Page 25 of Forbidden Daddy Mate

And I believed him.

Chapter 11 - Malcolm

I slept on the couch, ears pricked for any sounds outside even as I dozed. I didn’t rest fully, not with everything going on. But I’d learned enough about special forces to know how to rest while remaining vigilant.

But any thoughts of that were distracted by the fact that Freya was in the other room. Her scent filled the entire cabin. At least in the larger house, I could get away from it, move somewhere it was fainter. But here, in this tiny cabin, there was no escape from it.

It was beginning to be a problem. My wolf kept wanting to drag me toward it, to hell with propriety or our dangerous situation. In this cramped space, the will to hold her at arm’s length was growing increasingly unbearable. She was only in the next room. It would be so easy to slip inside. To wake her with my lips against hers moments before I ripped her clothes off. The thought of it made my wolf growl in approval, even as I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I couldn’t. It wasn’t right. Just because we’d done it once didn’t mean we should do it again. Especially not after everything that happened.

The only problem was that the “inappropriate” argument was getting harder to listen to when she was all I could think about.

Even if I wanted to, even if it wasn’t inappropriate, I couldn’t let my guard down. Not now. Because I knew who was after us. Or, at least, I knew the connection. It was why their leader had decided to call himself Varin. It was an old fight. I had assumed the matter settled and handled. But now, it seemed, my past was coming back to haunt me.

I’d debated whether to tell Freya, but decided against it. As long as she knew these were dangerous vampires, that was enough for her at the moment. The less she knew, the less worried she would be. And given everything, the least I could do was provide as much comfort as I could. Giving her the details would only worry her more. Keeping them from her would help protect her, shield her from the worst of it. I was sure.

But was that the case if Tyr really had set his eyes on her? I worried she was already too in the thick of it, simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Right now, the important thing was getting out of here as soon as possible. In the meantime, I could train her in shutting out her mind.

I pulled out my phone, staring down at it. I needed to call Jameson and warn him what was happening. With everything that had happened, it had slipped my mind. But there was a chance that if the vampires knew where we would be for our vacation, they knew where we lived. And if they were angry enough that we’d gotten away from them the first time, there was no telling what they might do.

I punched in his number and waited. He picked up on the second ring.

“Malcolm? Mark told me about the phone call the other day. Everything okay?”

“Not really. Sorry I haven’t had the chance to update you, but things have gotten worse.”

“Fuck. So I’m guessing our hope that it was a coincidence didn’t pan out?”

“Heh. Hell no.” I gave him the rundown of what had happened. “I should have called yesterday, but I was too busy making sure we got here all right and that Freya was okay.”

“Is she all right?”

“As all right she can be. One of the vampires took an interest in her. She’s a little scared, and her arm’s pretty torn up. But she’s holding on, and I’m making sure she stays safe.”

“I don’t like any of this.”

I snorted. “Join the club.”

“Where are you?”

“That old safe house we used to use. Still in pretty good shape.”

“Glad to hear, even if I wish you weren’t having to use it in the first place.”

“We should get back to Brixton tomorrow.”

“We’ll try and meet you on the way. Just to make sure you get back safe.”

I wanted to argue with him, but I knew he was still the stubborn kid I’d trained all those years ago. Arguing was going to be less effective than squabbling with a brick wall.

“All right,” I said. “You know the route.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that alone, though,” he said.

“Don’t be. I think that since it was only the two of us, they underestimated what they’d need. If we’d all been there, it might have turned out different. Besides, if they were willing to use Freya against me, I don’t want to think what they’d do if the kids had been there as well.”

There was a pause, as if Jameson wasn’t sure whether or not to bring up the next topic he had on his mind. Considering this was Jameson I was speaking to, that didn’t bode well.

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