A Kategan Alphas Christmas Special: Featuring Vane and Sarina (The Kategan Alphas Book 7) Read Free Page B

escaped her as tight muscles in her legs and back relaxed for the
first time that day.
    After
a long while, Sarina realized her mate had yet to resume speaking. Peeking
through one eye, she spied him. He’d moved much, much closer and she hadn’t
even realized it. Darn that man and his cat-like reflexes. His cheeks were
flushed, as they always were when he was aroused. His lips were moist as if
he’d recently wet them with his tongue—a tongue she knew first and
foremost was soft when he used it on certain delicate parts of her. Sarina
quickly closed her peeping eyelid.
    “You
were saying, Vane, my dear?” She kept her voice firm and authoritative. Someone
had to stay in charge here and better for it to be her.
    He
cleared his throat and the air stirred as he hunched down beside the bath.
Water splashed. His hand dipped into the steamy water. Sarina swallowed over
the lump in her throat. It took everything in her to remain strong and not look
to see what he was up to. But the last thing she wanted to do was give him the
satisfaction of knowing she was curious about anything he did.
    “What
was I talking about?” He sounded distracted.
    Sarina
finally did turn a glare on him, only to find him completely devouring her
breasts with his ravenous gaze. From there his heated gaze drifted down to her
stomach, then further to her legs before making rounds all over again.
    “You
said you wanted to talk,” Sarina prompted him. Had her voice grown husky?
    A
grunt. “Right.” He cleared his throat.
    A
finger touched her outer thigh. Sarina hissed at him. “No touching!”
    He
frowned in disappointment. “What were we talking about?”
    Sarina
gazed to the heavens for patience. “We were going to discuss the fact that I
want a baby and you don’t.” Her voice cracked at the end, betraying her
emotions.
    “ Lumara …” he began gently.
    “Don’t!”
Sarina stopped him before he could start. “Don’t you even try to sweet talk me and   soften me
up. The only words out of your mouth had better be an explanation.”
    And
it better be a good one.
    Vane
grew contemplative.
    Sarina
held her breath while her heart beat furiously fast. Her lips quivered and it
was all she could do not to cry. But she didn’t want him to know how badly this
affected her. She needed to stay strong and keep her emotions in check.
    “Remember
after you had Vince…” Vane began after a long while.
    Sarina
nodded. Of course she did. He might as well have asked if she remembered the
day they were mated…or the first time they made love. She remembered everything
from the pregnancy, to the birth, to the chaotic aftermath when their child was
stolen from them. Tears filled her eyes but she rapidly splashed her face with
water to hide the evidence.
    “He
was the most perfect thing I’d ever seen. First you entered my life, then you
brought him into mine and it was as if…everything had finally settled into
line. Like it was meant to. You’ve made me a happy lykaen, Sarina.”
    She
nodded but turned her head to the tub wall so he couldn’t see the emotion on
her face. It was too raw. Too painful.
    “But
when those…demented sons of bitches stole our son from our own land, I’d never
felt more helpless in my whole life. I couldn’t find him. I couldn’t save him.”
Beneath the water his hand found hers and clasped it. This time, she clung
back. “I had no control over anything. I had to wait to find out if he was dead
or alive. Sarina, I…” he shook his head slowly side to side. “I don’t think I
could do that again.”
    “But
they’re all dead,” Sarina tried to explain, tears flowing freely down her
cheeks. “Everything is fine now. No one will hurt us again.” Even she wasn’t
sure if she believed it or not.
    “For
how long? Something inevitably goes wrong, lumara .
And if I can’t protect you and our children…then I don’t know what to do.” He
shook his head, sorrow heavy in his eyes.
    “But
we have help. We