Her eyes lit up, hope blossoming behind the wall of mistrust, though she looked far from convinced. “And how is it that you know this secret, Kain?”

His name on her lips made a shiver run down his spine and materialize in his ever-straining cock. He hadn't been able to fully get rid of the raging erection he'd woken up with; ever since she sat down next to him, it had been standing at more than half-attention.

He had been around a few Breeders before, none of whom had invoked such a strong response from his instincts. Perhaps it was that she was unmated and in need of a protector, or that their first contact had been while she was in full heat, but in either case it was annoying as all fuck. Not having a clear head at all times was a new sensation for him, and he didn't appreciate the experience.

“My mother kept a diary.” He rose, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to escape the room she’d unwittingly poisoned with her irresistible pheromones. ”Finish your food. I will make some preparations and then we will leave.”

He could feel her haunting eyes follow his retreat.

“I appreciate you coming, Thomren. And you, Meredith.” Kain nodded at his second-in-command and his mate, making sure his gaze didn’t linger on the pregnant woman. It’d taken a direct command to get the otherwise unfalteringly loyal demon to bring his Breeder along in her current state, and Kain wasn’t about to disrespect him. “I trust you are well, my dear?”

“Oh yes, thank you. Though this one has been extraordinarily overprotective since I became pregnant. This is the first time he's let me go farther than the front porch in three months.” Meredith laughed.

“Thomren is very kind to honor my request that you accompany him today. I will remember this.” Kain nodded at the other man.

“You’re not supposed to run around in your condition,” Thomren muttered, the growl in his voice only barely contained as he glared at his Lord Protector.

“Oh, will you stop it?” Meredith sighed, swatting his arm. “I’m fine. And if Lord Kain needs my help, we aren’t going to argue—are we?”

Thomren pinched his lips at the intonation in his mate’s voice, but some of the anger in his gaze died. “How’s the girl?”

Kain sighed, extending an arm toward the kitchen instead of answering the question—because frankly, the thought of voicing out loud that the Breeder under his protection wasn’t settled and happy was too much of an affront to his ego, even if there was no reason for her to be anything but scared out of her mind. “I’ll introduce you.”

Selma sat stiffly on the barstool where he’d left her, her tense pose making it obvious she was nervous about the newcomers.