by Sarra Cannon
The first baby to start drinking had just nodded off. As she let go of her nipple, several drops of blood trickled down her breast.
“Hounds, you weren’t kidding.” As they watched, her flesh knitted.
“I can feel my demon a bit more.”
“Great news. A meeting I can’t wait for.” His eyes burned with heat that had things throbbing that really shouldn’t, especially after all she’d just been through. Damned if she could help it though.
Who could blame her since Phoenix was so over the top delicious. All that muscle and pure power made her insides do strange things. The way he had growled and shouted was so sweet. She was quite sure one of her hearts had literally melted in her chest.
His admission of his love for her made her want to jump, twirl and scream with pure joy, it also made her want to cry in agony. Gaby had loved Phoenix for a long time, maybe even right from the beginning. Right when he’d turned into a massive, bristling wolf who had killed to save her. She’d felt it, even though she hadn’t recognized it at the time. Even when he’d first sunk deep inside her. Scorching her with his dark eyes that had burned with more than just lust.
With both daughters satisfied and sleeping in her arms, she struggled to keep her own eyes open.
“Here let me...” Phoenix took each baby in turn and even tucked them in. He kissed each little girl on their foreheads before brushing his lips over hers. “I’m so happy. I love you so much.”
She was far too tired to argue.
“Sleep, sweetheart. I’ll be here when you wake up...”
He may’ve said more, but she drifted off into a very welcome sleep.
— —
There was a buzzing that wouldn’t go away. Gaby felt cocooned in warm, thick liquid. Somewhere deep, dark and tranquil. There was more of that irritating buzzing. Someone was touching her, but her eyes wouldn’t open. It felt like someone had glued them shut. Her limbs felt heavy. The liquid surrounding her was toasty, but it was also too thick to allow for movement.
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
No, not buzzing, words. It sounded like someone was saying something to her. Damned if she could make out what they were saying though. She concentrated harder. Not only to hear, but to move.
Nothing.
The steady buzz continued. This time she was sure someone was talking to her. Using every last ounce of strength, she tried to open her eyes, sure her lashes would rip off in the process. Her eyes didn’t open but she did catch a snatch of what the person was saying. “...come on...you can do it...” It seemed like whoever it was that was speaking was miles away.
Again, she used all her strength and somehow managed to move her pinkie finger. Success. Well, sort of. It was a start.
“Wake up, my angel,” the words were much clearer, much closer.
This time when she tried to move, she managed to close her fingers into a weak fist. Her eyes cracked open just a smidgen. It took several seconds for her vision to clear enough to actually see.
“There you are, my sleepyhead,” Phoenix beamed down at her.
“What...,” her voice cracked, so she swallowed. It was difficult to keep her eyes open. She tried again. “What time is it?”
“You’ve been asleep for a couple of hours. Good news, honey, the doctor has discharged you guys. We can go home.” For the second time in as many hours, Phoenix moved around the room stuffing items into a bag.
“A couple of hours...it’s still the middle of the night. We’ll go in the morning.”
“I can’t wait to get you home to start our lives. I need this, Gaby. We need this.” He walked over and cupped her cheek with his big warm hand. Something he’d done many times. This time though, his touch had the hairs rising on her arms. Sweat broke out on her skin. Adrenaline pumped through her system. Her demon clawed at her for the first time in months. It was still extremely weak. It wasn’t happy. Oh no, suffice to say that it was totally pissed.
Gaby fought to keep from pulling away from the contact. She had to work to keep her breathing even. He moved away. Thank God. She suppressed a sigh of relief.
“Let’s wait please. I’m not ready.”
She was so far from ready that it was scary. In fact, she was having an internal panic session. To think she’d been worried about Phoenix not loving her once her demon came back. She’d never once contemplated her demon not wanting him. Was such a thing even possible? She took him in, all six and a half feet of him, from his massive arms and shoulders to his muscular thighs lovingly encased in a pair of worn jeans. His perfectly styled black hair and those dark sinful eyes. Normally her hearts would race and places she never knew existed would come to life, but this time there was nothing. Not a single damned thing.
Her panic levels reached dangerous levels.
Phoenix moved back to the bed. He smiled and sat in the chair. Please don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me. The mantra played over and over inside her head. My god, this was the man she loved. Cherished above all others. What the hell was she supposed to do?
“This is it, my angel. The start of our lives together. New beginnings. We can’t wait. We need to leave now.”
Her demon clawed. Still so weak. It felt like the beast was trying to tell her something. Her skin felt icy cold. A throbbing ache had started at her temples.
“Speak to me, my angel. Please do this for me. Please...” He implored her with his eyes.
What was it with the angel shit?
Phoenix had never called her that before, yet the endearment rolled off his tongue like he’d said it a hundred times. Like it was normal.
“The babies shouldn’t be moved yet. You know how much I’m longing to spend forever with you.” She paused, contemplating her next move. “Phoenix, you know how much I love you.”
He didn’t flinch. “The babies will be fine. Skins are resilient. Being at home is what they need. This is no place for a demon.” He pulled a face before grinning at her.
It felt like splinters of glass had found their way into her blood stream. “Cameron and Alexandra are half demon wolf, so not as resilient as you think, my babes. I think it’s best if we stay.”
His eyes hardened at the mention of the wolf half of their genetic make-up. The splinters turned to shards. Her demon kept clawing. Weak, but making itself known.
“I’m sorry, Gaby, but we are going, so please let’s not argue, angel.”
“If you call me angel one more time, I swear to God I’ll...” her voice was shrill. Her nail beds tingled even though no claws were evident. Still too weak.
“How did you guess that I wasn’t him?” The demon that looked like Phoenix casually reached into the crib and picked up one of her daughters. He carefully cradled the baby in his arms, using one of his hands to support her neck.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“Keep it down and follow my orders. You have two minutes to get dressed. One wrong move and she dies.” The hand at the baby’s neck tightened ever so slightly.
“No, please,” still a whisper. “I just gave birth, I can’t possibly—”
“You’re a skin, which means that you’re perfectly alright. It will take a day or two for your demon to catch up, but you, my angel, are in great shape. In fact, I could fuck you now and you’d enjoy it just fine.”
She gasped at his crude words. He would know all about skins now wouldn’t he? Being that he was one. He looked just like Phoenix, but he definitely wasn’t the man she loved. Why the hell was he taking her? What could he possibly want with her?
Gaby slipped out of bed. He was right, she felt just fine. Now that the effects of the deep sleep had worn off, or rather had been shocked away. He held her baby close and a fist clenched around both her hearts. The chances of getting the little one away from him were little to none. A chance she couldn’t take.
The skin threw some clothes at her. “Get dressed.”
“Turn around.”
He shook his head, glanced down at the baby and then back at her. His me
aning was clear. Gaby grabbed a pair of panties and put them on. She tried as best she could to cover her breasts but it just wasn’t possible while putting a bra on. The skin’s gaze slithered across her bare flesh. His eyes heated. After what felt like an eternity, she managed to get the blasted thing on. Only just, her breasts were filling with milk. Holding her daughter in one hand, he adjusted himself in his pants.
What the fuck?
This piece of shit was turned on. She looked down and noticed that her belly was pretty much back to its before pregnancy flatness. At least there were some perks to being a skin, although this particular one didn’t count in her favor at the moment.
“At least you’re a pretty one.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll know soon enough, angel. Just finish getting dressed.”
She wanted to tell him to stop calling her that again, instead, she did as he said.
The skin pulled a notepad and pen out of the gym bag that he had stuffed her things in and tossed it on the bed. “Write a believable Dear John to your loverboy. You’ve changed your mind about the relationship and have decided to raise the babies alone. You don’t want him. He mustn’t come after you.”
The first real taste of fear hit her. It was bitter. Impossible to swallow, yet she didn’t see a way out. Not with her precious child in his arms. Not while her demon was still so weak.
She turned to the bed, took her time gathering the notepad and clicking on the pen. All the while she racked her brain. How would she let Phoenix know about her predicament without alerting the skin? Where the hell was he anyway?
“Keep it short and don’t try anything. If loverboy comes after you, it won’t end well for him.”
This skin had obviously never seen Phoenix in action. She wasn’t worried about Phoenix handling himself. What scared her most was that it would be perfectly plausible if she did up and leave. She’d never had a problem with expressing her concerns over their relationship. It seemed her honesty might end up biting her in the butt. What if Phoenix actually believed that she had left him and respected her enough not to chase her down?
“Where are you taking us?”
“I’ll explain once we’re on the road. Let me see that...” He took the pad from her and read the letter, a smile forming on his lips. Lips that looked exactly like the ones she had kissed with abandon so many times. Disgust caused bile to bubble in her stomach.
“Well done. This is perfect, now let’s get going.” He placed the pad next to the bed.
Gaby would have to hope and pray that Phoenix got the message.
Chapter 9
Jack smacked into his back as Phoenix stopped in mid-stride a ways before the hospital door. The human made a sound of irritation.
“Let me check if...” Phoenix paused thinking how Gaby had breastfed his pups. Her lush feminine curves out for all to admire. “If she’s awake first. Wait here.”
“Sure.”
Doc Devlin had promised him that Gaby would sleep for at least six or seven hours. This the doc had assured him was perfectly normal after a skin change.
Phoenix had decided to let Jack know that Gaby and the babies were doing well. He’d kind of promised him and he sort of liked the guy. A small group of Chasers had greeted him in the lobby including Jack, two human women, a tall hybrid and a big, bald SOB... he wasn’t entirely sure that the male was a human. The thing was, he also didn’t smell like any demon he’d run into either. His scent was unique. It encompassed power, danger, and it evoked both feelings of fear and of joy. Weird.
Jack had insisted on seeing Gaby for a few minutes. He wanted to meet the babies. Even now pride swelled in him at the thought of his precious pups and the amazing woman who had made this all possible. He would mate with Gaby as soon as possible. He’d also resigned himself to waiting as long as it would take to convince her.
He carefully opened the door and walked in. The bed was rumpled. Both it and the crib were empty. His hackles rose. He caught a whiff of sour as he closed in on Gaby’s scent.
Fear.
If he’d been in his fur it would have been standing on end. As it stood, his blood rushed and adrenaline pumped. His wolf pushed for the change. It felt as if his skin would burst. Phoenix walked to the bed and scanned the immediate area, allowing his senses to roam. There seemed to be nothing out of place, that’s when he spotted the notepad. His eyes narrowed as he read the scribbled note.
Dear Phoenix,
I do not love you. A demon skin and a demon wolf will never make it in a relationship. We are too different. Please do not try and find us. I am going back to my own people. It is where we belong. Do not be concerned, Cameron and Alexandra will have everything their hearts desire. I will take good care of them.
All the best,
Gabriella
He roared, crumpled the page and ripped it from the pad. It felt like someone had clawed out his vital organs. That they were slow roasting them over a smoldering fire.
“What the hell?” Jack burst into the room.
“Gaby left me.”
Jack pulled a cell phone from his jeans pocket and dialed. “Cade, get your ass to Gaby’s room,” he listened to the response. “She’s missing.” He relayed the room number and hung up.
“What’s that?”
He handed the note to the human while pacing from one side of the room to the other. “She wouldn’t do this.”
“Is this plausible?” Jack waved the crumpled paper up and down after reading it, and then gave it back to Phoenix.
Phoenix growled, “No it isn’t.”
“Why are the two of you not mated yet?”
“None of your god damned business.” Phoenix felt his canines descend.
Jack put up his hands. “Relax...I’m trying to figure out if this is real or bogus. A couple of alarm bells are going off for me. Firstly, Gaby was abandoned by her people a long time ago. Why would she go back now? Secondly, Gaby would never give up her career as a Demon Control Agent. Wouldn’t happen. No way, no how.” He shook his head.
Jack’s little talk had soothed his abraded nerves enough to actually allow him to be able to think logically. “We never named the babies. Why did she call them by those names...?” Phoenix looked at the crumpled paper. “Here it is...she called them Cameron and Alexandra on this letter, but we haven’t named them yet.”
“Maybe that’s what she decided on.”
He wasn’t buying it. Phoenix shook his head. “She wouldn’t have named them without me. We hadn’t even discussed a single name. Not one. She’s been asleep since the birth. When did she have time to name them?”
Jack shrugged. “She’s had time to leave your ass.”
That low familiar rumble vibrated in his chest. “Don’t test me human.”
“I’m sorry.”
Cade strode in.
“We’re trying to figure out if Gaby left or whether she was taken.” Jack pointed at the letter still clutched in Phoenix’s hand. “She left that.”
The not-human had silvery blue eyes that seemed to look straight into your soul. He was a cold bastard, yet Phoenix found himself feeling less stressed as soon he had walked through the door. He wore a long, black leather jacket with enough bulges to suggest he was seriously packing.
“Gaby was taken.” Everything in him screamed that she wouldn’t have left him like this. It wasn’t the reasons Jack had given and it wasn’t the names. Sneaking away in the middle of the night was not Gaby’s style. She was courageous and strong. His Gaby would’ve looked him in the eye. Dead on. She would’ve given it to him straight. No sugar coating required.
“You’re right.” Cade ran a hand over the fine stubble on his scalp. “It was a skin that took her. A male.”
“How do you know?” Jack asked.
Cade turned his pale eyes on him, they narrowed. Pretty much told him to shut the fuck up.
Again, the human managed to impress him by doing the opposite. “More of your mumbo j
umbo bullshit. You know what? I don’t want to know.”
Cade ground his teeth and continued, “The skin is gravely ill. We need to hurry, Gaby doesn’t have much time.”
“That’s good right? Maybe the fucker will die and Gaby will be able to get away.” Jack had taken the words right out of his mouth.
“No it’s bad, he needs to mate with Gaby in order to survive. His demon is getting weaker while Gaby’s demon is getting stronger. If he leaves it too long, Gaby will become too powerful—”
Phoenix didn’t wait to hear the rest. His mate was in danger. He didn’t care that they hadn’t officially done the deed yet. She was his whole life and if anything happened to her or the babies then he would never forgive himself. One thing was certain, the skin that took her would die.
— —
Gaby clasped the steering wheel tighter. Risking a glance in the rear-view mirror. The skin sat in the back with her babies. One wrong move and her daughters were dead. The threat saturated the small space like a poisonous gas.
“What’s your name?” Maybe she could appeal to his...human side...good nature? He was a demon skin though. There would be no such luck.
“I’m glad you asked, my name is Zack.”
A perfectly nice answer. It made her worry more.
“You’re going to be really happy. I’ll teach you our ways. We might have to keep the babies out of the eye of the community, or worst case scenario I might have to...” He let the sentence hang like a grenade suspended in mid-air.
“What’s wrong with them?” She tried to keep the panic from her voice and failed dismally.
“They’re not changing. Shouldn’t they be changing by now? I really hope they start changing soon.”
She needed to buy time. “It can take a little while before it starts to happen. Perfectly normal.” Chances were good that they would never change. That they wouldn’t be normal skin babies because they weren’t full blood skin babies.
“How would you know?”
“I did my homework,” she lied. “Anyway, they’re half demon wolf so it might take a little longer—”