Once in a Blue Moon (Beaux Rêve Coven 1)

A flare of elation filled him at the mention of a child. And something in the set of her chin, in her stiffening posture told him she wasn’t going to lament her fate any longer. There was hope she’d agree to their union. “What do you ask?”

“Don’t give them away. Accept that you’ve become my family, just as they are mine. And that it’s your responsibility to protect their free choice.”

Such a bargain was unheard of. Free choice? For witches? “You’d sacrifice yourself for them?”

Her gaze locked on his face. “Will it be a sacrifice, me giving myself to you?”

Ethan reached out both arms, challenge in his eyes. Bryn didn’t shrink from him as he brought her against his chest. He bent and brought his face close to hers. “If you surrender everything to me, I will fight with my last breath to give your sisters the choice of their mates.”

“And if they don’t want to accept one?”

“Then they will become part of our household.”

Still studying him, her gaze narrowed on his eyes.

He held his breath, not wanting to let her see the snarling beast inside him. She stared so long, he began to worry.

But then she rose on her tiptoes and reached behind his head to bring him the rest of the way down. Her nipples scraped his chest. Her mouth was an inch from his. “Then I am yours.”

It was a dangerous bargain. Outside the strictures of their society. But then he was a troll. Already an outcast, damned by his birth. “We’d better hurry.”

The house was eerily silent when they stepped inside the kitchen. Bryn gave Ethan a questioning glance, but he shook his head. He

took her by the hand and pulled her behind him as they made their way to the parlor.

Inside, she halted. The room was crowded with men. Others. She knew because each was perfectly formed as only otherworldly creatures could be. They appeared happy to see Ethan. So, they were friends of his. She hoped he’d stay true to his word. Although now, she worried he might be torn to pieces when he told the group they couldn’t take the women.

Her sisters sat, four in a row on the couch, their hands clasped together, eyes wide as saucers. When they saw her, they all began shouting.

“They’re demons.”

“Ethan’s one of them.”

“They’ve come to claim us.”

“Fucking bastards.” That last comment came from Darcy whose green eyes flashed.

Bryn shook her head, telling them silently to be quiet. Then she bowed her head.

Her sisters gasped at her submissive gesture.

Ethan’s arm encircled her waist. He tipped up her face. “We made a bargain, and it didn’t include you bowing to my will.”

Her gaze clung to him. What was he doing?

His glance swept the men gathered in the parlor. There was over a dozen of them—dark and fair, burly and lean, all with shining eyes. Renner’s sea-bright gaze was so intense, she wondered how they’d missed the fact he was Other. All of the men shared the same hard-edged, feral look. Their expressions had grown shuttered, their gazes watchful. Even Renner, who had seemed so easygoing, was frowning.

“There are complications,” Ethan said. “Bryn was already claimed. But we’ve mated. She tells me she may already be pregnant. Her sisters,” he said, nodding to the quiet women, “are mine to protect.”

Renner stepped forward. “You’re keeping them? All of them?” he asked, his voice rising.

Ethan’s frown was fierce. “I won’t be bedding them. But they will remain in this house with us. And they have my protection. I’ve promised Bryn that her friends will be given their choice of mates.”

The expressions of all the men darkened, fierce scowls that made gooseflesh rise on Bryn’s arms.

Ethan squeezed her hand and glanced down at her. “Bryn was previously mated with a hellhound. Merrick, to be precise. And since you all know his reputation, you know that when he finds us, he’ll try his best to kill me. You have no obligation to stand with me. If you leave now, you won’t be implicated.”

Bryn offered him a small smile, and then they both turned back to the group.