“When will you return?”
Blaze shrugged. “Our future is in jeopardy. Threats of war between the kingdoms looms. It looks as if the other kings have formed an alliance. They wish for us to mate with humans.”
“And you?”
“I will take one of the fertile dragon females by force if I have to. It looks as if their ruler has gone against my wishes to mate with one of them. It is a difficult and tense situation. It is safer for Ruby here.”
“Maybe taking human mates is the answer. It is what the wolf shifters are doing. It is what we are being forced to do. Only, it’s working out better than we ever imagined. Human females are highly desirable...you should give it a try.”
“Human females are overrated. They are not trustworthy and are without honor.” Kai got the distinct impression that the male spoke from experience. Blaze growled. “I refuse to dilute our blood.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe the other kings are so quick to go against our old ways.”
“Our egg is golden,” Kai blurted. The male needed to know. It was something that would mean a lot to an arrogant male like Blaze.
“What?” He shouted. “It can’t be.”
“It’s true. The egg is golden despite my genetics being strong. My vampire traits will also feature in the child. It would not be the case with a human mate. Your offspring would be royal.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he shook his head. “We don’t know that for sure. Besides, it would go against all of our traditions and beliefs. It would not be right. Take care of Ruby.” Blaze shifted and leapt into the air, disappearing quickly into the night sky.
Kai didn’t know what to make of it. The male was an arrogant asshole. There was no doubt of that but he wasn’t the uncaring bastard Kai had thought he was. It was clear that Blaze loved his sister in his own way. That he loved his people. Times changed, situations changed. It was important to be flexible and change with them. Keeping his head up his ass was not going to solve the current crisis the dragon shifters were facing.
Kai breathed deeply. He had his own situation that needed facing up to.
Chapter 22
There was a knock at the door. “Ruby, sweetheart, open up.” Kai knocked again.
She was crying. Ruby hated crying. Hated it. “Go away.” It came out sounding like a sob which irritated her. She was a strong female. A capable female. Crying never solved anything. The problem was that she couldn’t seem to stop doing it. Kai was probably here to tell her that even though they weren’t together, that he would still be there for the child.
There was another knock at the door. “I’m not going away so you might as well open for me.” Kai sounded determined and like he meant it.
Ruby went into the bathroom and blew her nose. Then she splashed some water onto her face. The reflection that stared back at her in the mirror looked awful. Her hair was a mess. Shifting would do that to a female. Her eyes were red rimmed and puffy. Her nose was red as well. Her face was blotchy. She made these hiccup noises. In short, it couldn’t get too much worse. “Come back later!” She yelled.
“I’m not leaving.” He knocked again.
Maybe he was there to tell her that they could carry on with their arrangement despite there being no chance of a future together. If that was the case, then he could go to hell.
“You’re just as bad as my brother.” She ground out as she opened the door. “I asked to be left alone. I want a couple of hours to myself, but no.”
Kai smiled. It was a timid, half smile that almost broke her into little pieces. “Yes, it’s too much to ask. We need to talk and it can’t wait. Can I come in?”
“If I say no you’ll come in anyway.” She kept her eyes on his.
“Let me say something really quickly and then you can kick me out if you want to.” He actually looked afraid that she would say no. “Please.”
Ruby nodded. “Fine.” She stood to the side. “Come in.” She wouldn’t hesitate to kick him out if he wasn’t careful.
Kai kissed her on the top of the head as he passed by. It was a small gesture that could easily be interpreted as something other than what it was. It was the type of kiss that friends used to show affection. How brothers kissed their sisters. It was nothing to get excited about.
“What did you want to say?” She folded her arms and looked him deep in the eyes. She would stay strong even if it killed her.
“Ruby.” He took ahold of her hands. “You are the mother of my egg…my unhatched child.” He frowned but there was humor there. It quickly evaporated. “You’re beautiful and courageous. I love our walks. I love your smile, your laugh. I love how good your body feels against mine. How good it feels to be inside you. Fuck…what I’m trying to say…” Kai looked nervous. “Is that I love everything about you.”
“Stop.” She pulled her hands free. “Don’t say another word.” It wasn’t what she expected. Not at all but it didn’t mean she wanted to hear it.
He frowned and ran a hand through his hair, grabbing onto the back of his neck.
“You don’t have to say all of this. You can be a part of our child’s life. I’ll stay here, although, I would like to take him to meet my people, to see where I come from…it would be his heritage too. My brother won’t bother us. I can see he isn’t interested in this child.” She was proud of herself. Although it hurt inside, she managed to keep from showing it. No tears, no quivering lip or shaky voice. She could fall apart once he left.
“You think I just said all of that because of our child. You’re right I’m going to be a part of his life because we’re going to be a family. The three of us are—”
She huffed out a breath. “Didn’t you hear a thing I said? I meant every word. I don’t love you. I don’t want you as a mate so you can stop this.” He was such a sweet male. Ruby believed he really did care about her. In his mind he was doing the right thing though. This wasn’t about love. She screwed up, she should’ve gone with that mated male from the bar. There would’ve been no come back that way. She had been selfish in choosing a male like Kai. A male with honor.
“Ruby. Dammit! Listen to me please.” He reached for her.
She stepped away. “No! You were right. I don’t want to have that constant worry that you’re doing this for the wrong reason. I don’t want you to wake up one day and realize I’m not what you what. You might start to hate me.”
“It would never happen because I lo—”
“Wait!” She yelled. Don’t say it. She felt like putting her hands over her ears. If he said those three words…really said them. She would never be able to walk away. “I lied to you. I used you. You can’t truly ever forgive me for that.” Next week, next year, he would realize it and she would be completely invested. Kai wouldn’t just break her heart, he would obliterate it. She could still walk away now. She could. Ruby would, at least, try.
“I did forgive you, sweetheart, and I would do it again. I understand why you did it. I just wish you would have told me back then.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not okay at all. I lied to you about the birth. I planned on releasing the egg on my own. I packed a bag, I left the note. I lied then too.”
Kai gave her the ghost of a smile. “I know. You did it to protect us. You were trying to protect me. You did it because you care, not because you’re a lying brickhead.”
“There’s no such thing as a brickhead.” She tried not to smile.
“There is now…you’re one.” Kai took her hands back and squeezed. “You need to listen to me…”
“I lied about Blaze…I didn’t tell you about the one month timeframe. I couldn’t…I was hoping that…” She pursed her lips. What the hell was she doing? She almost told him she had hoped he would mate her before the month was up. That he would agree to being with her out of his own accord. It hadn’t happened.
“I lied to you as well,” he growled.
What?
“I lied about several things. I didn’t tell y
ou why Jordan was, has been, avoiding me…” He looked down at their clasped hands before looking back into her eyes. She loved his eyes. So dark and expressive.
“She’s in love with you and only realized it when I came into the picture.” Ruby chewed on her lower lip.
Kai looked gob smacked. He nodded. “Yeah…I don’t think she really loves me but…How did you know?”
“Oh, she does.” Ruby smiled at him. Males were clueless. “I saw it written all over her face when I saw you guys together on that first day. It’s why she hates my guts and why I assumed you were together in the first place.”
“She doesn’t hate your…” He pulled a face. “Maybe a little, but it’s not personal. She hates me too. I hope she can get past it. I miss our friendship.” Kai shook his head and smiled. His expression turned serious and he huffed out a breath. “I was scared initially. Jordan made me believe you were hiding things, that you were going to break my heart eventually, but now I know that I was wrong to listen to her.”
“I was hiding things.” She said without much conviction.
“No, you weren’t. Not really. I was keeping you at arm’s length so I can’t blame you for not fully trusting me.” He was right about that. Ruby hadn’t thought about it like that.
“There’s something I kept from you. Something really important.” He didn’t say anything for a while.
“That day you abducted me…you didn’t really abduct me.”
“Um…I’m pretty sure I did.” She laughed softly. “If it wasn’t you then who was that male I spent two days with because he sure looked like you. I picked up your SUV and carried you to the middle of nowhere…I abducted you.”
Kai smiled but it was tight. He looked worried. “No. You didn’t. I was at the back of the convoy. My team mates Stuart and Jenson were in front of me. I let them move ahead and, after a brief conversation, I called for radio silence.”
She swallowed thickly.
Kai moved in just that little bit closer to her. “I was planning to turn my SUV around. I was about to go back to the bar.”
She felt her mouth drop open. Ruby breathed out. It was a little ragged.
“Yup. I couldn’t leave you in that bar. I could not bear the thought. I tried to do the right thing…which was to hightail it the fuck out of there, but I couldn’t. I kept seeing your eyes…your sad smile. You had my stomach in knots right from the moment I laid eyes on you.” He let go of her hand and moved to the other side of the room. His gaze was on the far wall. His hand was wrapped around the base of his neck.
Her heart was pounding in her chest.
Kai turned. His eyes narrowed on hers. “Seeing you for the first time was like being hit by a ton of freaking bricks. I could barely breathe, could barely think. Your scent…”
“It was my heat.” She felt herself blush.
“No it wasn’t. It killed me to leave you there and I planned on going back. My decision had nothing to do with sex. I had convinced myself that I was going to take you home and leave right away. That there was no need to tell my team because it wouldn’t take long. I would not have been able to do that. My initial intentions were good, they were honorable. I need you to know that.”
Ruby nodded. It didn’t change things though. “I abducted you but—”
“You didn’t abduct me. Well you did but you didn’t. I was on my way back to you anyway.”
He still didn’t get it. Pheromones during the heat could make a male do strange things. “It was my scent, my heat—”
“Bullshit.” His eyes blazed. His muscles tensed. “You weren’t in heat yet…not fully. I could still think clearly. You were no longer in heat when I left to come back home. I didn’t want to walk away from you then either. I didn’t think I had a choice. You wouldn’t even let me kiss you. I couldn’t think straight when I returned to vampire territory. I was stripped from The Program, lost my place in the Elite Team. I was totally fucked up but not because I…”
Oh god. “It was my fault. I was…the human you had sex with? I’m the reason you were kicked out.”
Kai nodded. “Yes and no. I was on my way back to you. Things may have played out differently, but I still would’ve stayed with you, Ruby. It wasn’t your fault. My kings believed that I had been with a human female and I didn’t correct them. I was so fucked up because I wanted to be with you. I wanted to see you. It had nothing to do with losing my place. I wracked my brain trying to think of ways to find you. If you had been a human I would’ve gone to you. I was happy when I found out you were here on vampire territory. I knew there would be a shit storm but I didn’t care…as long as I got to see you again.”
“Then you found out about my pregnancy.”
His face clouded for a moment. “I’m not going to lie, I was pissed off at you, but I get it. I understand. I hope you get it too because what I’m ultimately trying to say is that I knew from the moment I saw you, Ruby.”
He was breathing hard. Kai closed the distance between them. He cupped her jaw in both his hands. “I knew that you were mine. My soul mate…my everything. I tried to talk myself out of it. I’ve tried to talk myself out of it a dozen times since, but it’s a fact. It can’t be erased. I love you. I want you to be my mate.” He smiled. “I can only hope you feel the same way because you have my heart already. It’s yours. It has been for a long time. I won’t walk away again unless you make me and even then—”
“Stop talking,” She growled. Her voice thick with emotion.
“If you push me away.” He put his forehead to hers. “Please don’t do it because you think it would be best for me or because—”
“Who’s being a brickhead now? I’m trying to tell you that I love you but you won’t give me the chance. Please keep quiet for a half—”
Kai didn’t give her a chance to finish. He kissed her. It wasn’t a friendly kiss. Or a brotherly one. It was hot…fiery, scorching hot. There may even have been flames exchanged. It was desperate. It was beautiful. Their two souls kindled somewhere in the middle. It was everything she had ever hoped and dreamed for. Kai was everything and she was everything to him right back.
He pulled away for a second. “We are going to mate.” His voice was commanding.
“Are you telling me what to do?” Her eyes were on his lips. More. Right now.
Kai shook his head. “Yes…only this once, after this, you can make all the decisions.”
“Deal.”
“Deal,” he growled, against her lips.
She was going to make him stick to it.
He nuzzled into her neck. “We also have to agree to never be brickheads again.”
Ruby had to laugh. “Okay…I can live with that.”
“We make really good eggs.” He growled as he kissed her softly on the nose.
“Beautiful eggs.” She nipped at his lips.
“Do you want to practice making more?” He bobbed his eyebrows up and down.
“Definitely.” She yelped as Kai picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing. Ruby’s smile couldn’t get wider if she tried. She gave his perfect ass a slap. “Get us to the bedroom and be quick about it.”
“Yes, boss.” Kai laughed.
Chapter 23
Nine and a half weeks later…
There was another knock on the door.
“Please excuse me, my lady.” Kai dipped his head in the queen’s direction as he rose to his feet.
Tanya nodded. “No problem. I’m quite comfortable.” She closed her arms more firmly around the swaddled baby in her arms. His baby. Only five days old. Pride swelled inside him.
He glanced at his mate. Ruby gave him the sweetest smile and for a moment he could hardly breathe. He was the luckiest male on the whole damned planet. Another knock sounded, it was harder this time.
“I’m coming.” He yelled…softly. It was amazing how even noisy things could be done quietly when there was a sleeping baby in the suite
“At long last.” It w
as the human doctor, Becky. “How is my favorite patient?” Her gaze was already somewhere over his shoulder. The healer smiled. “I hope you don’t mind me being here. I heard Tanya was visiting so—”
“Hey you skanky cow.” The queen smiled broadly.
“I don’t give a damn if you’re the queen. It doesn’t mean you get special privileges, you’ve had her long enough…” Becky held her hands out. “Hand over my little sugar plum.”
Skanky cow? What the? Kai gave Ruby a shrug when she looked at him with wide eyes. Kai ignored the strange human banter. It didn’t make sense. The two females seemed completely at ease with one another.
“Forget it.” Tanya raised her brows. “You can have little Tinder in a while…I only just got here.”
His baby daughter began to squirm.
“It is her feeding time.” Ruby blushed. “You’d better give her to me before she starts crying. We’ve already lost a couch and a side table.”
Tanya handed the little one to Ruby. His daughter. So small. So perfect. There had been zero warning. One minute their watches were silent and then the next, the alarm screamed. They got to the room four minutes later to find little Tinder…fast asleep on a pile of shell. The room was scorched. The ceiling, the floor as well as all the walls were black. The window was shattered. The egg was blown to bits. Their little daughter had arrived to this world with flourish.
Ruby took the squirming, fussing baby. She pulled down her top and the little one latched on right away, making eager suckling noises.
“I’m holding her when she’s done.” Becky put her hands on her hips before turning to face Ruby. “How is the nursing going? How many times does she wake up at night?” The little human looked…worried.
“Is something wrong?” He kept his gaze on her. “Should we be worried?”
Becky looked down at the floor. She was blushing. The feisty human was blushing. What the?
A Mate for Kai (The Program #6) Page 23