Page 72 of Ramiel

“It’s too dangerous for me to finish inside you, female,” Ramiel said regretfully.

“I’m not diseased!”she said, unwrapping her legs from him.

He put her down and grimaced.“I know you’re not.Cambions can’t catch human diseases,” he said.

“Then why did you pull out?”she demanded.

“You’re fertile and I didn’t want to impregnate you without your permission,” he said.

Her mouth dropped open in shock.“How can you possibly know that I’m fertile right now?”

“Knights can sense it,” he said.“So can our enemies.That’s how they managed to procreate so successfully in our past wars.”

Blowing out a sigh, her anger dissipated.“I guess it’s probably not a good idea for me to get pregnant,” she said wistfully.“Not while we’re in the middle of a war.”She slapped him on the butt, then winced when she felt the slight sting herself.“I’ll meet you downstairs, stud,” she said, then grabbed the towel she’d hung over a rail to dry herself off.

Chapter Forty-Two

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RAMIEL COULDN’T SHAKEthe feeling that he’d just missed out on something monumental.He’d been so focused on not impregnating his female that he’d ignored the insistent prodding from the link in his head.He knew it would have changed everything even though he wasn’t sure how or why.

Caterina left him to wash his hair and body alone.He sensed she was still hurt even after he’d explained his reasoning.Ramiel had never particularly wanted to become a father.Now that he’d met his cambion, the idea of sharing his life with her and starting a family made him ache with longing.

“You need to get that thought out of your head,” he muttered.“You’re just a pawn and that’s never going to change.”

His mood had soured a bit by the time he dried himself with a towel he found in a cupboard in the bathroom.Caterina was downstairs, eating breakfast at the dining table.She smiled at him and his heart soared.Just the sight of his female was enough to lift his spirits.“I’ll be ready to get back on the road as soon as I’ve finished eating,” she said.

Taking the map out of his backpack, Ramiel sat down next to her.He traced out the route he would need to take.“We should be able to check five or six properties if we’re quick and if we don’t run into any trouble,” he mused.

Caterina shook her head sadly.“I bet you just jinxed us,” she predicted.

“We’ve already been jinxed enough,” he said wryly.While he wanted to stay in the house and pleasure his female until she screamed, he had the insistent feeling that they needed to get moving.She seemed to share it and finished her breakfast quickly.

They put their gear on the back seat of their new ride, then Caterina made sure he stayed on track with the map.By late afternoon, they were getting tired of their failure.“I wish someone would send us a sign of where we need to go,” Caterina said in frustration.She turned to glare at the ham radio on the back seat.Static was her only response.Xathan had given his daily message to remind survivors to bring their own supplies with them if they were heading to Manhattan.The Mad Prophet remained silent.

“I can see smoke coming from the woods over there,” Ramiel said, gesturing to the left.