Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(121)

Talen actually agreed with that sentiment.

A rustle sounded behind him, and awareness crashed through him. “Cara.” The guards had obviously not even tried to stop her from following him.

She moved to his side, her eyes tired, her body on alert. “Hello.”

Sandovsky gave a half bow. “Lars Sandovsky and my mate, Fern.”

“Cara and Talen. That’s Max.” Cara settled next to Talen, her gaze thoughtful.

Lars sobered, taking her in. “I apologize for any inconvenience we caused.”

She lifted a shoulder. “We had an adventure.” Then she frowned, and her eyes softened. “Talen. He’s sick.”

Talen glanced from his mate to Lars. “Huh?”

She patted his arm. “Lars is sick.” She angled her head to see Fern. “Did you have the virus and he tried to yank it out of you?”

Fern elbowed her husband and moved slightly forward. “Yes. Exactly. Now he’s ill, and we don’t know what to do.”

Ah, hell. Of course Cara would catch on to what was happening. Her intellect was only trumped by her empathic abilities. Virus-27 had infected many mates, and when it had gone airborne, it was freed to be yanked out. Unfortunately, the vampire or demon mate who yanked it out then got sick. “Why the hell didn’t you just call us?” Talen snapped.

Lars shook his head. “We’ve lived on our own for so long, and we don’t know the new demon rules or you. It seemed like a better idea to just get the cure and move on from there. We did give orders that nobody was to be hurt.”

Cara turned and looked up at Talen. “Nobody got hurt. Well, none of our people, anyway. We have to help them.”

Talen settled at the plea in her eyes. No way could he turn away from that. Besides, it wasn’t like he could hurt Fern, anyway. “All right.” He turned a smile on the demons. “Why don’t we go up to our suite and have breakfast. There’s an easy cure for you, Lars. I’ll have the medicine we’ve created flown here within an hour.”

Fern clapped her hands. “I knew things had changed for the better. Cara? I love your blouse. Where did you get it?” She shoved by her husband and moved for the door.

Cara turned and escorted her into the hallway. “There’s this great store online. I’ll get the link for you.” The women moved for the stairwell.

Lars frowned as his mate disappeared around the bend. “Huh.”

Talen fought a grin. “Guess we’re allies now.”

“Vampires and demons as allies.” Lars strode toward the door, a hitch in his stride. “Great.”

Several hours after Talen had said goodbye to their new, and recently cured friends, he finally kicked back in a leather chair, bound for Hawaii.

The private plane had three passenger sections: a bedroom, a rec room, and a quiet room with a couple of loungers and soft music. Talen sent the boys to the rec room to watch a movie and dropped into a lounger with his mate on his lap.

Her blue eyes were hazy, and dim circles marred the smooth skin beneath her eyes. He’d used her hard . . . the entire night, and then she’d entertained all morning.

Yet happiness all but bubbled from her tired form. Yeah, he should’ve made sure she had gotten some sleep, but they had an entire week on an island to rest.

He tucked her close and extended the footrest. “You need sleep.” Truth be told, he could use a couple hours of shut-eye, as well.

The plane rose into the air, and he grabbed a blanket from a basket next to him to tuck around her.

She nuzzled his neck.

Desire flared through him, and he shoved it down. The woman needed rest, damn it.

She chuckled, no doubt noticing the erection under her ass. “I can barely walk already,” she murmured, sounding at peace for the first time in too long. Leaning back, her gaze met his. “I’ve been struggling to find my place.”

He frowned. “Your place is with me.”

Her cheek creased. “Yes, I know. But I need to find my own place, too.”

He leaned back, keeping her gaze. “I don’t understand.”

She flattened her hand over his heart. “I have immortality now, right?” At his nod, she continued. “I feel like I should do something good with it.”

He ran his hand down her back, noting the delicate bones. “Okay, but you’re not fighting.” Yeah, he wanted to be a lot smoother than that, but in the end, Cara Kayrs wasn’t a soldier. No matter how fierce the fire in her breast. “Although, you are a hell of a fighter, and I’d have you at my back anytime.”

Pleasure rolled from her. “That’s sweet.”

“So how about we make a deal?”

One of her eyebrows arched. “A deal?”

“Yes. In battle situations, you act like any other soldier and obey commands. In every other situation ever, you can just be in charge.”

She chuckled. “So I’m telling you what to do.”

“Any time, sweetheart.” He grinned. “Just no heading off into battles, if you don’t mind.”

“You are one confident male, Talen Kayrs.” She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to go fight people, for goodness’ sake. I’m a botanist.”

He rubbed a smudge from her cheek. “Okay?”

She swallowed and glanced down at his neck. “There’s some new research into crossbred plants that may have healing properties for humans. I need to teach the next generation of humans how to expand on that.”