Bound by Light (16 page)

“Then it’s fine by me.”

He grinned and leaned down to kiss her,
pushing her onto her back. “Good answer.”

“When do we go?”

“A couple of days before your birthday,
however, my sister has threatened murder if I don’t let you out
this weekend.”

Sydney giggled. “I desperately need some
clothes, honey, so I would love time with your sister if you can
make it work.”

Thane kissed her neck. “When you’re all
sweetness and light like this, Sydney, I wonder what you’re up
to.”

“Me? Why would I be up to anything?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Why indeed?”

Sydney sighed. “I’m trying to ask nicely to
go shopping with your sister, rather than demand you get off my
back since I’m a grown-ass adult and should be allowed to do
whatever the hell I want to.”

Thane dropped his head onto her shoulder and
laughed. “Shite, love, you’re hilarious.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “So, what time
shall I expect your sister on Friday?”

“I’ll ring her tonight.”

She slid her hands into his hair. “Thank
you.”

Thane raised his head and kissed her. “Well
played, sweetheart.”

Sydney giggled.

* * *

Connall came awake as Pepper grabbed for him.
He felt pain slice through her as she experienced a contraction. He
sat up before he was completely awake. “Pepper?” he whispered.

“She’s coming, baby.”

Connall knifed off the bed and grabbed his
phone. “She’s early.”

“I know it. Just like her brother.” Pepper
took a deep breath and let it out. “Little cretin.”

He put the phone to his ear as he watched
Pepper closely. “Gillian, aye, she’s in labor now. How far apart
are the contractions, love?”

“About four minutes,” she said, and took
another deep breath.

“Four minutes. Right, see you soon. She’ll
be here in ten minutes,” he said as he pulled on a pair of
sweats.

“Crap.”

“What, baby?”

“I think my water just broke. I’m
soaked.”

“All right, love.” He moved to Pepper’s side
of the bed and helped her up. “Let’s get you out of these wet
things.”

He helped her into clean clothes and guided
her to the bench at the end of the bed just as another contraction
hit and she cried out in pain. Connall knelt in front of her and
took her hands. “You ready?”

She shook her head. “I need a little more
time.”

He chuckled as he worked to ease her pain.
“She’s obviously like her mother. Unpredictable and totally on her
own schedule.”

Pepper dropped her forehead to his. “Bite
me.”

“It’s a compliment, love.”

“Oh, well, then bite me in a good way.”
Connall laughed and Pepper gripped his shoulders. “We still don’t
have a name.”

He sighed. “I know, love.”

“She needs a name.”

“Let’s look at her and then decide,” he
suggested.

Before she could respond, Gillian, the
royals’ Cauld Ane OB/GYN, breezed into the room, followed by
Samantha and Payton.

“Sam, you’re supposed to be resting,” Pepper
admonished.

“I can’t miss my niece’s birth, Pep,”
Samantha said.

“Where’s Kade?”

“In the hall with Brodie.”

“I swear to Buddha, Sam, if you feel
uncomfortable at all,” Pepper started, but a contraction had her
losing her breath.

“Okay, love,” Connall soothed. “It’s all
right.”

“Bed’s all set,” Payton said, and made her
way to Pepper. “Ready to have our wee girl?”

Pepper squeezed her eyes shut. “Not at
all.”

“Settle her on the bed, Your Highness,”
Gillian instructed. “I’ll examine her there.”

“Aye.” Connall lifted Pepper quickly and
gently from the bench and laid her on the bed, keeping contact with
her to ease the pain.

Payton and Samantha turned on lights and
then Samantha took a seat with a scowl. “I heard you the first
forty times you demanded it, Kade,” she called.

Pepper cried out and Payton took her hand.
Connall saw his mate’s hair darken faster than it had with
Cody.

“Pepper,” Payton said quietly. “Calm
yourself, love.”

“Hvers
vegna? Er hárið aftur orðið rautt?
?
”
(Why? Is my hair
red again?)

Connall nodded and squeezed her hand.
“
Já.
”

Pepper’s hair lightened again, although, it
was still darker than was safe. Pepper ripped her hand from
Connall’s. “
Ekki snerta mig
!” she snapped.

“Shite,” Connall hissed.

“Fyrirgefðu, elskan mín
,
”
Pepper whispered,
and took his hand as her hair
went back to
blonde.

“There’s nothing to forgive, love.”

She burst into
tears and grabbed Connall’s shirt. “
Ég vil
þetta barn út
!” (I want this baby out of
me!)

“
Bráðum, elskan. Ég lofa
.” (Soon,
sweetheart. I promise.)

“Here we go,” Samantha warned.

Pepper gritted her teeth as another
contraction hit her. She screamed and ripped Connall’s shirt down
the middle.

Payton gasped. “Again?”

When Pepper gave birth to Cody, she tore
five of Connall’s shirts. She’d had a difficult time controlling
her pain and it had forced her super-strength abilities to the
forefront. Luckily, her firestarter abilities hadn’t surfaced.
Connall hoped she’d be able to control herself a little more during
this birth, but he wasn’t holding out hope.

“I’m prepared this time, lass,” Connall
said, and smiled.

“I’m okay,” Pepper said, this time in
English.

Gillian smiled. “Ten centimeters, fully
effaced.”

“Are you ready to push, sweetheart?”

Pepper nodded, her hair now fully back to
blonde. “Yep.”

It took three pushes and twenty minutes to
bring baby Chelsea into the world and Connall knew beyond a shadow
of a doubt that he was in big trouble. The baby looked just like
her mother, and since he couldn’t say no to her, discipline was
going to be a major issue for him in the future.

“Och, lassie,” he crooned as Pepper held
her. “You’re going to cause me a lot of trouble.”

Pepper giggled as she stroked the baby’s
cheek. “Yes, you will, Chelsea Samantha Gunnach.”

Samantha gasped and sat on the edge of the
bed. “You named her after me?”

“You’re my sister and my best friend...
duh.”

Samantha laughed, leaning over to kiss the
baby. “I love you.”

“Love you too, honey.”

“Everything looks great, Pepper,” Gillian
said. “You’re already healing, so let’s get Chelsea weighed and
measured and then we’ll see if she’ll eat.”

“I’ll take her, love,” Connall said, and
cradled his little girl in his arms for a moment. “My beloved wee
lassie, may God’s blessings be heaped upon you, and I pray I’m the
father you need to raise you to be just like your Mum.” He kissed
her head and handed her off to Gillian before turning to find
Pepper, Samantha, and Payton crying. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” Pepper said, wiping her eyes.
“That was just so unbelievably sweet.”

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her
gently. “You are a rock star, my love. Thank you.”

“I didn’t kill you this time,” Pepper said,
surprised. “And I only ripped one shirt.”

“Aye, lass, you were amazing.”

She giggled and kissed him again. Once the
baby was settled at Pepper’s breast, she ate a little and fell
asleep quickly, so Brodie and Kade said hello to their new niece
and then took their mates home.

Gillian stayed for about an hour to make
sure all was okay before also leaving to head back to Brodie and
Payton’s. She was sticking around for Liam’s party, and then also
staying for the birth of the new prince.

Connall and Pepper decided not to wake Cody,
but as soon as he was up and ready for the day, he met his new
sister and the little family took some bonding time.

E
LSPIE ARRIVED JUST
before noon on Friday. She pulled Sydney in for a tight sisterly
hug and then greeted her brother. Wallace set her bags in the
guestroom and promised to bring the car around when the ladies were
ready to leave.

“I have orders from Mum and Ainsley.”

“Orders?” Thane asked.

“Aye. There’s a couple of things they want
from that little boutique outside the mall. You know, A Touch in
Time?”

“Since I’m a man, I can’t say I do.”

Eslpie giggled. “Well, if I find what they
want, I’m going to lie and say I couldn’t then give them to them
for Christmas,” she confided. “They are so bloody hard to buy for
that it’ll serve them right.”

Thane chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me
as long as my name’s on the card.”

Elspie jabbed a finger toward him with a
laugh. “So predictable, brother.”

“Are we eating before we go?” Thane
asked.

“You’re not coming,” Elspie said
emphatically.

“I vote we eat now,” Sydney said. “I’m
starving.”

Elspie grinned. “I’m ready if you are.”

Thane sighed. “What will I do while you’re
gone?”

Sydney and Elspie looked at each other.
“Honey, you’ll be fine,” Sydney said. “You can survive a few hours
without me.”

“At least let me ride with you.”

Elspie let out a snort. “Oh, how the mighty
have fallen.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“My very independent little brother suddenly
can’t go a few hours without his mate.”

“I’m man enough to admit when I’m whipped,”
Thane retorted, pulling Sydney close. “Oh, baby, please let me come
with you.” He made lip smacking noises and buried his head in her
neck.

Sydney giggled, trying to break away from
his attack. “You’re insane.”

“Insanely in love with you,” he said,
releasing her.

“Charmer.” Sydney leaned up on her tiptoes
and kissed him. “Why don’t you meet us for dinner?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She giggled. “Make a reservation
somewhere you approve of and we’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, love. I’ll text you the
particulars.”

“Okay.” She grabbed Elspie’s hand. “Let’s go
before he changes his mind. We’ll eat while we’re out.”

His sister laughed and they rushed out of
the apartment.

* * *

Elspie led Sydney through store after store
and Sydney honestly thought her legs might fall off by the time
they were leaving the eighth. She’d never been a big fan of
shopping—she did most of her purchases online—but Elspie had
unlimited money and even worse, unlimited energy.

Damian, one of Thane’s security men,
followed them throughout the mall, and although he didn’t say a
word, Sydney was sure he must be bored out of his mind. Thane had
also sent Niko who drove for them, but he was currently loading the
car with their latest purchases.

“Did you hear that Connall and Pepper had
their wee princess?” Elspie asked.

“We did.” Sydney grinned. “Niall called
Thane. She was early, huh?”

“Aye. By about a week. I have a feeling the
queen will labor shortly as well.”

“Really?”

“Aye. It happens with us women when we are
pregnant at the same time. Now that there’s a familial bond, we
have our babies within weeks or even days of each other
sometimes.”

“What if they’re not ready to come? Isn’t
that dangerous?”

Elspie smiled. “The bairns are fine. I
imagine our bodies know what they’re doing.”

“I would hope so,” Sydney murmured.

“We must get you something for your bonding
night,” Elspie decreed.

Sydney widened her eyes. “Like what?”

“Something sexy.”

Sydney felt heat creep up her neck. “No
offense, Elspie, but I’m not sure how Thane will feel if his sister
picks me out something sexy for our bonding night.”

Elspie giggled. “Don’t tell him.”

“I don’t know how
I
feel about
it.”

“If you really don’t want to, I will respect
your wishes,” she said, and took Sydney’s hand. “We all just want
you to feel comfortable, but with the loss of your parents, we also
want you to know that you have family as well. We already adore you
and Mum especially, wants you to know that.”

Sydney blinked back tears. “That’s really
sweet, Elspie. Thank you.”

Elspie smiled and guided Sydney toward the
lingerie section.

Sydney, are you okay, love?

Yes. Your sister’s just being very
sweet.

He chuckled.
Well, that’s a
first.

I won’t tell her that
. Sydney smiled.
She wants to help me pick out something sexy for our bonding
night.

I wholeheartedly approve.

You don’t think it’s weird?

If she were picking something sexy
for
me
to wear on our bonding night, then that would be
weird.

Sydney bit back a giggle.
You have a
point. Okay, I’ll find something mind blowing.

Red.

Something mind blowing in red.

Thank you, love.

“What about this?” Elspie asked, and held up
a barely there teddy in green.

Sydney shook her head. “He wants red.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Telepathy has its
good and bad points, right?”

Sydney smiled. “Mostly good I think...
except when he refuses to stay out of my head.”

“Marsh is the same way. Although, for us,
it’s not something strange. We’re raised to expect and understand
it.”

“I suppose you are. That’s kind of a mind
bend.” Sydney slid a few hangers back as she riffled through the
choices. “Our kids will have that perspective as well. That’s
really cool.”

“It is.”

“What about this?” Sydney asked, and held up
a red lacy nightie.