A Forbidden Taking (24 page)

Beau dropped to the ground, his
body spent. He managed to move the sword away before he impaled himself on it.
Megan held him up before his face planted in the dirt.

“I’m exhausted,
mon amour
.
I need rest. Take me to shelter and I will rest there.”

“Oh no you don’t, big boy. I need
you to get up. I’m so not staying in this place until we get a serious cleaning
crew to come in. That place is nasty.”

He chuckled. Leave it to his mate
to make him laugh at a time like this. Beau looked up when Aaron and his band
of merry men, as Megan had called them, came into view.

“Ah, master. Now you show up?
Merde
,
but the work, it is complete now.” He tried to stand and found that he
couldn’t. “You will have to take my gratitude from here, sire. I find that I’m
too…” He felt the ground kiss his face before he passed out.

~Chapter 27~

Aaron watched the man sleep. He’d
been that way for nearly a week. He’d only just managed to get him and his mate
to the mansion before the others, starving vampires and humans, came upon them.
Beau was going to have his work cut out for him. Aaron knew the moment Megan
returned to the house.

It was strange for Aaron to have a
female child. Not of his blood, but of his bond. Megan had not been made by him,
but the moment she came into his keeping without a maker she’d become his. He
didn’t mind nearly as much as he let on. She was a brilliant woman and he
actually enjoyed sparring with her. But not even under threat of death would he
tell her.

“How was your day? Did you manage
to kill any unsuspecting people today?” He didn’t even turn around when he
spoke to her.

“No. Damn it. Why don’t you come
to the clinic tomorrow night and I’ll see if you are filled with that gooey
stuffing like your namesake is?” She flopped down in the chair beside him. “I
hear Dingdongs are filled with sugar and lard…I can see the lard stuff, but
sugar? Nope, not you.”

They sat in companionable quiet
for some time. The ticking of the clock was all the sound he could hear. He
could feel her mind working and waited for her to speak.

“Aaron, that man, Samuel? He never
believed I killed his child, did he? He was just trying to get you to give me
to him.” Aaron waited. He knew she had more. “Why didn’t you give me to him?
You could have. It was well within your rights.”

Aaron took her hand in his. “I’ve
lived a great many years. Not all of them with family and friends around. And
most of them in the pursuit of my next victim. I knew what Samuel was. I knew
what he’d do to you if you were to go to him as well. At one time…well, that’s
for another time. I couldn’t let him destroy you, Megan. Had I done that what
would have become of my family? Of Beau here or of the others?”

She snorted. “Probably gone on to
live a much happier life. You certainly are a mushy vampire, aren’t you, King
Dingdong?”

He growled at her. Damned girl, he
really didn’t know why she persisted in calling him Dingdong. And if it wasn’t
that, it was King Dingdong. Aaron smiled now. He’d had Duncan get him a package
of them and had watched Sara eat them. Hummm, okay, maybe Megan calling him
that wasn’t so bad after all. She did introduce him to something Sara could eat
and he could enjoy as much as a cheeseburger and fries. He sat up suddenly.
Maybe Sara would enjoy a burger and then for dessert one of those creamy
concoctions. He decided to find out.

“Your mate is resting easier now.
He should rise soon. Oh, and the house you have acquired? It’s ready for you. Good
job getting it ready for him. He has a lot to do now that he’s master.”

Megan stood when he did. She
looked…well, he was thinking uncertain, but that couldn’t be right. He’d never
met anyone more sure of herself than this girl. It bordered on arrogance at
times. When she reached out and hugged him he suddenly knew that she was. He
pulled her back and looked at her tears.

“Oh child, he will be fine. Beau
has done this before and has been brilliant at it. You’ve nothing to worry
about.” He brushed away a tear. “Come now, if he wakes and finds you in my arms
he’ll be most displeased with me.”

“He already is. Aaron, get away
from my mate.” They both turned to the bed when the man there growled at them.
“Can I not leave you alone for ten minutes,
mon amour
, and you are in
the arms of another? Come here,
femme de la mine
. I’ve a need for your
body next to mine.”

Aaron left the chamber when Megan
told Beau that she was not his woman and he’d just better get that out of his
vocabulary right now. He went in search of his own woman.

He found her in the nursery. She
was asleep in the rocker that had been Mac’s and Lizzy’s when they were
children. His son Daniel was awake at her breast. He was nursing again and
Aaron touched his small head as he continued with his dinner.

“You are so precious to me. All of
you. I would have met the sun by now had it not been for your mamma.” Aaron
spoke softly as he watched them. “I have so many things to be thankful for, my
family mostly, and my friends. You, dear one, are the continuation of me and
mine. You and your sister and brother will carry on where I will leave off.”

“You going somewhere that I don’t
know about?” He looked up at Sara as she spoke. “If you are and think I’ll let
you, then you’re are in for a staking, just so you know.”

He kissed her gently on the mouth.
“No, not leaving you. I have plenty more to do. Many more lives to touch. And I
think I’m enjoying the ride. Are you?”

She kissed his mouth and stood up.
When she walked to the crib and lay a now sleeping Daniel into it she turned
back to him.

“Yes. I love to ride. The children
are abed and the baby is fed. Why don’t you let me show you how much I enjoy
the ride?”

He stood when she reached out for
his hand. He grinned. “Why don’t I go down and see if there are any more of
those chocolaty things from yesterday? I’m betting you’ll need them before
long.”

“Oh, honey, way ahead of you.
There’s a brand new box right next to the bed.”

Aaron was practically skipping
down to their chamber.

About the Author

I woke up one morning and decided
to give play time to the people in my head who were keeping me awake. Little
did I know that they would be so relentless and want their time right now! I
wrote for the pure joy of it and to entertain my family and friends. But mostly
it was to get more than an hour of sleep without a story playing out. Of
course, the more I write, the more they want. So…well, as a result of sleepless
days (I work through the night as a gun toting grandma – nope not a vigilantly
but an armed security guard) I have lots of stories written.

Hello! My name is Kathi Barton and
I’m an author. I have been married to my very best friend Sonny for at times
seems several lifetimes – in a good way, honey. And together we have three
wonderful children and then the ones we brought into the world - Paul and Dale
Barton, Jason and Wendy Barton and Danielle and Ben Conklin. They have given us
seven of the greatest treasures on Earth. They don’t live at home seven days a
week! No, seriously, seven grandchildren – Gavin, Spring, Ben, Trinity, Sarah,
Kelly and Kian.

Follow Kathi on her blog:
http://kathisbartonauthor.blogspot.com/