Charity Received (25 page)

Still staring absently at her phone, Charity barely acknowledged Zeke’s question.

She wasn’t yet sure it was worth the bother. If only Kash had shown some faith in her, she would have fought any obstacle in her path. But if her mate—the one male who was supposed to stand by her come hell or high water—thought her capable of infidelity and attempting to foist another male’s child on him, what was the point?

“Charity, get in the car.”

She met Zeke’s demanding gaze.

He sighed. “If you don’t want to remain afterward, I will bring you back to your car myself. All right?”

Charity considered his offer for a minute before nodding and climbing into his car.

As they pulled away, she watched through the side mirror as Tempy’s Mini whipped into the driveway behind them, and then Tempy race to the front door. Obviously Prue hadn’t been joking about giving her six hours.

“Who was that?”

“Prue’s roommate. Tempy. She’s a shifter.”

Zeke looked over at her. “So you’re not the only one with horrible taste in friends.”

With a roll of her eyes, Charity snorted. “And you hang with the Grigori version of a man-whore. Casanova has worked his way through half of Seattle.”

Zeke chuckled. “One point for Sasquatch. But I’ll raise you one with Hope.”

“Oh please. You so want to fuck her.” Once the words were out of her mouth, she clasped a hand over her lips in surprise.

“If you were a cat, I’d think you’d been sampling the catnip,” he stated drily.

“Uh-huh,” she murmured, not buying his sarcastic denial.

“Where do you get these ideas?”

“Like I’m the only one who thinks it. Everyone knows you have the hots for her.”

Watching Zeke from the corner of her eye, she saw him tense.

“Everyone?”

“Okay, I don’t know about everyone,” she admitted with a shrug. “But Arak and Kash are definites.”

“Ahh, yes. The deviant with deficient morals and the moron who tossed out his pregnant mate. Everyone.”

Charity turned in the seat to face Zeke. “Is it true?”

“No matter what I want, Charity, it’s never going to happen.”

She glanced away, realizing he hadn’t denied it, and even as angry as she was at Hope, she kind of felt sorry for her. Through Zeke’s denial, Charity was unfortunately gaining a whole new perspective on Hope’s situation, and frankly, it sucked.

Silence reigned until the abbey’s gates came into view. Charity tensed, and Zeke, as if sensing her discomfort, reached across and placed a hand over hers.

“Charity, if it doesn’t work out to your satisfaction and you want to leave, I will go with you.”

Shocked by his announcement, Charity stared at Zeke, slack-jawed. “What do you mean?”

Zeke squeezed her hand gently. “I offer you and your child my protection from now until the end of time, if you should need it.”

Confused, she shook her head. “And if you find your mate?”

Zeke’s jaw clenched, his face tightening in harsh lines as he drove through the wide gates. “I will never mate. You need not worry about that.”

“That would be a rather dismal existence.”

“No. Some were meant for that life. I’m not one of them.”

Charity studied him and concluded Zeke meant what he said. He had no intention of ever mating. How he could deny the need, she couldn’t understand. It had burned brightly within her from the time she was old enough to acknowledge the longing.

And it still did. Like an itch embedded deep within her, she felt the need to return to Kash’s arms. If only it were that easy.

“Thank you, Zeke. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I hope I never need to take you up on your offer.”

Zeke’s grim smile was his only reply.

Arak was waiting for them, and he opened the door and helped her out of the car.

After nodding to Zeke, he said, “I’m glad you came back, sugar. Kash has been climbing the walls.” Charity crossed her arms over her chest, everything in her stance saying she didn’t believe it for a minute, and Arak chuckled. “I don’t envy Kash right now.”

Her eyes were getting misty again. She didn’t want to think about Kash or of having to face him right now. She just wanted this examination thing over with.

“Can we do this here, or do I need to be lying down?”

“Lying down would be preferable.”

Charity nodded. “I only want you two in the room. No one else.”

“What about Kash, sugar?” Arak raised both brows at her casual shrug. “He’s your mate. He should be there.”

“I kind of think he lost that right.”

“Sasquatch.” Zeke’s soft reprimand had Charity tensing, but his hands on her shoulders tried to massage it away. “You can’t put it off forever. Go talk to Kash.

He’ll let us know when you’re ready.”

But she continued to hesitate.

“Do you remember my promise, Sasquatch?”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Then go. It will be okay.”

With no other option but to face her mate, Charity left Zeke and Arak and made her way toward what for three weeks had been her home. The wooden door was partially open, revealing Kash looking just as she’d left him—bare chested and barefoot—and when she stepped over the threshold, he watched her warily.

He finally moved toward her, set to embrace her, but Charity stopped him with a firm hand to his chest. “Arak reminded me of that night,” he said softly, his eyes filling with regret. “You weren’t pregnant when he examined you.”

“No. I was in heat. It happens to shifters every seven years, but it was my first.”

Charity glanced away, embarrassment settling over her. She could still remember the frantic need she’d felt for him that night, the deep-seated cravings. They’d made love for hours.

Kash placed one hand over hers and held it to his chest as an anchor to pull her closer, then cupped her cheek with the other. “Only once every seven years?” And Charity could tell Kash was also recalling that night. Lust bled into his eyes, and his breathing hitched ever so slightly.

She tried to tug her hand away, unwilling to let him off the hook that easily. “So you’re willing to believe Arak but not your mate.”

Kash sighed. “I have no excuse for my behavior, Charity. When it comes to you, I lose my head. And this isn’t even about the child. That I can deal with. It was the irrational fear that you had been with another. It consumed me. Made me say and do asinine things. But once I’d calmed down, I knew you would never betray me—on any level. So I beg you, chérie, forgive me for my lapse in judgment. Please.”

Charity knew when it came to jealousy, she had no right to judge anyone. But while she understood the fear, she knew she couldn’t live her life looking over her shoulder, worrying that something she did would set Kash off again. “What about next time?”

“I cannot promise I will never act like an ass. I am male, after all.” A small smile danced across her lips, and Kash leaned down to rest his forehead on hers. “But I love you, Charity. Your strength. Your courage. Your ability to forgive my stupidity.”

His lips twitched in amusement. “I love everything about you. Give us a chance to really bond. Let me be a part of our child’s life.” He slid his hand down to her abdomen, and his gaze followed. “Our child,” he whispered reverently. “Mine.”

He looked at her once again, and Charity saw the wonder in his blue depths. Not an ounce of doubt. She couldn’t have remained with even a smidgen. It would have slowly destroyed her.

But there was one thing she needed to know, a question that had been lurking in her subconscious. It would explain Hope’s actions. “Is she a scorned lover, Kash?”

she asked quietly, needing to know even though she feared the response.

“Who? Hope?” He seemed genuinely surprised by her question. “Shit, no. Is that what you thought?” Kash wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head. “I’ve never had sex with Hope.” Kash rubbed his cheek in her hair.

“She means a great deal to me, but it’s never been sexual.”

Charity turned away. Hope’s behavior still confused her, but she figured the only way she was going to understand was by demanding answers from the source. “It probably shouldn’t matter, but I am relieved.”

Kash angled her face to meet his gaze. “I value my life, anyway. I imagine Zeke would take me apart.” He winked at her, and she smiled. “Now, Arak and Zeke will be here soon. Would you be more comfortable upstairs in our bed or at the main residence?”

Charity didn’t even have to consider her answer. “Our bed.” And as the words left her lips, a sense of peace settled over her. She was home again. Safe and secure.

Kash curled around Charity’s sleepy form and thanked his lucky stars he’d come to his senses before he’d lost her. Jealousy. It was a vicious, burning emotion that had churned in his gut. He, the one Grigori known to have not a jealous bone in his body.

It had taken over his mind, stripping him of all good judgment. He wouldn’t have blamed Charity for running as far from him as her legs would carry her. But she had returned, and he couldn’t be more thankful for this second chance.

Now the only question that lingered was what to do about Hope. What had motivated her to meddle in his relationship with Charity? Kash had never gotten a romantic vibe from her, but perhaps she’d gotten used to his spending his free time with her. Maybe she was jealous. Since Charity had come into his life, she’d become the center of his universe.

“Hope has some explaining to do, Kash,” Charity whispered.

Kash kissed the top of her head as he tightened his hold around her. “I just can’t believe she intended to cause any trouble.”

“Didn’t she?” Charity’s voice rose in pitch as her eyes glazed over with anger.

Kash brushed his lips across her forehead. “I don’t know what Hope intended. But I would like to.”

Charity nodded against his shoulder. “Her actions almost tore us apart. And while I accept some of the blame—because I should have told you right away about the baby

—I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust her again. Not like I did before.”

Kash cradled her head and lifted it to face him. “It was not Hope who came between us, but my own insecurities. It’s sure to be something my brethren will laugh about for centuries. Bale is the possessive one, not I. Except when it comes to you.”

She sighed. “I should have told you that night at Merceline’s.”

Kash was silent a moment as he considered her words. A bevy of emotions swept over him. Anger. Hurt. Disbelief. “You knew that night you had conceived, and still you left me?” He grasped her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“Yes, I was pretty certain. I’d been in heat for several days, and that night it had peaked. Unless you had been sterile, I should have conceived.”

“Why?” It was the only word he could force past his lips. The knowledge that she’d thought to take his child from him twisted his stomach into a knot. It felt like another betrayal, but he tried to tamp down the raging thoughts, knowing it would only lead to Charity fleeing him again. The sorrowful look in her eyes turned pleading, and with some difficulty, he swallowed the bile rising in his throat. “Why, chérie?” The words came easier this time, a hoarse whisper but one without accusation.

“I left because I didn’t want to hurt Hope with such a betrayal.” She slid her hand down his arm, then rested it on the slight swell of her abdomen, the spot where she guarded his child. “And I didn’t want her to endure a childhood like mine.”

From the moment of conception, her only goal had been to protect the child they had created—this Kash knew with absolute certainty. He felt it radiating from her, and his soul mirrored that need. He held his world in his arms. A world he would do anything to protect.

Then it hit him. “Her? It’s a girl?”

Charity smiled sheepishly. “It’s doubtful, really. Shifters produce males twenty to one over females. But until that hope is crushed, I will continue to wish for a daughter.”

With a smile, Kash placed a light kiss on the tip of her nose. “Either will fill me with great joy.”

Charity leaned her head back to look up at him. “You have no preference?”

“One of each. That is what I would prefer.”

She laughed softly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You do that,” he murmured, his lips hovering over hers. He would have loved to lose himself in his mate’s embrace, but he felt Arak on the edge of his awareness, asking for permission to enter his residence. “Arak comes, chérie.” The words had just left Kash’s mouth when Arak and Zeke flashed into the room.

Charity pulled away from him and sat up. “That is so cool.”

Kash chuckled as his mate eyed his brothers, a mischievous gleam radiating from her blue-eyed gaze. “You are far too easily amused, Charity.”

She shrugged.

“I see we’ve kissed and made up,” Zeke commented as he stood before them, arms folded across his chest and legs braced apart. “I’m no longer needed.”

Charity smiled warmly. “Thank you, Zeke. You were right.”

Arak groaned. “Don’t tell him that. Like he’s not difficult enough to live with.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled, trying to contain her mirth beneath her hand. “Please stay.”

Arak looked to Zeke and then rolled his eyes. “No living with him now.”

Kash grinned. He liked the way his brothers interacted with his mate. They treated her like family, not like the outsider she’d been until he’d made her his. He knew the transition would not be so easy for all the males. They’d remained isolated from society for a reason. But he knew for Charity’s sake the self-imposed segregation would no longer be a viable option, and he was thankful he didn’t have to choose between his mate and his brothers.

“Are you ready, sugar?”

Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, Charity nodded, and Arak approached the side of the bed.

“Just lie back,” he ordered softly, and she immediately complied, seeking out Kash’s hand and squeezing it in her tender grasp.

Propped up on his elbow beside her, Kash watched the blue trail of light hover over Charity’s abdomen, and then he looked up at Arak’s face. His brother’s eyes were closed as he concentrated deeply on what was occurring within his mate’s womb. He wished he could have shared what Arak saw. His child. He still had difficulty wrapping his mind around it.