A Mate for Kai (The Program #6)

by Charlene Hartnady

  A snarl was torn from her. Her teeth were more vicious up close.

  “Easy.” He rubbed a hand down her back. “You’re safe.”

  Within seconds, she went from fierce to timid. Sobs wracked her. Her shoulders shook. “I’m so scared. I can feel my egg but it won’t come out.”

  Kai swallowed hard. “Maybe we should call Becky.”

  She snarled a word that sounded like a no. Ruby sucked in a couple of deep breaths and shook her head. “No healers. They will cut him from me, he will die, do you understand me?”

  Kai nodded. “I’m here.” He grabbed her hand, her nails were like razors. “You can do this.”

  Her body tensed, her face contorted in pain, signaling the arrival of the next contraction.

  “Get ready to push.” He had fuck all idea what he was talking about. Sure he’d read a few books and had spoken in length with the healers but he wasn’t qualified for this.

  Ruby nodded. She clutched his hand tighter. Her nails bit into him. She groaned and panted and then pushed hard. After taking a few breaths, she pushed some more. At long last, the contraction seemed to dissipate because she slumped back, leaning against a tree.

  This went on for what felt like the longest time but was in reality only ten or twelve minutes. His phone vibrated inside his pocket but he ignored it. Becky needed to be patient. He would call her if he really needed to.

  “I want to take a look…” he paused. “Is that okay?”

  Ruby was out of breath. She nodded, too tired to talk. This couldn’t go on for much longer. She was exhausted. “I can do this,” she whispered.

  “I know you can.” Kai crouched down so that he could see…down there. He could see Ruby gearing up for another contraction. Her belly pulled tight. She began pushing. She cried out with the sheer effort it took. That’s when he saw it, a glimpse of…something. A flash, a hint. Something!

  “I see it!” He yelled. “I see it, sweetheart. You’re doing great.” Instead of answering, she pushed some more. This time, he saw more of it. “Oh my fuck…” He laughed. “It’s coming.” More than just a flash…it was a solid, shiny surface. “It’s our egg.”

  Although she was panting noisily and looked completely spent, she smiled. By the end of the contraction, she slumped against the tree and even fell to one knee. The egg was coming, but at this rate Ruby would be too tired to push it out.

  “You need to lie down,” he said, but she shook her head. “What if you were to sit or maybe if you were to go onto all fours or something?”

  Ruby shook her head even harder. “No, has to be like this.” She tried to rise back onto her haunches but she was too unstable. Her legs shook, her muscles too fatigued at this point to hold her. She finally made it up, but only just.

  “I have an idea.” He said as her belly began to tighten up again. “I’m going to come in behind you. I’ll hold you up.”

  Her face was contorted in pain and yet she choked out a laugh. “Too heavy,” she growled. Kai could see the pain was becoming worse, as her contraction took hold.

  “No, you’re not.” He growled right back and slid in behind her. Kai put his hands underneath her, holding her somewhere between where her ass ended and her thighs started. Light as a fucking feather.

  Ruby pushed. She pushed some more and then she pushed again. Sweat coated her entire body. It made her T-shirt stick to her back. The muscles in her neck were taut. She grabbed his thighs and squeezed. He could feel the blood drip as her claws tore into him. Kai held steady. Ruby screamed towards the end of the contraction.

  It took a few seconds for her to catch her breath. “It’s coming.” There was an excited edge to her voice. “I can feel it.” He could feel her shift her weight away from him, so that he wouldn’t have to hold her up.

  Fuck that. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.” He squeezed her thighs and she allowed her full weight to fall back on him with a sigh.

  It didn’t last long. Ruby tensed. She groaned.

  Kai wished he could do more. He held her tight and whispered words of encouragement. Then she began to push just as before, only this time instead of a scream, she gave a triumphant yell followed by a fierce growl. There was a whole lot of smoke and even the flicker of a single flame.

  “Don’t move.” It came as a warning. “Don’t even breathe.” She probably didn’t know it, but she still clutched his legs in a tight grip. It was the longest minute of his life.

  He could hear her heart rate slow down, her breathing ease. Some of the tension drained from her body.

  “It’s here. Our egg is here,” Ruby announced.

  He figured, but didn’t want to assume. Joy coursed through him. Keeping one arm underneath her, so he could support her, he banded the other arm around her and nuzzled into her neck. “I’m so proud of you. You did it.” He kissed her brow.

  She turned slightly so that she could look him in the eye. “Thank you for being here. You helped me more than you will ever know.”

  “Anytime, Ruby.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Can we move yet, I’d like to see it…him…our egg.”

  “Yes, but very slowly and carefully. The egg is still soft and fragile. Don’t try and touch it. I might accidentally take your arm off and I’m not joking.”

  Kai smiled, even though he knew she meant every word. He slipped out from behind her and moved away a little. He kept the movement slow and deliberate. He could see Ruby watching him out of the corner of his eye. His focus was on the beautiful golden egg that lay between her legs. It was bigger than any egg he had ever seen but at the same time it looked too small to hold a baby. “Oh wow! It’s beautiful.”

  Ruby’s stare moved to the egg. “A royal.” She sounded shocked. “I didn’t expect he would be a royal. I’d hoped but I never imagined.”

  Kai’s pocket vibrated again for about the 20th time. “I need to take this. Is that okay? Becky is concerned about you.”

  Ruby nodded.

  Kai answered. He had to hold the phone away from his ear for a few beats, that’s how loud Becky’s scream was. He finally got her to calm down enough to have a conversation and explain to her what happened. It took some convincing to get her to believe that both Ruby and the egg were perfectly fine. He also asked her to give them some more time while the egg hardened. It was a miracle. It felt surreal…his baby was growing inside the golden egg. Their little one.

  Kai ended the call. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m fine. Just a bit tired but I’m good otherwise.”

  Kai let out a breath he had been holding. “What did you mean by royal? How can you tell that he is a royal?”

  “The egg is golden which means he will also have golden markings. That is significant because it will show he is a royal.” She paused. “Lesser dragons are born from silver eggs and have silver markings. It is one of the reasons why Blaze was so against mixing our blood. The lores state that it will dilute our royal bloodline. He is afraid we will lose our golden color. No royal dragon has ever mixed their blood. This is a good sign, Kai. It shows we should retain our royal heritage even if we mate with humans or other non-humans.”

  “I’m just fucking thrilled everything’s okay. I mean, the egg, is it…he normal?” He felt himself frown.

  She gave him the most radiant smile. It made something inside his chest clench. “Yes, our egg is perfect in every way.”

  Thank fuck. He reached out and cupped her jaw, his thumb stroked her cheek. Everything was going to be okay. It was. For the first time since this whole thing started, he really believed it

  Chapter 20

  Four days later…

  Everything she owned fit into one suitcase. Kai closed the door behind them and put the suitcase down.

  The first thing Ruby did was to go down the hall. She opened the first door. The bedroom was large and airy, it housed a huge four-poster bed and was beautifully decorated. The main bedroom. She swallowed hard, her bedroom. It seemed Kai would be staying where he was for th
e time being. It was something that needed to discuss but right now, she had to tell him about Blaze.

  The last few days had been a whirlwind. The healers had insisted on examining her…more than once. Her egg had been examined as well. Ruby had allowed the small, human healer to have the honors. There was no way such a puny female could possibly damage her egg. It had still been difficult for her to sit by and watch the healer touch her egg. There had been a whole string of visitors as well as this move to a suite.

  They were all excuses, she had been putting it off but she couldn’t put it off any longer.

  She held her egg carefully, cradling it to her chest with both her hands. It was silly because it’s shell had become almost indestructible. Only severe heat would crack it. She went back down the hall, Kai was directly behind her. She opened the next door.

  “Whoever heard of a fire proof nursery?” Kai chuckled. It had taken a couple of days to prepare this room.

  “Fireproof or not, let’s hope that the room survives the hatching. It will be a good test to see if it can hold up to the first year of the baby’s life.”

  There was somewhat of a makeshift nest on the floor in the center of the room. The area was devoid of all furniture. Only once the egg hatched would they furnish the room with fire retardant…everything. Ruby placed the egg carefully in the center of the nest.

  “There is a heat sensor underneath,” Kai said. “Give me your arm.”

  Confused, she did as he said. Kai took a watch out of his pocket and put it on her. He showed her his arm. He had a larger version of the one she was wearing. “If the heat sensors pick up heat above a certain level an alarm will go off and that way we’ll know if he’s coming.” He wrapped his arms around her and breathed her in.

  She smiled, her stomach in knots. “That’s great.” Ruby paused. “There’s something that we need to talk about.” She turned around to face him.

  “It looks serious.” He frowned. “What’s up?”

  Ruby sighed. “It’s Blaze.”

  Kai’s eyes darkened up. “What about him?”

  Ruby licked her lips. “He’s going to be here in three days and if we’re not mated…” She shook her head. “He’s going to…”

  “Going to what…?” He made a noise of frustration and looked out the window for a few beats. “I thought he had agreed to waiting until the baby came. Agreed to giving us some breathing room.”

  Ruby shook her head. “He gave us a month…and a month is up in three days.”

  “Why didn’t you say something sooner?” He jammed his hands into his pockets.

  She shrugged. “A month, two months…five. What does it matter? He’s going to expect the same outcome no matter the time frame. Even if I manage to talk some sense into him when he gets here, he will still expect it to happen at some point. For the record, I don’t think he will be willing to wait any longer. I think your life is in jeopardy.” She blinked back the tears.

  Kai looked mad. His jaw was locked. His muscles tensed. “I’m not going to be bullied by the likes of Blaze. He can’t tell us what to do.”

  “Yes he can and he will kill you.”

  “So what are you saying, that we should just mate?” He looked like the idea was abhorrent to him.

  Ruby sniffed and widened her eyes for a second, trying hard to keep her emotions in check. She couldn’t blame it on the hormones anymore. This was all her.

  “Ruby.” His voice softened and he took a step towards her. “I don’t want to mate you just because some asshole says I have to.”

  “The asshole you are referring to is my brother and he is only doing this out of some…ill conceived notion that it is in my best interest or something.”

  “He can’t keep telling you what to do. You are a mature female, capable of making your own decisions. This whole thing could have been avoided if he’d stayed out of your business in the first place.”

  This whole thing could’ve been avoided. It stung to hear him say it. Almost like he was wishing their baby away. She knew it wasn’t the case but it still hurt. She took in a deep breath and held it inside before slowly releasing it.

  “I’m not mating you because your brother says I have to. You shouldn’t have to mate me for that reason either. We shouldn’t have to do anything. This is bullshit.” Kai shook his head. His voice was raised.

  “I’ll talk to him.” She bit down on her lower lip. “I’ll buy us some time.”

  “I don’t want time. I want him to back the fuck off.” Kai narrowed his eyes. He paused, his dark gaze still on her. “We might have something here, Ruby. We get along, we’re compatible.” He shrugged. “I don’t want to have this hanging over us. I want to be sure that whatever we do, that it’s for the right reason and not because your brother held a shotgun to my head. Don’t you want that security someday? To know I mated you because I really wanted to and not because I was forced? I know that I want it. I don’t want to think that you mated me because you had no other choice.”

  She hated the idea of him mating her for that reason. Hated it. The thing was, Ruby was sure she wanted Kai. She was so sure, that hearing him speak right now killed her. Hearing him say he wasn’t sure about his feelings for her, hurt her in ways she never thought possible.

  If she mated Kai, she would never regret it or question it. Her decision would have nothing to do with Blaze and everything to do with how she felt about this male. It just so happened that he was the father of her child but that was coincidental. He wasn’t sure and yet she had fallen hard. The pain inside rekindled with a vengeance.

  Ruby sniffed. “I don’t want this to happen under duress. I understand your feelings.” Even if I don’t share them. “I would hate it if you regretted it. I don’t want that for us, Kai.”

  He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “I don’t either. I want things to progress at their natural pace. I like where we are right now…I fucking love where we are. Blaze needs to back off.”

  “I’m scared for you.” Ruby buried her face in his chest and he put his arms around her. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  “I’m stronger than I was…much stronger. Your brother might be surprised.” She could hear that he was smiling.

  Ruby pulled back so she could stare into his eyes. “I don’t want the two of you to fight.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I can’t stand by and watch him hurt you. I won’t.”

  “Have some faith, sweetness.” He cupped her jaw with both his hands. They were big and warm. A real male’s hands, she could feel the calluses from handling a sword. “I’m loving us right now. I’m so proud of you.” His jaw tightened for a second. “I wish we knew how long we have to wait before our baby hatches…” He frowned. “Not something I ever thought I would say.”

  She had to smile back. “If he follows a dragon shifter timeline then five or six weeks, but I have a feeling it will be a bit longer. My pregnancy was longer.” She shrugged. “We will have to wait and see.”

  “I thought I would relax once the egg came but I still worry. I think once he hatches…maybe then.” He pushed his hand into her hair. “At least I don’t have to worry about you anymore.” He gave her a half smile.

  “I’m perfectly fine.”

  “Yeah, you sure are.” He leaned in, his eyes on her. Then his gaze dropped to her mouth for a second before locking back with hers. What in reality felt like the longest time, was probably only a couple of seconds. Kai moved slowly. So irritatingly slowly. He stopped mere millimeters from her mouth. She could feel his breath caressing her lips.

  Please.

  For a second, she was sure she’d said it out loud. She wanted Kai to kiss her so badly. Most dragon shifters didn’t kiss. Only because they’d had so little experience with females. When they went on their stag runs it was so that they could rut. Kissing didn’t feature.

  Kai had wanted to kiss her before and she’d turned him down. He hadn’t tried again…until now. Maybe.

  Please.

  The
hand in her hair clasped her around her neck and Kai pushed his lips against hers. His kiss was soft, yet firm. His breath was a little unsteady. Hers was all over the place, it matched her beating heart. Kai pulled away after a second or two. No.

  More.

  He kissed her again. Yes. Softer this time, his mouth a little more slanted. There was the briefest catch of his tongue. Oh. She’d read about kissing. Dreamed about kissing. He pulled away again and she almost screamed in frustration. A small growl escaped.

  More.

  More.

  Kai pushed himself more firmly against her. His hands closed more firmly around her. When his lips touched hers this time there was a sense of urgency attached. His mouth opened and his tongue breached her mouth. Their tongues collided and they both groaned, the sound intermingled, becoming one. Their bodies meshed together, their breathing synced. Loud, ragged, fast-paced. Then her back was up against the wall. There was a ripping noise. Her legs were around his waist and his cock was inside of her. Ruby groaned. Yes.

  Kai broke the kiss and stopped moving. His eyes widened. “Oh shit. Is this okay? Are you okay?” He was buried deep inside her. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m such a fucking Neanderthal.”

  Ruby nodded. “It’s fine. Perfectly fine.” A breathy, moan. “But only if you keep moving.”

  Kai smiled. His features were tight and his eyes glazed. “I missed you so damned much.”

  “I’m perfectly fine. I want you.”

  Kai squeezed his eyes shut. “Thank fuck.” He pushed back into her. Kai had her pinned against the wall. There was nowhere for her to go. Nothing she could do. He held her thighs and thrust into her. Kai didn’t go easy like he had when she was pregnant. Ruby threw her head back, her mouth was slack. She made animalistic noises. “This okay?” He growled, easing off just a little.

  “Yes,” she ground out. “More.” His hips came up flush against her. His cock was angled just right. They hadn’t rutted since before she had released her egg. She was ready to come.