Severin pushed it away.Heneeded data—this situation was providing it.Therefore, he had to watch and it didn’t matter if the scene playing out in front of him also made his cock hard and his fangs ache.
Cassandra stopped several times to reapply the burn ointment and he watched the way the salve glistened on her lips before she pressed them toRavik’sskin again.Raviksat perfectly still now, allowing her to treat him with a look of such deep, almost worshipful trust thatSeverin’schest ached.
His best friend had come back for her…the thought landed with unexpected force.
Ravik wasn’t all the way back—not permanently.Buthe’d come back enough to trust…back enough to speak.Hewas back enough to feel pleasure and comfort and gratitude—all the softer, gentler emotions theHungerVirushad stripped from him.
Cassandra was not merely suppressing his best friend’s symptoms,Severinthought—she was reachingRavikon a deeper level.
Every time she touched him, every time she breathed near him, every time she used that sweet, bossy voice on him, the virus lost a little more ground.Severincould almost imagine it as a cellular battle—viral neuroproteins attempting to bind toRavik’solfactory-limbic pathways whileCassandra’svolatile endocrine markers displaced them, stimulating dormant mate-recognition circuits and reactivating higher cortical function.
It wasn’t a cure—not yet.Butit was the first real weapon they had against the virus.
And ifSeverincould isolate the active compounds—if he could identify which part of her scent profile had this effect, which pheromonal fraction, which hormonal metabolite, which immune-marker cascade—maybe he could synthesize it.Orbind it to the anti-viral he’d been modifying in the lab.Oruse it to create a carrier agent capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier and delivering the serum where it needed to go.
Again he thought that he needed samples.Skinoils.Hair.Sweat.Saliva.Blood.Possiblyvaginal secretions, given the dramatic improvement after last night’s contact.HeneededRavik’sblood before and after exposure.Heneeded his own essence tested against?—
“Hey—I’llhelp you with your hand in just a minute, okay?”Cassandrasaid suddenly.
“Hmm?Oh, that’s fine.Fine,”Severinsaid, his deep voice sounding slightly strained.
He looked down and realized his uninjured hand was balled into a fist on the edge of the table.Hisburned hand throbbed.Hisfangs ached.Hiscock was half-hard in his trousers because apparently watchingCassandrakiss his best friend’s body back to health was doing things to him he had no wish to admit.
No, that wasn’t true—he had already admitted some of them to himself last night.
He liked to watch.
He liked to watchRavikwith the curvy little human…liked to seeCassandra’ssoft hands on theBeastKindred’sbig body…liked the wayRavikresponded to her.Andheespeciallyliked the idea of being included as he had been last night.
That was the problem—he liked far too much.
Apparently satisfied that he was content to wait,Cassandraturned her attention back toRavik.She’dhealed every burn she could reach, but he was still cupping his shaft protectively behind one big hand.
Severin frowned—he was worried about that particular injury.
“Ravik?”Kneelingbetween his spread thighs,Cassandraput her hands on theBeastKindred’sknees and looked up at him.“Ravik,Ineed to see what you’re hiding,” she said, nodding at his hand.“Canyou show me?Canyou show your mate?”
Severin gripped the edge of the table harder.
He ought to help, he told himself.Thiswas an intimate injury andCassandrashouldn’t be forced to treat it.Hecould handle it himself onceRavikwas calmer.Orhe could attempt a numbing spray from a distance.Orhe could sedate him, though the thought made him grimace becauseRavik’ssystem was already compromised and unstable.
ButCassandradidn’t seem unwilling—she just looked concerned.
“It…hurts,”Ravikrumbled.
“I know, baby.Iknow,”Cassandrasaid soothingly.“That’swhyIwant to see it—soIcan heal you.Don’tyou want me to kiss it better?”
Severin’s breath went still in his lungs.
Gods.
His mind, traitorous and unhelpful, supplied the image before he could stop it—Cassandrakneeling betweenRavik’sthighs, her soft mouth slick with healing salve, her lips closing around the broad head ofRavik’sshaft while those warm brown eyes looked up from under her lashes.
His cock went from half-hard to fully rigid so quickly it bordered on painful and he shifted slightly, hoping the table hid the evidence of his arousal.
Ravik looked uncertain, but after another short moment of consideration, he slowly lowered his hand.
“All right,” he rumbled.“Matecan heal.”
