Vampire Coven Book 3: A Vampire's Embrace Read Online Free PDF Page B

small could make such a big stink. Thank goodness Cecily had never seen him like that.
    There had to be a way to strip this female from her furs and wash her without her freezing to death. There had to be somewhere she made camp. Not everything would be covered in shit. Please not everything. Rhett decided to wait it out. She would have to eat and drink some time.
    The female’s heart had calmed with her victory. Something was there that wasn’t before. The woman’s heart must have been hammering too hard for Rhett to hear earlier. Thump, thump… thump, thump, thump … Another heartbeat. Rhett listened. No she wasn’t pregnant. The noise was coming from another direction.
    Rhett landed a few paces from the woman. It was his turn to be smug. There was only one reason a woman would behave the way she was.
    “Come out, come out, wherever you are, little baby seal.”
    The woman screamed as Rhett took off.

Chapter 2
    It took Rhett all of three seconds to find his little prey. He could hear the child’s mother screaming for him not to hurt her child. Threats, pleas, sobbing filled his ears. Entering into another small chamber, Rhett could see the meager way the woman lived. There was no food to be seen, no furniture. Only a small place for them to lay their heads, it was pitiful. The minute child was curled into a ball covered in fur near a fire. Thankfully, the child didn’t stink. From the steady even breathing, he surmised the child to be asleep.
    Crouching, he bundled the little thing into his arms. It was almost weightless. He was gone from the room in a moment. He’d let the smelly little hellfire of a mother stew for a while. Rhett took the child out into the sunshine. He knew glacier dwellers went out little, females if at all. He wondered if the child had ever felt the sun on its face.
    Cradling the child to his chest he was able to hold it in one arm while slipping the hood back. Rhett almost fell to his knees. The girl was six or seven. Dirty long brown hair the same as her mother’s fell across the hood. Her dainty features were beautiful to Rhett. They were the same as Acca’s. Rhett pulled the child closer. He had never in his life hurt any child; it was women who betrayed as they grew older. Acca hadn’t lived past eight.
    Cecily had betrayed him; she couldn’t have left fast enough after their daughter died with a man who was beneath her station. Rhett could have forgiven her, until she muttered to the man asking him for a normal child. She was sick to death of being hidden away as though she had committed a crime when the fault had to lay with Rhett. Rhett’s anger had fueled his fury. No child could have been as precious as their little Acca. Sweet pure little doll-like child. Just like the one he held close now.
    The girl’s eyes fluttered as the cold wind kissed her warm cheeks. She looked at him disorientated. Her brown eyes filled with an innocent smile. Rhett wondered if she had ever laid eyes on a man.
    “My name is Rhett, little one. You are safe with me. Your mommy is a little busy. Did she tell you she would be busy?” The child nodded. “How would you like to go where the sun is warm and you can play all day with other children?”
    “Mommy too?”
    Rhett felt the tears well in his eyes. The same sweet twittering voice of Acca filled his ears. “Sure. Mommy can come.” Then under his breath, “after she stops smelling.”
    “Dooder too?”
    “Dooder? What’s a Dooder?”
    “My dolly, silly.”
    “Of course, Dooder can come. Mommy will bring it with her. What’s your name?”
    “Ann.”
    “Ann.” Rhett chuckled; he used the same nickname he had for his daughter. “Well little Andra-Ann, who is strong and courageous, let me take you home.”
    A child such as Ann couldn’t be compelled. Rhett wasn’t certain why. All children were innocent but the babies and toddlers he had come across could be compelled to sleep when suffering from teething or an injury. He wasn’t