Page 36 of Live Love Lasso

“You’re not.” Her eyes are wide, brows furrowed as she stares at me.

I sit upright, realization coursing through me if she’s admitting what I think she’s admitting. “Lemon, tell me exactly what you did.” She tasted me while I was passed out, and somehow, despite my past, I don’t hate the mental image of that.

Because it’s her, a little voice whispers in my head.

She sighs and lifts her hand, nibbling at her thumb. “Well, you were bleeding, and I thought you were gonna die right here, so I licked the wound. It was spurting, Furyon. There’s a pool of blood on my floor as we speak. It was pure instinct. I didn’t think about what you’ve been through before, and I⁠—”

“Some part of you knew it would heal me,” I say, staring at her in wonder. “Your mouth healed me. That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

She falls silent.

A nod.

Realization sweeps through me with all the force of a thunderstorm. It can only mean one thing. Lemon Knox is my mate. A smile overtakes me. Laughter burbles up next as I stare at the beautiful vampire straddling my lap.

I grip her throat and pull her close, shock and awe riding my system. “Who’da thunk, Lemon?”

“Not me,” she says cautiously.

I wink. “Explains why the sex was so fuckin’ stellar, though.”

She slaps my chest. “It’s not something to joke about, Furyon!”

“No, it’s not.” I pull her down again. She rests her chin on her hand, staring up at me.

“I tasted you without your consent, and you’ve made it clear how you feel about that. Where do we go from here?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far,” I admit. “I just know the idea of you doing that to save my life feels wholly different from what they did to me in that coven. I’m reeling, Lemon.”

She lets out a darling little growl. “That’s probably on account of the blood loss.”

I chuckle, still trying to absorb what’s happening. “How’d I taste, city girl?”

She sighs. “Delicious. But I was a little too terrified over you dying to really enjoy it, if I’m honest.”

“I’m sad I didn’t get to experience that either, baby girl, but we can recreate it sometime when I’m not actively expirin’.”

“Also sometime when you can actually consent to it,” she grumbles, sighing against my chest as my lashes begin to flutter. Black stars dance behind my vision. Gulping in a breath, I try not to pass out as a wave of dizziness floods over me.

Lemon strokes her fingers down the bridge of my nose. “Easy, Furyon. Just rest. You really did lose a lotta blood. We don’t need to talk about what this means right now. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for that later.” She drags her fingers along my jawline. “Do you want to drink from me? Would that help?”

I nod, but even as I think about how much I want that, the black stars become a curtain of darkness. I lose consciousness again with the feel of her lush body covering mine.

I wake sometime later. Lemon’s no longer on top of me, although a candle crackles on the table to my left, casting faint light around the bedroom. When I look at the window, the moon’s high—it’s nearly midnight, if I had to guess. The cottage wriggles her ceiling beams at me, welcoming me back to wakefulness.

Shit, I gotta get home. The animals will be rampaging through the house at missing dinner. Roger’ll peck a damn hole in my door if he don’t get his corn.

I shuffle upright, pain lancing through my core. I might’ve gotten stomped in the ribs a little bit. Lemon appears from the kitchen area, a rag thrown over one shoulder.

She smiles, although it looks cautious. “You’re up. It’s the middle of the night, but I’ve been cooking soup. You need to eat a little something to build your blood back up, according to Bluebell and Varek. And also,”—she waves at the bed—“we should change the sheets.”

I look around. The sheets and blanket are covered in blood.

“Bluebell brought fresh ones by,” Lemon says, then disappears around the corner again.

I rise with a groan, swinging my legs tentatively over the edge of the bed. Stars dance in my vision again, but they dissipate when I give it a moment. Standing, I place a hand on the wall and use it to guide me around the bed. On the other side of the wall, Lemon stands in the kitchen, stirring a pot of bubbling soup.

“Beef minestrone,” she says with a smile. “Varek’s recipe. He brought groceries over.”