Page 15

When we stepped from the house, Rhys yanked me to his side. His hand held my head as he moved us toward a line of dark SUVs, each one a blackout edition. He didn’t allow me time to say goodbye to anyone before he moved us toward the door. Once he’d said we were leaving, that was it. We were moving.

I continually tried to lift my head from his hold. The need to search for a threat was too much to keep my head down in his hold.

“You’re safe, Remington. Stop fighting me.” Rhys’ warning was harsh, making me tense against his side.

I wasn’t sure where we stood with one another. Only that I was at his mercy, something he’d assured me that he had none to offer. Closing my eyes as I inhaled his comforting scent deep into my lungs, I released a shuddered breath.

“Good girl,” he purred as the creaking of a door revealed we’d reached the vehicles. “In you go.”

I stepped into the sleek interior of the Escalade. Deep bucket seats allowed me to sink into the leather with a moan. Rhys closed my door, then rounded the vehicle and climbed in from the other side, in the back, right beside me.

“This is where you gloat and call me a na?ve idiot,” I mumbled.

The driver slipped into the front seat as the vehicle started forward, causing my focus to shift. A sinking sensation fluttered through the pit of my stomach as the chateau vanished from sight. My chest rose and fell with the uneasiness of being alone with Rhys.

“Were you and your brother close, Remington?” Rhys asked, which caused a burning sensation to form in my throat.

Clearing my throat before answering him, I responded in a hoarse tone. “As close as we could be with the age difference. Colt wasn’t like Sig or Ruger. He’s softer in many ways. He was softer. He was one of the good ones.”

“You lost a sibling today, and Nyx was shot.” Blinking at his response, the skin between my eyes pushed together. “I don’t gloat, Love. You’ve been through a lot in a short time. Not to mention, you’ve been injured.”

“I noticed,” I muttered, then proceeded to rub the right side of my head where a migraine was starting. “Am I your prisoner? Or unwanted guest again?”

“You are my silver,” he stated in a soft, soothing timbre that sent a shiver of need rushing straight to my apex. “And the mother of my unborn child. For now, you’ll reside in the safest place within the mansion.”

“Which is?” I asked when he failed to provide the answer.

“With me.” He turned towards me, then aimed the full intensity of his stare at me. “I’ve moved to the Onyx Wing of the mansion. It’s fortified and encased in reinforced steel. That is the safest place you can be right now. Unlike your family, I can keep you from harm.”

“My family did the best they could, Rhys. My family has barely had a moment to adjust since they’ve arrived here. They cannot call for help without everyone in this town assuming they’re preparing for war. To prevent you or the other houses from attacking, they’ve stayed to themselves and not brought in their allies.”

“Your family is safe for now. How long that remains the case is up to you and them.”

Turning away from him, I stared out over the mountain range as the sun slowly sank behind the lofty peaks. Violet gave way to a mauve-color, then blended with orange as day conceded to the night.

“You’re more worried about them than you are about yourself,” Rhys stated.

“I’m with you, Van Helsing. Should I fear for my safety?” Lifting one brow in silent challenge, I felt my bravado cracking like an eggshell as his lips curled into a disarming smile.

“That depends on you and how well you behave for me, Remington.” Rhys’ eyes sparkled with something wicked. It caused a pulse to start between my thighs, one that caused me to squirm beneath the intensity of his stare. “If not, you’ll find out how ruthless I am to protect those beneath my vow of protection. That includes protecting them from themselves.”

“Is that so?” I asked, then gasped as Rhys slid into my seat, lifting me in a smooth, well-practiced move. One moment, I’d been sitting by myself, the next, I was in his lap. “What are you doing?”

My voice escaped like a sultry breath of air. Rhys’ hand slid around my abdomen, even as his lips brushed against the flesh beneath my ear.

“Whatever the fuck I want,” he murmured as a wicked laugh heated against my throat. “I want to know why your shoulder isn’t healing. You used heat, yet you burned. I want to know why it didn’t work.”

A violent shiver raced down my spine as he used his legs to spread mine. The dress I wore was long, much like the one he’d dressed me in during the dreamscape. Cool air drifted up the skirt of it, merely fueling the fire of my ardor.

“I don’t know why it didn’t heal. I’ve never had a burn before,” I admitted. It seemed to appease him, at least for now. “Why am I in your lap?”

“Because I want you there,” he admitted, his husky timbre causing goosebumps to spread from my head to my toes. “You are squirming. If I recall, you enjoyed sitting in my lap.”

Heat spread from my chest to my throat, then burned my cheeks. Blinking slowly, I fought against the images his words produced inside my mind. The last time I’d sat in his lap, I’d been naked, and he’d been using my hips to seat himself deeper inside of me.

“I believe your exact words were that it was your favorite thing to sit on,” he purred, causing my nipples to pebble painfully erect, craving Rhys’ mouth and touch more than I’d ever wanted anything else before.

“I was na?ve before. Remember?” I returned coolly, knowing I couldn’t concede defeat or falter in my resolve. Rhys hadn’t apologized or even attempted to make amends for what he’d done to me. I’d be damned if I allowed him to have his cake and eat it, too. “I’m not that easy anymore, Rhys.” The laughter he released was dangerous, causing my stomach to churn with uneasiness.

“That’s unfortunate. It’s going to make your accommodations, rather . . . difficult on both of us.” His nose drifted down my throat, making my pussy flutter with need.

Swallowing past the longing swelling in my throat, I asked, “Why is that?”

Using the hand that wasn’t doubling as a seatbelt over my waist, he pulled down the suit jacket around my shoulders. Rhys’ heated breath against my skin forced my eyes to flutter closed.

Rhys’ hand around my waist lifted until his palm cradled my breast. The other drifted to my neck, long, tapered fingers threaded through my hair before jerking my head back until his mouth pressed against my ear.

“You’re sleeping in my bed. If I am to protect you, you’ll need to be close to me. I won’t chance something happening when I rest, meaning you’ll sleep when I sleep. You’ll wake when I wake, and you’ll be my fucking shadow.”

My lips parted as his thumb and finger pinched, then rolled my sensitive nipple between them. Arousal flooded my core, already burning hot with need. This asshole knew exactly how to turn me on. He knew what I enjoyed and was using it against me like a weapon of choice.

“How long?”

“Until you’re riding my cock like a good girl? I give it a day or so of you playing hard to get, Love.”

“Until I don’t have to be your fucking shadow,” I whispered as his hand freed my oversensitive peak to slide down my abdomen. A moan threatened to escape past my lips as he kneaded my pussy with his palm.

“Until the threat has been handled, or I say otherwise.” He slid out from beneath me without warning, sliding back to his seat as the door flung open, revealing we’d arrived at the Van Helsing mansion. “Welcome home, little one.”

“It’s not my home,” I whispered breathlessly as my chest rose and fell with labored breathing. I felt as if I’d run a mile without ever stepping forward. That was how Rhys’ attention felt, electrifying and intense as he forced every nerve to tense within my frame.

“Unless I choose otherwise, it is. As my silver, you’re mine. You are mine as surely as if you and I walked down the aisle and joined together in matrimony. So, as I said. Welcome home—”

“That’s not how this works. You can’t just marry me without marrying me. That’s insane, Rhys! My last name is Silversmith, not Van Helsing!”

“You can use whatever surname you’d like, Remington. It doesn’t change the matter of what your legal and binding name is now. The moment I initiated my right to you was the moment you became mine in name as well as soul. In our world, you are either my wife or my property. That choice is yours to make. Either way, in the world of immortals, you belong to me and only me. That’s the world we live in. You invoked my vow of protection, meaning you’ve accepted your place as my silver,” he explained.

“That isn’t right.”

Was he fucking serious right now? I’d called in his vow, but I hadn’t intended to invoke shit. This connection we shared went deeper than I understood or ever would. I had done the only thing I could think of to protect Bullet. I hadn’t thought invoking his protection would force me to serve him on my knees or as his wife.

“You don’t even like me!”

“Oh, sweet girl. Who the fuck said I don’t like you? If anything, I like you too fucking much. I like you on your back, on your knees, and I love the way you scream my name as a fervent prayer when you come around my cock.” My lips parted as the sound of someone clearing their throat registered in my ears.

Turning away from Rhys with my jaw still hanging open, I discovered Cole’s glittering eyes as he fought to conceal the amusement at my discomfort.

“Sunshine,” he murmured as he held his hand out for me to take. Eyeing it like a snake poised to strike, he chuckled wickedly. “Come, you’ve had a long day. Nyota has drawn you a bath. Let’s get you inside where it’s safe.”

Placing my hand in his, I allowed Cole to help me out of the vehicle. Rhys’ raised voice stopped him from allowing me to exit the SUV. Cole pushed me back inside, his eyes thinning.

“Issue?” Cole asked, violence poised in his tone.

“They’re at the gates, brother,” Rhys answered before issuing a low whistle.

Rhys’ knights flowed like the sea from the mansion’s front door. Uncertain how to respond, I turned, staring at the fence line of the property with fear clawing at my throat.

“Shields up, now,” Rhys ordered loudly. “Protect your lady, Knights.”

My eyes widened as his words replayed inside my head. The knights moved in a V formation, each raising their shields at various levels. By the time they’d reached the door of the Cadillac, it was a shield wall. Rhys slipped between the knights, grabbing me from the vehicle.

“Walk in front of me, Remington.” Nodding as I shivered with adrenaline coursing through my veins, I stepped in front of him as the first deafening shot erupted in the countryside. Rhys spun, his body shielding mine as he lifted me, then rushed toward the door with Cole hot on our heels.

“Nyx!” I screamed as Acyn came into view, carrying her in his arms.

“She’ll heal. You won’t,” he snapped as we entered the safety of the house. “Why the fuck are they firing on you?”

Gasping in outrage, I answered him in a high-pitched tone. “How the fuck would I know? Maybe they’ve decided I’m not worth taking alive?”

“It wasn’t a question for you, Love.” Rhys set me on my feet and pushed me toward Nyota. “Guard her with your life.”

“Don’t need to tell me twice,” Nyota called to his back as he whistled loudly.

“Into tactical offense formation. Now,” he roared as the other Van Helsings swarmed to where he stood. “Kill every fucking one of them.” The moment he shouted the last word, weapons began materializing in his sibling’s hands.

“Behind me,” Mikel growled, forcing brothers I’d not met yet to crowd in behind him.

Fear of Rhys’ safety flooded my system, causing my hands to ball into tight fists at my sides. Lips quivering, I started to move toward him, but Nyota gripped my arm. A quick jerk of her chin told me to stay put.

“Be careful, Rhys,” I whispered, forcing his eyes to slide to where I stood. A cocky smile played on his full, kissable lips.

“Careful, Silversmith. I might start thinking you care about me,” he purred before returning his attention to the issue at hand. Without looking back, he left with the others as a barrage of gunfire exploded from outside.