“Where is the male?” Blaze locked his jaw.
The king wearing the leathers stepped forward. “We requested that Kai not attend this meeting.”
Kai.
His name.
The father of her child. Kai. Disappointment rushed through her. Ruby had been hoping to see him.
“I told you.” Blaze’s eyes seemed to glow. His whole frame tensed. “This is not up for discussion. Either he mates Ruby or he dies.”
The male in the leathers narrowed his eyes. “I understand your feelings about this.”
“You couldn’t possibly understand...you couldn’t begin to understand.” Blaze shook with anger.
“You’re right.” The vampire king paused. His jaw tight, his fists curled. “Kai still refuses to talk about those two days. Whether out of some misguided respect for the princess or fear of retribution…fuck…” He snarled. “For all I know he’s afraid of being singled out as a pussy. It sounded like he didn’t have much choice in the matter.”
“He didn’t but that doesn’t change things.” Blaze’s stance softened somewhat.
“If he didn’t have a choice then how can he be held liable for his actions?” The vampire king bristled.
“Easily. The detail is not important. That male impregnated my sister. He must do the honorable thing or I will be forced to take action.”
The vampire king sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “You are right.” He allowed his gaze to fall to his booted feet before locking once again with Blaze’s. “You mentioned that the pregnancy might be in jeopardy.”
Ruby couldn’t help but to gasp. The males ignored her. Somehow, hearing it said out loud made it worse. More real perhaps. She squeezed her eyes shut for a half a second.
Blaze nodded. “It is not something that I wish to discuss in an open forum. It is part of the reason why we are here. That male needs to mate her and she needs to see your healers.”
“There is nothing that can be done.” There was a tremble to her voice. It irritated her. “You know that.”
“We know nothing,” Blaze grit out. “This is not a dragon child.”
“He is part dragon.” She stood taller, looking Blaze in the eyes.
Her brother cocked his head. “And part vampire.” There was a rough edge to his voice that warned her to stay out of it. To remain silent.
“We do not need to discuss the details.” The king in leathers spoke up. “You wish for Kai to mate with this female because she is with child. His child, yet, the pregnancy is in jeopardy. You have my word that we will do whatever it takes to ensure Princess Ruby is well looked after. That our best healers assess her condition immediately. When the child is born, safe and healthy, Kai will mate with this female. Not a moment sooner. Can we agree to those terms?”
“Kai doesn’t want to be with me.” His name rolled off of her tongue. It’s was a beautiful name and suited him perfectly. She licked her lips. “It’s wrong to force him. To force us.” She knew arguing was fruitless but had to try anyway. She’d gotten the vampire into this mess.
“You should’ve thought about that before you lay with him.” Blaze’s words cut her because they were true.
“You left me with no other option.” Another hard truth. She thought she had been doing the right thing. Not just for herself or for her child but for the good the kingdom. All four kingdoms. Right now, she wasn’t so sure. What if she had been wrong?
She felt tears and blinked them away.
Blaze’s eyes smoldered. Their heat aimed solely on her. “I gave you several choices.”
“None of them were right for me.” Her voice came out surprisingly strong.
“You will mate with that male or so help me.”
Stress was not good for the baby. She felt tense. Her stomach was tight. Adrenaline surged within her veins. She needed to calm down and right now. For the good of the baby. For the good of her son…or daughter. There was a small chance.
“Please think about it.” It was the strangely dressed taller king that spoke. His stare was locked on her brother. “Princess Ruby can remain with us. Free to go at any time of course.”
Her younger brother laughed. “As if you could keep her here against her will.” Inferno shook his head.
The vampire king with the close cropped hair worked his jaw. “Once the child is safely born, Kai will mate with the princess. I will ensure personally, that he acts with honor. That is, if the princess wishes it. I will not force her to accept him.”
How sweet. It seemed vampires weren’t the blood drinking monsters they had been made out to be. It was quite possible they were more civilized than the dragon shifters. Certainly more civilized than the royals of her species. Ruby pulled in a deep breath. Kai didn’t want her. She’d never even entertained the possibility of them being together and therefore she had never envisioned a future with him in it.
This was not the time to discuss such things, she’d already said too much. At best, this would give her an opportunity to explain things to Kai. At worst, it would buy them some time to try and think of a way out of this mess. That is, if Kai would even talk to her.
Blaze ground his teeth. “Let me think on it.”
Unexpected.
Maybe he would concede after all. Probably not.
“Take as long as you wish.” The king in the leather outfit nodded once. “You are welcome to stay as long as you like.” Then he turned and walked out.
“Yeah.” The strangely dressed king picked some lint off of his clothing. “Give it some thought. Let one of the guards know when you are ready to discuss this further. Let us know if you have any further requirements.”
“A willing female perhaps.” Inferno’s brows were raised. He hadn’t just said that.
“Ignore him…” Blaze gave their idiot younger brother a dirty look. “We don’t need anything.” He said the last in such a way that sounded like a dismissal.
She couldn’t blame Inferno. The dragon males were starved of female company.
Chapter 10
Kai felt like he was climbing the fucking walls. He hated that his kings were debating his future without him. Possibly the future of his unborn child.
Ruby.
Just thinking of the female angered him and saddened him in equal measure. Why had she done this? What had possessed her? She didn’t seem cruel or evil. She didn’t come across as selfish. Ruby. With the amethyst eyes and cherry lips. Hair as dark as the night. His cock sat up and paid attention just thinking of her. It irritated the fucking hell out of him that he could still become aroused at the thought of this female, even after all she had done to him.
He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to remain calm. To wait in silence, even though he felt like tearing the paintings from the walls, breaking every bit of furniture in this room. He felt like running away. None of it would do any good, so he allowed himself to fall onto a nearby couch. He raked his fingers through his hair, squeezed the back of his neck, and signed loudly.
The only thing Zane had told him was to stay put and not to talk to anybody about this. His king had also tried to find out more about what had happened during those two days. Had the dragon shifter forced him? Had she lied to him? Zane had said that he needed to know.
For whatever reason, Kai didn’t want to tell the male anything. His word was his word and he would stand by it even though the female had lied to him. It didn’t sit right with him that her own brothers spoke of her with such disrespect. That she didn’t seem to have a voice of her own. Despite all that had happened, he couldn’t bring himself to tell Zane that he had been abducted and that this was, technically, none of his fault. The truth was, that it didn’t matter. The child she carried was his. What was done was done.
Jordy had been to his room twice. She’d knocked on the door and insisted he let her in. Thank fuck for locks because she’d tried to let herself in on both occasions and had beat the hell out of his door. He couldn’t blame her, she was worried about him
. This was the first time he had left her in the dark. They normally confided in each other about everything.
With a flick of the wrist, he glanced at his watch for what felt like the hundredth time since Zane had left. Half an hour had passed. May as well have been an eternity.
When the knock at the door sounded, he leapt to his feet. The knock was different to that of Jordy’s. Two soft taps verses her much harder ones. He stood rooted to the spot, his eyes glued to the door.
Fuck.
Kai didn’t want to mate this female. Fuck that! He also didn’t want to die over her. Ruby. The mother of his child. Jesus this was one hell of a fucked up situation. One he never thought he would find himself in. How could he have been so stupid, so idiotic. He bought all of the bullshit hook, line and sinker. Those big innocent eyes. The way her lip quivered. The way she felt in his arms. All a lie.
There was another soft tap. It definitely wasn’t Jordy, by now she would’ve knocked harder and called out to him to let her in.
“Who is it?” He knew he sounded like a pussy but he didn’t give a fuck. He needed answers and didn’t want to have to explain anything to anyone. Besides, Zane had told him to keep his mouth shut. He planned on doing just that.
“It’s me.” He could recognize that deep throaty voice anywhere. His king. Once he opened that door, his future would be spelled out for him. Kai didn’t like it.
He turned the key and opened the door. Shit, Zane looked worried. Agitated was a better description. His eyes flashed from left to right. “Let me in,” he growled.
Of course. “Oh, right.” Kai stepped to the side, closing and locking the door behind Zane. When his king gave the lock a pointed look, Kai added, “So that we’re not disturbed.”
Zane gave a tight nod and walked through into the living area. He didn’t sit down. “You fucked up.”
Way to go for stating the obvious. Kai grit his teeth to prevent himself from saying anything. He gave his king a tight nod.
“I can’t believe you fucked around with a dragon shifter.” Zane made a noise that belied his irritation.
Once again Kai remained silent, he kept his gaze firmly on his king.
“A princess,” he choked out between clenched teeth. “You are lucky they have been reasonable about the whole thing.”
“You call that reasonable?” He blurted.
“You’re alive so, yeah, I would call that reasonable. I put forward an ultimatum of our own. I’m not sure whether the shifters will accept it or not but it’s looking promising.”
“What kind of ultimatum?” It came out sounding gruffer than he intended.
Zane narrowed his eyes. “We weren’t left with much of a choice. That male plans on killing you if you do not honor his sister and I fully believe he intends on following through with his threats. I know this has come as a huge shock. It is easy to see that you didn’t have a clue about her being in heat. You were blindsided and fucked over.”
“I didn’t know.” Kai shook his head, not willing to say anything more on the subject.
Zane nodded his head. “Well…” He sighed. “She was and now she’s pregnant. I can understand how that must make you feel and how you must hate the thought of having to mate a female that would lie to you like that but we’re left with very little choice.”
“Fuck that.” He growled. Anger coursed through him. There was nothing she could say to him. Nothing she could do to make this up to him. She’d used him for his seed. If it was up to her, he would never have known about being father. That was just plain wrong.
“Look, I don’t know anything about dragon shifter pregnancies. Not a damned thing. We have asked that she remain here while—”
“Not a fuck.” Kai scrubbed a hand over his face. This was such a messed up situation. She was pregnant with his child. His baby. “Yeah…” He sighed loudly. “Maybe that would be for the best. I don’t know…fuck! I have no idea what to make of this. I don’t want to have to see her day after day yet she is the mother of my baby.” He clenched his jaw for a second. “She should stay.”
Zane gripped his shoulder and squeezed. “You need to keep it together. We don’t know a fucking thing about this species. It’s a dangerous situation. We need to tread carefully.” He paused. “Her brother mentioned something about there being a problem with her pregnancy. I’m not sure exactly…”
He didn’t hear anything else that his king said. There was the sound of blood roaring in his ears as his heart pounded. Sweat trickled from his brow.
Problem.
There was a problem with her pregnancy. Up until recently he didn’t even know about this child. The thought of becoming a father was a new concept to him. He was struggling to come to terms with it. To accept it. He felt angry and betrayed. So confused he didn’t know if he was coming or fucking going, yet hearing that there were problems with her pregnancy caused panic to well up in him.
“What the fuck is wrong?” He grabbed Zane by the biceps. “What did they tell you? What do you know about it?”
“Calm the fuck down.”
Kai released Zane. He walked to the door and glanced back. “I can’t. Where is she? I need to see her.”
“You can’t,” Zane growled. “Not right now. Her brother is still deciding on my ultimatum. I don’t want you walking in there all gung ho and fucking this up. I don’t know exactly what the problem is. He didn’t want to give specifics but I could see that he is worried.”
Kai cursed loudly. He turned to face Zane, then scrubbed a hand over his face. He was breathing far too quickly. Shit! No wonder she looked so upset, so fucking vulnerable. It’s what had drawn him to her in the first place. A female that needed rescuing. He had been so sure that’s what she was and yet, he’d also been terribly wrong about her.
“I’ve asked that she remain here. That our healers see to her. You don’t have to mate her unless she births a healthy child. It would be all kinds of fucked up if you were forced to mate with her and the pregnancy…”
Kai snarled. He couldn’t bear to hear what his king had to say. “Don’t say it. With all due respect my king don’t you dare fucking say it.” His chest heaved. He tried to look away, to look down, to submit in some way but found he couldn’t tear his gaze from Zane’s.
His king’s eyes darkened up, his jaw tightened. “I’m going to let that slide. Just this fucking once. I bought us some time. If the male refuses…then my hands are fucking tied. Do you understand me? These dragon fucks are strong. We know fuck all about them. We need to stay on good terms with them. That might mean you have to mate this female.”
It took everything in him to nod. He understood but that didn’t mean he agreed. He didn’t know if he had it in him to take the female as a mate. But to die at the hands of the dragon shifter king, to never know his unborn child…he didn’t know if he could do that either.
“She might be the mother of my child.” His voice was thick with emotion. “But, I’m not sure I can ever mate with her.”
“Speak with her. Maybe you could find it within yourself to understand. With dickhead brothers like that, her life can’t have been easy.” Zane gave him a ghost of a smile.
Ruby had spoken about being with him, being in that shithole bar the first place was an act of rebellion. He couldn’t remember her exact words, only that it was something along those lines. It was no excuse for her actions. “I need to see her.” He put up a hand when Zane tried to talk. “Please just let me know as soon as it’s possible. I need to know exactly what the hell is going on. I don’t foresee a future with this female but she is carrying my child.” His voice broke. Mother fuck, he hated feeling this confused and out of control. Hated it.
****
Blaze and Inferno walked ahead of her. They were in a large open area behind the castle. They kept walking until they were a distance away. The vampire guards that had been assigned to watch them, trailed behind. Inferno snarled in their direction. Smoke drifted, almost lazily, from his nose and mou
th. His hands were curled, resembling the claws they could so easily become. The vampire males moved away at the outburst. Inferno snarled a second time and they retreated further, giving them privacy.
“Where are you going?” Ruby continued to follow behind Blaze. They kept going until they hit the tree line. It was still day. It was dangerous to travel when the sun was high. Surely they didn’t plan on leaving now? Blaze quickly stepped out of his pants.
No.
He turned to face her. Naked as the day he was born. It wasn’t his state of undress that rattled her but rather what it signified. He was about to shift. He was leaving. “You’ve got one month to convince the male to mate you.”
Ruby gasped. “What? No! Don’t do this.” She grabbed his arm. “Please don’t…you can’t do this.”
“I didn’t do a god damned thing. You did. You brought this on yourself.”
Inferno removed his pants as well. “You managed to seduce him once, I’m sure you can do it again.” Her younger brother could be such an arrogant ass. He smirked at her. “You had better, if you want him to live.”
“One month.” Blaze held up a finger. “I think it is reasonable. If you are unmated when I return, I will be forced to take matters into my own hands. Do you think I want to kill the father of this child?”
Ruby didn’t know what to think. Blaze was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a ruthless killer. She shook her head.
He sighed. “Try and work things out with this male. Go and see the vampire healers.”
“I will,” she all but whispered. Kai would never forgive her and she couldn’t blame him. She had no right to ask him to. “I don’t think that there is anything the vampire healers can do though. It’s up to me now. I just need to stay strong and positive. I’m alone in this.” Her voice cracked but she managed to somehow keep the tears from falling. Damn these hormones.
Blaze’s jaw tightened and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly. He was worried about her. “Take care of yourself.”
“I don’t belong here,” she whispered.
“You are carrying a vampire child. You are exactly where you belong.”
A Mate for Kai (The Program #6) Page 9
