PS02 - Without Regret (12 page)

Since this was the woman who was going to be there protecting his son when he couldn’t, he’d been admittedly a little pissed

and stunned when he spotted her on his way out to get Madison her carload of chocolate. Not only was she too small, but she

took her capture meekly. Instead of fighting and trying to get the hell out of the situation she’d allowed them to handcuff her, put

her small ass on a plane, and bring her across state lines. Any resistance she’d given was that of a small helpless human, not a

Sentinel and that knowledge had scared the hell out of him.

He loved all of his children, but Chris……..

Chris had a special place in his heart that not even Madison could touch. He was Ephraim’s first child, his once smartass son

that was too damn serious these days, his best friend, the first person he’d ever been able to count on and the only person in the

world that he trusted without hesitation when it came to the safety of their family. Chris would give up his life in a heartbeat for

someone he loved without a moment’s hesitation.

That knowledge still had the power to keep Ephraim up late at night even though on some level it made him feel better about

his family’s safety, but he just couldn’t fathom losing any of his children and didn’t plan to.

There was nothing and no one alive that would ever take one of his children away from him. Anyone that tried would be ripped

apart, piece by piece.

As far as Marc and his two unborn sons were concerned he’d only have to sweat it out until they made it to their transformation

at sixteen. Then he’d have to show them how to protect themselves so something like Nichol’s dungeon never happened to any

of them. They would also, hopefully, help watch after their brothers and sister whom he wished he could turn into Pytes, but

couldn’t.

His body only allowed one full Pyte transition and he’d used it on Madison. Not that he regretted what he’d done. He didn’t.

He just wished he was able to do the same for his children or at the very least that Madison could do it, but she would never be

able to turn a full Pyte since only a natural Pyte had the ability to do that.

The blood needed to be potent to give someone eternal life and after he’d changed Madison his blood had weakened, not by

much, but enough for him to scent the difference. Thanks to the meticulous records the Sentinel Council kept he’d known what

to expect when he decided to change Madison.

He also knew from the records that there was only one natural female Pyte in existence and that had only been created by a

freak accident. The woman had been attacked early on in her pregnancy by a Master and been forced to drink his blood,

probably hoping she’d die a very violent death, which she should have from the blood. Instead of dying, her unborn children’s,

twin boys, blood had filtered the blood back to her and in a freak accident that would probably never be replicated again three

natural Pytes were created.

Any doubts that she was a natural born Pyte flew out the window when years later she’d been forced to try and change her

husband, her mate. Everyone had been stunned when the man awoke not as a stronger vampire, but as a Pyte.

The story had caught his attention for several reasons.

Before he signed on with the Sentinel Council he had never met another Pyte and was desperate for any information about them.

He’d had absolutely no idea how to turn someone, how he was created, or if he’d been a freak accident. The other reason the

story was never far from his thoughts was the fact that the woman had been a Sentinel and had changed her Sentinel mate,

something that should have been impossible.

Sentinels were put on earth with prolonged life, enhanced senses, natural ability, and added strength to protect the human race

at all costs. Fearing they’d become too powerful or put their own needs above God’s they were given a time limit and cursed

with the inability to “change” in order to escape being called back to heaven. Any attempts to change a Sentinel into a vampire

or a shifter were usually met with a pretty violent death, or so he’d been told.

But that story about the Sentinel couple that managed to change……

That gave him hope and when the time came he planned on taking a chance and changing Chris. Not that Chris or anyone else

for that matter knew his plans and he had absolutely no intentions on sharing.

He’d almost tried to change Chris eleven years ago when he thought he was about to lose him, but held off.

Barely.

He promised himself that night that he would never be forced to sit around and listen to his son’s heart stop again. When the

time came, whether it was during a fight or when Chris’ two hundred years were up, Ephraim would try and change him. He

knew the odds were slim, but he had to try. If there was any way to keep his son he had to try.

It was the same reason he planned on changing Jill and Joshua when the time was right. He wasn’t about to wait until they were

old and in their death beds before changing them, but he was also in no rush to change their lives forever.

His daughter Jill was twentyfive, funny, kind and still his little girl. She was such a sweet young woman now doing her best to

help others and he didn’t have the heart to take that away from her. Not just yet. He also wanted to give her a chance to

experience motherhood.

As a vampire, even as slightly enhanced one, she wouldn’t be able to do that. So, he was giving her time to experience life

now, but he wouldn’t wait forever.

He was holding off on changing Joshua for the same reasons. He was still a twenty-one year old kid and needed to figure his

life out before Ephraim stepped in, but he would if either of his human children needed him to. There was no way he would be

able to stand back and lose them. Not to mention what it would do to Madison if she lost them. Even though Jill and Joshua

were biologically her siblings she’d never truly seen them that way.

She’d raised them single handedly since she was a child when their natural mother had wanted nothing to do with them. Almost

from the start she’d loved them as if they’d been her own children and ten years ago when she’d been presented with the

opportunity to legally make her brother and sister their children she’d jumped at the chance. Even though he’d save his children

because he couldn’t bear to lose them he was also doing it so that Madison would never have to experience the pain of living

without them.

That type of pain would never go away and he didn’t want that for her.

“Baby? Are you okay?” Madison asked, frowning up at him as she cupped his face.

“Yes,” he said, trying to clear his head of thoughts that already kept him up late at night. There was no need to share his

concerns with her. She didn’t need to worry.

He would take care of everything when the time was right and after it was done he would take his punishment from the Sentinel

Council for going against his word and changing humans.

“You didn’t answer me. Why didn’t her skills kick in, Ephraim?” Madison asked, her voice breaking at the end.

“Shh, it’s okay, baby,” he said, pulling her closer and pressing another kiss to her forehead. He noted her heartbeat beginning

to race with fear and the scent of her arousal starting to wane. He knew she’d been worried about Chris and hoping he’d find

someone that could love him and take care of him. No doubt Isabella was nothing like the woman she’d pictured for her best

friend. She was probably scared shitless that the woman wouldn’t be able to have Chris’ back in a fight.

They didn’t need this fucking drama right now. After what Madison went through losing Julia, their baby girl who hadn’t

survived the birth, he was going to make damn sure she didn’t have to worry about anything during this pregnancy other than

having her beautiful ass spoiled.

“I asked Eric, sweetheart. He said the attack was unexpected and it was over before she could blink.

There was no real time to give her skills a chance to surface. But don’t worry. Tonight she’ll have her chance and once she

realizes what she can do she’ll be more open to our world and we’ll hopefully have our answers by morning,” he promised

her, knowing he’d damn well make sure everything worked out tonight.

“Are you sure?” Madison asked, dropping her hands back down to his shoulders.

“Yes,” he said, leaning down to kiss her worries away.

“Everything will be fine, Madison,” he said soothingly against her lips. “Let me make you feel good before I have to go, baby,”

he pleaded softly, hoping her raging hormones would give him a hand here so he could leave her relaxed and stress free.

With a pained moan she opened her mouth beneath his. He slid his tongue into her mouth as he gripped her bottom gently and

picked her up off the ground until they were eye level. Within seconds the scent of her arousal filled his senses once again.

She devoured his mouth as she fisted his hair, letting him know she was once again desperate for him. When her fangs sliced

his tongue and lips she practically purred as she licked the blood away, reminding him that he’d need to feed her tonight after

he came home from patrol.

Although they normally drank bagged blood he preferred to feed her from his vein while she was pregnant. She still drank

bagged blood, but her main source of blood came from him and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He didn’t care that it

weakened him.

She needed it for their babies so he gladly gave it.

“Ephraim,” she cried against his mouth as she squirmed against him desperate for release. He had to bite back his grin as he

thought about all the sex they’d had during her last pregnancy. A few times there he’d actually thought she was going to succeed

where Nichols had failed and kill him with sex, but somehow he’d survived. With twice the hormones surging through her body

he’d probably be in a sex coma by the second trimester, he thought with a grin.

He pressed one last kiss to her mouth, knowing what he was about to do for her was going test his willpower, but he’d endure

for her.

“Up you go,” he said, gently guiding her up towards the ceiling until he felt her take over and float herself up, stopping when

her belly button was at eye level with him. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her still flat stomach, closing his eyes and

savoring the sound of his unborn children’s rapid heartbeats.

“Are you sure you want to leave me like this, baby?” he asked, pressing a kiss beneath her navel. “You know what will happen

when I get home, don’t you?” he damn near growled against her skin as he remembered the last time she’d worked him into a

frenzy just before he received an emergency call on his Sentinel phone and had to leave her.

For the next twelve hours he’d been a little more than an animal snapping at everyone and tearing through minions and

vampires so he could return to her. When he arrived home he’d fucked her until she could barely move and when she made the

mistake of letting him know that she was awake, he fucked her again.

“Yes,” she moaned loudly, obviously loving the memory of what he did to her if the scent of her increased arousal was any

indication.

He ran his the tip of his tongue from her navel down through her wet neatly trimmed curls and over her slit, earning a cry of

ecstasy from Madison before he pulled away. He savored the taste of her as his eyes latched onto heaven on earth, making his

breaths come faster.

A slight burning sensation let him know that his eyes had shifted to a fiery red and he didn’t even bother sending his fangs back

once they dropped.

“When I get home,” he growled, sliding his hands between her knees and pulling them apart and over his shoulders, “I’d better

find you on the bed, on your hands and knees, wet and ready for me.”

Chapter 9

“Oh my god! Get your hand off my ass!” Isabella practically screeched as she reached back to swat at the hand that was on her

ass just as it gently squeezed.

She gasped.

He groaned.

She may have moaned.

What the hell?

Somehow she managed to sidestep out of his grasp and away from the car door he was trying to shove her through.

“Get in,” he bit out, looking pretty pissed. If anyone should be pissed it should be her!

They’d kidnapped her, dragged her to the other side of the country without her permission, probably drugged her and set up an

elaborate farce to screw with her head and the bastard glaring daggers at her couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her ass and he

was acting like it was somehow her fault.

What. A. Jerk.

“Listen, Munchkin,” he bit out, stepping closer and leaving her with no choice but to back up until her back hit the side of the

small SUV, “I’ve gotten maybe two hours of sleep in the last two weeks. I’m exhausted and in absolutely no mood for your

bullshit. Whether you know it or not you have a job you’re supposed to be doing and somehow managed to avoid, which is

making my job a hell of a lot harder than it should be.”

“So, unless you’re going to open that pretty little mouth of yours and start telling me what I want to hear I suggest you shut up

and get your adorable little ass in the car and give me a fucking break,” he said in a cold even voice that left her even more

confused and slightly more turned on and wondering what happened to the easy going guy persona he had going a few minutes