Free Sentinel [Covenant #5] by Jennifer L. Armentrout Page A

and I wished I had some kind of Apollyon power that made clothing disappear. That would’ve been really handy right about now. He eased me onto my back and slid a leg between mine. His tongue swept in, scattering my thoughts and pulling me in. A delicious tension built in my lower stomach, and when his body shifted against mine, I gasped. My reaction was immediate, rocking against him. Aiden shuddered as he lifted his head. Those eyes were heated silver. “We need to press pause for a second.” I knew I couldn’t have heard him correctly, because he moved his leg in a way that had me trembling,then kissed me again, nipping at my lower lip. “Seriously, we need to talk for a second,” he said, his voice thick. A small grin pulled at my lips. “Then stop kissing me.” “That’s an excellent idea.” He pressed his lips to the sensitive spot under my ear. “Yet so incredibly hard.” But then he did sit up, cross-legged beside me. “I want to talk to you about something.” The way he said that made my stomach dip. And he was rocking the Aiden is being serious” face. “Okay. About what?” “About what Artemis said to you out there today.” “About my hair?” He shot me a bland look. “No. When she said there was something inside you.” “Oh. That? Weird, right? Apollo’s son—Hippo-whatever—said the same thing when I was in Olympus.” I sighed, trying not to be too freaked out by it. “I have no idea what they’re talking about.” “You don’t?” Surprise flooded his voice. “No.” I frowned. “Do you?” Aiden opened his mouth and closed it. Several seconds passed, and then he thrust his hand through his hair, scratching his head. “Think about it, Alex.” Crossing my ankles, I gave a lopsided shrug. “Enlighten me, wise one.” “You’re really going to make me say it?” He swore under his breath as his hand fell to his lap. “Of course you are. Don’t you think there could be a possibility that whatever Artemis felt, or saw or whatever, means you’re…pregnant?” I stared at him. “What?” His dark brows lowered. “Pregnant.” “No.” I coughed out a laugh and rolled my eyes. “No way.” Aiden looked at me like I was half-stupid. “What?” I made a face. “There’s no way it could be that, because that just isn’t possible. I would, like, know if that was it, and I would totally be…” Wow. I sounded kind of stupid, because it really could be that. I’d had my shots, but I honestly couldn’t really say when the last one was, and who knew if they were really a hundred percent effective, or if they even worked on Apollyons, and when was my last period? And… Oh my gods in Olympus… I sat up, nearly knocking Aiden off the bed. My eyes were wide. “Pregnant? Bun in the oven? A little Alex or Aiden running amuck? Okay. A little you would be so adorable, but preggers? Oh gods, have I told you how much I hate the word ‘preggers?’ Like, is ‘pregnant’ such a long word that you have to shorten it? I feel the same way about ‘hubby.’ Seriously? Hubby and preggers are the stupidest—” “Alex, whoa.” He chuckled. “Slow down. Take a breath.” I tried to take a breath, but I couldn’t get it around the word pregnant. It formed a ball of “holy crap” in my throat. “It can’t be that, can it?” His chest rose, and then he nodded. “It could be, Alex.” Whoa, I was blown away by the prospect. Pregnant? Me? I wanted to laugh, but if I did, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t stop, and it wouldn’t be the cute kind of laughter. It would be the hysterical, crazy-asballs kind of laughter. “That…” I let out a stuttered breath as I glanced down. I was half-tempted to pull up my shirt and start pressing on my stomach. I didn’t, though, because that would cause me to have an absolute nervous breakdown. “That changes everything.” I lifted my gaze, meeting Aiden’s. His eyes were a bright silver, and my heart skipped a beat. When they were that