by Nora Ash
“Why are you crying?” She could hardly press the words out—not even a whisper—as complete terror closed around her lungs. He was so strong, so stoic … and a freaking demon! Tears were not something she’d even thought him capable of.
He gasped in the night air, and when his nostrils flared his eyes went dark, the moisture leaving them. The scent of her fear had finally cut through.
“I can’t let you leave.” It was a hoarse murmur. “If I touch you right now I will never let go again. I can’t. Not now, not when he’s been born. Never.”
Oh. The motionless state of his body suddenly made sense—he was doing his very best to rein in instincts that were undoubtedly clamoring to grab her and lock her up somewhere.
Yet he was still trying.
Something in her chest loosened at the sudden realization that even now, even when his instincts were strengthened infinitely by his upbringing with a mother who tried to leave him, he was still fighting tooth and nail against himself. For her.
Wordlessly, she pressed herself against his powerful body. When she felt him shiver, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Do you want this?” she asked, scared of the answer, but nevertheless needing to know. “You planned on freeing me, when you went to the auction, and instead … Do you even want a mate and a child? I know your instincts are probably making you feel certain things, but do you want it?”
Carefully, as if he thought she was made of spun glass, Kain raised one large hand and let it stroke through her hair.
“I want you with every fiber of my being. Both of you. Selma, I have never been … I am ….” Kain bit his lip, and she saw raw emotion cut across his angular features. “I am scared.” He said the word ‘scared’ as if it was a foreign concept to him.
He wanted them. Wanted her, and the life she was carrying. Relief made her shudder and bury her nose in his chest. As long as that held true, as long as he was there to lean on, she could do this.
Love.
The goddess’ words rang in her mind, and she frowned at the sweet pull they caused in her chest.
It was too soon—too much to deal with right now, on top of everything.
With sheer force of will she pushed the swirling tangle of emotions aside and focused on the here and now. On Kain and the life growing inside of her.
“I’m not going to leave. I don’t care that … that it’s a demon child. It’s mine, and I will love it always. I would never do to … to him what your mother did to you and your brother. I just need a bit of time to … well, to adjust.”
Strong arms encircled her, pulling her tighter against him. Immediately, calmness settled in her mind as his heat encompassed her.
Home. This was home.
“You will care for this child?”
Despite the coarse note, she heard the fear in his voice clearly.
“Yes.” Selma pulled her head back so she could look at him. “Always.”
Finally, relief seemed to wash over him, filling his eyes with a joy so strong it made her heart flutter. When he buried his head in her hair, the tune he hummed just for her rumbled out of his chest and into her body.
“I am going to take such good care of you.” His voice dropped, turning husky in her ear. “You will want for nothing, I promise you.”
Selma laughed and let go of his waist to press against his chest when his hands began sliding down her body in a rather familiar way.
“Really? This makes you horny? I practically had to rape you when we were at a motel, naked together, but now—in the middle of nowhere, after I tell you I’m pregnant, you suddenly want it? I thought I smelled bad.”
“You stink. I don’t care.”
It was pretty impossible to hold back the smile pulling at her lips at his sudden change. She hadn’t seen him like this before—unrestrained yet still in control. It made her chest feel light, despite everything.
“I’m not having sex with you right now. There’s too much to discuss. Like, what do we do now? This wasn’t exactly in the plan, if you remember.”
Strong thumbs rubbed at her hips, still gently suggestive, though he kept his palms still. “Now, you come back with me.”
“And then what?” She frowned, trying to wrap her head around the crazy turn this evening had taken. A few hours ago she’d thought she would be saying goodbye to him forever, and now here they were, on a road in the middle of nowhere, discussing their future together. “No offense, but I’m not about to raise a kid in a penthouse on top of a casino.”
His soft lips quirked in a smile. “No? And where would you prefer to build a nest, my little mate?”
“Nest? I was more thinking a house. You know, in the country. With fresh air and …” She blushed when the damned picket fence popped into the forefront of her mind again.
“And?” he asked, eyebrows quirked in amusement of her sudden embarrassment. “If you want it, it’s yours.”
“We can talk about that later. I … I also want you to meet my parents, and preferably make such a good impression that they don’t think you’re in the white slave trade and have brainwashed and/or abused me while I’ve been missing for the past two months. They’ve got to be worried sick.”
“Hmm,” he said, the amusement withering on his face.
“What?”
“Breeders usually do not keep in contact with their human relations. It’s … too complicated.”
Selma felt her brows rise high on her forehead. “Too complicated? You mean, because the poor woman has to explain to her family why she’s suddenly not allowed to be further than three feet away from her new boyfriend?”
Kain looked distinctly uncomfortable. “That, and the lack of aging, along with a few other … issues.”
“Kain, I’m going to see my parents. They’ve been through enough because of my condition. I’m not just going to disappear.”
Though his expression remained grim, he nodded. “We will find a way. I suppose I will have to officially introduce you to my family too, once we have settled in a bit.”
The prospect did not seem to please him, but with the way his upbringing had been she didn’t really expect an uncomplicated relationship between him and his father and brother.
Selma leaned forward to rest her cheek against his chest, her eyes fluttering closed at the contact with his strong, warm form. If she could help him heal, she would—not because of Bealith’s plan to break the darkness within the demon world, but because he deserved the care and tenderness his mother had denied him.
Kain’s large hand stroked through her hair in a gentle caress. “Come, little one. Let’s get you home.”
* * *
This time, the silence emphasized by the soft hum of the car’s engine was pleasant.
On the way here, she’d been weighed down by the prospect of never seeing Kain again—never getting the chance to explore what it was about him that called to her on more than just the most primal of levels.
Selma glanced to her left, and felt something flutter down low. His dark eyes, trained on the road ahead of them, were illuminated by the dashboard, and his strong hands rested on the steering wheel. Eyes that could make her blood burn with just one look, and hands that could melt her with a simple caress.
Okay, so maybe she was quite eager to explore the primal levels with him too.
A low growl from him made her pussy clench, and her panties suddenly moisten. How did a growl do this to her?
“I can smell you,” he said, without taking his eyes off the road, but when she glanced at his hands she could see they were gripping the steering wheel tightly. “Your need.”
“Handy.” She couldn’t keep the breathy note from her voice. “When we get to a motel, will I have to forcibly seduce you again, or are you over the belief that you are molesting me?”
“My morals are irrelevant. You carry my son, and will need my seed to survive the pregnancy.”
Selma felt her eyebrows arc. “Uh …what?”
He let out a low sigh. “My semen will strengthen your body when we mate so that you may endure the full 9 months with a demon growing inside of you. Without it you would soon weaken and die.”
She blinked. Repeatedly. Some of the warm, fuzzy feelings that had been spreading inside of her since she’d accepted that she was pregnant faded.
“My child will kill me?”
“No, I would never let that happen. But he needs a lot of power, and he will drain your life essence to grow if not supplied with another source. He may look human to you once you hold him in your arms, but he will not be a human baby. Which brings me to something else you should know.” His eyes darted to her for a brief moment, a certain measure of worry evident in them despite the lack of light in the car.
“We normally know our Breeders are pregnant when they, ah, see through our disguise.”
“See through …?” Selma paused to stare at the male by her side. “You mean I will see your demon form? When? Why?”
Another sigh. “It usually happens within a few weeks of impregnation. Our son’s magic will protect you against the brand blinding you to our true nature. It is … upsetting to most Breeders, and I want you to be prepared. I will need to mate you regardless, to ensure your survival. Even if you find it …disagreeable.”
It took her a moment to process his words. If she refused him, he would force her, to keep her alive.
Flashes of the demons she’d seen before being branded made her shudder. While some had been like Dr. Hershey—mainly human, with horns or odd eyes—others had looked like terrifying monsters. Submitting to him if he looked like that ….
“What does your demon form look like?” This time, her whisper was more hoarse than breathy.
He grimaced. “Different. Bigger. Less human.”
Well, that wasn’t overly helpful. She glanced at him again. Maybe it was better if she didn’t think too much about it until she absolutely had to.
“You demons sure seem to forget to mention a lot of the small print beforehand.”
Kain’s mouth twisted into a small grin. “It’s sort of in our DNA.” One large hand left the steering wheel to rest on her knee, and calm caused by his warm touch spread through her body. “We still have a little time before it happens. Hopefully, it will be manageable by then.”
She somehow doubted it, but right then, it didn’t matter. He was there, looking like his human self, and they were going to work everything out. Together.
Her heart fluttered pleasantly.
Perhaps the goddess was right—perhaps what she felt was love.
Kain made a soft noise next to her, the hand on her knee squeezing her gently for a moment, as if her scent somehow conveyed her emotions. He didn’t look away from the road again, but the soothing hum she was starting to recognize as their personal thing soon emanated from him in a low tune.
Content, Selma leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.
Demon or not, he was hers. She had recognized it when he claimed her for the world to see, and in her heart she knew it now.
Her savior.
* * *
The screeching and jolt of brakes being slammed ripped her from the comfortable haze of sleep.
Selma gasped against the seat belt’s strangulating hold, her eyes popping open wide from shock just as the car came to an abrupt halt.
“Kain, what the fuck?” she gasped as she reached up to rub at her throat. Apparently, she’d been sitting in a less than ideal position for emergency braking.
“I will get out. The second I am, you take the wheel, turn around and drive as fast as the car will go. Head East as soon as you find an exit road, but do not come back this way. My phone is on the dashboard. When you are at least half an hour away you find ‘Kesh’ in my contacts. Tell him who and where you are, and follow his instructions.”
She blinked in confusion at his command, but just then she spotted what was ahead of them, blocking the road.
Dark, sparkling mist lit up the sporty looking car parked across both lanes of the narrow cliff lined road before swirling up along the strong body of the man standing in front of it with a grim smile.
Prince Naharan.
He lifted an arm and made a beckoning gesture at them.
“Kain ….” The icy panic currently making its way through her body was more than evident in her voice, too.
“There is no time,” he hissed as he undid his seatbelt without taking his eyes off his enemy. “I spent too much power on the barriers—I can’t beat him, and if he captures you, he will kill our child. Do. As. I. Say.”
“But—!”
He looked at her, finally, for the briefest of moments, and his black gaze quelled her protests.
There was nothing she could do. And if she didn’t obey, his sacrifice would be for nothing.
“Kain ….”
“Drive, my love.”
And then he was out of the car, walking towards the Prince with his broad back to her, shielding her from the other’s sight.
Selma fumbled with her own seatbelt, struggling to loosen it with fingers that were stiff with fear and adrenaline. She couldn’t think about the despair in his voice, nor the words themselves—she had to do as he’d asked, and if she paused to think, she’d never be able to leave him behind.
As the leftovers of Kain’s magic whirled up around him, she finally managed to get free from from the seat belt and throw herself to the driver side.
The engine was still running, but she had to scoot the seat forward to be able to reach the pedals. After what felt like an eternity, her hands finally closed around the steering wheel. Without pause she threw the car into reverse, ignoring the angry shout up ahead. Kain would hold him off until she had escaped, of that she was certain.
Only when she’d managed to turn the car around did she allow herself one final look in the rear view mirror at the man who’d claimed her as his, but what she saw made her wish she hadn’t.
He was on the ground, the last of his power constricting around Naharan’s body as the Prince knelt on top of him, rage evident on his face. And behind them stood six women, looking dispassionately at the two males as if waiting for Kain to be subdued.
What the fuck? Were they female demons? Why were they with the Prince?
Selma desperately flicked through the scenario even after she rounded a bend, leaving them behind as she sped along the winding road at much higher speeds than was wise. However, she knew distance was the only thing that could save her. The only thing to make Kain’s sacrifice mean something.
My love. He had called her ‘my love’.
Her heart clenched painfully in her chest, and she gasped as tears threatened to blind her.
Kain. He had saved her yet again, this time giving his own life in return. She prayed to any power, divine or otherwise, that may listen that he would live through this. That the man he’d told her to call would be able to help her save him.
None of it made any sense. Why had Naharan ambushed them? The laws were meant to protect a mated couple—their union was meant to be sacred, as far as she had understood—and the females? If they were demons, then why were they just standing there, looking on? They were the males’ sworn enemies—nothing about it made sense.
The only thing that was clear was the aching hollow in her heart that seemed to grow for every mile she put between herself and Kain.
When she finally pulled over forty-five minutes later, she’d given up on holding the tears at bay.
With shaking hands she grabbed the phone off the dashboard and opened the car door to get out. She needed fresh air for just a moment to calm down, if she were to have any hope of making this ‘Kesh’ understand a word she was saying.
Selma wiped at her eyes to stem the steady trickle of tears before leaning against the car and breathing deeply. She needed to calm down so she could get Kain the help he needed, and the quicker she got a hold of herself, the sooner that help would arrive.
That t
hought dried her tears. He needed her to be strong now. The father of the life growing inside of her needed her.
Her hands were still shaking when she pulled out the phone and scrolled through his contacts, but she managed to find the entry with Kesh’s number and press ‘call’.
The silence of the dark roadside seemed to press in around her as she listened to the phone ring. Over and over the sharp tone buzzed into her ear, each time making her panic bubble closer to the surface. What if he didn’t answer? What on Earth was she going to do? She could try to call Thomren, if his number was listed in Kain’s phone, but if he was home with his pregnant mate it would take him way too long to get to Colorado.
“Hello?”
The gruff voice broke through her spiraling thoughts, and she exhaled with a burst of air as relief and adrenaline made the muscles in her legs soften.
“Kesh?”
A moment’s silence. “Yes. Who’s this?”
“Selma, Kain’s Mate. He told me to call you—”
“What happened?” he interrupted. “Where are you?”
She breathed deeply in relief at the sudden urgency in his voice. He would help them. “In Western Colorado, off route 40. Prince Naharan and some women—I think demons—attacked us. They’ve got Kain. Please, we need your help.”
A growl burst through the phone at her explanation, but the sound of it soothed her. His anger was directed at their attackers.
“I’m on my way. Do you have access to transportation?”
“Yes,” she said, glancing at the fancy car Kain had driven her straight from the Governor’s mansion to Colorado in.
“Good. I’m going to text you directions to a cafe in the nearest town. Drive straight there. I will be there in less than an hour. Do not stop for anything, understood?”
“Okay.” The relief of knowing that someone who sounded as competent and in control as this Kesh was taking charge of the situation was overwhelming. Selma slumped against the side of the car when her muscles threatened to give in to the delayed shock. “Thank you.”