Page 17 of Hateful Prince
“Yes. She’s been mine since before you were an itch in your daddy’s pants, Viking, and I’m not letting her go.”
“Cain!” I snapped, watching Tor’s muscles swell at the mention of his father. “Knock it off. Stop trying to provoke him. You know you wouldn’t take the news of me belonging to someone else any better, so stop being an asshole. Hey, speaking of, where is my sweet boy?”
The puppy popped up from behind the tub, his cute little face making me smile and instantly cutting the tension. I crouched and held my arms out, waiting for him to bound into them.
“Where the hell were you?” Cain grumbled. There was a beat of silence before he added. “And you didn’t think to intervene? You could have at least bitten an ankle.”
Asshole whined, then licked my face.
“Fine, hide behind the pretty girl. But we’re talking about this when we get back to my room.”
Tor glanced between Cain and the puppy, then at me. “He speaks to animals now?”
“I talk to you just fine, big boy.”
“Cain.”
The god of the underworld smirked at me. “What?”
My cheeks burned at the look in his eyes. Hades. Not Cain. I could see it now. The mantle of power that came along with his true name and title. This man, this god, wouldn’t cower before anybody. He was a force to be reckoned with. A god with a big swinging dick that he knew exactly how to use.
Tor ran a hand through his hair before sighing and making his way out of the bathroom. He was struggling, but I knew he’d come back to me. His beast hated sharing, but his human side knew this was what I needed. And that, more than anything, would bring him around.
Twisting away from the gloriously bare-chested man still standing next to me, I moved to follow my demigod, but Cain’s warm palm encircled my elbow and he tugged me into him.
“Not so fast, baby doll.”
My fucking traitor nipples were hard enough they hurt. “What?”
“Give your man some sugar before you leave.”
I opened and closed my mouth, worried I might swallow my tongue. Dear lord, I’d thought the man was potent when he was barely tolerating me, but now that he was actively pursuing me? I wasn’t sure I’d survive the experience. I guess that was fitting, given who he was.
I’d finally managed to pucker up when a knock sounded on the door. I twisted my head on reflex, preparing to answer it, but Cain held me tightly, whispering, “Leave it to the beast.”
Before I could even agree, a scream of terror came from my bedroom.
Cain sighed. “Oh, hell. What now?”
Chapter
Six
KAI
It was the scream of abject terror from upstairs that dragged me from my sketchpad and set me on instant alert. It didn’t matter whose it was; there’d been enough terrible things happening recently that I couldn’t be sure my mate was safe. Not without laying eyes on her.
As I ran up the stairs, Caspian came tearing down the hall, heading toward Dahlia’s room. Usually the pirate wore an unaffected expression at all times. Not now. He was just as worried about our girl as I was. Good. The little prick had plenty to make up for, and seeing him genuinely concerned made me feel a lot better about having him near her.
He spotted me but didn’t say a word as we sprinted the last few yards to her room. A small crowd was blocking the door, but I could tell from here that it was wide open.
“Move!” I bellowed, sending folks scattering.
Whatever curiosity they were trying to sate wasn’t worth the wrath of a dragon. Hook shoved one straggler out of the way but stopped before I could get through the door. His shoulders shook with silent laughter that quickly turned to heaving guffaws. My gaze followed his, and I found Tor cowering behind Dahlia while both of them stared down at an innocent porcelain doll.
“Don’t tell me the big bad beast is afraid of a wittle dolly?” Hook wheezed, saying the last in a baby voice.
“Get that thing out of here,” Tor bellowed, fear evident in his tone.