#6 Chosen by the Vampire Kings: BBW Romance (Part 6: New Moon) by Charlene Hartnady Page B

hard.
    Tanya
winced, glancing down at where he clasped her poor fingers. “Hello! I break
remember?”
    “Sorry.”
He eased his hold.
    “Brant
is right, you are coming home with us and we’re mating come the new moon.” Zane
scowled at her. “Both of us,” he growled. She could see that he expected her to
disagree and he was right.
    “No.
Nothing has changed. You are both still pig headed royals. Both too dominant to
ever be able to both take me as a mate. Too freaking dominant to both rule the
covens. Are you telling me that one of you has conceded?”
    They
both looked away. Brant’s jaw locked. Zane looked sheepish for a few beats
before trying to entwine his fingers in hers. The IV got in the way so he
stroked the top of her hand instead.  
    “I
thought so,” she said trying not to sound so disappointed.
    “We
will make it work,” Brant said.
    “Let’s
give it a little time,” Zane added.
    “Where
have I heard that before? It’s not going to happen.” She shook her head trying
hard not to cry. “It won’t be long and you’ll be at each other’s throats again.
I don’t want to raise a child under those conditions. I know how it feels to…”
She knew all too well what growing up in an unhappy home felt like. “Never
mind.” She didn’t have the strength right now.
    Neither
male even tried to tell her that she had it wrong.
     She
chewed her lip. So tempted to give them another chance, but how could she? “It
won’t work.”
    “At
least come back with us. We don’t want you working right now.”  Brant looked
over at Zane. “Not after what happened.” His eyes turned stormy.
    “Yeah,”
Zane said. “Too much stress won’t be good for the baby. Stephany and Charlotte
will take care of you. You should not be alone right now.” He glanced back at Brant.
    “Please,
we have discussed this. It would be for the best,” Brant said.
    “I
can take care of myself.”
    “Think
of the baby.” Zane raised his eyebrows.
    “You
need rest and care. The doctors will tell you. They have already spoken with
us. You need to be in bed for a week…maybe more and will need to take it easy.”
Brant leaned in a little closer.
    “At
least until we mate, at which point you will grow stronger.” Zane narrowed his
eyes looking deep into hers.
    “There
will be no mating.” She couldn’t disagree with needing bed rest, though she’d
be sure to confirm it with the doctor first.
    “Please,
Cenwein. Just come back with us. The new moon isn’t for another week. If we
mess up, then you can always change your mind.”
    “I
want my own room.”
    “Done,”
Zane said.
    “No
sex.”
    “The
doctor said that you will be fine by the new moon, but until then it’s strict
bed rest…no sex”—Brant conceded looking miserable—“It would be for the best for
both of you.”
    “It’s
not about what the doctor said dummy. Even if he’d told me hours of sweaty,
hard core sex was perfectly okay, the no sex rule would still apply.” His jaw
tightened. “I’ll go back with you for the sake of the baby, but we are no
longer in a relationship and that still stands.” It hurt her to say it but she
had to stick to her guns. Needed her feelings to be clear.
    “We
can discuss it.”
    She
never thought she’d ever hear Zane say those words and was momentarily stunned.
After blinking a few times, she managed to get her vocal cords to work again.
“Unless you can prove to me that you can get along and this can work, all bets
are off. And by work I mean double king size bed and all or”—she paused—“nothing.
Once I’ve had my bed rest, I’ll go back to my apartment.”
    The
males locked eyes. Something they were doing far too often for her liking
because she got the feeling that they were in cahoots to win her back. A short
term truce of sorts, all hell would break loose the moment she mated them
though. Tanya refused to believe their so called friendship went any deeper
than that. She really didn’t