empty jar of mayonnaise
and the lettuce and tomatoes. «You must be hungry. You didn't eat much at Last Meal.»
«Oh, yeah… no, I'm not…» His stomach put the kibosh on the lie by growling like the empty
beast it was. Bastard.
Bella shook her head and went back at the turkey's breast. «Get yourself a plate and have a seat.»
Okay, this was the last thing he needed. Better to be buried alive than sit alone in the kitchen
with her as she prepared food for him with her beautiful hands.
«Phury,» she said without looking up. «Plate. Seat. Now.»
He complied because in spite of the fact that he came from a warrior bloodline and he was a
member of the Brotherhood and he outweighed her by a good hundred pounds, he was lame and
weak when it came to her. His twin's shellan… his twin's pregnant shellan . . . was not someone
Phury could deny.
After sliding a plate over next to hers, he sat down across the granite island and told himself not
to look at her hands. He'd be okay as long as he didn't look at her long, elegant fingers and her
short, buffed nails and the way-
Shit.
«I swear,» she said as she sliced more breast meat off, «Zsadist wants me big as a house. Another
thirteen months of him pestering me to eat and I won't fit into the swimming pool. I can barely
get my pants on anymore.»
«You look good.» Hell, she looked perfect, with her long dark hair and her sapphire eyes and her
tall, fit body. The young inside of her didn't show beneath her baggy shirt, but the pregnancy was
obvious in her glowing skin and the way her hand frequently went to her lower belly.
Her condition was also evident in the anxiety behind Z's eyes whenever he was around her. As
vampire pregnancies carried high maternal/fetal death rates, they were a blessing and a curse for
the hellren who had bonded with his mate.
«Do you feel okay?» Phury asked. After all, Z wasn't the only one worried about her.
«Pretty much. I get tired, but it's not all that bad.» She licked her fingertips, then grabbed the
mayonnaise jar. As she fished around inside, the knife made a rattling noise, like a coin being
shaken around. «Z's driving me nuts, though. He's refusing to feed.»
Phury remembered what her blood tasted like and looked away as his fangs elongated. There was
no nobility in what he felt for her, none at all, and as a male who had always prided himself on
his honorable nature, he couldn't reconcile his emotions to his principles.
And what was doing on his end was definitely not reciprocated. She'd fed him that one time
because he'd needed it desperately and because she was a female of worth. It had not been
because she was driven to sustain him or because she craved him.
No, all of that was for his twin. From the first night she'd met Z, he'd captivated her, and fate had
provided that she be the one who truly saved him from the hell he'd been locked in. Phury may
have rescued Z's body from that century of being a blood slave, but Bella had resurrected his
spirit.
Which was, of course, just one more reason to love her.
Damn, he wished he had some red smoke on him. He'd left his frickin' stash upstairs.
«So how are you doing?» she asked as she dealt out thin slices of turkey, then layered on lettuce
leaves. «Is that new prosthesis still giving you problems?»
«It's a little better, thanks.» Technology these days was light-years ahead of what he'd had a
century ago, but considering all the fighting he did, his lost lower leg was a constant
management issue.
Lost leg… yeah, he'd lost it, all right. Shot it off to get Z away from that sick bitch Mistress of
his. The sacrifice had been worth it. Just like the sacrifice of his happiness was worth Z being
with the female they both loved.
Bella topped the sandwiches with bread and slid his plate across the granite. «Here you go.»
«This is just what I needed.» He savored the moment as he sank his front teeth into the thing, the
soft bread giving way like flesh. While swallowing, he was struck with a sad joy that she had
prepared this food for his belly, and she had done it with a certain kind of love.
«Good. I'm glad.» She bit into her own sandwich.
«So… I've wanted to ask you something for a day or so.»
«Oh? What?»
«I've been working down at Safe Place with Marissa, as you know. It's such a great organization,
full of great people…» There was a
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