Tempting The Beast(80)

retaliate, but her furious curse followed him into the hall.

He breathed out harshly then, running his hands over his short black hair and stomping to the next room.

Dammit. He had no desire to fight with Sherra. He didn’t want her mad. He wanted her hot and horny

and begging him. And eventually, he would have it.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



Callan lay beside Merinus smelling her need, her heat. The scent had changed, and he felt his chest

tighten with that knowledge. He lay still, not touching her, staring at the darkened ceiling in misery. The

‘mating frenzy’ was completing its cycle, Merinus was ovulating.

She tossed against the mattress, still sleeping, despite the arousal beginning to rage within her body. She

would awaken soon, and when she did, she would need his passion, his seed. The desperate lusts would

ease then, according to Dr. Martin and become more normal, but she would carry his child. That was in

the email Callan hadn’t shown her. The conclusions of the tests the scientist had been running had come

through late last night. The uncertainty over the pregnancy hormone easing the frenzy was now certain.

Despite the earlier indications it wouldn’t, the test samples had finally shown proof that the frenzy was

nature’s way of ensuring breeding within the Pride.

His fist clenched at that knowledge. Equal parts hope and rage surged through his body. Like any man,

he dreamed of having a child with the woman who had stolen his heart. A child filled with laughter, with

happiness. But could a child of his ever have a life that carefree? A child whose DNA was infected by its

father, a child they would call a freak of science?

Merinus rolled against him, her silken hand found his abdomen. He grimaced at the rising heat in his own

body, the pleasure he found in her touch. He could feel his tongue throbbing again, the glands along his

tongue enlarging. A fucking aphrodisiac, to ensure the ‘frenzy’. Nature was having the last laugh on them

all. Somehow, she had found something worthy in the Breeds science had created and was determined to

keep them around.

He ignored the burning moisture in his eyes, his hand smoothing over her slender arm, loving the feel of

her. The warmth of her. He had found acceptance from her, but he knew she would be terrified when he

revealed the truth to her. A truth he was praying was a mistake. But his sense of smell didn’t lie. How he

knew what the scent was, he was uncertain, but he knew. It was the smell of rebirth, as light and elusive

as spring.

Merinus moaned low and deep, her hand moving lower, dangerously close to the erection throbbing

between his thighs. He was harder than he could ever remember being. Throbbing, desperate to sink

inside her, to bury his cock as deeply inside her as possible before spilling his seed.

“Merinus,” he whispered her name, turning to her, his hand going to her cheek as he awoke her.

Her eyes blinked open, a sensual smile shaping her lips as she moved closer to him.

“Wait,” he whispered, holding her still. “We must talk.”

“Later.” She rubbed her breasts against his chest, her hard nipples burning his flesh.

“No, darling,” he denied her. “We talk first. You have to listen to me.”

He saw her frown in the predawn shadows of the room.

“So talk. But hurry.” Her leg caressed his as she moved against him, her breathing becoming deep,

laborious.

“Merinus, if I take you, you’ll conceive tonight.” He stared down at her intently, watching her eyes

widen.

“What?” she asked him nervously. “You can’t be sure of that.”

She shook her head, but he smelled her growing hotter. The spicy scent was an aphrodisiac all its own.

As though the thought of carrying his child wasn’t as abhorrent as it should be.

“I’m certain, Merinus.” He allowed his hand to smooth over her cheek, his thumb to trace her lips. “The

need you’re feeling will only grow worse, more painful without my sperm coming inside you. But you

must know what will happen when it does. I cannot stop it, Merinus. I cannot protect you from this.”

He wanted to howl with his rage, his pain for what he was putting her through.

“You aren’t to blame, Callan.” Her smile trembled, her eyes glistened with tears. “It’s not your fault.”

Her lack of anger towards him cracked his soul. How could she be so accepting, so loving to a man

who had all but destroyed her life?

“I love you, Merinus. I want you to know this now,” he whispered. “You are my soul and you are my

life. I could not survive without you now.”

“I know that.” A tear fell from her eye. “I know Callan, because it’s the same for me.”