Parallel Desire by Deidre Knight Read Free Book Online

important day since you landed on Earth." Kelsey propped herself against a swath of overstuffed pillows, cupping both of her hands about her stomach, needing to feel Erica's movements just beneath her fingertips. A future princess! The thought that she carried someone so powerful—possessing the ability to become a pure sphere of energy just like her father—boggled Kelsey's mind when she thought about it too hard.
    "Do I seem heavier to you?" Jared tossed a vulnerable glance over his shoulder.
    "And you're asking me that—right now?" She laughed, waving a hand over her large belly.
    "You've never been more beautiful, whereas I am—"
    "A nervous wreck about meeting my dad. Besides, how often have you been working out lately?"
    He bowed his head, putting his back to her. "Daily."
    "If you've gained weight, it's just like you said—it's all muscle." The fact was there wasn't one ounce of wasted weight on her husband's body. For months he'd been driving himself harder and harder, it seemed. Honing himself, making his body into a weapon in its own right. When she'd questioned him, asking why he kept pushing his physical boundaries so hard, Jared never had an answer.
    But Kelsey understood his heart well enough and had intuited one simple fact, one that perhaps even her husband hadn't realized yet: He was anticipating something. Some dark thing on the horizon that he couldn't name, but nonetheless felt the need to prepare himself for, both spiritually and physically. Because just as he'd been punishing his body with relentless physical trials, he'd also spent increasing amounts of time in private meditation.
    "Jared, look"—she beckoned him toward the side of their bed—"just come over here. I need to talk to you."
    As he turned to face her, she saw thinly veiled anxiety in his black eyes. "We don't have much time, love. Your father arrives at eleven hundred—"
    "I mean really talk to you. Okay?"
    With a nervous glance at his communicator's time display, he crossed the room, settling on the bed beside her.
    For long moments he stared into her eyes, and she felt the swirling cauldron of emotions vying for control within her mate. Anxiety, anticipation, even fear for her—at least somehow.
    "I'll be all right," she whispered, reaching a hand to his cheek. He was fiery warm to the touch, whereas her own hand was chilled by the early May temperature within their lodge.
    Jared grimaced, bowing his head, then reached a tentative hand to her abdomen. "How fares Erica today?" She could hear the fatherly concern, the protective note in his voice.
    "She's doing great. You worry about us both way too much."
    He struggled with something, his almond-shaped eyes narrowing to slits. "I have never felt so vulnerable in all my life. Not as I do now, loving you like this, Kelse. Loving our baby girl." His palm tensed against her abdomen, cupping the rounded fullness protectively.
    "That doesn't mean anything bad will happen."
    "I can't help but fear it." His voice was soft, electric, but he averted his gaze. None of this was about the uniform, or about meeting her father for the first time; something much bigger was going on.
    "Tell me the real issue, then."
    His fingertips flexed against her warm belly. "I've been plagued by bad visions lately."
    "Yes, about Jake, I know." He'd had numerous dark premonitions about Scott's future self, about Texas.
    Jared lifted his gaze, locking with her own. "It's more than Jakob." His hand tensed against her warm skin once more, hovering protectively over their unborn baby. "It's … all of us."
    Kelsey's heart skipped a beat, then hammered frantically within her chest. "What are you saying?"
    His long-lashed eyes drifted slowly shut. "I don't know yet. I just feel this darkness coming, something dangerous—and here we are about to step into your world, into the human world, more firmly than we've ever done before."
    "We aren't going anywhere. My dad's coming here. Are