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He may not be a vampire, but he fucking enjoyed giving good love bites.
Would she moan if he lightly bit her just there, where her neck met her shoulder?
What the hell?He might want to help her, like he did with most anyone who wasn't an asshole, but she was most definitely off limits. Not only because she was Yesenia's sister-in-law, but River was going to be fucked up and struggling for who the hell knew long, both with his future and his most recent past, when it finally reared its fucking head.
Clearing his throat, he glanced at the bandages. "Please, Nora. Just change them quickly so I can take a nap."
She nodded and went to work removing the old bandages and cleaning his body before applying the salve and tying new strips of cloth around him.
The entire time her fingers danced over his skin, or the heat of her breath caressed him, or even how he soon became up close and personal with her scent—a mixture of female and lilacs—River willed his dick not to respond.
Because the more she touched him, or her scent surrounded him, or even when her breath caressed him, River's fingers itched to bring her mouth to his and kiss her.
Again, that was fucked-up for so many reasons.
When she finally finished, he noticed her breathing was fast and her pulse beat rapidly at her carotid arteries.
She must've caught him staring at her neck because Nora quickly turned away, gathering up the old bandages, and went to the door. "I'll be back shortly. Rest now. The restorative drink should be enough until you wake up again and then you can eat properly."
As soon as she was gone, the room turned colder and a bit more forbidding. River hadn't paid much attention to the dark wooden furniture that seemed to dominate the room, or the also dark material covering most of the walls like wallpaper.
It wasn't exactly a soothing, happy place, was it? More like a gloomy, gothic room meant for brooding.
Which wasn't him usually. Just because he'd been a biker and loved tattoos didn't mean he was frowning constantly, trying to look badass, or communicated solely with grunts.
And then it hit him—Yesenia said this was 1890, which meant it was a long fucking time before motorcycles would be around.
Riding them, and being part of the club, had been such a big chunk of his life over the last six years. What would he do here? Ride fucking horses?
Could he go back to the future? Yesenia said she was a time-wielder, and it might be possible.
Of course that would mean always running from Derrick and his mob lackeys, as they'd probably hunt him down again. And next time, they might not be so fucking patient and just go ahead and kill him.
Fuck.His life had become a hell of a lot more complicated in recent months.
Rubbing his face, River sighed and adjusted his head on the pillow. Even without unpacking his recent memories, he had a lot of shit to figure out.
His eyes drifted shut and he didn't fight sleep. Between the salve and his own healing powers, River needed the rest. If he were lucky, he might even be able to attempt standing up when he was conscious again.
His last thought before he fell asleep was of Nora. He'd never wanted to know so much about a female in the past before, and he wondered why the sudden draw.
ChapterFive
The next evening, Nora sat at her small writing desk and was going over the weekly household accounts when her middle brother's voice filled the room. "Were you ever going to tell me about finding your fated lord, Nora?"
She glanced up. Dark-haired, pale-skinned Lawrence "Laurie" Yates usually wore a big smile and liked to tease. But today his deep brown eyes were a mixture of concern and irritation. "I've been quite busy, Laurie. And it's not as if you visit often these days to begin with."
He folded his tall frame into the chair in front of Nora's desk and shrugged. "Business has been brisk lately. And I've invited you to come to Nyx's Kingdom any time you wish."
Laurie ran a pleasure house with his best friend—Joseph Hope—where individuals went through extensive research checks and paid a yearly fee to access an assortment of fantasy rooms, events, and the chance to find willing bed partners for the night. Even if she'd never been—Nora almost never left the building Leo owned, which contained both their residence and his gaming hell—she knew people flocked to Laurie and Joseph's place to fulfill their deepest desires, and enjoy wantonness that wasn't usually viewed positively by society.
She closed her ledger to focus solely on her brother. "And you know visiting your pleasure house is one of the last places I'd go. I don't possess the desires you do."
Mainly, Nora never wanted to share a bed with anyone again, given her experience with it. She'd have to do something once with River, but that would be it.
Laurie shrugged. "You always judge without experiencing it yourself. But I still say you should visit. Especially if you end up finding love like Leo and want to add some fun to your marriage."
She quickly blurted, "I won't ever find love or get married."
