Risk and Reward

Chapter Twenty-Six~Moving On

Our love-making is slow and languid as Az sweetly worries about whether he'll hurt the baby if he's too rough. Despite my lack of knowledge about these things, I'm glad to know that there's no danger of that. I'll need to tell someone soon. One of the girls who understands better and who might research things with me. Even though I know Az and I will be doing a lot of that ourselves.

After our activities, we descend to the dining room to eat since I'm still ravenous. No one else appears as if they gave us the house for some privacy for a while. Even though we have our own house that I'm apparently not allowed to be in alone.

An hour after our meal, Rhys appears and I squeeze Azriel's hand at keeping another secret from him. Even if it is a good one. "Care for a little outing?" He offers. My eyes meet my mate's and he nods once.

"You needn't ask to spend time with family, heart." He tells me as I walk over to my brother.

"I want to do right. We need to figure out new boundaries." I return and Az catches my hand to pull me back. He plants a kiss full on my lips before smiling and nudging me back over to Rhysand.

"I appreciate it." He tells me before Rhys whisks us off into shadow. We arrive at what I've come to think as our spot beside the lake and I don't hesitate to stretch my wings out in the fading sun. If the weather is kind, hopefully I'll get to take my family to the beach for that day I once imagined. My head turns as my eyes open and Rhys smiles softly before his wings appear at his back too.

I walk over to my favorite boulder and settle down on it with my wings still out, then stare at Rhys expectantly. His brows raise and I wave him on. "Go on. I'm ready for you to yell at me." I encourage, heels knocking against the boulder as the sun soaks into my dark wings.

"Is that what you think this is?" He asks softly, blue eyes glittering like the sun on the lake. "You think I brought you here to shout and scream at you? As if I haven't had enough of that over the past week." His head shakes.

My head cocks slightly. "Then why are we here, Rhys?"

He heaves a breath and steadies his gaze on mine. "Nesta came to the house minutes after midnight. She knocked twice on the bedroom door before opening it by herself and telling us that you were gone. Gone. Then she told us in her curt way that you'd made a deal with Devlon and were in the Rite." His voice stays low while his eyes stay on mine. "I went there first. Dragged Cassian out of bed so he could tell me that he'd been training you for the Rite under the impression that you had no intention of actually competing. We spoke to Devlon and he confirmed the whole thing with a grin on his face. Both of us would have strangled him if we weren't out of our minds with shock and worry."

He shifts in place and puts his hands in his pockets. "Then I had to go home and tell my mate that someone she considers a sister is in the Rite. I had to tell my brother that his mate is being hunted by a race he practically despises in a tradition we cannot get you out of. A tradition that kills hundreds." Guilt fills my mouth, but Rhysand's tone isn't accusatory or degrading. "The only way I could keep him from storming into that fucking competition was to trap him in the house and knock him out even when I wanted to do the same. When we all wanted to do the same."

I swallow and my head droops. "I'm sorry."

Gentle fingers tickle under my chin before I look up at him again. "Never do that again, Kaira." He commands and my lips press together as I nod. His eyes soften as he steps forward and presses a kiss to my head before I toss my arms around his shoulders. He chuckles deeply, but doesn't hesitate to return my embrace. "As for why we're out here..." He backs up with a smile back on his face. "I wanted to spend time with you. Figured you might want some time in the air today."