My One and Only (Bewitched and Bewildered #10)(13)
Finally, after a few minutes she took a few deep breaths wiping her eyes and cheeks with her napkin.
He leaned down and kissed her nose. The pure joy in her eyes filled his heart. "I am going to love you until the end of time," he promised softly.
Her mouth opened slightly when she inhaled and he took advantage of her distraction. He wanted to finally get a taste of his mate. He cupped the back of her head and took her lips between his own. He suckled on her plump lower lip groaning at the faint taste of cinnamon and sugar. When he pulled back her creamy cheeks were flushed pink, her lips were swollen and she looked throughly claimed.
Despite the growing problem in his pants he was proud of his work. He knew right then and there he would never get enough of her.
"Please don't break my heart, because I think I'm already falling in love with you," she whispered.
"There will never be anything else in this world I will cherish more than your heart, your love and your trust," he vowed.
He swaggered back over to his seat and sat down. Cursing, he jumped back up, took a deep breath and tried to covertly adjust his pants. Because he was no less affected than she was by their kiss he had almost gelded himself with the zipper.
She gave him a satisfied look. "Let those ladies see what I do to you," she said winking and jerking her head to one side pointing to their captive audience.
Wincing he shook one leg and gingerly sat down again. "Rub it for me later?" he asked leering at her.
She threw her head back and laughed. "Only if you kiss me like that again."
"I fully planned on it," he said in low voice.
When she shuddered at his deeper tone he picked up another fry. He'd have to figure out a way to cover his mate in cinnamon and sugar later. She was now his new favorite treat.
*****
When they wrapped up their snack she stood on shaky legs. Her mate had a way of spinning her world around and making her feel like the most desired woman in the world.
As they walked toward the hospital she caught more than one hateful glare. After hearing her mate's explanation she decided to take a leap of faith. What he said made sense and if he was going to lie, she didn't think he'd confess to sleeping with the proctor's wife.
No, she truly believed her mate just had a heart of gold and enjoyed seeing those around him happy. So, she decided it was her job as his mate to make sure he was happy.
She eyed him carefully as they walked. It didn't look like making him happy would be that big of a chore. He was currently humming and swinging their hands back and forth between them. He was absolutely adorable and not afraid in the least bit to show his affection for her. His declaration earlier by the vendors stalls that he was mated went a long way to easing her fears. She sent up a small prayer of thanks that her mate wasn't a score obsessed bureaucratic suck up from Storm Keep.
When they walked into the hospital she noticed that Laelia and Radclyffe were off to one side with Ellie and Rheia. As they got closer she realized she couldn't hear anything. She waved her hands to get their attention. Radclyffe held up finger and lowered the soundproof spell. She and Micah stepped closer and Micah raised another one.
"What's going on?" she asked.
Ellie looked close to tears. "The antivirals and pain reducers we've been using are no longer working. Thank the gods you arrived when you did. I don't know what we would have done if the children got irate again." Grant massaged her shoulders lovingly.
"The queen did say that was an early symptom. Did it return?" Serenity asked.
Rheia nodded. "We saw last night that the children had a hard time falling asleep. They kept thrashing about complaining of pain. This afternoon they began lashing out at their parents again."
"We're running out of blood from the second batch and we're scared to try any older blood from the third treatment that turned Magnus violent," Vivi continued.
"Why don't we just get the guys to donate again?" Micah suggested. He knew his fellow unit brothers had no problems donating for the children.
"We're afraid that if we continue giving them what we're calling 'younger generation' blood, the virus will adapt and any chance we have at knocking it out completely with the older blood will disappear," Vivi explained looking pale. She ran a hand through her dark red hair. "We're missing something, I just don't know what it could be. We've talked every problem-solving scenario to death."
Marjoram wrapped an arm around Vivi. "Let's head down to the meeting room and go over things again. I've found that new people bring with them fresh perspectives." She nodded to Laelia, Radclyffe and Serenity. "Besides you need to get off your feet missy." Micah lowered the soundproof spell as Marjoram steered Vivi toward the exit.
"That's actually not a bad idea. I'm going to invite Meryn too. I don't know why she wasn't included from the beginning," Rheia added as they all followed behind Marjoram.
Serenity turned to the human doctor. "Does she have medical training?"
Rheia snorted. "Not a lick of it, but she thinks differently than we do. If anyone can help us figure things out, it would be our menace."
Anne chuckled. "I'll swing by her bat cave and the lab to pick up Meryn, Law and Kendrick. I'll meet you in the meeting room." She waved then jogged toward the tunnel before jumping down.