Chapter 16 Sad Parting #2
Her mother nodded. “I might do that.” She hurried to intercept Hew and embraced him. They hadn’t seen each other for a while, although the pair spoke via com-circle.
“Hey, Scarlett,” Mungo said in her adorable Scothage accent, reminiscent of a Scottish drawl. She set down her aromatic soup drink. Her brow furrowed. “What’s wrong? Ye’ve gone pale.”
“Ever since I arrived home, I’ve suffered from a queasy stomach. I didn’t say anything to Ma because I didn’t want her to foist a potion on me.”
“She’ll be busy with Hew for the cycle. Casey might help ye. Take the cycle to rest.”
“I need to speak with Saber, anyway,” Scarlett said. “Are you sure?”
Mungo flicked a lock of red hair away from her cheek. “Aye! I enjoy working on reception and meeting the lasses, ye ken.”
“Have at it.” Scarlett pressed a hand to her roiling stomach. The incoming guests today were hurting her head.
Once she departed from reception, and the aroma of Mungo’s drink faded, her stomach settled.
Saber wasn’t in his office. Her stomach rolled as she passed the main dining room, and a horrid suspicion occurred after she calculated a personal statistic.
She backtracked, deciding that speaking with Casey was imperative.
Felix’s wife was an ex-soldier and possessed medical experience.
While she now pursued her interest in design and fabric and made garments to sell in the high-end resort store, she was the perfect one to help Scarlett with this situation.
She found Casey alone in her workroom. “Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.” Casey glanced up from the fabric she was draping around a chubby tailor’s form with an extra set of arms.
“I haven’t felt well since I arrived home. My stomach is queasy.”
“Did you tell your mother?” Casey asked, a frown on her brow as she stared at her dressmaker form.
“I didn’t want to answer her questions.”
Casey’s head lifted, her focus laser-sharp. “What questions?”
“It’s possible I might be pregnant,” Scarlett murmured.
“Oh. Oh!” Casey said. “I can do a scan for you. It’s 99.9 percent reliable. I thought you were on birth control.”
“My shot was due around the time Ransom abducted me. I thought it would be okay.” Scarlett sighed and rubbed her face. “No scrub that. I didn’t care. We were too busy trying to stay alive.”
“Let me get my medical kit. It’s in our bungalow.”
“I’ll come with you,” Scarlett said. “I’m hoping to bump into Saber. He’s not in his office, and I want to talk to him.”
“Problem? I mean, more than one problem?”
“No.” Scarlett straightened. She’d have to amend her plan, perhaps stay at the resort.
Casey grasped Scarlett’s arm and shook her back to the present. “Don’t panic. Not yet until we take a reading.”
“Ma will be disappointed in me.”
“Maybe initially, but she keeps hinting at more grandchildren. According to her, one is not enough.”
“Yeah, but I’m the only one without a mate.”
Casey took Scarlett’s arm and dragged her from the workshop.
They strode along a path lined by plants with bright pink leaves and pale pink flowers.
To the right, soft music and women’s laughter came from the pool.
They passed one of Scarlett’s cousin’s ambling toward the guest beach with a female guest.
Casey led her down a side path and used her palm print to open the lock on the gate, which led to their family and employee area. They speed-walked past several bungalows before turning off to Casey’s.
The interior was beautiful, with Casey’s tasteful use of color in the casual furnishings. According to Felix, she went for a minimalistic look, the product of Casey’s military upbringing.
“Do you want anything to eat or drink?” Casey asked over her shoulder.
“No, please put me out of my misery.”
Casey disappeared and returned with a scuffed leather bag. “Is the dragon-man the father?”
“If I’m pregnant. Yes,” Scarlett said in a sharp tone. “There was no coercion or anything of that nature.”
“Do you miss him?” Curiosity sounded in Casey.
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. Funny, Saber had asked Scarlett the same thing yesterday. “We were alone for the entire journey and only had each other to rely on. I keep turning around to tell Ransom things, and he’s not there.”
“Do you like him?”
“From the first time I met him,” Scarlett admitted.
Casey opened her bag and removed a small square box, no bigger than her palm. “You’ve met before? Before he grabbed you from the resort, I mean.”
“Yes, he caught me pilfering precious stones on Narenda.” Scarlett grinned at the memory. She would’ve loved to see his face when he’d found her gone.
Casey powered up the box, pushed several buttons, then tapped in a series of commands. “I’ve set the machine to read for pregnancy. Just lie down for me. I’ll place it on your belly.”
“Should I strip?”
“No, it will read through your garments,” Casey said.
Scarlett toed off her boots and stretched out on the couch for Casey.
Her breath caught as Casey held the black box above her abdomen.
She wasn’t sure what she wanted. She’d have an excuse to see Ransom again if she were pregnant, but that was a double-edged sword.
Trapping a man—no, that wasn’t her style.
“Do you know if a feline shifter can have offspring with a dragon?” she asked.
“Hmm.” Casey still peered at the readings on the machine.
“What?”
“Yes, they can have offspring,” Casey murmured. She raised her gaze to meet Scarlett’s.
“What?”
“You’re pregnant with twins.”
Scarlett gaped at Casey.
“Did you hear me? Scarlett?” Casey asked.
“Two babies?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“The reading is 99.9 percent reliable,” Casey reminded her.
“Don’t tell anyone.” Scarlett sat up and thrust her feet into her boots. “Not even Felix. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
“I want to break the news myself.” Scarlett knew Casey would keep her word.
“What are you going to do? Scarlett? You have a weird expression on your face.”
“Make a plan,” Scarlett said. “Thanks, I’ll see you later.”
She found Saber in his office with Felix and Leo. Saber was busy talking and broke off mid-sentence when she tapped on the door and entered. “Saber, I wondered if I could have a word.” She glanced at her brothers and sighed. “I might as well speak to you all.”
“We can talk,” Saber said. “What’s the problem?”
Scarlett dropped onto an empty seat beside Leo and swallowed hard to settle the arrival of nerves as she stared across the compudesk at her oldest brother. Get it out, Scarlett. She clasped her hands to stop them shaking.
“Scarlett?” Saber prompted.
“I don’t want to work here. I’m bored with doing the same thing day in day out.
” Scarlett paused. Saber wasn’t shouting.
Neither were Felix and Leo, and that encouraged her to continue.
“My dream is to focus on my jewelry designs and open a shop on Dalcon. I have a business plan and everything,” she said.
“I’ve saved enough currency for a financial cushion if my sales aren’t as robust as my projections.
There’s just one problem.” Scarlett swallowed again. An audible gulp.
Saber’s expression didn’t shift. “What sort of problem?”
Scarlett hesitated, then decided to spit it out. “I’m pregnant. With twins, according to Casey.”
Saber stiffened, but she still had trouble reading his expression.
“Who is the father?” Leo demanded.
“We’ll gut him,” Felix added.
“You will not touch a hair on his head,” Scarlett snapped. “Last time I heard it takes two to make a child. That’s if you’re doing it the natural way.”
“Is it the dragon?” Felix asked.
“None of your business,” Scarlett snapped again. She turned to Saber, and he bore a weird expression.
“Are you happy about this pregnancy?” Saber asked.
Scarlett considered. “I’ve only learned about it.” It meant she had the best excuse to see Ransom again. She hadn’t realized she’d miss him so much. “I think I’m pleased, although I’ll need to rejig my master plan.”
Leo snorted.
“You and your plans,” Felix said. “Your baby—excuse me, babies—aren’t on the plan.”
“Neither was a quest to find a purple prince,” Scarlett said sweetly. “Maybe I’ve decided I enjoy going off-piste occasionally. Changes are cleansing and not always a mistake.”
Saber understood her reference and glowered at her. “Lori catching the virus wasn’t your fault. I’ve told you that. All of us have told you.”
“It doesn’t lessen the guilt,” Scarlett retorted.
“I feel guilty whenever I recall how I gained ownership of the resort,” Saber countered. “We both have to admit we’ve made mistakes. Own them and don’t repeat them. We must step forward into the future and do our best to compensate for our past.”
“Scarlett,” Leo said. “You harbored a virus of sorts a second time. It enabled you to stop the suffering of the Narenda inhabitants.”
“The residents of Tiraq too,” Saber said. “Ransom cares for you.”
“I know.” Although they hadn’t spoken to each other since parting on Narenda. Why hadn’t he called? “Works both ways. I could’ve called him,” she muttered to herself. “I like him a lot.”
“Is he your mate?” Felix asked, his eyes narrowing until he resembled Saber at his most fierce.
Scarlett shrugged. “How do you tell?”
“You think about the other person even if you don’t want to. Parting from them makes you feel like crap, and you’ll do anything to keep them safe,” Leo said. “They might irritate you at first, but the idea of ripping off their clothes and fucking them makes you come alive.”
“Oh,” Scarlett whispered.
“He’s your mate,” Saber said.
“I’ve been unhappy with life since we left Narenda.
” Scarlett counted the points off with her fingers.
“I can’t get him out of my head. He’s the last person I think about before I fall asleep and the first one when I awake.
Every time I have a thought, I wonder about Ransom’s opinion.
I’m not as upset about these babies as I should be.
He has messed up my entire plan, and I’m not stressing about it when normally, I’d be a real grouch.
And once he comes to mind, my next thought is sex. Oh!”
“They’re mates,” Felix and Leo said at the same time.
“I talk to Ransom every morning,” Saber said. “We talk about you. The dragon is crazy about you. He told me he’d never have escaped the prince if it wasn’t for your help. He loves you, Scarlett.”
Hope dawned in Scarlett until her mind constructed a roadblock.
“But two babies. I don’t want to trap him.
And the other thing—I want to pursue my jewelry enterprise.
Ransom must take care of his people. They’re the reason he fought so hard.
Did you know he intended to exchange me for their freedom? ”
“He told me,” Saber said. “He feels bad about it. Scarlett, if anyone threatened our family, what would you do? I know what my decision would be. The prince placed him in an untenable position, and Ransom did the best he could under the circumstances. He never surrendered but kept fighting, unlike his parent.”
“You admire him,” Scarlett said in surprise.
“You like him,” Saber pointed out. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“I’m confused,” Felix said. “Are we beating up the dragon or welcoming him to the family?”
Scarlett frowned, then a solution presented itself. “An abduction,” she whispered. “I’ll abduct him.”