“Oh, ofcourseit is.”Shegave a short, breathless laugh that didn’t sound much like laughter at all.“Ofcourse my level of horniness is now medically relevant.Becausewhywouldn’tit be?”
Severin didn’t smile—not even that little half-smile he did sometimes when one corner of his mouth twitched up.Thatworried her.
Instead, he stepped closer—not touching her, but near enough that his scent washed over her again—clean and cold and sharp.
Cassie’s thighs pressed together involuntarily and her breath caught in her throat.OhGod, he smelled sogood!Theyboth did.Shefelt like a starving woman being offered a tasty dish, but she knew if she took even a tiny nibble, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
His eyes flicked downward but not to her breasts this time—to her arm, where she’d been bitten by theInfected.
Cassie followed his gaze and froze.
The bite wound wasglowing.
Not brightly—not like some kind of neon sign flashinginfected woman here, thankGod.Butthere was a definite shimmer under the skin around the puncture marks—a faint reddish-gold pulse that seemed to beat in time with her heart.Thetissue around it was flushed—not an angry-red like an ordinary infection, but hot and luminous—as though something beneath her skin was waking up.
“Oh myGod,” she whispered.“Whatthe hell is wrong with my freaking arm?”
Ravik growled low in his throat, his golden eyes narrowed with worry—clearly he was perceiving the glowing as a threat.
“Let me get a better look.”
Severin caught her wrist—not hard, but firmly enough to turn her arm toward the light.Hisfingers were warm and careful, but the moment he touched her, the glow brightened.
Cassie gasped as a jolt of heat shot from the bite wound straight through her body, down into her breasts and lower belly and the aching place between her legs.Hernipples went tight enough to hurt and her pussy clenched helplessly around emptiness.
She yanked her arm back and stared at theBloodKindred.
“What the hell was that?”she demanded.
Severin looked shaken.
“I don’t know.Ihaven’t read about anything like this in any of the literature.”
That was possibly the worst thing he could have said.
“What do you mean,you don’t know?”Cassiedemanded.“You’rethe scientist!You’resupposed to know!You’resupposed to find out what’s wrong with me and fix it!”
“I’mtryingto.”Hisvoice was calm, but his eyes were anything but.“MayIsee it again?”
“No.”
She immediately regretted the sharpness in her voice and forced herself to breathe.Hereally was just trying to help and it wasn’t his fault her body had decided it wanted to do something nobody had ever heard of before.
“I mean…yes.Fine.Justdon’t touch it yet,” she said.
Severin nodded at once.
“Of course.”
Cassie held out her arm reluctantly.Thebite wound continued to pulse faintly, the glow waxing and fading beneath her skin.Itwas beautiful in a horrible way, she thought.Beautifuland terrifying and completely wrong.
“Cassie is frightened,”Ravikrumbled.
He stepped closer behind her, his heat wrapping around her back and as he put a hand on her shoulder, the glow brightened again.
Cassie’s whole body clenched, helpless with desire.Ifshe could have, she would have taken them both on at once—right there at the sink.Herwhole body felt flushed with need and between her legs she was aching with emptiness.
“Stop it!”she gasped.“Bothof you stoptouchingme!”
