t been one descendant in a thousand years who could cook an edible meal. I plan to break that trend with you, sweet Anna.”

“
Considering the colossal disaster I made of the roast, I think a miracle might just be in order.”

Malcolm laughs and gets off of me and the bed.

“Come on my future, sous chef. I’ll start you off on something easy.”

Malcolm and I go down to the kitchen and pick up a little boy and hellhound on our way. When Lucas learns about Malcolm’s plan
, he looks surprised.

“
Wow,” Lucas says, “I didn’t know you were that brave, Dad.”

I grab Lucas
and begin to tickle him mercilessly under his arms. Luna yaps like she’s laughing at our play.

Malcolm decides to start me off with something eas
y, a soup. He shows me how to dice potatoes, and we place these in a large pot of boiling water. While they are cooking, he grabs some sausage from his preserver and helps me cook the meat in a skillet on the stove. After the potatoes are tender from boiling, I add in the sausage, some kale and some fresh cream to thicken the soup.

“
Well done,” Malcolm says, hugging me around the waist when we’re finished. “I’ll have you cooking a real meal all by yourself in no time.”

“
Mmmm, is that lunch I smell?” I hear a familiar voice say from the entrance of the kitchen.

Malcolm and I turn to see Jered walking towards us.

I know what his presence means. He has news about Vala.

I take in a deep breath and ask,
“Was Travis able to save her?”

Jered smiles and the tightness of worry inside my chest lo
osens.

“
Why don’t the three of you come and see her for yourself?” Jered says. It’s only when he looks at Lucas that he notices the hellhound pup sitting on my son’s lap.

“
Is that what I think it is?” He asks apprehensively.

“
Yes,” Malcolm says in mild disgust. “It’s exactly what you think it is. A gift to the lovely Anna from her
other
father.”

“
And why are we allowing it to stay here?” Jered asks sounding confused by the hellhound’s continued presence.

“
Because I want it,” I tell him.

“
Good enough reason, I suppose,” Jered replies, still looking doubtful about the hellhound’s trustworthiness. “Anyway, Travis is waiting for us.”

Lucas walks over to me and Malcolm. I place my hands on his shoulders and Malcolm phases us to Travis’ workshop.

Jered phases in beside us and says, “Follow me.”

We follow Jered through the maze of tables
, hanging wires and metal parts until we come to an area of the workshop that looks a little neater than the rest. Travis is standing beside a steel table with a large dog I’ve never seen before laying on top of it. The dog appears to be asleep as Travis manipulates a blue-green 3-D hologram of a brain which is hovering above it.

“
Where’s Vala?” I ask Travis.

“
What?” Travis says in surprise, looking between Jered and Malcolm. “I thought one of you would have told her before you even brought her here.”

“
Anna,” Malcolm says beside me, taking hold of my hand which does nothing but make me nervous. Obviously, he thinks what he’s about to tell me might be upsetting. “Travis wasn’t able to save Vala’s body. He had to use what nutrients were left in it to minimize the damage done to her brain.”

I look at the dog lying on the table and the
blue-green holographic image of a brain floating over it.

“
Are you telling me that body has Vala’s brain in it?” I ask.

“
Sure does,” Travis says proudly. “And let me tell you, I felt lucky I was able to save as many of her memories as I did.”

“
What kind of dog body is that?” I ask.

“
Well…” Travis says, scratching his head. “I couldn’t find a body like the one she had before. They stopped making that model years ago. Most people now a days want a dog that can be a personal companion
and
guard them. This is the newest Akita model. Thank God Malcolm’s so rich, or we wouldn’t have been able to get her a new body.”