“Hey, Tatiana?” Cass jumped up and ran to the door, sniffing it furiously. “I’m going to make breakfast before we head to the barn to check on the horses. Do you want anything?”
Dominic’s grip tightened, and his eyes glowed brightly with unmistakable possessiveness. He shook his head slowly, making it clear he didn’t want her going anywhere with Matt.
Anger crept up her back at his territorial response. Matt may not have been her boyfriend, but he was her friend, and she’d be damned if anyone was going to tell her who she could have breakfast with.
“No,” she shouted without looking away from Dominic. “I’ll grab something when I come downstairs. Don’t worry about me, Matt… I can take care of myself. Why don’t you head to the barn and check on Spirit and the others.”
“Oh—okay.”
Matt’s footsteps faded as he went to the kitchen, and Dominic pulled her in for a kiss, but she placed her hands on his shoulders, stopping him. Tatiana extricated herself from his lap, grabbing her discarded nightshirt along the way.
“Hey.” Dominic linked his hand around her ankle, preventing her from walking away. She gave him an exasperated sigh and peered at him over her shoulder. “What’s your hurry?” he asked with a wicked grin.
“I have to get ready for work,” she said quietly as she tugged her leg from his grasp. She turned her back and pulled her shirt on. “I imagine you do too.”
“Yeah,” he said as he rose to his feet. “Right now, I’m concerned about why you went from hot to cold in record time. Seriously, what gives? You’re acting like I’m the one who knocked on the door and interrupted.”
“Like I said. I have to work.” Tatiana turned around and folded her arms over her chest. “That’s why I’m here. Remember? I came to the ranch to help with the animals, not to help you get your rocks off. We had fun, but the moment is over.” Her chin tilted defiantly. “Please leave so I can get dressed.”
Dominic moved toward her, the muscles in his chest flexing, his hands balled into fists at his side. Eyes glowing, he inched closer so his body brushed hers, but Tatiana held her ground, refusing to back down.
“You’re right about one thing.” His jaw flickered, and his voice dropped low. “It was fun.” With a devilish smile, he leaned closer, and his hot breath puffed enticingly against her cheek as he whispered in her ear. “But you’re dead wrong about something else… this is far from over.”
Tatiana opened her mouth to tell him off, but before he could say a word, he swept her into a knee-buckling kiss that stole her breath. Kissing her, he pushed her up against the wall, grabbed her wrists, and pinned them above her head. Her back arched, pressing her breasts against his chest, and Tatiana groaned as he suckled her bottom lip.
Breathless, she stared as she struggled to form a coherent sentence, but she couldn’t. Everything burned. Inside and out, she was on fire.
“In fact, Doc,” he murmured against her lips and pressed his taut body harder against hers. “We’re just getting started.”
Dominic uttered the ancient language, “Verto.”
A rush of static filled the room, along with a blast of heat, and he was gone. Shaking with lust that remained unsatisfied, Tatiana slid down the wall and landed on her butt. She pulled her knees up and hugged them to her chest, wishing she could get control over her raging hormones. Cass immediately came over to comfort her, and she gathered him into her arms, giving him the affection he sought.
As the effects of Dominic’s touch coursed through her body, she knew what he said was true—things were just getting started.
Would she survive or be consumed by the flames?
By the time Tatiana got downstairs with Cass at her heels, Matt had already eaten and left. When she saw the car was gone, she couldn’t help but laugh. He wasn’t a big fan of exercise and avoided it at all costs. Yet he ate like a horse and still weighed all of a hundred and sixty pounds.
Grabbing an apple from the bowl on the kitchen island, she headed out with Cass leading the way. As they walked along the path, the door from the cabin across the road opened, and Courtney, the pregnant woman she’d met yesterday, came outside. She gave Tatiana a friendly smile and wave as she carefully made her way down the steps.
“You’re up early,” Tatiana said. “I would think you’d be getting all the sleep you can before the baby arrives. I don’t have kids, but if human babies are anything like animal babies, you’re gonna be up at all hours feeding it.”
“I haven’t been sleeping well lately.” She sighed as she met Tatiana on the dirt road. She ran her hands over her rounded stomach and shrugged. “Plus I have to pee every five minutes, so sleeping for long intervals hasn’t been happening.”
“Gee—” Tatiana laughed. “You’re making pregnancy sound really appealing.” Her smile faded as she saw the dark circles under Courtney’s eyes. “It’s got to be almost a quarter mile to the main house. Are you sure you’re up to walking? I got the feeling that Steven’s worried about you and the baby.”
“I’ll be fine.” She waved it off and started walking. “Steven’s a little overprotective. Can’t really blame him though. Our mating hasn’t exactly been normal.”
“How do you mean?” Tatiana tried to keep the question casual, but her curiosity was at an all-time high. She suspected there was something different about Courtney and Steven’s relationship. “As far as I can tell, there’s not much normal about being Amoveo.”
“How much do you know about the mating process or the Purists and what happened?”
“I’m not really involved in the Amoveo side of my parentage, so I’m not familiar with the whole story. Basically, I know that since I’m a hybrid, I have Purist Amoveo who hate me, and because I’m part Amoveo, I have humans who hate me. And I’m supposed to drop everything to mate,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers, “with some guy I don’t know just because the universe says so.” Tatiana let out a sound that hovered between a growl and a sigh. “So, to be really honest. I have zero idea what normal is anymore.”
“I know what you mean,” Courtney said humorlessly as they slowly walked along the dirt road. She ran a hand over her stomach and looked at Cass as he ran to her and rubbed against her leg. “All I can say is that Steven and I didn’t conceive our child by traditional methods.”
Tatiana gave her a quizzical look.
“The Purists had a breeding program to genetically engineer pure-blood offspring. I was one of the women forced into the program.”
“Oh my God.” Tatiana stared at her, riveted and horrified by this latest bit of information. “Layla didn’t mention any of this.”
“I’m not surprised.” Courtney gave her a small smile. “Steven told me it took major convincing to get you to come here, so I can’t blame her for keeping certain information under wraps. Also, the Purist movement is all but wiped out, so she probably figured it was a moot point. Besides, I think everyone feels sorry for me, and they don’t know what to say.”
Tatiana nodded, but her sister had explaining to do, and she couldn’t help but wonder what else she didn’t know.
“So, when you say you were forced into this breeding program—” Tatiana looked at Courtney’s stomach. “Does that mean…” She trailed off, unable to say what she was thinking.
“Steven was a spy. He was at the compound posing as a Purist so he could get information for Richard.” Her voice shook, and she kept her eye on the horizon as they walked, unable to look at Tatiana while she spoke. “Apparently, he saw me there and tried to help me escape, but before he could get to me, they captured him. They used Steven’s sperm to artificially inseminate me.”