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As if sensing his tenuous grasp on control, Gabby surrendered and stilled against him. He buried his face in her hair and took in her scent, of fresh dew and lavender. The clawing vampire calmed little by little, satisfied its mate was safe.
For now.
Desire rose in its absence. All he wanted was to carry her back to their rooms, strip her out of those clothes, and kiss every inch of her to check she was alright.
“Let me help you.” He stepped back without releasing his hold on her.
“Fine, but don’t get used to it.”
Felix’s heart sang with hope when she leaned into him and allowed him to help her down the hallway. Once in their room, Gabby collapsed onto the sofa, her slight whimper stabbing through him like a silver knife. Again, he’d failed to protect her.
Part of him knew Gabby was fine. She was a vampire. She wouldn’t be so easy to kill, not like when she’d been human. That was not the part reigning supreme as she rested her head on the chair with her eyes closed, as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
His instincts shouted at him to throw her over his shoulder and take her back to Eden, where he had a bunker built underground with a tunnel to the surface in case anyone ever breached the House’s outer defenses. Instead, he strode to the table for the bags of fresh blood he’d ordered ahead.
Felix slashed open the bags and poured them into two glasses. Returning to Gabby’s side, he handed one to her. For once, she took it without argument and drained it. Something warm, other than from the blood he drank, wound through him as color return to her cheeks.
“Is all the silver gone?” he asked, wishing she’d let him into her mind so he could check.
Gabby sat up straighter and closed her eyes, taking inventory of her body. “No.”
Felix followed her to the bathroom, where she slit open her wrists over the sink. The metallic scent of silver, mixed with the other unidentifiable poison, flooded the room. Felix beat back the need to recoil, like an animal scenting its predator.
It took another five minutes before Gabby extracted the rest of the silver from her system. Five minutes where helplessness devoured his insides. When Gabby’s wound closed, he lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking care of you.” His hold on her tightened the more she struggled.
“Put me down this instant.”
“No.”
Before she could escape, he dumped her onto their bed and jumped on top of her. He locked her arms and legs under his and snarled, “You need to rest.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
Her flailing beneath him was arousing the beast for another reason. Felix bit down on his cheek, his body turning to stone. He leaned down and delighted in the way Gabby froze beneath him.
The scent of arousal, anger, and frustration mingled together, a heady mix chipping away at his control. Felix dropped a kiss on her jaw and gently kissed down her neck. He loved the way her body turned pliable beneath his and the slight hitch in her breathing, letting him know exactly what she wanted.
He kept his body angled away from hers. If he touched her more than the simple kiss, he wasn’t sure he could hold himself back.
Don’t.Her plea was a mixture of desire and irritation.
He didn’t know how to convince her she was the most important thing in his world. The only thing that gave meaning to his life. He’d give up his immortality and power if he could spend the rest of his life with her, starting today.
No, not now.
Sanity returned. What she needed was to rest and regain her strength, not use it to fight him. As much as he wished to convince her of a repeat of yesterday, now wasn’t the time.
He also couldn’t risk alienating her. Her trust in him was more important than ever. Whenever Jiaren made his move, he needed to be here for her.
Felix moved off her. He sank to the calm place deep within himself, the place that had helped him survive the six tormenting centuries without her.
“Rest,” he repeated. “No buts.” He placed a hand over her mouth to cut her off and snapped his hand away when she bit him without drawing blood. “Marek already said there’s nothing we can do until sunset. If you don’t rest, you’ll just be a liability later.”
Gabby’s lips set in a thin line, hating he was right. Even he felt weak at this time of the day, not to mention the energy they’d both exerted fighting Hunters in daylight. If Julian organized a rescue mission, Gabby would fight him tooth and nail to be included. Considering the low likelihood he’d talk her out of it, he’d have to be at full strength too, in case the mysterious vampire made another appearance.
