I’m almost there, so close to coming, when an unfamiliar dry voice cuts through my pleasure. “So this is why you haven’t bothered to find a way out of this cage.”
I freeze for half a second and then scramble off Malachi. He lets me, sitting up to shield me with his big body. Has he gotten bigger in the last couple days? I hadn’t really noticed, but now I’m sure of it. I look over his shoulder at the man standing in the doorway. He’s a white guy with a close-cropped beard and short dark hair, and he’s wearing an honest-to-god suit.
Malachi tenses. “Rylan.”
Rylan, the one Wolf said would show up at some point. He couldn’t be more different than the wild blond vampire. He looks like some kind of CEO, and I swear the room dropped ten degrees when he entered. I shiver, and he flicks a look at me. His blue eyes go even colder. “Leave while the grown-ups talk, little girl.”
My shiver turns into a full-out shudder and goosebumps rise across my skin in a wave of warning. Even without knowing he’s a bloodline vampire beforehand, the sheer power in his eyes would tell me an apex predator has entered the room. I start to inch toward the other side of the bed, but Malachi reaches out and grabs my hand. “Stay.”
Rylan raises his brows. “Keep your pet if you insist, but you know she’s a trap in a pretty package. You were about to come inside her.” His upper lip curls. “Idiot.”
“Make sure to tell Wolf how you really feel because he filled her up not thirty minutes ago.”
The crass words make me flinch. I’d forgotten. Gods, how could I have forgotten? Rylan scares me, but he’s not wrong. Imagine my father’s delight if he manages to trap Wolf with a child. He might love that even more than Malachi since Malachi is chained to this property by the blood ward, and that kind of cage could never hold Wolf.
I yank my hand out of Malachi’s, and this time he lets me, but he starts to turn in my direction. “Mina—”
“This pretty trap is taking herself elsewhere.” It’s too late. Far too late. Unless it isn’t? I snag my oversized shirt off the floor and yank it over my head. I have to catch Wolf before he gets back to this room. He can leave without an issue, can get me what I need to make sure this isn’t a mistake of epic proportions.
I stop a few feet away from the door Rylan still hasn’t shifted away from. “Move.”
He stares me down. “I should kill you now and solve all our problems. Can’t breed if you’re dead.”
The fire has nearly died down to ashes, but it flares high as Malachi climbs to his feet, eerily slow. “Watch your words or, friend or not, you’ll lose your head.”
Rylan’s eyes widen just a fraction. “You fool.”
“Fool or not, it stands.”
He shakes his head and finally moves back. Even knowing those couple of feet won’t make much difference if he decided to make a grab for me, I inch out the door and take off running for the kitchen. I find Wolf staring at a pot of water suspiciously. It’s odd enough that it almost distracts me. “What are you doing?”
“How long does water take to boil? I mean, honestly, this is just plebeian.” He glances at me and narrows his eyes. “You’re scared. What happened?”
“Rylan is here.” I jump forward when he starts to blur toward the door, barely getting there before him. “Wait!”
Wolf stops short. “He and Malachi need a referee or they’re going to rip this house down to the foundation.”
Even with that risk, this is too large to ignore. Especially when every hour counts and we’re quite a ways from the nearest human town. “Wolf, wait.”
He narrows his eyes. “What’s going on?”
I don’t know how I’m supposed to handle this, so I just blurt it out. “You came inside me.” When he starts to smirk, I rush on. “If I get pregnant with your baby, my father will use it to collar you. I can’t let that happen. Not to you or Malachi.” I lift my hands, but let them drop before I touch him. “The humans have something called the morning after pill. Or Plan B. Or something like that. I need you to get it for me. The sooner, the better.”
He searches my expression, looking uncharacteristically serious. “You’d go to such lengths?”
“It’s a pill. It’s not like I’m agreeing to surgery with no anesthetic.” When he keeps staring, I wrap my arms around myself. “Look, I know why I was sent here, and I know there’s no happy ending for this for me, but at least I can make sure I don’t screw you guys over. Malachi can’t go. Neither can I. It has to be you.”