Breslin tossed a rock into the calm lake. She loved the crisp summer nights in Seattle, and the lake was her favorite spot. It was why she invested in a boat rather than cars, or bikes, like her brothers. Oh, she loved a fast car, but zooming across the dark water was more her speed.

She’d decided against the small patch of beach at the end of their property and sat in the lush grass that butted up to the sand. Anyone that knew her would know something was seriously wrong given her current perch. She’d desperately wanted a stretch of beach at Zeum, and insisted her brothers import sand to create it. They worked like dogs creating the area at the water’s edge.

Beaches weren’t common for the residents of Lake Washington, but that didn’t stop the determined, or the demanding, in her case.

It was a peaceful evening, but it didn’t diffuse the million thoughts racing through her mind. Chirping insects raked her nerves like fingernails down a chalkboard and waves lapped at the shore, adding to the commotion in her head.

How long did it take to run DNA testing on some blood, she wondered, as she looked across the water. It had been a couple of days since Pasha darkened their doorstep, and Breslin was impatiently waiting on the paternity results. Jace felt confident that her blood samples would suffice in proving whether Bhric was Kaylee’s father, or not.

It took every ounce of self-control not to pummel Pasha as she made her claim. The female hadn’t fooled Breslin or Zander, and Breslin couldn’t wait to prove that the female was trying to infiltrate the royal family.

As much as Breslin wished the punishment for such an offense was death, she knew that wasn’t feasible. Even in their strict realm, death was too severe for slander. But, she would do her damnedest to convince Zander to exile Pasha and her baby to a world far away.

It disgusted Breslin that the female used her innocent child as a tool for manipulation. Pregnancy was a rare occurrence in the Tehrex Realm, and was meant to be celebrated. This female had taken her blessing and used it to her benefit. She was the lowest of the low and thinking about it pissed Breslin off all over again. Suddenly, the brush under her palms caught fire as her rage flared out of control.

Ignoring the flames, she acknowledged the one blessing to come out of the whole mess. The archdemons had been silent since the battle on the cruise ship. Tristan had blown up one of Cresil’s wings while protecting his family, and if the Dark Warriors were lucky, it would take months for the nefarious female to regenerate the appendage.

“You built us a fire. How romantic,” murmured a male voice.

Breslin didn’t have to turn her head to know who it was. That deep, raspy timber was unmistakable and soothed her frayed nerves. She ignored the carnal impact of Rhett’s voice and kept her eyes fixed on the lake.

Taking several deep breaths, Breslin called her flames back to her palms and smothered the fire. She should probably thank him for coming along. If she ignored the flames much longer, they could’ve spread like wildfire and damaged their property. But, her appreciation stuck to her tongue as her attraction took front and center. Wanting this male was utterly absurd, and yet, she couldn’t manage to squash her desires.

“When are you going to get the hint, demon? I’m not interested in you. Should I paint it on a billboard?” Breslin snapped and crossed her arms over her knees.

“You, Princess, need to be careful how you treat people that care about you. They don’t come into one’s life all that often,” Rhett stated firmly.

Her head snapped up, and she glared at the fire demon. He’d never taken that tone with her. It was always flirtatious banter, not this brutal honesty. It shed new light on the male, and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “‘Tis been a shitty week and I doona see it getting any better.”

Rhett crossed to her side and sat down next to her. They were close enough that their legs touched. His heat warmed her side and his earthy musk teased her nostrils.

“Is this about Bhric, or the baby?” he asked.

She considered his question and heaved a sigh. “Both. Shite. I need to find my brathair. I know he’s oot there, but instead of searching for him, I’m sitting here pissed about the stunt Pasha pulled. I canna leave the compound until my fire is under control. I doona want more problems for Zander and the council,” she stated.

“Maybe I can help,” Rhett offered.

The fact that he didn’t tell her she was crazy for thinking Bhric was alive meant more to her than she could express. Her brothers didn’t even believe her and continued to tell her she needed to accept he was gone.

Begrudgingly, some of her irritation against Rhett softened. Her eyes traveled over him, appreciating the way his skin lightly glowed under the moonlight. His orange eyes blazed with the fire running through his veins. He was astounding, and it was the biggest reason he couldn’t help her. He stood out like a sore thumb among the humans, and she had a hunch that’s where she would find Bhric.

“No offense, but I work better alone,” she countered.

“Pfft,” he replied and waved her comment away. “That’s an excuse. Tell me about your plans.”

“The Rowan sisters will be scrying for Bhric’s location once they get back to town, but that willna be for a couple of days. I feel this sense of urgency that I canna explain. ‘Tis killing me to sit here and do nothing. I doona know, maybe my brathairs are right, and I need to let this go,” she admitted with a shake of her head.

“If your gut is telling you Bhric is out there, then he is. Don’t ever give up. Your instincts have been right in the past. How many times did it lead you to Bhric when he was dangerously close to the edge? Follow your heart, Flame,” Rhett encouraged.

The fire demon brushed some loose strands from her face then clasped her hand. The heat between them was combustible. Their gazes locked and held for several tense moments. Her body swayed toward his and she leaned against his strength.

“I will never give up on him. Thank you for reminding me,” she murmured and lowered her head on his shoulder, battling the desire to press her lips to his.

* * *

“You have to try my Rocky Road. It’s so good,” Alex urged as she held her large cone out to him. Another flash of the little girl with curly black hair popped into his head. This time she was holding a pink ice cream cone and laughing with another little boy.

He shook his head and took a deep breath, inhaling the brisk night air. The sky was clear and the evening perfect, mainly due to the beautiful female by his side. Alex suggested they go out for dinner and he begrudgingly agreed. They’d spent four days and nights between the sheets, and he was ready for more, but his sexy human needed to recuperate from their sexcapades. He felt he could go for weeks, if not months, and never tire, but her body was fragile.

His eyes scanned the shadows, instinctively looking for danger, but he didn’t know why. Having Alex exposed while he was unarmed made him uneasy. While he perused the area, his mind determined nearby items he could use as a weapon. It made him think of Alex’s questions regarding his life.

Maybe her theory was right, and he was an officer, or a detective. Protecting the innocent resonated deep within.

He met her gaze and couldn’t help but smile back. “I doona know aboot that. Is this going to be like the Larb at dinner?” he teased.

She punched him in the arm and his cock hardened with the contact. The damned appendage had a mind of its own and was in a constant state of arousal around the sexy doctor. Their nights of making love changed his life.

He had no memory of previous encounters, but he didn’t need them. His life started the moment their bodies connected. Nothing before Alex mattered. And, he couldn’t imagine anything better than pounding into her welcoming body.

The way she came to life in his arms was far greater than any blessing. She opened up to him, sharing her insecurities about her breasts and lack of sensation. Enough had been taken from Alex and he wanted to give her the world. When his bite kindled Alex’s arousal, he felt a million feet tall. He was privileged to give this exquisite female a gift no one else could.

His desire for her was insatiable. After hours of exploring each other’s bodies, he knew hers better than she did. He loved how she shivered when he ran a finger over the mysterious mark on her neck.

“Stop being a baby, and try my ice cream,” Alex demanded and practically shoved it into his mouth.

He chuckled. “There are other things I prefer to lick,” he whispered in her ear and ran his tongue across the skin below her mark. A slight shift of his tongue and she would be shuddering a release right there on the sidewalk.

“Why do you think I suggested we go out? I can hardly walk, Ice-Man. There’s only so much of your ice my intimates can take,” Alex muttered as she leaned into his side.

“I recall you screaming with pleasure from my frozen tongue,” he husked and sent a burst of cold to his tongue then snaked it along her ear.

“Mmmm. That was definitely in my top five” she replied and stepped away from his side. Her dilated pupils told him she was aroused.

Alex’s tongue swiped across her sweet treat. The way it caressed the cream brought images of her sucking him down her throat.

“What are the other four?” he asked as he adjusted his erection.

Light danced in her blue eyes, challenging him. If Alex continued this game of foreplay, she would win, hands down. She had power over his body, and he was close to exploding in his pants.

“A girl’s got to have some secrets,” she countered and started walking again.

He watched her hips sway in front of him, and the quaint street with its restaurants and shops faded away. Her miniskirt bordered on obscene. His initial reaction was to grab the drab green pants she wore to work so other males couldn’t admire her toned legs and shapely bottom. Her shirt wasn’t tight like many females he’d seen, but it accentuated her pert breasts and made his mouth water.

He caught up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Do fries come with that shake?” he asked and slapped her ass.

Pink stained her cheeks, and she looked away shyly. This female had no idea how attractive she was or the effect she had on him. She was holding back again, and he hoped they were past that after she shared the details of her divorce and cancer.

His heart clenched, and he immediately wondered if she was thinking of her ex. He wanted to believe she was over the male, but when she held back, it caused concern. Alex was all he had in the world, and he didn’t want to lose her.

Surely she wouldn’t go back to that asshole. The male left his wife at a time when she needed his strength and support the most. And, his reason was shallow and unacceptable. What kind of a male left his mate because she had to give up her breasts to save her life?

She was so worried about her scars, but he could hardly tell when he looked at her. All he saw was an irresistible female he wanted to ravage.

“Oooo, look at that dress,” Alex blurted a second later and interrupted his thoughts. He followed her gaze and looked in the nearby window.

“If you buy that dress, you need those Jimmy Choo’s to go with it,” he stated as he looked at the black stilettos paired with the red outfit.

“How do you know the designer of those shoes?” she asked with an arched eyebrow and cocked her hip. It was cute as hell to see her jealous.

He noticed her ice cream was melting and leaned down, running his tongue over the chocolate treat before he shrugged. “I doona know. Maybe cross-dressing is my thing,” he teased with a wink.

“Well damn. I wish I had known. We could’ve had dinner in Capitol Hill. Maybe run into someone that knows you,” she countered with a laugh.

“‘Cmon, I want to see you in that slinky number,” he coaxed as he grabbed her dessert and tossed it in the trashcan before he opened the shop door.

“It’s the perfect dress for a night out dancing,” she admitted as she followed him inside.

Fifteen minutes later, they exited the shop, loaded down with bags. He would never allow Alex to leave the house in the dress, or heels, without him by her side. When she stepped out of the dressing room, his mouth dropped. The dress molded to her body and the shoes paid homage to her shapely calves. In fact, he couldn’t resist joining her in the changing room for a quickie.

“Will you wear nothing but those shoes for me when we get home?” he asked as he placed a light kiss to her mark.

She briefly shuddered in his arms then lifted one corner of her mouth. “If you promise to use your fangs again,” she agreed.

That was no hardship for him, and his response was immediate. “Doc, I’ll bite you anywhere you want,” he purred.

“Bhric?” a female voice called out.

His skin prickled at hearing the name and the voice. They were both familiar to him. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he turned his head and looked at a female standing ten feet away from him and Alex. She was holding a baby in her arms, and some innate instinct told him she was a vampire.

Her presence caused his protectiveness to take control, and he pushed Alex behind his back. Hackles immediately raised, despite that she was a beautiful female with designer clothes. She narrowed green eyes at him, and he realized she was speaking to him.

“Are you talking to me?” he asked as Alex pushed her way around him and nudged his side.

“Of course I’m talking to you. Where the hell have you been?” the vampire asked.

“I’m sorry. Who are you?” he asked and said a silent prayer that she wasn’t his mate.

She wasn’t one of the images that flashed through his mind over the past week, and his gut told him she meant nothing to him.

“Who am I? I’m to be your mate,” she announced as a calculating gleam entered her gaze. “And, this is our daughter, Kaylee. You missed her birth. And, your family is beside themselves with grief.”

“Is Bhric his name?” Alex questioned as she joined the conversation.

“Yes, that’s his name. What kind of game are you playing, Bhric?” the female demanded.

“He’s not playing anything,” Alex interjected. “He was stabbed and suffered trauma to his brain. He hasn’t regained his memory.”

“Bhric,” he murmured, testing the name. It linked with every fiber of his being. That was his name. “What aboot my family?”

“They buried a corpse thinking it was you. And, they are trying to deny your daughter,” the vampire snarled.

“What? I have no daughter, and you are no’ my mate,” he declared. Bits and pieces were falling into place, but there were still numerous holes. One thing he knew for certain. He didn’t love this female.

“You and your family are all the same. You cannot deny Kaylee’s existence or her birthright. She will be accepted into the royal Tarakesh family. I will make sure of it,” she spouted.

When the name Tarakesh slipped past her lips, more memories came flooding back. He stumbled under the onslaught as images rushed through his now aching cranium. Details fell into place, and names came back to him. What stood out most was that he had a family and a home. Zander. Kyran. And, the female he continued to see was his twin, Breslin. He wasn’t homeless. Zeum was where he lived. And, he possessed great wealth and could provide for Alex rather than being a burden to her. He knew everything about his life.

And this female was nothing but bad news.

“Still up to the same shite, Pasha,” Bhric observed as he grabbed Alex’s hand.

Alex quickly pulled away and shifted her bag, placing a barrier between them. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Pasha.

Bhric looked down at Alex and his gaze snagged on the mark softly glowing behind her ear. The vampire’s gasp told him she’d seen it too.

“I’ll deal with you later, Pasha. I need to talk to my mate,” he declared as he ushered Alex away from the irate female.

Bhric’s memories from his past had returned, but none of that mattered now that he was face to face with his future.