Kissing Sin (Riley Jenson Guardian 2)

My heart lodged somewhere in my throat, and refused to budge. For several seconds, I couldn't even breathe. "What do you mean?"

He raised a pale eyebrow. "My proposition has benefits for you, the Directorate, and myself. More than that I am not willing to say right now." He glanced at his watch. "My time is officially up. If you wish to discuss this matter further, ring me on this number." He handed me a card. "It's the only secure line I have left."

I glanced at the handwritten number, quickly memorizing it before tearing the card into strips. "Don't be expecting me to."

He smiled, and turned away. Then he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "One more thing you should know."

Trepidation crawled through me. "What?"

"I haven't had the hormone chip replaced. Right now, I'm the most fertile wolf you know."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving me dry mouthed and shaking. God, what was he saying? That I could have kids? Why else would he say something like that?

There was only one way to find out. Spinning, I all but ran to the lifts, my stomach churning so much that the twenty floor climb didn't really make a noticeable impression.

As usual, Dr. Harvey was running behind schedule, leaving me sitting in the waiting room, twitching and shifting and sweating.

When the nurse finally called me in, I all but ran.

Dr. Harvey looked over his black-framed glasses at me. "You're looking a little peaked this afternoon."

I sat down on the chair and crossed my legs. "I'm worried." No lie there, that was for sure. "These results may well change the direction of my life."

He nodded in understanding, his gaze flicking to the com-screen on one end of the desk. I shifted, but couldn't quite see what was on the screen.

"Would you prefer the good or the bad news first?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Hit me with the bad." Might as well know the worst first.

"There's no easy way to put this, so I'll say it straight out. Indications are that within a year or so, your body will fully imitate a vampire's in that you will neither be fertile nor be able to carry a child."

I simply stared at him. Deep down, I guess I'd always expected something like this would happen. Rhoan might be more vampire in his makeup than wolf, but we were fraternal twins, sharing the same father if not the same seed. Yet I'd always hoped that because past tests had indicated the werewolf gene was stronger in me, I'd be able to have a child. Or would at least be able to turn to some form of IVF when all else failed. Now even that was snatched from me, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry.

Though right now, both were looking good.

"The good news," he continued, as if he hadn't noticed me sitting there in a lump of misery, "is that the experimental drug you were given has actually achieved its aim. Young woman, your cycle has finally kicked into gear, and you are actually menstruating for the first time in your life."

I stared at him for several long minutes. "No, I'm not."

He smiled. "Yes, you are. If the results we got back were any indication, you should have had your first period six days ago."

Six days ago I'd been barely alive. "I can't remember."

He raised his eyebrows at that, but didn't question. He knew I was Directorate. Knew some things just had to be accepted without question. He clasped his hands in front of him. "Of course, given that you are no longer taking the drug, I would envisage the effects will not last very-long. A last burst, perhaps, before infertility."

I blinked, and suddenly his words hit me. Ohmygod. I could have kids. I was fertile, however briefly. I felt like screaming. Dancing. Running through the building shouting the news.

"Of course," he said, his voice full of a sternness that somehow kept me anchored, "we will have to keep a close eye on what is happening, and run weekly tests. If you do become pregnant, it might mean hospitalization, as we cannot predict how your body, with the changes it is undergoing, will react."

I didn't care if I had to be hospitalized the whole nine months. Not if it meant having a child at the end of it. I shifted on my seat, and had to resist the impulse to ring Rhoan and tell him the news. God, he'd be over the moon!

"And," the doctor continued, "because you have such a narrow margin of fertility and will need to ensure maximum opportunity for pregnancy, you will have to watch your body's chemical and physical changes, and ensure the sexual act occurs during hours of peak receptiveness."

"And the monitoring involves... ?"

"These days, it involves nothing more tedious than wearing a small monitor under your skin. It'll tingle softly to warn you when a peak has been reached."

I nodded, and wondered if I was grinning like a fool.