Severin’s gaze—which had drifted down to her breasts, probably because they were jiggling with every movement of the mattress under the three of them—rose quickly to her face.Afaint flush touched his high cheekbones.
“I willnotstart anything,Cassandra,” he said, frowning.“Youhave my word as a warrior and a male of honor.”
“Well, thank you.”Cassienodded but a part of her was imagining what it would be like if hedidstart something.Hewasn’t as big asRavik—who was practically a mountain—but he was still head and shoulders taller than her.Also, she’d heard from friends aboard theMotherShipabout the ecstasy of aBloodKindredbite and his fangs looked awfully long and sharp right now.Whatwould it be like to have him bite her and inject his essence—which she’d heard caused instant orgasms?
Stop it,Cassie—stop thinking like that,she scolded herself.What’swrong with you anyway?Ithought your sex drive was dead?
Well, she’dthoughtit was dead—or at least that it had gone into a coma.Butbeing between the two bigKindredand smelling their warm, spicy scent seemed to be reviving it in a big way.
Ravik patted the bed again.
“Cassie,” he rumbled.“Comesleep.”
“All right, all right.I’mcoming—keep your pants on.Imean thatliterally, by the way,” she added.
She lay down carefully, keeping the blanket clutched around her as best she could.Thebed was warm beneath her—not just soft, but actively warm, like the mattress was heated from below.Itshould have felt strange, but instead it felt wonderful against her exhausted body.Everymuscle she owned seemed to give a sigh of relief at the same time.
ThenRavikmoved in behind her.
Cassie tensed but there was no way to prepare for being held by someone so large.Hisbody curved around hers like a wall of heat—one massive arm sliding carefully over her waist.
To the bigBeastKindred’scredit, he didnotput his hand under her nightgown.Hedidn’t touch her breasts or her thighs or anywhere he shouldn’t have.Hejust gathered her close, gentle despite his size, and buried his face in her hair with a deep, shuddering breath.
Cassie was stiff at first—of course she was—she barely knew this male.Hewas half-infected, half-feral, and entirely convinced she belonged to him.Sheshould have been terrified—she should have been plotting how to get away from him.Sheshould have been thinking about locked doors and escape routes and how long she could survive outside if this all went bad.
Instead, all she could think was that he was warm—so incredibly, deliciouslywarm.
Warm in a waySskarthnever was.Warmin a wayMitchhadn’t been either, since her first husband had hated to cuddle.
Ravik, however, didn’t seem to mind cuddling at all.Hedrew her closer and his heat sank into her back and shoulders, into her chilled arms and aching muscles.Hisbreath moved softly against her hair and the heavy weight of his arm over her waist didn’t frighten her, for some reason.Sheshould have felt held down—instead she felt…comforted.
But there was something missing.No—someone, she realized.Severin.
“Come here.”Shepatted the space in front of her, the same wayRavikhad when he was trying to get her to lie down with him.“Comecloser.Imean, in case something, uh, happens,” she added, feeling unexpectedly shy.
TheBloodKindredscooted closer until he was lying beside her, facing her.Hehad taken off his glasses and his eyes were piercing blue as he studied her face—studiously keeping his eyes above her neck, she noticed.
“Is this all right?”he asked quietly.
ToCassie’ssurprise, the answer was ‘Yes.’Shewouldn’t have expected to feel comfortable sleeping half-naked between two men she’d met only that afternoon.Beingbracketed by the two huge, muscular male bodies should have felt like a trap.
Instead, it felt more like…shelter.
Which was dangerous, because if life had taught her anything lately it was that she couldn’t depend on a man for shelter and safety and comfort.
You’d better not get used to this,whispered a little voice in her head.Youneed to be strong,Cassie.Youcould still wind up back out in theDeadZoneif you’re not careful or if you go full-Infected.
But she didn’t want to think about those things—not now when she felt so comfortable…so strangely right between the two bigKindredwarriors.
“Yes, this is fine,” she toldSeverin.“Nowwe can all relax.”
Ravik’s arm tightened slightly and she felt him shift behind her.
“Cassie is safe,” he rumbled and his deep voice seemed to vibrate through her.
She swallowed hard.
“Yeah,” she whispered.“Maybe.”
