Part 32 (1/2)

His fangs were still imbedded in her neck. She couldn't stay in that position forever. He would wake up eventually and try to kill her again.

Ilida peered down at the top of his head and shoulders. Moisture covered her thighs. His blood, no doubt. She gripped his broad shoulders, pushed him away from her. She clutched his head, pushed him up and back, and braced her self for the pain that was sure to come next.

She sucked in her breath through her clenched teeth. Her skin lifted with his teeth as they popped out of her neck. Once she was free of him, he slowly slid down the length of her body, bringing her down with him. She bent her knees and caught him in her arms.

Cooled blood trickled down her neck. His breath coppery and sweet barely brushed her chin. She couldn't ignore the s.h.i.+vers skittering up and down her spine.

Was it his closeness or his breath on her neck? How could she have been in pain and then felt...she didn't know how to subscribe it. She knew a minute longer and she would've let him do what he wanted. His size sucked up all the s.p.a.ce in the tiny house. How could she have...how could she have s.h.i.+vered in antic.i.p.ation?

She could barely get her arms around his large trunk. She pushed herself up lifting him with her. His skin was on fire and red... beads of sweat broke out on his furred forehead. Fever. ”Urhg, my G.o.d you're huge.” I should let him hit the floor after what he tried to do. She knew she wouldn't leave him, though. It was her fault he tried to attack her like a wild animal.

She dragged him, valiantly ignoring his state of undress, to the couch. Soft dots landed on her hands. After laying him down ungracefully, she ran her flashlight beam over her hands. Her fingers were sprinkled with a dusting of fur. Her breath came quickly. She touched the skin on his upper arms, ran down the length of it, pus.h.i.+ng off sheets of short fur and blood. His muscular arms were bare now. She did the same to his shoulders, arms, chest, thighs, lower legs, and feet. Then she wiped the fur off his face, starting with his high forehead and hooded eyes.

They were light in color, Ilida remembered. Probably blue, she thought. She wiped the rest of the fur off his high, slanted cheekbones and strong square chin. She stroked the slight indentation in his chin.

”Oh...my G.o.d! Oh-My-G.o.d!” Daedalus! Had to be or why would she feel the tingling in the pit of her stomach.

Most of him was uncovered except for his lower half. Cautiously she looked down. The area she had diligently avoided gaping at no longer shamed her. She stared at his p.e.n.i.s covered in a forest of hair. It arched away from his body as if in invitation. She ran her hand gently down his groin. It bulged and swelled in her hand as the fur fell away from him.

She felt moisture on her hands. Sticky. He was impressive and she was ogling him like a s.e.x-starved woman. She was a s.e.x-starved woman, but it was no excuse.

It seemed to beckon her and her cheeks grew hot thinking about how he would feel in her hands again. She was like a naughty schoolgirl flipping through the pages of Forum. She ran her hands down his long shaft feeling his rock-solidness and ridged veins. The tip was soft and it pulsed under her fingertips. A beautiful male.

He was an amazing specimen of male beauty who was dying right in front of her eyes. This is why she'd left medicine. Seeing someone die in front of her was too much. And now Daedalus?

She ran her thumb and index finger up the pointy top of his ear, pus.h.i.+ng the fur off. ”Ridges.” Three horizontal lines on what should be the incurve or helix of his ear. He didn't have a helix. She searched for the ear ca.n.a.l. It was larger and definitely not human.

Chapter Twenty-four

I felt her warm jittery fingers on my skin as I came to. My... skin? I didn't feel the protective covering of my hair anymore. It must have come off. I was that weak and she knew what I looked like now. Cloth abraded my temples. She was wiping my forehead. Then I felt the weakness as I lifted my hand. It shook embarra.s.singly. Vrykolakas don't ever shake.

I touched her wrist, circled my hand around it. Her wrist is dainty. Though I knew her daintiness belied her inner strength. Why should I care about her inner strength? All I could do was stare at her, baffled by my confusing emotions. I hate confusion and hated my emotions even more. ”How long was I out?” I flinched. My voice sounded gruff to my ears.

”Half an hour I think.”

”You're still in danger from me. The weaker I am the more...” The more blood he'll need? I heard her inner voice struggling.

”I know,” she said.

She's scared and confused. I should bite her and be done with it. Every time I thought of the quickest most common sense solution, the instinct to protect her rose up strong to obliterate it. ”So why do this? You've seen the worst of my kind. Get out while the getting is good.”

Ilida wrapped my arm with rolled gauze. She was gentle and sure of what she was doing. Most humans and vampires bothered with me because they had no other choice. Fear usually made you do things you didn't want to, but she wanted to help me. Stubborn woman.

”I hit you with my car. I have to take care of you.”

”I've never taken you for a fool.”

”I know that, too.”

I know. She knew absolutely nothing of what he could do to her. Or what he would do to her. ”I could have killed you. Do you know that?” I waited for her answer. Her voice always soothed me. What a joke! Anything would be soothing on my deathbed-death couch.

”Your fangs made a pretty nasty scar on my neck. Is that good enough for you?”

That wasn't good enough for me. I wanted her blood, needed the sustenance. I'm dying from loss of it and... she knows it. As all humans, when confronted with the paranormal she was in denial of it. Mere st.i.tching and wrapping was only a balm.

”I need to leave.” Then I felt the intrusion of someone else's thoughts. Alec.

Where are you?

Stuck in a cabin.

Not by yourself, I sense.

Bring some clothes when you find us.

You're dying. Did she have something to do with it?

She's trying to save my life. You can't rescue me, yet. The blizzard has us all grounded, and I can't keep talking like this.

Get your rest. We'll find you.

My hearing tuned into Ilida's voice. ”You can't. It's snowing hard out,” she said as she looked back at the dirty window. ”We're stuck with each other until it stops.”

I gritted my teeth at the prospect of having to stay here with her. From what I could see through the dirty window it was snowing harder than before. Even if I had the energy to fly out of here, my wings could freeze from the frigid temperature. The longer I stayed, the hungrier I would become. I had to do something. I couldn't maintain control. I marshaled my strength, slowed my breathing.

”H-How did you become a...”

Her voice only served to lull me into a relaxed state. Her voice shouldn't relax me. It should incite me to bite her. The thought saddened me. Nothing moved me. Emotion was foreign to me. Despite my caution, he answered her, ”Vampire? But you guessed that.”

She made a face and it tugged at my heart. I hadn't learned to curb my stinging tongue. ”You're not just a vampire are you?”

”Werebat vampire.” Pain throbbed in my shoulder. Her pain. ”Your shoulder, Ilida.”

”You're my main concern.”

”G.o.d forbid anyone care about you.” As absurd as the situation was I couldn't help but smile. Ilida had a certain stubborn magic about her. ”You can still laugh after what happened?”

”Better than screaming for Prozac.”

”You joke when under stress.”

”When I'm scared I do, unfortunately.”

”Your shoulder.”

”I took care of it while you were out. I didn't think I could bleed so much.”