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Rehv carefully brushed her hair away from her throat. "I'll be gentle."
"You don't have to be."
"I will anyway."
Cupping her face in his palms, he tilted her head to one side and exposed the fragile blue vein that ran to her heart. As she prepared herself for his strike, her pulse quickened; he saw the pumping get faster until it flickered.
"I don't feel worthy of your blood," he said, running his forefinger up and down her neck. "It has nothing to do with your line of descent."
Ehlena reached up to his face. "Rehvenge, what is it? Help me understand what's going on here. I feel like...when I'm with you, I feel closer to you than to even my own father. But there are huge holes. I know there's something in them. Talk to me."
Now would be the time, he thought, to unload everything.
And he was tempted. It would be such a relief to stop the lying. Trouble was, there was nothing more selfish he could do to her. If she knew his secrets, she'd be breaking the law along with him-either that or sending her lover to the colony. And if she chose the latter, he was blowing the shit out of his vow to his mother, because his cover would be totally blown.
He was wrong for her. He was very wrong for her, and he knew it.
Rehv meant to let Ehlena go.
He meant to drop his hands and step back and let her put her clothes all the way on. He was good at persuasion. He could bring her around and make her see that his not drinking was no big deal...
Except his mouth parted. Parted as a hiss steamed up his throat and into the thin barrier of air that separated his fangs from her pumping, vital vein.
Abruptly she gasped, and the muscles that ran up from her shoulders tightened, as if he had cranked down on his hold of her face. Oh, wait, he had. He was hard-core numb, totally without sensation, but it wasn't about his medication. Every muscle in his body had gone rigid.
"I need you," he groaned.
Rehv struck hard and she cried out, her spine bending nearly in half as he caged her with his strength. Fuck, she was perfect. She tasted like thick, heavy wine and with dragging pulls of his mouth, he drank her down deep.
And moved her over to the bed.
Ehlena didn't stand a chance. Neither did he.
Triggered by the feeding, his vampire nature plowed over everything, a male's need to mark what he wanted, to establish sexual territory, to dominate, taking over and driving him to rip down her slacks, pull up one of her legs, position his c**k at the threshold of her sex-
And push his way into her.
Ehlena let out another keening cry as he penetrated her. She was incredibly tight, and fearing he might hurt her, he fell still so her body could accommodate him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice so guttural he didn't know if she could understand him.
"Don't...stop..." Ehlena wrapped her legs around his ass, angling herself so he could get in even deeper.
The growl that came out of him echoed around the bedroom-until he latched back onto her throat.
Although, even in the fury of the feeding and the sex, Rehv was careful with her-nothing like he was with the princess. Rehv slid in and out gently, making sure Ehlena was comfortable with his size. When it came to his blackmailer? He wanted to impart pain. With Ehlena? He'd castrate himself with a rusty knife before he hurt her.
Trouble was, she moved with him as he drank his fill of her, and the wild friction of their bodies soon overwhelmed him, his hips no longer surging carefully but pounding-until he had to release her vein or run the risk of tearing her open at the neck. After a couple of laps at his puncture marks, he dropped his head down into her hair and went for it hard and deep and strong.
Ehlena orgasmed, and as he felt the draws gripping along the shaft of his cock, his own release shot up from his sac...which he couldn't let happen. Before his barb engaged, he pulled out, coming all over her sex and her lower belly.
When it was over, he collapsed on top of her, and it was a while before he could talk.
"Ah...shit...I'm sorry, I must be heavy."
Ehlena's hands slid up his back. "You're wonderful, actually."
"I...orgasmed."
"Yes, you did." Her smile was in her tone. "You really did."
"I wasn't sure that I...could, you know. Which was why I pulled...I didn't expect to...yeah."
Liar. Fucking liar.
The happiness in her voice made him ill. "Well, I'm glad you did. And if it happens again, that's great. And if not, that's just fine. There's no performance pressure."
Rehv closed his eyes, his chest aching. He'd pulled back so she didn't find out he had a barb-and because coming inside of her was a betrayal, given all the things she didn't know about him.
As she sighed and nuzzled him, he felt like a total, complete bastard.
Chapter FORTY-FOUR
The CAT scan was no big deal. Wrath just parked it on a cold slab and kept still as this white piece of medical equipment murmured and politely coughed its way around his head.
The bitch was the wait for the results.
During the scan, Doc Jane was the only one on the other side of the glass partition, and from what he could tell she spent the whole time frowning at a computer monitor. Now that it was over, she was still doing that. Meanwhile, Beth had come in and was by his side in the small tiled room.
God only knew what Doc Jane had found.
"I'm not scared of going under the knife," he said to his shellan. "As long as that female's got the handle of the damn thing."
"Would she do brain surgery?"
Good point. "I don't know."
He absently played with Beth's Saturnine Ruby, rolling the heavy stone around and around.
"Do me a favor," he whispered.
Beth's hold tightened on his hand. "Anything. What do you need?"
"Hum the Jeopardy theme."
There was a pause. Then Beth burst out laughing and swatted his shoulder. "Wrath-"
"Actually, take your clothes off and hum it while doing some belly grooves." As his shellan bent down and kissed his forehead, he looked up at her through his wraparounds. "You think I'm kidding? Come on, we both need the distraction. And I promise I'll tip well."
"You never carry cash."
He extended his tongue and swept it over his upper lip. "I plan on working it off."
"You are outrageous." Beth smiled down at him. "And I like it."
Staring at her, he got good and afraid. What would his life be like if he were totally blind? Never seeing his shellan's long dark hair or flashing smile was-
"Okay," Doc Jane said as she came in. "Here's what I know."
Wrath tried not to scream as the ghostly doctor put her hands in the pockets of her white coat and seemed to gather her thoughts.
"I see no evidence of a tumor or a hemorrhage. But there are abnormalities in the various lobes. I haven't looked at a CAT scan of a vampire brain before, so I have no idea what is structurally consistent within the range of 'normality.' I know you want only me to see it, but I can't call this, and I'd like to have Havers review the scan. Before you say no, I'll remind you that he's sworn to protect your privacy. He can't reveal-"
"Bring him in," Wrath said.
"This won't take long." Doc Jane touched his shoulder and then Beth's. "He's right outside. I asked him to wait in case there was a problem with the equipment."
Wrath watched the doctor go through the little monitoring room and out into the hall. A moment later, she returned with the tall, thin physician. Havers bowed to him and to Beth through the glass and then went over to the monitors.
Both of them assumed the identical pose: bent at the waist, hands in the pockets, brows down low over their eyes.
"Do they coach them to do that in medical school?" Beth said.
"Funny, I was wondering the same thing."
Long time. Long wait. Lots of that pair on the other side of the big bay window talking and gesturing at the screen with pens. The two eventually straightened and nodded.
They came in together.
"The scan is normal," Havers said.
Wrath exhaled so hard it was practically a wheeze. Normal. Normal was good.
Havers then asked a bunch of questions, all of which Wrath answered, none of which he was particularly aware of.
"With deference to your private physician," Havers said, with a bow toward Doc Jane, "I would like to take some blood from your vein for analysis and perform a brief examination."
Doc Jane chimed in, "I think it's a good idea. Second opinions are always good when things aren't clear."
