Vote Then Read: Volume II

by Lauren Blakely

  “What happened between you two?” Tina asked, her words tripping over each other.

  How the hell could she know something happened and they weren’t even in the same room? “We…we definitely got along.”

  “Oh. Oh! Oh my gosh!” Tina screamed excitedly. “What are you going to do now?”

  “Uh, nothing? It wasn’t like that. We decided it was going to be a one-night thing and it’s now in the past.”

  “That’s crazy! Clearly there was more there than just hot sex, and I’m guessing it was hot, right?”

  She laughed at the way her cousin tried to get information out of her. “Yes. It was hot.”

  “Oooh! I’m so excited for you! So why stop now? Even if he’s not your mate, he’s a great guy and you guys could potentially have a good relationship.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know that I want another relationship. My marriage to Louis is still bringing me headaches. The last thing I need is someone else giving me hell. I think I’m done trying to be married or mated.”

  “Don’t say that,” Tina yelled. “What about kits?! I know you want some.”

  She did. Strangely, her tigress had been quiet since she left the dragon’s house. Maybe now that her heat had started to pass after all that sex, she was no longer craving the kits as badly.

  “Eventually, I’ll have them.”

  “Bullshit!” Tina growled. “We both know you’re going on forty and you want those babies now. I’ve seen you around my kids. Heck, watching you hold little Addy last month is still fresh in my mind. You didn’t want to put her down for a second.”

  True. She loved babies and desperately wanted her own. But she wasn’t going to start a relationship with Thane just to get there. That was stupid and immature. Not to mention he’d been very clear about it being a one-night thing.

  “Don’t worry about me. I will be fine.”

  They hung up the phone and she raided her fridge, ordered everything under the sun, and managed to eat it all. If she hadn’t had such a vigorous night of sex, she might have wondered where that appetite came from.

  13

  Lily sat at her desk with a water bottle at hand and stared at her screen. Thane was gone. She’d waited a full week to see if maybe he’d say something, anything, to her. It didn’t even have to be about them, but about the project or things he wanted.

  “Are you okay?” Stephanie asked. “I thought you’d be happy to know that Thane was going to be gone for a few months.” She frowned. “He won’t be using you for his beck and call any longer.”

  Right. That was all great, except for one thing. She’d woken up the next morning to realize why her tigress had been so quiet. She’d been busy nesting and caring for the growing baby dragon inside Lily.

  A baby Thane now wouldn’t know about because she’d wanted to tell him in person, not via some impersonal phone call. He’d stopped sending messages and hadn’t bothered to say anything after their night together. Her baby grew so fast. Already she showed and she worried that soon she would need to take time off.

  “Stephanie, I need to tell you something,” she said and cleared her throat.

  Stephanie stared at her with a worried expression before her eyes widened. “Is there something going on with you and Thane?”

  “I’m pregnant,” she blurted.

  “What?” Stephanie yelled and slapped a hand over her mouth. Thankfully every other employee in the office had left for the day, leaving them alone.

  “I think we should go out to dinner if we’re going to talk.”

  “You read my mind,” Stephanie smiled. “Let’s go to the place around the corner. It’s snowing and a drive right now might be the last thing either of us wants.”

  Once they got to the restaurant both were familiar with, they sat in a quiet booth and ordered their food. The moment the waitress left, Stephanie put her hand over Lily’s. “Now, tell me what happened.”

  “Thane and I. It was supposed to be one night.”

  Stephanie nodded. “Shit. But how? He hasn’t come into the office at all.”

  Guilt heated her cheeks. “I went to his place to talk to him about the new location proposal.”

  “Oh. Wow. Should I call him? Tell him to come back?”

  “No!” she said firmly. “Whenever he returns, I’ll deal with it. Not like we expected this to happen.”

  Their food came quickly and soon they were both eating. “But he’s a dragon, Lily.”

  Lily raised a piece of chicken to her lips. “So?”

  Stephanie sipped her iced tea. “He’s dominant. Possessive. The moment he knows you’re having his baby, he’ll want you to be with him.”

  “He doesn’t want a relationship. He was very clear about that. I wouldn’t mind sharing a baby with him.”

  “Oh, honey,” Stephanie said softly. “I might not be a shifter, but I know one thing and that’s how possessive they are with theirs. You and your baby are his.”

  Yes. His. Mate.

  Mine!

  Her tigress started pushing for her to find their mate and make their bond permanent. It was getting harder with her having another dragon growing inside her. She wanted her baby to bond with his father. She’d wanted badly to spend more time with Thane. To get to know him better and to see if her tigress had been right about him. Was he her mate? Yes!

  Dammit. She’d been ignoring the animal and her claim that he was the one, but now that she was having his baby, it was hard to forget. Her every waking thought centered around him and their child.

  She’d see a doctor soon. She needed to know how long it would be before she had her baby in her arms. Would Thane miss her birth? She hoped not. Secretly, she wanted that family they both said they weren’t interested in.

  “You need to get used to the idea that he’s your mate now,” Stephanie said, breaking into her thoughts. “But don’t just give in to whatever he wants, demand more for yourself. You deserve happiness and he can give that to you.”

  She was right. The one reason Lily had refused to get involved with anyone else after Louis was because she knew she deserved better. She needed a man who would love her and respect her in her life and she wasn’t giving that up just because she was having Thane’s baby.

  Lily walked to her car in a daze. The doctor’s visit had been unreal. She was going to gestate for only three months. Holy crap! Another two short months, she’d have her baby. With a month already gone, she didn’t have much longer to go.

  Normally, a tigress’s gestation period was about one hundred days so it wasn’t that far off from what would be the normal for her. Except she was having a dragon. A little girl dragon. She was so glad Tina had come over and given her the run down on her own body and how she’d feel. She’d gone from super sick for a few days, to feeling great that morning. But she was starved all the time.

  Careful not to slip in the snow, she walked down the quiet street wondering when she’d get to see Thane. Where had he gone? Why did he leave? And more importantly, could he ever love her?

  “Lily!”

  She turned as she reached her car to see who was calling her name. Two men approached. Human. She didn’t scent any animals in them.

  “Louis sent us,” one of them said. “He wants the money you owe him.”

  She raised her brows and glared at them. “I don’t owe him shit. You would be wise to get the fuck out of my face now.”

  The urge to protect her baby pushed her tigress to the surface. She couldn’t shift while pregnant, but she could still kill them both without remorse.

  One guy glanced at the other and smiled. “Is that so? You look pretty harmless to me. Louis said you weren’t violent.”

  The second guy reached for her handbag but she was faster. She scratched at his face with her fingers shifted into claws. He screamed and blood splattered all over as he tried to hold on to the ribbons of flesh falling from his face. Grabbing onto the car’s door handle for balance, she kicked out a leg, tagging
the man in the hip, sending him tumbling into traffic. Unfortunately, there were no cars passing by at that moment.

  “Do you want to revise your opinion about me not being violent?”

  “You crazy bitch!” the other guy said and pulled out a gun. “Louis wants his money. He said not to come back without it.”

  She nodded as if understanding, but was more concerned with getting the gun out of his hand. “I don’t have money. He took everything during the divorce.”

  The guy went to help his buddy get back onto the sidewalk, but kept the gun trained on her. “He ain’t gonna forget about the money he says you owe him, lady.” They came closer. “Now give it over.” She waited, hoping he’d come just a few more steps.

  He took more steps, and finally, she was able to rip the gun out of his hand. Then she picked him up and slammed him against a nearby car. He slid down to the white snow, his blood turning it red.

  The first guy picked up the gun and fired at her. With the injury to his face, blood covered his eyes, making him miss. But not by much.

  “Stop!” the other goon said, “if she’s dead, she can’t pay. Louis will kill us next.”

  That would be fine with her. The two were idiots anyway. “Tell Louis he can find me himself if he feels I owe him anything. I’m going to let you live this time. Come back and I won’t be so nice.”

  She got into her car and drove off, her adrenaline rushing and making her shake. If only she could get Louis out of her life forever. Maybe then she could start relaxing during her pregnancy and worry less over her baby’s life.

  Why did the bastard think she had so much money and was hiding it? Her apartment was okay, nothing extravagant. The complex didn’t even have a pool. Her Prius wasn’t loaded with all the gadgets or new.

  But then a thought had her worry changing course. Why did Louis want money from her? What had he done to get in deep and didn’t want his daddy or granddaddy to know about? And how bad was it really? Worth killing her for?

  14

  Thane returned from his hunt for Ramoth empty handed. Two months of following every lead with nothing to show for it. He’d traveled the world and whenever he thought he was close, the bastard evaded him. Soon.

  He’d find him soon enough. He couldn’t hide from him. Not when he’d had another of Thane’s properties set on fire. If he wanted a fight, he’d get one.

  When he got home, he found a multitude of emails and messages. None from Lily. His entire time gone had changed his mindset. He wanted Lily. He could see himself spending more time with her. An urgent message from Royce Night caught his attention.

  He picked up his phone and dialed his friend.

  “Royce?”

  “Are you finally back, Thane?”

  “Yes. Thanks for understanding my short message. My half-brother has been playing some dangerous games. I need to stop him.”

  Royce sighed. “I understand. I hate to put more on your plate, but there’s something you need to do.”

  “What’s that?” He frowned.

  “Visit Lily.”

  “Why? I have no messages from her.” He already planned on doing it but didn’t appreciate someone else telling him what to do.

  “I’m not trying to be in your personal life. I just think you two need to talk. Face to face, if possible.”

  Thane knew they did. The past two months had been torture. He realized he wanted to give a relationship a try. His dragon roared in approval. Something about her had struck him and now he couldn’t get her out of his mind. She’d made him feel something more the brief time they were together. Mine.

  His dragon was sure she was their mate, but the man in Thane wanted to spend time with her. He didn’t want to admit it before, but Lily meant something to him. He needed to be with her and see if the emotions he’d started feeling for her were reciprocated.

  “I’ll talk to her,” he said to Royce.

  “Thanks. I promised my mate I’d ask and that’s all I called for.”

  They hung up. There was a big storm coming and he wanted to get down the mountain so he could spend some time with Lily. He knew he’d be able to convince her to take a chance on him if he saw her in person.

  He drove to her house and waited. She wasn’t in the office so he figured that was the best place to wait for her. He saw her pull in and left his own car. Snow came down in soft, light flurries. It was early on, but soon it would be hard to see through.

  Suddenly, two guys rushed toward her. They grabbed her by the arms and she shoved out of their grasp, trying to get loose. A roared left his throat and he ran at them. He pulled one guy off her. The fox shifter tried to claw at him but he was bigger and stronger than the other man.

  He punched him in the face and tossed him across the street. When he turned to her, her back faced him as she fought the other man.

  He grabbed the second guy and got him away from her. The man shook out of his hold and ran to his friend. Together they turned to him and made a move to shift. Thane’s dragon wanted blood. They’d tried to hurt her. His mate. No way were they getting away. He shifted then and there. There wasn’t much time for the men to attack once they saw his size.

  They ran off and he flew, sending fiery flames every time he came close to them. After a while, he gave up the chase and returned to her. He could protect her better being closer. Once he shifted into his human body, he grabbed clothes from his car and threw them on.

  Shifting could happen at any time and keeping clothes at hand was a must. He knocked at her door and waited for her to open with the sole thought that he couldn’t ever let go of her. She was his. His mate. Now he needed to get her to give him a chance to prove to her they could make things work.

  She opened the door still wearing a bulky coat and stepped back to let him in. “Hi, come in.”

  Her face was different. Fuller. She glowed with life. He wanted to cup her cheeks and kiss her. He’d missed her so fucking much.

  “Who were those men?” he asked as he stepped into her home. He turned to face her and saw her take off her coat with her back to him.

  “Thane, we have to talk,” she whispered. Then it hit him. Her scent. She turned to face him and he saw. “I’m pregnant.”

  He took another inhale and scented their baby inside her. A dragonling. Female. She was almost ready to be born. His baby. Lily was having his baby.

  His dragon soared with the knowledge he’d be a father. His mate had given him life. She didn’t even know it. “What? How?”

  He watched her approach him with a worried frown on her face. “How? We both know how.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I just want you to know that I’m happy to share custody of her. I know you don’t want a relationship and that’s fine.”

  He shook his head and stood, closing the distance between them. Her new scent drove him crazy. She smelled like her and him. He glanced down at her belly and then up to her face. “May I?”

  She nodded and grabbed his hand to place it on her stomach. The instant link to his unborn child broke down every wall around his heart. A love unlike any he ever believed possible filled his heart. He met her gaze and realized he was feeling Lily’s emotions. They were linked. How could that be? He’d never given her his mark.

  “Lily, can you feel…” he asked, his dragon bursting with pride and love.

  She smiled, her eyes filled with tears. “I feel everything you feel.”

  “How is that possible? We haven’t mated. I never gave you my mark.”

  She blinked back the tears and smiled wider. “I have something else to show you.”

  He pulled his hand back and watched her lift her sweater and lower her stretchy pants until he could see the back of her right hip. There it was. His mark. A black tattoo-like image of a dragon curled in sleep. He’d branded her and hadn’t realized it.

  “Lily―”

  “Before you say anything, know we don’t have to be in a relationship to raise a baby. I don’t want you thin
king our daughter means you have to be with me.”

  He stopped what he was about to say and nodded. He’d told her he didn’t want a relationship. How could he tell her otherwise now and have her believe he wanted more than just their baby? It would be impossible. He’d have to show her and prove to her he wanted her more than anything else.

  “Who were those men?”

  She winced as if he’d hit her. “My ex-husband sent them. He’s trying to harass me to get money from me.”

  “I’m guessing this isn’t the first time it’s happened,” he said. The scent of his anger filled the living room.

  “No. He’s been the worst experience of my life, and I wish I could erase him and his family from my past.” She sighed. She wouldn’t let him harass her any longer. She was done playing nice. This time he’d sent shifters, and had Thane not been there, she would’ve had to deal with them on her own. The thought scared her. Anything could happen to her baby. She could be hurt.

  He grabbed her hands and led her to the sofa. There, he sat down and turned to face her, still holding her hand. “You don’t have to deal with this alone anymore, love.” He held her gaze with his concerned one. “I won’t let anything happen to you or our baby.”

  “Thane, you don’t have to―”

  He shook his head. “I want to. I came here tonight to tell you I missed you. I want to spend more time with you. As much as I love the fact we’re having a baby, this doesn’t change how I feel. I still want to be with you and get to know you better.”

  She stared at him for a quiet moment before nodding. “Okay.”

  He pulled her into his arms and gave her the kiss he’d been thinking about for two fucking months. “I’ve missed you so goddamned much, Lily.”

  15

  Lily let herself drown in Thane’s kiss. She’d missed his touch and the way he caressed her face as he kissed her so softly. He wasn’t promising her a relationship he didn’t want, nor was he trying to make her be with him. That wouldn’t take much since she wouldn’t be forced.