Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,45

to not melt for him like chocolate in a saucepan.

She could really see herself losing her head over him. She nodded. “I’m sorry if I’m being so unreasonable about this.”

“Oh?” he tried to suppress a smile.

“Sparx and Cinder are successful all on their own. I’m the eldest, and I’m still running someone else’s show. Ciro gets all of the glory for what I do. I would like to wake up in the morning and have something that is mine. Something I can be proud of. I don’t like comparing myself to my sisters, but there you have it. They’ve both got their shit together and figured out.”

“Ember, I’m going to ask you something, and I don’t want you to get offended, all right?”

She narrowed her eyes at him in apprehension. “Okay.”

“Why is it such a big deal that you do this all by yourself? Sparx would have been what, thirteen or fourteen when she was auditioning for shows? Who drove her to those auditions?” He arched a brow at her when she didn’t answer.

“My parents did.”

“Right. And Cinder started filming her whole makeup obsession as a kid, didn’t she?”

“She was maybe ten? She used to steal my mom’s makeup. Then—” Ember crossed her arms. “Then, my parents bought her the stuff she needed.” They had even gotten her some classes with a makeup artist for her birthday one year.

“I get what you’re doing,” she said.

“I’m just trying to make you see that no one ever does those big kinds of swings alone. The work, sure. But it’s always easier to do things with a support system. Your mom is a chef turned food critic. She has the connections that would be beneficial to you. All four of your family members want to see you happy and would gladly invest in you. Because they believe in you. Not because they pity you. And while we’re talking about this, you’re my mate, Ember. One day, we will live together, share a home and a bank account. We will be a family and have kids together. As far as I’m concerned, what’s mine is already yours. If I wanted to invest in a bakery for you — with you, it wouldn’t be out of pity. And it wouldn’t make it any less yours. You would be the one to make it work, to bake all of the wonderful things that bring people in. You’ve got to change how you see things. For your own sake.”

Ember nodded as she processed what Kai had said. She took her hand in his. “So, we will be having kids, will we?”

Kai sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “All that, and that is what you focus on?”

Ember giggled. “Well, if you want kids one day, you do know that we’ll need to have sex again, right?”

“Smartass,” he cooed before kissing her.

She found herself pressed down onto the couch with Kai above her.

“I’m sorry for being so stubborn and putting myself in danger. I see now that it was the wrong call to make.”

“It’s okay,” he whispered against her neck. “Just be careful from now on, love. You have got a lot of people who would lay down their lives for you.”

Ember nodded, arching up into him. “I promise to be more careful. No more silly choices. I’ll let others help me.”

“Good,” he said, nipping at her shoulder. “I think that means you’re feeling better.”

“What?” she squeaked when he unbuttoned her pants. He chuckled by way of answer. “Are you telling me you were purposefully withholding sex until I changed how I think?”

“Of course not,” he groaned as she cupped his hard cock. “I could never have that much control. It’s just getting pretty damn impossible to keep my hands off you.”

“Then don’t,” she cooed. “Put your hands all over me, Kai.”

And for once, the stubborn man listened.

Chapter Sixteen

Ember

If anyone had told Ember that shifter families were just like a typical family, she would not have believed it. She was half expecting their family lives to be more—animalistic. Especially after the explanation Kai had given her about his role as the pride’s leader, or alpha as he had called it.

As it turns out, the Masons were just as loud and as loving as the Bradys.

The only difference was the children. Silvester and Sophie were tiny humans, but they had more energy than Ember would have ever thought possible. She hadn’t spent time with any kids since she had been one herself. Her sisters were as far away