A Mate for Kai (The Program Book 6) by Charlene Hartnady Page B

you’re going to make him pay.”
    Blaze laughed. “Against his will.” He made a noise of irritation. “Yes. The male must pay.” A rough snarl. “He lay with you. Any male that lies with a female must understand the potential consequence and be ready to face up to his responsibilities. I can only hope that the vampire healers have some sort of explanation for your condition.”
    And there it was. The truth. The real reason why they were here. “I can speak to the healers.” She held her breath a few beats, trying to rein in her emotion. “I’m sure they will be just as much in the dark as our own healers though. This is the first vampire/dragon pregnancy. Try and think logically about this. Let’s just say that he agrees to becoming my mate, where would we live? I would not be happy or comfortable living amongst the vampires and I’m sure he would feel just as out of place on top of a mountain peak in the middle of nowhere. He would be surrounded by dragons. A lamb amongst the wolves.”
    “Then you would need to remain here.”
    “What?” A shudder raced through her. “And raise my dragon son amongst vampires?”
    “We still don’t know exactly what it is you carry. A bloodsucker? A fire breather? Neither? The child…if there even is a child…might not be strong enough to hold his own amongst our young.” She heard his voice catch for the briefest split second. Most would’ve missed the subtle sign. Her health and that of the child affected him . It did.
    “There will be a child and he will be strong.” Ruby clutched her belly with both her hands.
    “We don’t know if…” Blaze didn’t finish his sentence at the sound of others approaching. “We’ll talk about this later. You need to know that I haven’t changed my mind.”
    Arghh! He could be infuriating. There was no time to think on it because there was a knock at the door.
    “Enter,” Blaze said.
    The door opened and the vampire kings filed in along with several of their guard. Of her vampire male there was no sign.
    “Good morning.” It was the taller of the kings. He dressed strangely. In many different layers that looked stifling. There was a string knotted around his neck. Gold trinkets glinted on the edges of his sleeves. A bizarre ensemble. It didn’t seem to serve any function that she knew of. The other king was dressed in leathers from head to toe. She could see how this might afford some protection. Both forms of dress still struck her as peculiar. Then again, the vampires didn’t have to worry about undressing quickly or wearing garments that broke easily if one was unable to undress before shifting. For a shifter, the leathers might prove to be a tad…uncomfortable. The two species were so different.
    “Morning.” It was the more built of the two males. His head was closely shaven, reminding her of Coal. Her brother was going to be mad. Fire breathing mad. He must’ve been completely captivated by Scarlet because Ruby was long gone before he could have made any attempt to follow her. The male would never have caught her though, even if he had tried.
    Blaze had the good grace to nod in response. Inferno just stood there, his hands folded behind his back.
    “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