“Come on, we need to get home.” His arm went around her waist. Merinus jumped back from him. Terror was freezing the blood in her veins. She shook her head, holding her hands up, backing away from him.
“You can’t touch me,” she whispered. “We can’t let this happen, Callan. We can’t. I won’t let you do this to me.”
“Merinus, let’s go home. We’ll settle it there,” he told her, his voice pitched to a soothing level.
“Damn right we’ll settle it,” she gasped, determination hardening her voice. “We’ll settle it in different rooms, Callan. On different sides of the house. This is over. I refuse to have a child, now or in the near future. Especially with a man determined to risk everything he is for pride. I’ll be damned if I’ll trust you to protect our child, when you don’t even take measures to protect yourself.”
She watched the anger settle in his face, in his eyes.
“I will allow no child of mine to be tested or taken from me, Merinus,” he informed her coldly. “You can count on that.”
“And just how the hell do you think you can ensure that?” Incredulity sped through her.
“I will ensure it,” he bit out, gripping her arm and moving her steadily along the path back to the vehicle.
“The conversion hasn’t been completed yet. When it has been, we’ll deal with it. Until then, I will not let you go. Brother or no.”
“You can’t keep me forever.” She stumbled against him, shivering as the soft, ultra soft hairs of his chest caressed her arms. Damn him. He didn’t have to feel so good. He didn’t have to do this to her.
“We’ll just see about that.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Callan half dragged Merinus into the house, his expression stony, his eyes glittering with renewed anger. That was just fine, Merinus thought, because she was none too calm herself. Anger pulsed through her body as hot and pure as the desire did.
“I need a shower,” she bit out, jerking away from him as he slammed the door behind them. The whole gang was assembled now, she thought sarcastically as she watched the interested expressions of the six other people in the room. Even Dr. Martin was there, calmly sipping his coffee as he eyed them.
“Good idea,” Callan bit out. “When you’re done, you get your ass to the bedroom where you can’t get into any trouble.”
She cast him a mocking glance.
“I remember Kane saying that one. He learned better, too.”
Several snickers and varied coughs sounded through the room. Merinus didn’t wait around to see who did what, or Callan’s reaction to it. Checking to be certain his large T-shirt covered her rear sufficiently, she swept through the house, heading for the bedroom and a hot bath.
“She called her brother.” Callan watched Merinus disappear into the hallway. “I expect the full brood to descend on us. It’s time to make plans.”
“I told you she was trouble,” Dayan growled, his eyes glittering with hot anger beneath the bruises that marred it.
Callan stared at the man, seeing a fury that worried him.
“I would refrain from such comments until I forget the fact that you were ready to attack her,” Callan ordered him tightly. He would never forget the sight of Dayan ready to spring and attack. Dayan’s lips curled, and Callan nearly lost his control again.
“Get outside and patrol the house if you can’t contribute something to this conversation.” Callan stalked to the coffee pot, pouring a large mug and fighting for composure. He heard a chair scrape eerily over the wood floor. Seconds later, the back door slammed with window rattling force.
“Anyone else?” he asked without turning around. Silence greeted the question.
He turned back to them, seeing the concern on their faces.
“Kane’s Special Forces,” Taber informed him quietly. “A higher quality than those buffoons the Council keeps sending out. His brothers aren’t slouches either. He’s trained them. They’ll find the house. They’ll come in loaded to hell and back to take her.”
“I figured that already,” Callan snarled.
He knew everything there was to find out about the family. Seven brothers and her father, each man confident, strong. They were arrogant and commanding forces to be reckoned with alone. Together, they would be a small army.
“If he takes her, or if he kills you, she’ll suffer,” Dr. Martin spoke up. “The withdrawal won’t go away according to my tests, Callan.”
“What about your theory on conception?” Callan quizzed him sharply. Dr. Martin shrugged. “The hormone produced only during pregnancy slows it down, but little else. What worries me is the effect your hormones are having on her contraceptives. It counteracts them. And somehow, someway, a minute amount of your sperm has become perfectly normal. There’s a chance, albeit slim, that she could conceive at any time.”