I wanted to run to him but was afraid if I did, I would fall flat on my face since my legs were trembling.
The closer he got, the more my pulse soared. Breathing seemed like a monumental task as I clutched my chest, ready to jump into his arms, kiss him until I couldn’t breathe, feel him inside me, and so much more.
He gave me that snarky grin I so loved, desire and intent rippling over his handsome face. When we were toe to toe, I pressed my hands on his soot-covered bare chest and moaned.
We stared at each other for a minute or maybe ten before he nuzzled his nose into my neck, his fangs grazing my skin.
Goose bumps popped to attention as I grasped the waist of his cargo pants.
“Fuck, if you’re not a sight for sore eyes,” he whispered in my ear. “I want to be inside you so fucking badly.”
I giggled as my lady parts awakened after a long winter’s nap. “We’re in the middle of battle.”
He eased away. “How’s my baby mama?” He placed his hand on my stomach, showing his dimples that softened his hard exterior.
“I told you never to call me that, vampire,” I teased.
“I don’t want to know what he means by that. But follow me.” Junior shook his head as he carried Carly out.
Whether or not Junior connected the dots, I didn’t give a fuck. All that mattered was Sam and our child.
12
SAM
Icouldn’t wait to get Layla alone, naked, and screaming my name over and over again. She was the reason I’d managed to break out of the restraints. It had been comical that each time Carly knocked me out, I woke up stronger, and I credited that strength to the woman running beside me. The woman who glowed like the sun on a hot summer day. The beautiful goddess carrying our baby. The more I’d thought of my unborn child, Layla, and what my future would be like with them in it, the less anything could keep me down.
After I’d torn off my restraints, I’d freed Dane, and he instantly shifted.
I grasped Layla’s hand and wasn’t letting go until we were breathing outside air and fifty miles away from wherever the fuck we were.
Ahead, Junior struggled to hold on to his wife as he bounded along a hallway that was a mile fucking long.
Layla was breathing heavily as her pulse beat rapidly.
“Baby doll, are you okay?” She appeared to be in great shape—no cuts or bruises or blood anywhere on her that I could tell.
She snorted. “I should ask you the same. What was that thing on your head? Were they doing brain surgery?” She took a breath. “And was that Vera’s alpha? Where is he?” Her pulse was extremely high.
“Dane should’ve gone out the other door, and I’ll explain later.” If I could. I didn’t know what Carly had been doing to my head or Dane’s. Fuck if I wanted to know. My uncle Patrick had extracted tons of blood and DNA from Jo and me, but he’d never messed with our brains. I felt normal. I had my powers, and my mind was working fine.
“How did you get out of that glass room?” Junior tossed over his shoulder.
“How do you think, moron?” I fired back. “Iamone of the strongest vampires.” Although it hadn’t been as easy as the first time. The drugs had hindered my abilities, and it had taken several misfires before my elemental powers finally ignited. “The question for you is why didn’t anyone see Dane and me on camera?” Rianne certainly had before I’d busted out. I’d been prepared for the onslaught of guards or someone gassing me like they had in the elevator.
“Carly turned off the camera after she left you and the shifter in that glass room,” Junior said. “She and Rianne were butting heads.”
Layla sneered at the mention of her sister’s name.
Interesting reaction.
I grinned. Perhaps there was hope for Carly, or I could sway her to join my team. Or just maybe she intentionally wanted Dane and me to escape. Come to think of it, my wrist restraints hadn’t been all that secure—or at least I didn’t think so.
“Baby doll, I’m stoked you’re here, but where are the others?”
My old man, Webb, Tripp, and Jo should’ve busted in by now. Not that I wasn’t excited to see my feisty huntress. At first, when I’d laid eyes on her, I’d thought she betrayed me. For a whisk of a half a second, I’d died a thousand deaths until I heard her siren voice filter into my ears, pleading and assuring me she wasn’t a traitor.
Junior slowed to a walk, then his knees buckled. Carly tumbled out of his arms and hit her head on the floor. Junior collapsed alongside her with blood trickling out of his ear.
