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  “And the empty buildings?” Jayden asked hoarsely.

  “I want to turn them into safe houses, for abuse victims, along with runaways. They will all have access to what they need to get back on their feet, to start over. No one will be able to hurt them there.

  Multiple safety measures will be implemented to make sure of that.

  As I have multiple businesses in Bram, I have moved to extend the safe-house program into the shifter kingdom. The shifter kings have already given me permission to do so. Though, there is a chance Arcadia will participate, as well, as King Adrian is discussing the possibilities with them. So far I’ve found quite a few companies wanting to join the venture and many willing to donate money and their services for the project. Construction on a few will be s—”

  Stephan let out a muffled squeak as Jayden’s lips covered his.

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  Breaking away, Jade rasped, “I love you so much.” There were tears in the man’s eyes as he rested his forehead against Stephan’s.

  “Thank you…thank you.”

  As his own tears welled up, Stephan hugged Jade, rubbing his back.

  “I need you,” Jayden growled suddenly.

  The man grabbed at the bottom of his shirt and began to tug it off.

  “What?” Stephan squealed, completely frazzled as his shirt cleared his head and was tossed away.

  Jade shoved his wheelie chair out of the way and deposited him on the carpeted floor. The eyes staring down into his were not empty.

  No, they were filled with heat, lust, need—oh boy… “Mine,” Jade purred.

  Throat feeling unusually dry, Stephan swallowed twice. His face flushed and his body warmed as his cock thickened under the man’s heated gaze.

  Growling again, Jade slammed his mouth back onto Stephan’s.

  Stephan opened for him, wrapping his arms around his neck—it felt as if Jayden were trying to devour him. The man’s tongue scraped against his small fangs, and soon the sweet taste of blood mixed in with their natural flavors.

  Whimpering against his mouth, Stephan jumped when one of Jade’s hands tugged at the buttons on his pants.

  In very little time he found himself lying bare on the floor.

  Stephan was almost positive he’d heard a rip when the man had gotten to his underwear. When Jayden pulled away, Stephan blinked up at him, lazily licking his lips—savoring the man’s sultry taste.

  “Lube,” Jayden demanded.

  Oh, thank all that was holy that he’d put some in his desk.

  “Drawer.”

  Jayden lifted himself up and yanked open multiple drawers—

  almost pulling them off their tracks in his search for the lube.

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  A slow, knowing grin slipped onto the man’s face when he found it. “And what would my honey bunny need lube in here for?”

  “H-honey b-bunny?” Stephan sputtered.

  Jayden let loose a low chuckle. “You can punish me later.”

  He growled in indignation, but Jayden ignored him, lifted his legs up, placed them on his shoulders, and squirted drops of lube directly onto his hole. Stephan shivered as the cold liquid touched hot skin.

  Pooling at his tight muscle, it dripped down his ass.

  Jayden was quick at opening him up. Soon the mushroom head of the man’s prick was probing at his entrance. He couldn’t even remember the man releasing himself from the confines of his jeans.

  Stephan cried out as in a single thrust Jade’s cock completely filled him. Grunting, his big man began to drive into him. He whined and struggled to match the thrusts. It felt good, but at the same time, it burned. Never had Jayden been so rough or shown so much unyielding need.

  The longer they chased their pleasure, the more frantic Jayden’s movements became. He gripped Stephan’s hips tightly, his fingers digging in as the man began to slam roughly inside him. It was as if he were trying to pierce through.

  Stephan found himself arching painfully, his cock throbbing harder each time Jade plunged inside him. His body tightened up as his breath stalled in his throat.

  Letting out a low hiss, Jayden lunged for his throat. He pierced the vein, sending Stephan’s release crashing into him.

  “Jade!” he cried as his cum shot out between them.

  Jayden growled against his throat, prick spasming inside him, washing his insides with a scorching heat.

  As he gasped for breath, the fangs in his neck drew out, and Jayden’s soft tongue lapped at the holes created. His chest heaving, the man then collapsed. As Jayden shifted at the last moment, he was only partly lying on top of Stephan.

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  Jayden wasn’t exactly light, but the weight on him wasn’t suffocating. Eyes fluttering, he lay slack on the floor. Sleep had almost pulled him under when his stomach began to churn—this time he couldn’t hold it back.

  At that moment, Stephan was entirely thankful that there was a bathroom connected to his office, as running down the hall fully nude and covered in cum would have sucked.

  With all his strength, he shoved Jayden off of him. “Move!”

  Stephan staggered to his feet, sprinted toward the bathroom, and emptied his stomach into the toilet.

  “That’s it! That’s it! You’re seeing a healer!” he heard Jayden yell.

  From his crumpled position on the tile, Stephan let out a groan.

  * * * *

  She had found him. She had finally found him. And now she would make him pay for what he did. He would feel all the pain he had caused her.

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  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Stephan stumbled out of the building that housed Healer Hyacinth’s practice. Dazed, he made his way down the sidewalk toward the underground parking deck.

  How was this happening? How was it even possible? But it was happening. This wasn’t a dream, was it?

  Stopping, Stephan pinched himself and winced—nope, not dreaming.

  His heartbeat sped up—then it was true! It had happened! This was happening! Oh. My. God. It was real! Right now, this moment right now, was reality. His reality! His body had healed.

  Letting out a loud squeal, Stephan jumped up and down—he was pregnant! Pregnant, he was pregnant. As in, there was a baby growing inside him. Jayden’s baby! Stephan was going to have a baby! Oh! He shouldn’t be jumping. He was pregnant. Jumping was bad, wasn’t it?

  When Stephan noticed people staring at him strangely, heat filled his face and he hurried down the sidewalk. Stopping near the entrance of the deck, with the plan to tell Jade, he pulled out his cell phone.

  His finger froze over the Call button. What if Jayden didn’t want to be a father? They had never talked about kids. Well, they had…but all they really talked about was that Stephan couldn’t have any.

  Which apparently had been a lie. Not that Stephan had lied on purpose. He hadn’t known.

  How had he been supposed to know that a large influx of power could cause “things” to happen? It kind of made sense. Ares—his teacher—had told him, with him holding so much back, he had stunted himself.

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  In essence, Stephan had cut off a limb, preventing himself from accessing the entirety of his powers. Every time the fury inside him leaked out, it combined with the powers he used freely. During the times it had joined, it had sent a surge of energy through him, and apparently, that energy had been enough to jump-start the healing process. Which explained why Stephan was pregnant right now.

  It wasn’t on purpose, and if he had known, he would have told Jayden. They could have talked about it. In all honesty, Stephan wasn’t sure he was ready for a child. Not that he wouldn’t love one.

  It’s just, Stephan wasn’t the least bit prepared to have one. Something he’d have plenty of time to panic about later, as he was only two months along, which meant Stephan had at leas
t seven to ten months left depending on who the baby took after. As the gestation period for vampires was about nine months, while an elves’ was twelve, he could only hope that it took after Jayden.

  Oh, Jade…would he be mad? If Jayden didn’t want the baby, what would Stephan do? No, dammit! He needed to stop panicking. The man loved him! It would be fine. Oh, he wished Dante hadn’t called Jayden in. Jayden had planned on coming with him today—Stephan wouldn’t be going through this if it weren’t for him!

  Taking a deep breath, he pushed the Call button.

  Jayden picked up after the third ring. “Hey, sweetheart. What did the healer say?”

  “Well, see, the thing is…” Stephan let out a yelp. A sharp pain in his neck stopped his next words from forming. His phone slipped from his hand, and his vision blurred as he fell to the ground. The last thing Stephan saw was the face of a beautiful woman. At least, she would have been beautiful if she weren’t sneering down at him.

  * * * *

  Sighing, Jayden looked around at the bar with unending boredom.

  He had never understood the benefits of getting drunk off your ass.

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  Not once had Jayden ever felt the need to drink the disgusting substance.

  Yet, here he was, sitting at a table next to Liam and Dante. They weren’t here to drink their woes away. Nope, they were looking for a rapist who seemed to pick up a lot of his victims from this bar.

  Jayden grabbed his phone when it started buzzing on the table.

  “Honey Bunny” flashed across the screen and a smile slipped onto his face. Stephan would probably destroy his phone if he ever saw it.

  “I have to take this,” Jayden muttered. Not waiting for a response, he slid out of his seat and made his way to the hallway near the restrooms.

  Stephan must be finished with his appointment, the appointment he had wanted to go to, as well—fucking Dante. “Hey, sweetheart.

  What did the healer say?” Jayden asked the minute the call connected.

  “Well, see, the thing is…”

  A yelp and the sound of something clattering to the ground had his blood freezing. “Stephan? Stephan! What happened? Are you still there?”

  After a few stressful moments of silence, a feminine cackle came over the phone. “Yeah, he took a little nap. Drugs will do that, you know?”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Jayden roared.

  “Me? Oh, I’m just a woman you stole from,” she said sweetly.

  “What did you do to him?”

  His yelling must have been audible to those in the main room, as Dante and Liam were suddenly at his side, not to mention a few nosy people were gawking around the corner. People who Dante shooed away.

  “He’s fine, for now.”

  Jayden growled. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to pay for what you did!” she shrieked. “Whether or not the blond suffers for it, well, I haven’t decided that yet.”

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  His fury simmered, but at the same time, he felt calm, as the outcome was certain to him. “You will die if you hurt him,” Jayden stated flatly.

  “You can try.”

  “I hate chitchat, girl,” Jayden sneered. “You’re wasting my time.

  What do you want?”

  “Hmm, you sound as if you don’t care. And here I thought the little girly man was your weakness. If he’s useless, maybe I should just kill him.”

  She was trying to rile him up, but he wouldn’t let it happen.

  Jayden had to remain calm. Stephan wasn’t weak. He could easily protect himself, which meant she must have snuck up on him. Not particularly difficult, as his man easily got lost in his own thoughts.

  “He’s not my weakness. He’s my strength. Stephan’s also scarier than I am,” Jayden drawled.

  “What a laugh. He couldn’t hurt a fly. Now, blondie and I are going on a little trip. I would suggest keeping your phone with you. I just may call you and invite you to the party…oh, by the way. This stays between us. You keep your murderous coworkers and boss out of it.”

  As the call ended, the calm Jayden tried to maintain fled. His heart staggered and his breath caught in his throat as his fear and fury took over.

  There was nothing he could do…she could do anything she wanted to Stephan, and Jayden was helpless to stop it.

  Squeezing his phone in one hand, he punched the wall with his other. Plaster fell to the floor and dust flew. As Jayden went to punch it again, a strong hand gripped his wrist.

  “Calm,” Liam ordered.

  “I’ll kill her,” he bellowed.

  “Calm down! Come on. We don’t need an audience for this. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Dante snapped. They grabbed his arm and practically dragged him to the exit.

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  * * * *

  Fifteen minutes later

  Jayden stared blankly at his cell phone, which sat on Dante’s desk as the man gathered people in his room. It had to ring.

  “What if it doesn’t?” Bow cried in despair.

  “It will ring…it has to. The woman wants us, not him,” Jayden told him.

  A blow caused his head to jerk to the side. The right side of his face throbbed. Facing forward, he glared at Lily, who just glared right back at him.

  “Snap the hell out of it and help!” she hissed.

  “With what? We don’t know where he is.” Jayden’s voice sounded lifeless. If he lost Stephan, he would be left with nothing.

  Whatever was left of his soul would die. It would shrivel up along with his heart.

  “Where was Stephan going this evening?” Dante asked.

  “He went to see a healer. Stephan hasn’t been feeling well lately.

  Healer Hyacinth, I believe.”

  Dante raised his brows. “I didn’t realize the man worked in multiple fields of medicine. Nonetheless, there should be cameras.

  Violet, Rain, find out who is in charge of security and get the video feed.”

  The two enforcers exited quickly. “Now, Jayden, who has a grudge against you?”

  Running his fingers through his hair, Jayden growled. “I don’t know!”

  “Jayden…are your parents still alive?” Dante asked hesitantly.

  Blinking, he admitted, “Yes.” His reply brought on a wave of fear from Bow.

  “They’ll hurt us!” Bow cried.

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  “No, Bow, they can’t hurt us anymore. We’re stronger now,”

  Jayden told him gently.

  “I see. Could they be behind this?”

  “No, the voice was wrong. I didn’t recognize it.” Jayden’s brows wrinkled. “They called you a murderer, as well.”

  “Yes, she did call us that, didn’t she?” The man rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.

  “Something we stole…” Bow mumbled.

  “Something we stole?”

  “What?” Dante asked.

  Licking his dry lips, he peered around at the occupants of the room. Only two of them actually knew about his monster. Fuck it!

  “Bow said it…”

  The two enforcers still present looked confusion.

  Lily asked, “Who the hell is Bow?”

  Shrugging, Jayden admitted, “My monster.”

  “Your wh—”

  Dante held up his hand, cutting her off. “What is Bow thinking, Jayden?”

  “Bow, what is it?”

  “Something we stole. She said we stole something from her. She called the rest of them murderers! Someone—we took someone from her. We don’t take anyone now, but we did. Before, it has to be from before. But after Stephan came along.” Bow started to bounce on his feet. “We have to know her! We have to! If she’s related to one of the monsters we took, then we’ll know her!”

  Jayden’s eyes widened.

  “What? What did he say?” Dante asked exuberantly.<
br />
  His monster beamed. “I did good, right?”

  “Yes,” Jayden said out loud, smiling.

  “Yes?” Dante pushed.

  Blinking, he informed him, “I wasn’t talking to you. Bow says she has to be related to one of our…previous victims. As the woman

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  called you all murderers, as well, it has to be one of the ones I didn’t kill. I must know this person, even if only through them.”

  “Victims?” the enforcer Hunter asked.

  At the same time, Lily asked, “Are you telling me there’s a person in your head?”

  After having remained mostly quiet since arriving at Dante’s, Liam snorted. “Never mind that. I have no doubt you’ll be able to figure out who, once we have the video feed. However, we’re ignoring a rather important detail.”

  Everyone turned to look at him, but Jayden was the only one who spoke. “And what detail is that?”

  Liam crossed his arms and shook his head. “Do you really think there’s a drug out there that will keep Stephan knocked out for long?

  He’s not exactly normal.”

  Jayden rubbed his face. “Oh. My. God. How could I forget?”

  An immeasurable sense of relief filled him. Drugs didn’t affect blood elves as they did other immortals. Their control over the life-giving fluid meant that with most drugs, their bodies filtered them out quickly. With Stephan being a Lydus blood elf, the drug’s effects would be even less.