She could feel his black leather vest against her bare breasts and his tight leather trousers against her thighs.Thenhis big, warm hands began rubbing briskly up and down her bare back, sides, hips, and ass as though he intended to warm her up through friction and body-heat alone.
“Hey…hey!”Cassieprotested, wiggling in his arms.“Nobodyasked you to dothat!”
“Ravik, stop!”she heardSeverinsay sharply.“She’llwarm up in the decontamination bath—you don’t have to rub her.”
The big hands slowed…then stopped, though they remained firmly on her back.Itseemed that it took some time for the command to get through the bigBeastKindred’shead.Cassielooked up at him and saw a frown on his face.
His golden eyes were clearer now—she barely saw any of the white film on them.Also, she had to admit, shedidfeel warmer now—not just because of all the rubbing but because theBeastKindredgave off heat like a furnace—she couldn’t help getting warm when she was pressed against him.
“Mate needs a bath,” he said, nodding and looking down at her.“Ravikwill bathe her.”
“What?No!”she protested.Thatwould be even worse than the rubbing!
But he was already scooping her up into his arms and carrying her out of the decontamination room.
It seemed she was going to get a bath…whether she wanted one or not.
7
SEVERIN
“Ravik, stop—no!Youdon’t have to bathe her!Shecan bathe herself,”Sevprotested, following his friend and the human woman who was wiggling in his arms down the hallway.
He couldn’t understand whyRavikwas acting like this.Hadthe latest batch of anti-viral serum made him hyper-sexual?Buthe didn’t seem to be threatening to rape or hurtCassandra—he just wanted to take care of her.
He thinks she’s his mate,Sevthought desperately, as he followed the two of them.Itmust have something to do with her scent.Shedidsmell special in a way he couldn’t quite define.Hedidn’t know what it was about her but when he’d been inspecting her luscious body for bites and inhaling her warm, sweet, feminine fragrance, his fangs had gotten so sharp he’d almost cut his tongue on them.
That wasn’t usual for aBloodKindred—they only bit to inject their essence—a pale blue liquid they used inBondinga mate to them or to heal a woman they were mated to or wanted to be mated to.Usually, aBloodKindred’sfangs didn’t grow sharp enough to pierce flesh until he met the woman who was meant to be his mate.Andhe was certain thatCassandrawasn’t the one for him—was she?
What’s wrong with me?I’mas bad asRavik, thinking of her as a mate!he scolded himself.Butthere’s something about her scent…Isit because she’s aMatureElite?
That was what theKindredcalled older, curvy women.Theywere especially prized both for their wisdom and for their curves.MatureEliteswere considered to be blessed by theGoddessand any man who was able to claim one for a mate was thought to be extremely lucky—it was like winning some kind of lottery.
ButCassandrahad revealed to them that she had been betrayed by herVisskoushusband and sent out to die in theDeadZoneonly a little while ago.Shewasn’t going to be interested inJoiningwith another male anytime soon.
However, there was no arguing with the bigBeastKindred.Hewas intent on giving his new “mate” a bath andSeverindidn’t dare try to take her away from him.Ravikseemed to be coming back but he still wasn’t fully himself.Hemight get angry or go intoRage—the state of berserker fury allKindredwent into if they thought a beloved mate was being hurt or threatened—ifSevattempted to take the human woman from him.
MaybeIshould give him another dose of the latest anti-viral,he thought.Sinceit’s working so well a double dose might kick the virus out of his system completely.
But in the meantime, he needed to supervise this bath.Hewas fairly certain thatRavikwouldn’t hurt the curvy little human or take advantage of her.Evenin an altered state of mind, he was still aKindredand harming or forcing a woman went against every ingrained instinct and even aKindred’sDNA.ButifRavikwas confused enough to thinkCassandrawas his mate, well…things could get a little dicey.
By the time he got to the bathing room,Ravikwas already running water in the deep tub, which was almost the size of a bathing pool back on theMotherShip.Sevwas grateful that the underground science bunker had a private reservoir or they would have been in deep trouble.Luckily, they had as much water as they needed—it was the food supplies that were growing thin.
Still, they had enough for tonight and lately, that was allSevhad been living for—just getting through one more day and night on this hell-hole of a planet until they could send a message to theMotherShipand asked to be rescued.
He wasn’tquiteready to make that call, though.Besidesthe fact that the nearest interstellar transmitter was located in aRedZone, known to be crawling withInfected,Sevdidn’t want to risk bringing a deadly virus back to the place he called home.
So he went on from day to day, venturing out just long enough to collect supplies and working tirelessly in the lab to try and find a cure.
But maybe nowI’vefound one,he thought hopefully as he watchedRavikthoughtfully test the water temperature to be sure it wasn’t too hot for his “mate.”Thatlast anti-viral serum did the trick!Assoon asRavikis all the way back to normal, we can risk a trip to the transmitter and call for a shuttle to take us home.
He just hoped he could keep the bigBeastKindredin line until then.
8
RAVIK
His mate was making mouth noises again—some of them made sense but not all.Hervoice was high pitched and she was speaking so rapidly,Ravik’sbrain couldn’t take in everything she was saying.
