Chapter 209 - Feels like forever

Jos's eyes studied the gentle rise and fall of Shelly's sleeping body. Shifting her weight in the window seat of Arei's room, she realized her leg had already fallen asleep. Watching the wiggle of her tingling toes, Jos jerked slightly as long, thick fingers began massaging her feet.

"It's getting late. If you'd like I can have something brought up." Arei said in a low, soothing voice. As he'd expected, Jos shook her head no. "You need to eat something, Kitten. You haven't since picking at a slice of toast this morning."

Jos let out a sigh as she shook her head again. "I'm not hungry. I'm too upset to eat." Her eyes moved back over to the bed. "I can't help but think 'What if the test comes back vampire?' She would be devastated, and her people would never welcome her or the child... She would be an outcast just like me..."

Arei gently turned her gaze back to his. "She will never be an outcast or be abandoned. She will always have you and me, and Raven and Isha, and even dad. Just like you will never feel abandoned and outcasted again either." He shrugged. "Even if it is a vampire, we will still be here by her side and help her raise it. As dysfunctional as we are, we are family." He brushed a strand of hair out of her face as he smiled down at her. "Or at least I'd like to say we will be here for her, but I'm not so sure if you starve yourself in the meantime... Heaven forbid if you find a better way of self-deprecation." He gave an overexaggerated shiver.

Jos rolled her eyes and pulled away from his grip. "I'm not trying to starve myself. I'm honestly not hungry. My stomach is still upset from earlier." She attempted to slide down from the window seat, but Arei stepped in front of her. She pushed against his chest, but instead of moving, he clasped his hands gently over hers.

"And how is letting yourself grow tired and weak going to help her?" He blew out an exasperated sigh when irritated aqua eyes met his. "I care for you more than you'll probably ever know. I'm not trying to be pushy or nag you. I only want to see your needs met, and I know for a fact that when you are this upset you never think of your own health."

Her angry eyes softened as she relaxed the hands she had pressed against his chest. "I... you..." She searched his eyes as he stroked his large palm across her cheek and leaned closer. She didn't fight against him when he placed a lingering kiss on her forehead before moving down her lips.

"I can easily fill that in for you." He whispered against her lips. "I love you, that is why I worry. Just let me help you. You don't have to carry all this burden alone anymore." He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him for several minutes until a light tap at the door interrupted. "Come in, it's open." He called out not releasing Jos from his hold.

Raven's eyes scanned over their connected bodies for several minutes, questioning whether she should continue in or leave the room. Jos was seated in a window seat and Arei stood in front of her with her legs on either side of his and her face barely visible from around his massive chest it rested against. "We can come back." She mumbled, but before she could turn Isha was pressing past her. Her gaze shifted back and forth from Jos and Arei to her wife as she made her way over to the sleeping wolf. "How's she doing?" Raven finally asked as Isha stroked a hand over the wolf's soft fur.

Arei gave Jos one last tight squeeze and kissed the top of her head, before releasing his hold on her and moving to sit beside her. "She hasn't woken up yet, but it seems like a peaceful sleep. So, we haven't bothered her."

Raven's troubled eyes stayed locked on Shelly. "How far along do you think she is? Do you think it could possibly be that sick asshole's baby?"

Jos thought over the question as she slid out of the seat. Walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed opposite Raven and Isha, she began. "I'm not entirely sure. It's hard to tell when she's in wolf form and I didn't get a good look earlier. She's showing a little, so I'd guess around four to five months if she were human, but I'm not sure how long wolf gestational periods are. We had been in Maine for a week or so before her morning sickness began, but that doesn't really help either. It could have been a sign of a few weeks in or a new trimester." She shrugged.

Raven nodded as she rubbed her chin. "Her and Russ turned eighteen in April... the beach party was the first of June-"

"But she said Dante hadn't- done anything s.e.x.u.a.l to her until after she and Rin were married." Jos interrupted.

"The wedding took place during your last week in Florida, and they had already been together for some time before that. Russ and Ry spent a little over two weeks with them… So, there is a month without considering the time they were together beforehand." Raven said.

"Come to think of it, after six weeks of not hearing from her, Russ asked Rin in class to try calling her because he knew no matter what she wouldn't ignore his call." Jos's mind began working through a timeline in her head. "I don't believe Rin came back to class after that. I don't recall having any of his papers turned in by the sub."

"Sub?" Arei asked as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Raven watched as Jos's cheeks heated and she tried wiggling out of his arms. "Jos…" She interrupted their hushed murmurs. "You don't have to hide your feelings, or whatever it is the two of you are working toward. Jos, you are my friend first and foremost. I support whatever makes you happy." Raven shrugged when Jos went still in Arei's arms and shot surprised eyes her way. "What? You've only ever been with two men. It's kind of admirable."

Isha's attention spiked, and her head quickly shot back and forth between Jos and Raven. "You've only been with two guys in all… ALL your life?!" She scrunched her brows. "But what about DeMarco? Surely you're not going through all this hell for someone you didn't even sleep with!"

Jos blushed. Instead of fighting his hold, this time she backed into him as she shook her head against his chest. "I guess being married made him less pushy for such things… plus my curse affected him so it wasn't really an option…"

Arei stroked the length of her arms. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about." He tried to hide the pleasure he felt in hearing her admittance, but his smile could be heard in his voice.

"Anyways… if that is when she escaped and left the states with him, she could easily be five months along." Raven said as she counted off with her fingers.

A sudden thought hit Arei. "You know, Ry had said something about an enchanted picture book or something. It showed Shelly holding a baby shortly after giving birth, but the boy's image kept coming and going." He studied the wolf thoughtfully. "If it was an oracle's book then that may indicate she was already with child and that the boy's fate hadn't yet been sealed."

Jos frowned. "I guess it is now…" A tear slid down her cheek as her gaze moved over Shelly.

Isha stood and brushed her hands over her dress. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. What do you say to dinner while we wait?" She flicked one wrist into the air and three boxes of pizza appeared on the window seat along with a selection of drinks. "Best part of fairy magic." She said with a wink.

When Jos began to protest, Arei tightened his grip around her waist and forced her to walk toward the boxes. "One slice and I'll leave you alone." He whispered against her ear.

She turned to look over her shoulder at him. "But-"

"No buts. One slice, that's all I'm asking." He said sending her a 'don't argue' look.

Jos rolled her eyes. "Yes, daddy." She began to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip.

"Keep it up and 'daddy' may have to spank you." He sent her a wickedly s.e.xy smile.

She narrowed her eyes as she turned and pressed her palms against his chest. "You wouldn't…"

He arched a mischievous brow. "Wouldn't I?"

She thought it over for a second, before shaking her head with certainty. "No, you wouldn't. It's not in your nature. You'd be too afraid of hurting me."

The mischief vanished from Arei's twinkling eyes, replaced by warm, affection. "Well, there's no arguing with that logic." He released her and gave her bottom a light, gentle slap as she stepped away from him. When her surprised eyes turned back to him, he chuckled with a slight shrug. "You're right, I wouldn't ever hurt you… but there are other ways to spank without causing harm." He winked at her when her cheeks heated more. Nodding toward the boxes, he said. "Eat."

***

Selena's eyes followed her lover's every move as he made his way around the swanky hotel suite. The dim lighting did little to hide his magnificent nude body, causing a slight blush to creep up Selena's long neck. They had made love the first hour they'd been in the room together, but for the past half hour now, business was the only topic up for discussion. Letting out a heavy sigh as her feet dropped over the edge of the bed and met with the floor, she said. "After the girl's testimony, there's nothing left we can do on the matter. We may be able to still squeeze a few years out of the human death, but nothing like you'd hope for." She pulled the robe off the bedpost and wrapped it around herself as she walked toward him. Cold eyes turned toward her causing her to freeze in place. "I'm... I'm sorry if this angers you, but it's simply facts... Sir..." A massive hand shot out and gripped her face, pulling her into a painfully rough kiss.

Smiling down at the trickle of blood left behind on enticing swell of lips that frowned back at him, Zeus laughed sarcastically, "What is the point in sleeping with one of the most powerful creatures on the council, if I can't have better results than this?" His sarcastic smile melted into a snarl of disappointment as he shoved her face away from him. "You're a disappointment. I should have handled this myself, or at the very least f.u.c.k.i.e.d someone more wit."

Her frown deepened as she rubbed at her now sore jaw. "I don't understand why you even want her in the first place. I've stalled the papers as long as I can as well. Poseidon has the claim." She muttered under her breath, regretting it instantly when his sharp, cold eyes turned to her again.

Anger flared in his eyes as he stomped toward her. "Why do I want the girl? Other than the fact her claim belongs to me as her great-grandfather? I want her because she has the protentional to be an immensely powerful weapon on and off land." He followed her until she was backed up against the large, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city. Pressing a hand beside her face, he continued. "If you wore only a bit more capable, a lengthy sentence would be just the thing to finally force her to accept my claim instead of his."

She pressed her palms against his firm, bare chest. "You heard the testimony. There is no winning against it. Themis saw through Vivian's testimony and saw the honesty and pain in the wolf girl's testimony. Those wolves will do anything for Joslyn and apparently, she will do just as much for them, and there is nothing anyone can do about it... not even you, oh mighty Zeus." She set her jaw and clenched her fists against his chest, expecting him to act out in rage, but instead, he narrowed his eyes as he focused on something in the distance.

"You're right... those wolves will do anything for her and she for them... That is exactly why I'd planned on striking a bargain with her once a lengthy sentence was handed out." He stepped away from her as his gaze held to the same spot in the distance. "But I may yet use their connection even without the desired outcome of these hearings." An evil smile curved his lips as he finally turned toward her. "Change of plans, I have a better idea."