Chapter 65

Chapter 65

“Idon’t have time for this,” came the growled words as Ashley was forced to shift to the right only to bite back a curse and wiggled her way back to the left when Kale reached for her.

“I’m not going to a compound,” Ashley said with a glare that dared him to argue with her.

With a muttered, “You really are too fucking adorable to pull that off,” Kale tried to grab her one last time before he finally gave up with a heavy sigh, stood up, and-

“Uh-oh.”

-reminded her that he was freakishly strong when he grabbed hold of the bottom of the king-sized bed with one hand and picked it up while he reached down with the other and grabbed her before she could move back. Once he had her where he wanted her, Kale dropped the bed back on the floor and followed that up by gently tossing her on the bed where she decided that perhaps she should approach this from a different angle.

Clearing her throat, Ashley said, “You need me,” with a nod, hoping that it would be enough to stop him from asking any follow-up questions.

It wasn’t.

“For what?” Kale demanded as he crossed his massive arms over his chest, causing the muscles to flex in a way that didn’t bode well for her ass as his eyes turned silver and she was left with no other choice but to lie to him and hope for the best.

“Because I have skills,” Ashley said, once again nodding as she crossed her arms over her chest, copying his stance as she tried to turn her eyes silver only to bite back a sigh when they turned red instead.

“What skills?” he drawled, asking the one question that she was really hoping to avoid if she had any chance of convincing him that sending her to a compound filled with Sentinels was a really bad idea.

“Pyte and shifter skills, of course,” she said, throwing in a shrug there at the end with a look that told him that it should be more than obvious what her skills were.

“I see,” Kale murmured, looking thoughtful before adding, “Remind me what those skills are again.”

“I would. I really would, but I just feel like we’d be wasting time when we really should be going wherever it is that we need to go,” Ashley said with a sad shake of her head and a heavy sigh as she dropped her arms away.

“I can spare a few minutes,” Kale murmured, gesturing for her to get on with it.

“Well, I don’t want to overwhelm you,” Ashley said, wondering why he was being so difficult about this.

“That’s very considerate of you,” he said, clearly not backing down from this, which unfortunately for her, was going to be a problem.

“I’m strong,” Ashley pointed out with a firm nod.

When he only glared at her, she cleared her throat and added, “And I’m fast?” which probably shouldn’t have come out as a question, but since she wasn’t exactly sure how true that was, she decided that she should probably play that one by ear.

“What else?” Kale asked, sighing heavily as he reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, looking exhausted, which might work in her favor, she realized.

“I can shift,” she said with a nod.

“And you’re pregnant,” he pointed out with a look that told her that she was wasting her time.

“Which is why I plan on going in a supervisory capacity to make sure that everything goes as it should,” Ashley explained with a shrug that had him narrowing his eyes on her.

“Do you know why I’m going to Manhattan, mo ghrá?” Kale asked in a conversational tone as he reached over and grabbed hold of her ankle before she could pull her leg back.

“To kick someone’s ass?” Ashley asked with a hopeful smile as she was slowly dragged closer to Kale.

Nodding, he murmured, “You could say that,” as he pulled her the rest of the way until her bottom was on the edge of the bed and Kale was standing between her legs. Once he had her where he wanted her, he released his hold on her leg and leaned over her, placing his hands on the bed on either side of her head as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

“Do you know what your blood does?”

“I have a pretty good idea,” Ashley said quietly.

She’d been terrified that it wasn’t going to help Danni, but she’d been even more afraid that Noah was wrong about her blood. Knowing that there was a reason why she was the way that she was and that she could help someone…

It meant everything to her.

“Your blood fixed a Sentinel who’d been crippled and was facing a very long life of pain, destroyed my scars, and killed the cancer that followed a Pyte into her immortality. Do you have any idea what that means?” Kale asked softly.

“That you should definitely bring me with you in case you get hurt,” Ashley said with a hopeful smile that she was forced to bite back seconds later when Kale pulled back just enough so that he could glare down at her.

“You’re not going with me,” he said firmly.

“And I’m not going to a compound either, so that really doesn’t leave us with a lot of choices, now does it?” Ashley pointed out only to lean up and kiss his chin when he continued to glare down at her.

“You’ll be safer at the compound,” Kale bit out.

“That’s not what you told Jacob before,” she pointed out with a satisfied sigh as she dropped her head back down on the bed.

“It’s been taken care of. You’re going to be brought in while everyone is out on patrol and placed in a secure wing where you won’t have to worry about anyone finding out that you’re there,” Kale said evenly.

“And if they find out that I’m there?” Ashley asked, watching as a muscle in his jaw throbbed as he ground his teeth.

“They won’t.”

“Are you sure about that? I mean, with all the demons, vampires, and shifters that normally roam compounds, it’s only a matter of time before one of them catches my scent and then…” Ashley started to explain, only to let her words trail off with a helpless shrug.

Eyes flashing brighter, Kale leaned down until his nose was touching hers and bit out through clenched teeth, “You’re going to the compound and that’s final.”

“Do you think that I’m still in heat?” Ashley asked, worrying her bottom lip as she watched her words sink in and when they did…

She realized that she could have saved them both a lot of wasted time by bringing that up first as she watched Kale slowly stand up, looking as though he really wanted to spank her ass before he grumbled something to himself that she decided not to inquire about as he abruptly turned around and stormed out of the bedroom without another word.