Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood #9)(26)

“I cannot be exposed to sunlight.” Her gaze shifted back to him. “I heal far, far faster than you. And I need to feed before I am moved—after I do, I shall be stable enough to travel.”

As he looked down at his hands, she wondered if he was wishing that he hadn’t operated on her.

And the silence that stretched out between them became as treacherous as a battlefield, and just as dangerous to cross. Yet she heard herself say, “There is a name for what I am.”

“Yeah. And I don’t want to say it out loud.”

A curious ache began in her chest, and with supreme effort, she dragged her forearm upward until her palm rested over the pain. Odd that her whole body was numb, but this she could feel. . . .

Abruptly, the sight of him became wavy.

Immediately, his expression gentled and he reached forward to brush her cheek. “Why are you crying?”

“Am I?”

He nodded and lifted his forefinger so she could see it. On the pad, a single crystal drop glistened. “Do you hurt?”

“Yes.” Blinking quickly, she sought and failed to have him come into focus. “These tears are rather irritating.”

The sound of his laughter and the sight of his white, even teeth lifted her, even as she stayed upon the bed. “Not one for crying, are you, then,” he murmured.

“Never.”

He leaned to the side and brought forth a square tissue that he used to blot what ran down her face. “Why the tears.”

It took her a while to say it. And then she had to: “Vampire.”

He eased back down into the chair beside her and took elaborate care folding up the square and then tossing it into a squat bin.

“I guess that’s why Jane disappeared a year ago, huh,” he said.

“You do not appear shocked.”

“I knew there was something big doing.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen your MRI. I’ve been inside of you.”

For some reason, that phraseology heated her up. “Yes. You have.”

“You’re just similar enough, though. Your spine was not so different that I didn’t know what I was doing. We were lucky.”

For truth, she did not share that opinion: After years of caring naught for males, she felt a mystical pull toward this one, and it was the sort of thing she would have liked to explore had they not been where they were.

But as she had learned long ago, fate was rarely concerned with what she wanted.

“So,” he pronounced, “you’re going to handle me, right? You’re going to make this whole thing go away.” He waved his arm in a vague manner. “I won’t recall this at all. Just like when your brother came through here a year ago.”

“You shall perhaps have dreams. Nothing more.”

“Is that how your kind have stayed hidden.”

“Yes.”

He nodded and glanced around. “You going to do it now?”

She wanted more time with him, but there was no reason for him to see her feed from Wrath. “Soon enough.”

He glanced back at the door and then looked her straight in the eye. “Will you do me a favor.”

“But of course. It would be a pleasure to serve you.”

One of his brows flicked and she could have sworn his body threw off more of that delicious scent of his. But then he became utterly grave. “Tell Jane . . . I get it. I understand why she did what she did.”

“She is in love with my brother.”

“Yeah, I saw it. Back . . . wherever we were. Tell her it’s cool. Between her and me. After all, you can’t help who you fall for.”

Yes, Payne thought. Yes, that was so very true.

“You’ve been in love?” he asked.

As humans did not read minds, she realized she’d spoken out loud. “Ah . . . no. I . . . no. I have not.”

Although even this short time with her healer was informing. He fascinated her, from the way he moved to how he filled out his white coat and blue dressings, to the scent of him and his voice.

“Are you mated?” she asked, fearing his answer.

He laughed in a hard burst. “Hell, no.”

Her breath left her on a relieved sigh, even as it was strange to think that his status mattered as much as it did. And then there was nothing but silence.

Oh, the passing of time. How regrettable it was. And what should she say to him in these final minutes they had left? “Thank you. For caring for me.”

“My pleasure. I hope you recover well.” He stared at her as if trying to memorize her, and she wanted to tell him to stop trying. “I’m always here for you, okay? If you need me to help you . . . come and find me.” Her healer took out a small, stiff card and wrote something on it. “That’s my cell. Call me.”

He reached forward and slipped the thing into the weak hand that rested o’er her heart. As she gripped what he’d given her, she thought of all the repercussions. And implications.

And complications.

With a grunt, she tried to shift herself around.

The healer was instantly on his feet. “You need repositioning?”

“My hair.”

“Is it pulling?”

“No . . . please unbraid my hair.”




Manny froze and just stared down into his patient’s face. For some reason, the idea of unraveling that thick rope seemed pretty goddamned close to getting her naked, and what do you know, his sex drive was all over it.