Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(152)

“I’m well aware of the time, Z,” he said with his slow Texas drawl. His voice covered me like a well-loved blanket. He held me so tightly I thought I might crack. “It’s long past time for me to come and get you out of this hellhole.”

“I missed you, too,” I whispered into his chest.

“You have no idea how much I missed you, baby.” Emotion choked his voice. He kissed my forehead and made his way down to my lips. “I love you so much, Z. Do you have any idea how proud I am of you?”

“He…” I couldn’t quite say the words, but he knew what I meant.

Danny cradled my head in the palms of his hands. “You’re my wife. I don’t care what he did. I don’t care what rituals he performed or what you were forced to say yes to. You belong to me and Dev. You picked us. He can claim you all he likes, but you’re mine.”

I nodded through my happy tears. “I love you, Danny. You were the only thing that got me through. I saw you when he…did what he did.”

I felt him shaking as he squeezed me tight again. “You’ll never have to go through that again, baby. I promise. I’m going to kill him and he won’t ever hurt you again. Dev said the babies are all right, but I want to hear it from you.”

“They’re fine,” I assured him. “We’re fine.”

He brought his forehead to mine, resting our skin against one another. “I was so worried. When we found Lee’s body I wanted to die. I thought Marini was going to kill Dev. I thought he was going to kill you. I wouldn’t have survived that.”

“He didn’t.” I ran my fingers through his thick, sandy hair. “We’re both fine. I’m so sorry about Lee. I should have done something.”

“You couldn’t do anything,” Danny said, shaking me lightly. “You cannot blame yourself. I’ve spent weeks getting Zack to realize it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t your fault either. It was Marini’s fault. We make sure he never hurts us again and Lee would be happy with that. Okay?”

I nodded. I let myself just hold him for another minute. Then it was time to get to the aforementioned, much deserved ass-kicking. I slapped at his T-shirt-covered chest. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t even carrying a weapon. “You’re such an idiot. How can you just waltz into the Council’s stronghold alone and expect to be alive at the end of it all?” I looked around suspiciously. “Did Declan lend you that invisible guard of his?”

Danny smiled at the thought and chose to toss his big body onto the sofa, pulling me down with him. “No, baby. I don’t think he lends them out. He’s been a pain in my ass ever since Dev brought him back. And his wife is a shrew, let me tell you. She’s fine when he’s not in the room but, boy, the minute he walks in the whip begins. He looks a little beaten down. I think it’s funny.” He tugged me into his lap and sighed as he nuzzled my neck. “You smell so good, baby.”

“Well, I’m glad I smell good for what will probably be my funeral,” I replied sarcastically. “Chima is not the only one who can be a shrew at times. Danny, this is serious.”

“I know,” he whispered against my neck. “This is very serious. Rose is fine. She kept the shakes away, but I need you. I crave you.”

“We don’t have time for that,” I said, squirming in his very firm grip. “The sun is down by now and Marini will be looking for me. Miria and Dev kept him occupied last night, but the minute he’s up he’ll come looking for me.”

“I know.” Danny kissed my neck, not letting me up. “Don’t worry about it. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“I’m not that worried about him hurting me right now. On the other hand, he might have a few things to say to you.”

Daniel chuckled against my neck and it made my skin tingle. “Bring him on. I have a few differences to iron out with him, too.”

I huffed because he wasn’t letting go of his prize. He put his hand low on my belly where the babies were growing and let it rest there. I sighed but wasn’t about to let the sweet action soften my resolve. I wanted my babies to have both their dads alive and well. “He might show up alone, but he won’t stay that way for long. He’ll bring down his entire army on your head. There are at least two hundred vampires here, Daniel.”

“Two hundred and five,” he corrected simply. His lips pressed sweet little kisses across the sensitive skin of my neck. “There are also roughly a hundred weres, shifters, and witches down here.”

I tried not to shake at the thought of that number. It would be Danny against everyone. How did he expect to win? Well, he wasn’t totally alone. “I’m sure Trent and Neil and I will be fine against an army of hundreds of supernatural creatures.”

“Nah,” Daniel said, unconcerned. “Chad already detoured Trent and Neil. We don’t have to worry about them.”

I felt a burst of hysterical laughter bubble up. “That’s great. That’s two more corpses they won’t have to worry about identifying. Why couldn’t you have at least brought Dev as a backup? Or better yet, Zack?”

“Well,” Daniel started to explain his actions, but he seemed to get distracted by the back of my neck. “I didn’t bring Dev along because he already got alone time with you. I heard all about it in vivid detail. He got to spend last night with you and he got to spend a couple of days before that. I want equal time.”