“Get up.”
She lifted her foot and drove her heel into his gut—not hard enough to break anything, but enough to make a point.
He gave a soft groan, but nothing else.
She pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth. “You’re going to make me carry you, aren’t you?”
Bending low, she hooked his arms over her shoulders, grumbling, “Asshole.”
Then, she hoisted him up and onto her back.
She’d find a place to camp. Somewhere away from the path that snake had carved through the woods. Somewhere with solid ground beneath her and no watching eyes.
His body hung heavier than she expected—muscle and dead weight, slumping boneless with every step she took to adjust him.
In the morning, she’d ask her questions and decide if he was worth the trouble of keeping alive.
Chapter two
“Riseandshine,shithead.”Aimee crouched beside Kazuma.
Propped up against a tree, his bleeding had slowed, thick and sluggish now, but it still leaked through the torn fabric.
She frowned. The puncture must’ve gone deep.
Slowing her breathing, she listened with the strange awareness that ticked beneath her skin. His heartbeat was a thready, barely therethump thump, but steady enough.
Fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, she didn’t know if that left her annoyed or relieved. Wandering blind through this forest was a fool’s errand, and carrying his limp form wasn’t muchbetter.
“I said, wake up.” Her hand went back, aiming to smack that smirk off his face—the one that lingered, somehow, even in unconsciousness.
But, before she could connect, his hand shot up, grabbing her wrist in a grip that shouldn’t have been that fast, not with how broken he looked.
Her body jolted in surprise, muscles going taut as instinct pushed at her to break free.
Then his eyes fluttered open, narrowing with careful focus as they found hers. Two dark pools, seemingly endless.
Is the ground further away?Her center drew toward him before she stopped herself, nails digging into her palm.
“Let go.” She yanked at her hand, but his fingers only tightened as his mouth quirked, amusement straining the edges of pain.
Then, his tongue slipped out from between his lips, skimming the underside of her wrist before it flicked up the line of her forearm.
Hot. Wet. Rough. And entirely too long and nimble for a human tongue.
What if…Her teeth snagged on the swell of her bottom lip, and for a moment, she imagined what that tongue might doelsewhere.
Jerking harder, she stumbled, toppling back onto her rear.
“Gross,” she forced the word from somewhere too far beneath her ribs.
“Seemed only fair, after you took such pleasure in tastingmeyesterday,” he sighed, watching her.
“What!” She cradled her wrist as the memory of his blood on hertongue nearly dropped her fangs. Again.
Kazuma’s laugh scraped from his throat, vibrating throughher body, and down…
Get it together! He’s just a stupid man.She scooted further away, watching as his laugh broke apart into a wet cough, and flecks of that dark, delicious blood stained his chin.
