Allie paused once upright, not wanting to leave him alone there on the floor, but not wanting to stand there naked while she waited for him to wake up either. Spotting his dress shirt on the floor beside the bed, she walked over and scooped it up to put on. It smelled like him, and she paused to inhale the heady scent before doing up the buttons.

Turning back toward the dresser then, Allie stopped when she saw herself. His shirt was big on her, the tails reaching almost to her knees. Despite that, she didn’t think she looked too bad. Kind of sexy, really, she decided with a grin, and then moved back to Magnus. Settling on the floor with her back to the dresser, she lifted his head and then slid to the side until her thigh was under it and then she let it lower to rest on her leg.

As she waited for him to wake up, Allie examined this man that was now her husband. It was still an alien thought to her. Husband. She’d never thought she’d marry, and suspected that if her life hadn’t taken this path, she never would have. She certainly couldn’t imagine doing the things she had with Magnus with any other man. Actually, she was surprised she had with him. That hadn’t been part of her plan when she’d agreed to marry him. But things rarely went to plan in life. That was one thing Allie had definitely learned the last four years as she’d run from Abaddon and his crew. She’d also learned it was often easier if you didn’t make plans for the future, because you never knew when a vampire might pop up to ruin them. It was just easier to roll with the punches and work with what you had. Now she had a son and a husband. A family.

She’d have to work with that, Allie told herself. She could do it. She’d be open to him until he gave her reason not to be, and hope for the best.

“That is a serious expression. What are you thinking?”

Allie glanced down at Magnus’s face to see that his eyes were open and focused on her. She managed a smile, but rather than answer his question asked, “Why do you speak so . . .” She hesitated, unsure of the proper term, and finally said, “You don’t use contractions.”

“Alodia taught me English and she spoke most properly and without contractions. Most old immortals do,” he said, and then sat up and got to his feet.

“Lucian talked like you,” Allie murmured, getting up as well. “But you said Victor was old, and his speech is more modern.”

“You can thank Stephanie for that. She has spent years working on getting him, DJ, Harper, and Drina to use contractions. She claimed their speech made them sound old.”

“It does,” Allie said with amusement. “It kind of makes it obvious that you’re somehow different too.”