The Way You Bite(44)

“A bit.” A wave of pain slammed into her mind.

She gripped her forehead with a gasp. “That’s more than a bit.”

“Burns some.” Lexan threw his head back against the seat.

“That’s enough, Doc. Move away from him. I’m not entirely sure of your motive.” TC put a hand her shoulders.

Vee whirled and grabbed TC’s tactical vest to pull him close with a strength that surprised both of them. “You think I want to hurt him? I already fixed him up once, even if Eric did blackmail me into it. Looks like right now all I have to do is sit back and he’s going to die on his own.”

“I don’t know what you’ve done to him. He’s not been acting like himself since you entered the picture.”

“I entered the picture? As if you guys gave me a choice about being in your picture?”

“Let go.” TC twisted her wrist until she released his vest.

She didn’t move from her post beside Lexan. She whispered, “Please, don’t die.”

“Our life has turned into a fucking nightmare,” TC muttered.

Vee faced TC. “Your life’s a nightmare? My father, who’s not my biological father, and my psychotic fiancé have decided to force conception on me with the treatment, which you all know has about a 50 to 60 percent death rate for a normal vamp. I’ve got a hereditary catastrophe, which might make my odds much worse. Although I’ve avoided it in the past, Ambrose would probably bite me at some point during the process since the two of us would have to get it on a whole lot, which might be fatal to him. Do I want him to bite me under any circumstance?” She paused to glance at Lexan, who now sat upright, scowling. “Of course I don’t want him to bite me. And, I think we just started World War III.”

TC stared at her in stunned silence.

Eric snorted out a laugh. “I thought my life was messed up.”

TC smirked. “I can’t wait to finally be able to fight the leeches in the open.”

“Doesn’t biting and sex go hand in hand? How’d you avoid that with Ambrose so far?” Eric asked.

She squirmed at the awkward question.

Lexan’s gaze scorched into her as if he wouldn’t survive until she and Lexan did just that…again. No. Couldn’t be the right interpretation of his gaze. That was her overactive imagination kicking out her deepest craving. She’d never been a girl who wished to belong to a male or who wanted what went with the outdated attitude implied by Lexan’s speculative scan when it dropped to her mouth. The intensity in his eyes when they connected with hers again suggested belonging wouldn’t be about ownership as it would be with a vampire.

She swallowed hard, blinking at him, shaken by her longing to take that bite and taste him again.

Hoarsely, she said, “The two can go hand in hand when there’s passion involved.”

“Ambrose won’t get near you again. He has no idea what he’s underappreciated.” Lexan then asked telepathically, “So…you want to bite me again?”

She zeroed in on his exposed thigh. A fresh red streak dribbled its way toward the edge. She caught it. No way was that getting wasted. Without thought, her finger was almost to her mouth when he grabbed her hand.

“Don’t. We don’t know what silver will do to you.” He wiped the blood off her finger.

Her cheeks burned. Begging for a taste—just a small lick—became a scorching need. Who cared about a little silver? Silver didn’t bother vampires. One itsy, bitsy taste couldn’t hurt. Her gaze locked onto the small bit of blood dribbling down his thigh.

“No,” he said softly.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Was her pull to Lexan about psychosis over his blood, not emotion or a connection? Maybe the pull came back to his ancient magnetism. Maybe it was both. It couldn’t be real. Him here wasn’t personal. Lexan sought her at her bio-Dad’s request. She needed to keep her head screwed on and keep her heart out of this. She needed Lexan to help her figure out how to avoid changing into something with fur.

The king could not have a mix as a long-term partner. She buried disappointment deep in her chest and fell into her comfortable doctor mode. “I need something to cover this.” And eliminate temptation.

Eric tossed paper napkins from the front seat. She packed them onto the wound. “Do you guys have somewhere with supplies that I could work on that wound? Somewhere close?”

Lexan said, “Eric, let’s go to the Vanderburgs’ place. They’ve got medical supplies. Have the other boys meet us there.” He met her gaze. “They’re the ones lending us our home base.”

Vee said, “You need to keep your heart rate down until we get there.”

“Might be easier, catifea, if you stopped flashing me that view.” He grinned his gorgeous smile and gazed down her scrub top.

In her mind, she thought to him, “You might be dying. Be serious.”

“I’m not dead.” She picked up heavy arousal in his mind.

Confusion swamped her. Did he like like her or was he playing with her? Maybe he was a natural flirt. They’d proven they had chemistry—good chemistry. Perhaps that’s all this was.

“Come here.” Lexan pulled her against him, cradling her to his chest. He’d tucked her head into the notch just under his collarbone. “That’s better. You sure you’re okay?”