Yet he would do it to save her life, even if it would cause irreparable damage to their fledgling relationship. Even if she would never be able to return his love after being made to mate with a monster.

Kain paused in front of his bedroom door and raised a hand to rap against the wooden surface with a knuckle.

“Kain?”

His name on her sweet voice made him smile, even if she did sound wary.

“Yeah. Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

When he opened the door, she was sitting on the wide four-poster bed with her legs folded beneath her, looking as lovely as ever.

She drew in a deep breath at the sight of him, her brown eyes widening, but at least she didn’t cower, scream, or even look away.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay.” Selma gave him a weak smile, and he could see the tired lines already marking her pretty face again. Not being seeded while he’d been captured had taken its toll on her newly pregnant body.

“You should have let Kesh mount you. He told me you refused him.”

He frowned at the thought of another man on top of her, but he’d sent her to his brother with the expectation that she would belong to Kesh forevermore. He hadn’t expected to make it out alive, and despite his rage at the prospect, she would have been in much better condition if his brother had fulfilled his duties between her thighs.

She flushed. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t about to have sex with anyone else, especially not your brother.”

His possessive nature purred at her statement, but he knew he had to make her see sense, should the need for her to accept another demon ever occur.

“Should something happen to me again, you need to allow it. Your life is more valuable to me than anything else. And if I die, I would want Kesh to provide for you.”

Selma frowned. “Nothing more will happen to you. Promise me.”

The sore thing in his chest—the place that connected him to her beyond anything he could ever have imagined—spasmed at her demand. Perhaps her need to see him safe was born from a place of realizing he would always provide her and their child with safety, but it nevertheless warmed his very core to know that she wished for him to stay alive—and with her.

“I can promise you that I will do anything and everything in my power to remain with you for the rest of eternity. But we still have dangerous times ahead, little one. This business with Naharan…”

“You will have to kill him.”

The way she said it, so completely calm, made pride swell in his chest. She was tougher than he had ever thought a Breeder could be.

“Yes.”