A Mate for Kai (The Program #6)

by Charlene Hartnady

  “What other thing?” Then he realized what she was talking about and he felt everything in him freeze. The last time he had seen her, she had been naked. He shook his head and gently pushed her away.

  “What, you’re not actually entertaining the idea of rutting her again, are you?”

  Not a fuck. “It’s none of your business.”

  Her eyes narrowed on him. “You can’t be fucking serious. You cannot possibly have sex, any type of relationship with that lying scheming, conniving—”

  “Stop,” he growled. “Ruby is the mother of my child.” He spoke slowly. “My sex life is none of your business.”

  “Don’t say that.” She shook her head, her cheeks had the flushed look again. Jordy was pissed. He knew the look and all the signs.

  “You are my dearest friend and I love you very much but who I rut is none of your business. I want you to treat Ruby with respect. Despite everything that’s happened, I don’t think she’s a bad person.” He wholeheartedly believed it.

  “You’re too nice. You’re totally going to fall for this bitch. I can see it from a mile away. I’ll be here when she dumps your ass or when you find out about the next lie. She’s playing you.” Jordan gave a humorless chuckle. “You’re a total fool if you fall for it. You know where to find me when you come to your senses.” She strode from the room.

  Shit!

  There was a part of him that wanted to go after her. It was nobody’s business what had happened during those two days or how they chose to proceed. He wasn’t going to fall for Ruby. Not after all that had happened. He was attracted to her. It didn’t matter that she carried his child. Hell, maybe he was attracted to her because of it but he wasn’t going to act on it. No fucking way.

  Chapter 14

  Kai was still wearing blue jeans when he came by later. He’d changed his shirt. The black one didn’t showcase his muscles quite as much as the previous one had. It did make his dark ink stand out more though. He was a good looking male. There was something about him. He was straightforward but played his cards close to his chest.

  Ruby felt much better after lying down. Despite her mind being in turmoil, she’d still fallen asleep.

  “Did I wake you?” Kai asked as he walked through the front door.

  “Yes, but it doesn’t matter…” She quickly added when she saw his face. “I won’t sleep tonight otherwise, so I’m glad you did.”

  “Is your accommodation satisfactory?”

  “It’s fine…thank you.” Although quite a bit smaller than what she was used to, the living area, kitchen and bedroom combined were big enough to accommodate a shift but only just.

  “I can petition to have you moved into a much larger suite but it would mean being on the other side of the castle. I’d like to be close, you know, just in case…” He really was serious when he said he was there for her…make that, for the baby. She really hoped he would understand, at least to some degree, why she had done what she had done.

  “Do you mind?” He gestured to one of the chairs, a wingback in the corner.

  “Please.” She nodded. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  His gaze dropped to her neck. Ruby sucked in a breath. “Oh…um…oh…I’m going to get myself a grape juice.”

  “That would be good, thank you.” Kai sat up right on the couch. Every muscle was corded and tense.

  “You vampires drink…juice?” She blurted, feeling like an idiot. “Of course you do otherwise you wouldn’t have ordered one. Forget I asked.”

  He smiled, looking a little more relaxed, for the first time. “Although our beverage of choice is blood.” He chuckled. “Hell, if we could have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as for midnight snacks we would but too much of a good thing and all that. No…” He shook his head. “We also eat and drink, like everyone else. Maybe not as much, but we do. Thing is, food would be useless without blood to slow down our metabolism.”

  “That’s interesting. I’m going to have to learn as much as I can about vampires… Especially considering…” She rubbed her belly and widened her eyes. After pouring the drinks, she went back to the living room, handing one glass to Kai.

  He nodded his thanks and immediately took a sip before placing the glass on the coffee table in front of him.

  Ruby sat down on the seat opposite to Kai. “I need to start by apologizing again. I’ll do my best to explain things to you.” She put the glass down without having taking a sip. Ruby linked her fingers together across her lap.

  Kai locked his jaw, his dark eyes rested firmly on her as he waited for her to continue. All of the tension from earlier was back, only this time it was much worse.

  “I told you I’m the last royal female. According to my brother, Blaze, that meant that I was the last hope for the dragon shifters for a true heir. The dragon shifters are divided into four tribes. I am from the Fire tribe. The other three are Water, Air and Earth.” She paused and licked her lips.

  Kai didn’t so much as move a muscle.

  “The Fire tribe is the strongest of the four. Although all dragons are capable of breathing fire when they are born, for whatever reason, the Air, Water and Earth dragons lose that ability very soon after. It is why the three of them have banded together against us. Thankfully, there have been no wars for many years, but due to the lack of females it is looking more and more imminent that there will be a war and soon if something is not done about the dire situation.”

  Kai swallowed hard. He nodded once, urging her to continue.

  “My brother and the king of the Air tribe struck up a deal, our tribes would unite. Together, we would be unbeatable. Rulers over the other two. To seal the deal, I was to be given to Thunder.”

  Kai’s eyes darkened up. There was a tic in his jaw.

  “I had this stupid fantasy of actually falling in love with the male that I mate one day.”

  “It’s not stupid,” he growled.

  “No, it was stupid of me. I’ve read a lot of those romance novels and had envisioned falling instantly in love. Of being this person’s soul mate. So close and perfect for one another it would feel like we were made for one another. I couldn’t possibly mate with a male I cared nothing for. That I didn’t even know for that matter. Blaze did not listen to what I had to say. He wasn’t interested. You see, he does not believe in love. Not like I do…not like I did.” She added, her voice quiet. There was no place anymore in her life for love. The only love she had to give was to this unborn child.

  “Blaze knew if I carried Thunder’s child, that I would not be able to turn away from him. That if I was in my heat, I would not be able to deny him. Blaze promised me that Thunder would take good care of me. I think he truly believed it, or at least wanted to believe it.” She laughed humorlessly. “He may have been a descent mate and father. I didn’t love him though. Blaze…”

  “Your brother is a colossal dickhead.” Kai shook his head. “Pretty much selling his own damned sister.”

  “You’re not entirely wrong.”

  “I’m 100% correct. Fucking asshole!” He raked a hand through his hair.

  “Blaze was only doing what he thought was right. As ruler of the four kingdoms, he has a lot on his shoulders. The well-being of my people is in his hands. I just wish he would listen to me. He is so set on following ancient rules and traditions and is not willing to budge.” She huffed out a breath, feeling frustration well up inside of her. “If only he would have just agreed to taking a human mate, to allow all of our males to take human mates. He wouldn’t hear of it. I had hoped to force his hand.” She looked down at her lap, feeling her cheeks heat. “He’s so afraid of diluting our royal blood. That his first son and heir will not be a true royal if he mates a human. He also has something against human females.”

  “So you were being forced to mate with this fucker from the Air tribe. Your brother wouldn’t listen to you and your fate was set, so what, you decided to pick up some bastard in Sweetwater? Your whole thinking was tha
t if you were already pregnant, he couldn’t force you to mate with this other male? Is that it?” He didn’t look too happy about any of this. She couldn’t blame him.

  Ruby nodded. She licked her lips. “The plan was, to go to Sweetwater and to find an already mated human male. I had done some research on the subject. Even older human males are still fertile. Also, an older, already mated male, would not be interested in any offspring. I could raise the baby myself and—”

  “Not feel as guilty about lying and stealing. For me, taking a male’s seed, without his permission, is the same as stealing.” His eyes blazed. The tic was back in his jaw.

  Ruby nodded. “I know.” She whispered. There was no denying it. “I knew it was wrong. I didn’t feel at the time that I had any alternative options. I was backed into a corner. Desperate. Yes, I always knew the day would come when I would be forced to act. I cursed myself for not preparing more.” She made a noise of frustration. “I always hoped it would never actually come to that. I never expected Blaze to actually go through with it. Not so soon after Gram.”

  Kai frowned.

  “My grandmother.” Ruby felt tears well. There was nothing she could do about it. “I’m sorry.” She took a couple of deep breaths and tried to blink away the tears. “It’s these hormones. My grandmother passed away a few months ago…” She felt her lip quiver. Ruby paused for a few seconds. “My gram would not allow Blaze to use me in that way. He waited until after she passed. I never thought he would actually go through with it. I should’ve been better prepared and I wasn’t. I went into that bar out of desperation. I wanted a human male that didn’t give a damn. I chose that older male.” She knew he would remember.

  Ruby pulled in a breath. “One that was mated would’ve been better. That one.” The pig with the onion breath. “I knew the male didn’t care, that he wouldn’t give a damn about any offspring. I could tell he would be happy just to rut and to move on.”

  Kai growled. She could tell he was thinking back to the night. That he could remember the male in question.

  “I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t…to be with someone like that. I realized, in that moment, that whoever I chose would be the father of my child. I guess I still held onto my fantasy because when I saw you, I…” What was she saying? Seeing Kai that night had not been love at first sight. It was lust at first sight but love?

  “You were…are a magnificent specimen. I thought you were a human.”

  “And what? It wouldn’t have mattered if I was a human? You could’ve done what you did without consequence?”

  “Yes…no. This child would’ve been fully dragon shifter. It would not have been a mix. I know that it was wrong of me. I don’t know, my heat was almost on me. Maybe by then I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “You were thinking clearly, Ruby. You knew exactly what you are doing”

  She chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. “I’m sorry. When I saw you, I knew I wanted you to be the father of my child, that no one else would do. I felt deeply ashamed but I wanted you. In that, I was selfish because I also knew you would care.”

  Kai cast his gaze to his lap and shook his head. He looked disappointed. Then he squeezed the back of his neck.

  “You need to know that I didn’t just do it for me. I did what I did for my people as well.” She blurted. She needed for him to know everything. Her brother wouldn’t like her sharing dragon shifter information but she didn’t care. Kai needed to know. He needed to understand. Hopefully he could forgive her. Maybe then she could forgive herself.

  “Out of the goodness of your heart.” He snorted. His eyes were hard.

  “Do you think I wanted this?” Her voice was raised and a little off kilter. “To anger my brother…my king. To possibly start a war between the four kingdoms. Do you think I wanted to throw my life away? Because I can assure you by doing what I did, I gave up on any chance of finding love or a future for myself. No dragon shifter male would take me now. They are desperate but they wouldn’t…” She let the sentence die. She needed to compose herself.

  Kai kept his eyes on her.

  “I knew I would be alienated, looked down upon by everyone. I knew I would be seen as nothing, less than nothing. I had hoped my actions would make my brother see reason, that I could force his hand.”

  “That you could force him into taking a human mate?” Kai seemed to relax, just a little. “How did that work for you?”

  “It didn’t. There are only a handful of dragon females across the four kingdoms. Only two of those females are fertile. The rules state that royals should only mate royals. Blaze has decided he will mate a lesser dragon shifter female from another tribe over a human female. He seems to have something against humans. I’m not sure what his plans are exactly, but our species will surely die out long-term.”

  “I highly doubt it would be sustainable. The guy sounds nuts.”

  “Like I said, he believes he is upholding our lores. Human matings are strictly forbidden as are mixed species matings…” She shook her head. “Two centuries ago, my egg would’ve been taken from me and thrown from a cliff.”

  He moved around in the chair. His face a mask of anger. His muscles roped.

  “I couldn’t mate Thunder. I had to do what I did to try and get Blaze to take a human. All of the males would’ve been permitted to take human mates. We have had two illegal matings in the Earth tribe. Males that took humans. It has caused a rift between my brother and their king. The matings were successful. The females become stronger after they are mated and are able to reproduce. The offspring are dragon shifter. There are no signs of any human weaknesses.”

  She was talking fast. “We could be saved, our male’s need not lead lives of solitude. It is unnatural. They fight amongst themselves. My brother doesn’t see any of it. He holds onto his old beliefs while a whole species dies. What he doesn’t realize is that war is imminent as well. My brother will be overthrown. He might be a brickhead.”

  “Dickhead.” Although his voice was rough, his demeanor had softened.

  “Dickhead, brickhead…same thing,” she said.

  “Not really.” He smiled.

  “What?” They were in the middle of a serious conversation.

  “A dickhead and a brickhead are not the same thing.” Then he looked uncomfortable. “It doesn’t matter. Carry on with what you were saying.”

  “I don’t want for there to be a war. I don’t want Blaze to be overthrown. He would be killed.” She wiped away a tear. “He might be a horse’s ass but I love him. At the same time, I want my species to live on. I want our males to have families. To have love.”

  “You thought that by tricking me into making you pregnant that you could change the whole way of life of your people?”

  Ruby nodded. “I had to try. I had to put my hopes of finding love aside and focus on what was best for all of the kingdoms. You were never supposed to know.”

  “It was wrong.” His voice was soft.

  “I know that. I had no right.”

  “I have a better understanding of why you did this. Maybe if you’d asked me?” He shrugged.

  Ruby had to laugh. “You didn’t want to leave the bar with me. I had to kidnap you.”

  “I wanted to leave with you. I wanted to leave with you very fucking badly.” He looked serious.

  It was news to her. She thought he didn’t find her attractive. Vampire females were so different. They were so lean and athletic. After seeing them, she thought that maybe he didn’t like a few curves on a female. Ruby thought that he was a sweet guy who was worried about her but not interested in that way. That he had reacted the way he did because of her heat. Maybe it wasn’t just her heat. “So, I should’ve just blurted that I was looking to get pregnant and that I needed your seed to make that happen? You would’ve left willingly had I been forthcoming?”

  He gave her a half smile. “Maybe not. You could’ve explained things to me though. Maybe I could’ve helped in some way.”


  “Oh…” She dramatized. “So I should have said…Hi, human stranger. I’m a dragon shifter. My brother is the king of my species. In order to gain political influence he has given me to another king in a lesser tribe. I will be expected to release egg after egg until either I die or until I birth a female. Even then, I might still be expected to continue, since not all females are fertile.” She gave another hearty laugh, not so shocked to hear it emerged as more of a sob. “I need you to please impregnate me so that I can be spared that fate, so that my future daughters will never be subjected to the same fate…or worse.” She whispered. “Please will you help me?” By now she was crying openly. “I would be most grateful.”

  Kai swallowed hard. She watched as his throat worked.

  “Yup…that would’ve changed your mind.” She sniffed. “You would’ve helped me.”

  “I would’ve believed you. I am not a human.” His voice was thick with emotion.

  “I didn’t know that.” Ruby shook her head.

  “I would’ve helped you, Ruby. That much I can tell you. I don’t know about impregnating you, but…”

  Her tears continued to run down her cheeks so she wiped them away with an angry swipe of her hand. “It would’ve been the only way you could’ve helped.”

  “Then I would’ve agreed,” he growled. “I would’ve gone with you willingly.” His eyes bore into hers.

  They were both breathing heavily.

  “That’s so sweet.” She cried harder. “These hormones are killing me here.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Kai returned with a pile of tissues, which she accepted gratefully.

  Ruby blew her nose softly. “I should have told you. I will carry the guilt with me always. I will try and make it up to you…I am truly sorry. I can only hope you believe that.”

  “I do.” He nodded. “I saw it in your eyes that day. After you took me. I knew you were afraid and hiding something. It seemed like you needed help. I forgive you, Ruby.”

  This wasn’t what she had expected to happen. She’d hoped it, but hadn’t…oh, then it dawned on her. He was doing it for the good of the child. Their child. He probably felt obligated to forgive her. “You don’t have to.”