Free Bad Mouth by Angela McCallister Page A

Kade and whirled toward the newcomer. The second she saw him,
     her hand went to her stomach, and she turned away toward the balcony. Her nausea fought
     to rise, but somehow she tamped it down enough to face the living version of the photos
     on her phone.
    Recent burn wounds comprised half the vampire’s face and a mass of scar tissue covered
     his throat. Clothing covered the rest of him, even his hands. He had no hair, only
     bruised, cut, battered skin over his scalp.
    Her muscles tightened with horror, and she couldn’t look at Kade. She’d been about
     to kiss the monster who had done this to a human subjugate. Self-disgust curled in
     her chest.
    A deep animal growl erupted beside her. Only then did she turn to Kade, but he didn’t
     look at her. His feral eyes were on the vampire, his fangs long and bared with aggression.
    “You!” He pointed at the poor creature. That “poor creature” fixed on her with ravenous
     eyes, drooling and uttering hungry little sucking sounds with each violent heave of
     its chest. “You vile piece of shit. If you touch one hair on her body, if you even
     look at her wrong, I will fuck you up. You will pray I put an end to you.”
    The vampire cowered, the sounds reduced to a feeble whimper. “Yes, Sire,” he rasped.
     To her relief, he made no move to look at her again.
    “You wanted something?” Kade asked him.
    “A phone call for you in your office, Sire.”
    “Take a message. I’m occupied.”
    The creature bowed and backed away before disappearing down the side hall. Val felt
     like she’d faced down a grizzly, but the worst was the thought of facing that grizzly’s
     maker. She sensed Kade’s gaze burning into her, and she couldn’t face the heat of
     it.
    “Judge me all you want,” he growled. “Hate me if it makes you sleep better.”
    She glanced at him, trying to keep her composure. His expression was granite. Her
     mind cast around for a biting reply, but she couldn’t think of anything to say about
     what he’d done to the subjugate. Kade’s cruelty was beyond her comprehension.
    “Right.” He shook his head. “You know nothing.”
    “For heaven’s sake, Kade, are you going to say you’re innocent, and you don’t brutalize
     your subjugates? Am I missing something?” She pulled her jacket off the edge of the
     sofa and headed toward the door. “On second thought, I don’t want to hear it. We have
     work to do.”
    He followed her out of the penthouse. “Sure you can lower yourself enough?”
    She didn’t answer until the elevator doors closed in front of them. “I’d already seen
     photos of your handiwork before we met.”
    “So what’s different now?”
    “Nothing, I suppose. When I met you, I thought—I just didn’t think you could…be so
     barbaric.”
    “Well, I live to disappoint,” he murmured, his gaze directed at the floor. She nearly
     reached out to him before she pressed her hands against her thighs.
    “Did your maker mistreat you?”
    He jerked upright, his eyes catching hers in their reflections. “My maker?”
    “Olen Rex , I mean,” she said.
    “I didn’t say he was my maker, Val. I said he’s my father.”
    She frowned. “I took it as a figure of speech. It’s not possible.”
    “It is. I was born vampire, not turned.”
    “Vampires can’t get pregnant. I know that much.”
    “They can conceive. They just can’t carry to term.”
    The doors slid open as he casually dropped that bomb and stepped out, leading the
     way toward his car waiting at the curb. She jogged to catch up with him. He opened
     the door for her before sliding in beside her. Kade didn’t speak to his driver at
     all, but the male subjugate pulled from the curb and seemed to know where they needed
     to go.
    Val shifted toward Kade. “Then how?”
    “Human surrogate,” he answered. “A human has to carry the child.” She tried to catch
     his eye, but he focused on the scenery outside the window.
    “A human gave birth to you?”