Page 46 of Witch's Betrayal

"So how much of that did you hear?" I asked, licking my lips after swallowing the spoonful.

"All of it," he answered before feeding himself a spoonful of ice cream. "Took me a few hundred years but I figured out how to shift only the inner ear of my lion. Comes in handy sometimes."

"Mm-hm." I accepted another mouthful of ice cream. "So what are your thoughts?"

"Mm-mm." He waved the spoon at me while shaking his head. "Not my circus, not my monkeys, beautiful. But," he playfully tapped the spoon against my lips. "I can't blame a guy who's in love with you for not wanting to be the constant bearer of bad news. I'd probably do the same if I had his ability." He dropped the spoon in the sink and replaced the lid on the ice cream. "And that's all I'll say about that."

"Fine," I said in mock disappointment, watching his lithe body hop off the counter and return the ice cream to the freezer. "I guess I'll need a distraction." I shamelessly groped his ass, pushing him against the refrigerator.

"Oh, you want to play like that, huh?" he laughed. In a flash, he whipped around and pressed his mouth to my neck. But instead of kissing me there, he blew a deafeningly loud raspberry.

I shrieked with laughter and tried to squirm away but he held me tight against him, sliding down my body and lifting my shirt to blow more raspberries on my belly.

"Sal, stop!" I was breathless with laughter, totally caught off-guard that he would be such a goofball.

He did stop abruptly, the smile completely gone from his face. His hands gripped either side of my waist as he stared directly at my belly button.

"Hey, I didn't say freeze, silly." I ran my fingers through his thick auburn hair.

"Sshh." He pressed one palm flat against my belly and seemed to be concentrating hard.

Did he seriously just shush me?

"Lion, what's up?" I asked.

He raised his eyes to mine, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Tell me I'm not imagining this." He pressed his other palm to mine, the first one still flat against my lower stomach.

I concentrated like he had and felt a faint pulsation through his hand against mine.

"Is that," my breath quickened. "A heartbeat?"

He nodded. "It's not yours. Or mine."

Both of our eyes dropped to his hand pressed against my stomach.

"Holy shit," I breathed, the realization hitting me like a brick wall.

Sal's handsome face broke into a joyous grin.

"You're pregnant, beautiful."

TO BE CONTINUED IN WITCH’S EXILE: BOOK 4 OF THE UNHOLY TRINITY SERIES.