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“James is a good man,” Jodi argued and Melli wondered if her big sister was trying to convince her…or herself. “Besides,” she went on, “We’ve been together for years now. We have a life together and the wedding is all planned and paid for. I can’t just back out of such a long, stable relationship because of some fleeting physical attraction for another guy who’s clearly wrong for me!”
Melli wanted to say that it was James who was clearly wrong for her big sister. But she knew Jodi well enough to realize that if she started arguing for Vorn, her big sister would dig her heels in even harder and completely refuse to see reason.
So instead, she sent a mental shrug.
“Well, if that’s how you feel then you’d better stop ‘almost’ cheating.”
“That’s the thing—I’m trying to.” Jodi’s mental voice sounded almost desperate. “But I can’t seem to stop. It’s almost like…almost like I’m addicted to him. Addicted to Vorn, I mean—not James.”
Yeah, nobody could get addicted to James, Melli thought.
“Hey, I heard that, you know!” Jodi sent with a sense of mental indignation.
“Sorry, I thought I was thinking that to myself. Look—you have to do what you’re always telling me to do—stand up and face your problems, big Sis,” Melli told her. “If you feel like you can’t do whatever it is you’re doing with Vorn anymore, then tell him so. Didn’t you say James was coming back home soon?”
“Tomorrow.” Jodi didn’t sound very happy about it. “He’s been at a conference in New York but it ends tomorrow and he’s coming home.”
“So you at least have tonight to try and get things straightened out,” Melli sent her. Then, hearing a soft call from Liosh in the bathroom, she sent, “Look, I’d like to dissect this with you some more but Liosh is calling me.”
“Okay.” Jodi sighed. “You’re right—I need to just man-up and tell Vorn it’s over and we can’t do this anymore.”
“Well, if that’s your choice,” Melli sent, letting the doubt in her mental voice sound loud and clear. “I mean, if you’d really rather be with James than with a big, strong, handsome Kindred…”
“There are good things about James too!” Jodi protested. “He has lots of good qualities. He’s smart and stable and dependable and reliable—”
And full of himself and way too impressed with his own intelligence and kind of a jerk, Melli thought to herself.
“Hey—I heard that!” Jodi exclaimed.
“Oops, sorry! Didn’t mean to send that,” Melli sent quickly. “Look, I’m not going to stay on the line and fight with you right now, Jodi. Because I’m not the one you need to be fighting with—or rather, talking to. I’m going to spend some quality time with my Kindred—you ought to do the same with yours.”
“Thanks a lot,” Jodi sent but there was no real anger in her mental tone. “All right—have fun with Liosh. I hope everything works out for you two.”
“I hope so too,” Melli sent and then broke the connection. Liosh was calling her and she wanted to go see what he wanted.
Twenty-Seven
Liosh was waiting in the bathroom for her next to the tub, which was filled with steaming, fragrant water. There were even rose petals floating in it—a very sweet, romantic touch, Melli thought.
“Hello, Talli,” he murmured, smiling at her when she came in. “Are you ready for your bath?”
“Yes, that sounds wonderful.” Melli smiled at him. “But I thought you said I was finally ready and you were going to try to…to heal me tonight?”
He nodded. “This is part of the healing. I want you to feel completely relaxed the first time I taste you. So I’m going to bathe you and massage you, just like a warrior does for his bride during their Claiming period.”
Melli felt her heart squeeze in her chest. She was so lucky to have such a sweet, considerate guy like Liosh! Impulsively, she went to him and threw her arms around him. Since he was kneeling by the tub, she was—for once—taller than him, which resulted in his face being pressed against her breasts. And since Melli wasn’t wearing a bra, this turned out to be a very interesting position.
“Mmm, Talli,” he murmured, rubbing his cheeks against the inner slopes of her breasts as he looked up at her. “I love to be close to you.”
“I love to be close to you, too,” Melli told him, smiling down at him. “You make me feel so safe, Liosh. Even though you’re so big and strong, I never feel afraid of you. Well…” she bit her lip. “Except maybe just a teeny bit afraid of your fangs.”
His blue eyes softened.
“I want you to feel safe with me, sweetheart. And I promise I won’t bite you unless you ask me to—though it would be a quick way to deliver a big dose of my essence to your system.”
