Page 26 of Forbidden Daddy Mate

“Hey, Malcolm?” he asked, and I grunted. “Don’t you think it’s strange that the place we picked for our holiday just so happened to be owned by vampires?”

“Of course I do.”

“So you don’t think it was coincidence or bad luck?”

“Not a chance in hell,” I growled. “And I fully intend to find out how the hell they managed it.”

“We’re going after them, then?”

“I want Freya safe first,” I said. “Or as safe as she can be. Back in Brixton, at the very least. After that, of course we’re going after those sons of bitches. One of them’s got their eye on Freya. She won’t be safe until he’s dead. So that’s what we’re going to do.”

“I’ll have Tannen look into a few things and tell the others to get ready,” Jameson said. “In the meantime, you two get back here as quickly as possible.”

“Yup.”

Chapter 12 - Freya

I tossed back and forth, trying to force myself to go to sleep. Instead, I stared up at the ceiling, moonlight streaking across it.

I shivered, pulling the comforter tighter around me, but it didn’t do anything. The insulation in the cabin was virtually nonexistent. That wasn’t even the main reason I couldn’t fall asleep. Every time I closed my eyes, thoughts of the vampires sneaking in in the middle of the night and waking me up the same way they had last night loomed over me, making it impossible for me to close my eyes and sleep soundly. On top of that, my arm continued to ache. I was used to sleeping on that side, but with my arm still in pain, I couldn’t put weight on it and fall asleep.

As I tossed and turned, I kept thinking about Malcolm. He had insisted on sleeping on the couch. I understood why, but I still wished he hadn’t. I could imagine his warm body pressed against mine. His presence soothed me, too. It made the thought of vampires seem less of a threat. He made me feel safe in a way I hadn’t before.

The more I thought about it, the more the chill in the bedroom creeped over me, and the larger and emptier the bed felt. My eyes opened, locking on the ceiling. I listened for any sounds outside the bedroom, wondering if Malcolm was still awake or if maybe he’d managed to drift off. Bizarrely, I hoped he was still awake. I didn’t want to be alone. If he were at least awake, then I could go talk to him until I fell asleep.

I wanted him. Not just physically. I wanted to be near him, to feel the way I always did when he was around. Safe, protected, valued.

My heart thundered when I heard footsteps. He was awake, after all. It still took me a moment of hesitation to get out of bed and walk to the door. My hand hovered over the handle for a long moment before I finally grasped the knob and turned.

Malcolm spun toward the sound, teeth lengthening to fangs and fingers turning to claws, ready to strike at whoever was there. He relaxed when he registered it was just me.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

I shook her head, pulling the blanket tighter around me. “Weird day, you know?” I said. “I’m still recovering. On top of that, my arm still hurts like hell and it’s freezing in here.”

He let out a snort. “Sounds like a lot,” he said. “Let me take a look at the arm.”

I nodded, sitting down next to him and lowering the blanket. “Do you have a lot of experience with tending wounds?”

“Not as much as Klyte,” he said. “But I’ve had my fair share of near scrapes in my time.”

“Oh?”

He could tell I wanted a story, something to distract me from everything, something to make everything seem less perilous. He gave a warm, knowing smile, then rubbed his chin, eyes glassy as he recalled something. I moved over to the couch to sit next to him.

“There was this one time, before Klyte was old enough to join—hell, even before Jameson and Luke and Rand—when I was leading a group to go take care of a warlock. Nasty piece of work, trying to take more power than was good for him. Anyway, he got me with a knife. Only, it was enchanted so it wouldn’t heal on its own.”

I winced in sympathy, and he started laughing.

“Yeah, not the most fun I’ve ever had on a mission. That would go to the time when I went undercover at a casino as a wealthy human and got to gamble a bunch of money that wasn’t mine.”

“I’d love to hear about that at some point, too,” I admitted. “If only because the idea of seeing you in a suit and tie is so hilarious to me that I’m not sure I believe it.”

“Hey, I clean up quite nicely when I want to,” he teased. “I just prefer my jeans and shirts. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s beside the point. Basically, I had to stitch myself up to staunch as much of the bleeding as possible until we could find a witch who was friendly toward shifters and could give us an antidote. Still got the scar.”

“Is that the one on your side?” I asked, not thinking about what I was saying until it was too late. I blushed. Malcolm raised an eyebrow.

“Noticed that, did you?” he teased.

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