“It’s not going to work—”
“Then watch her die—it is your choice!”
The old female’s tone got through to him like a slap in the face, and he felt his brows pop up. “All right… I’ll do that.”
Not that she seemed to hear him. She went to the hut’s flap and lifted it partially. As she leaned out, he had a thought that she was testing the air for scents, but he wasn’t sure.
Turning around, she met him in the eye. “You must stay in here. I can protect you if you are under this roof. If you leave, you are on your own—and she will definitely not survive. It is your choice.”
Then the female ducked out. What happened next… Kane wasn’t too sure about.
The walls of the hut began to flutter, as if there was a wind swirling around outside, and then there was a vibration that came up through the earth, the kind of thing that entered him through his contact with the ground and traveled up his own body.
After that, everything went translucent: Sure as if a brilliant light were being shined on the exterior of the structure, the heavy fabric seemed to disappear, a red fog replacing that which had been solid.
Which was how he saw the old female change shape just outside the shelter.
One moment, she was up on two legs; the next, she went into a contortion, her shape changing until she was down on four paws.
As she threw back her head and howled, the eerie sound went into his bones and he looked down at Nadya. Things had taken a very paranormal turn, and that was saying something, considering he was a vampire—
An internal voice cut in:If you leave, you are on your own—and she will definitely not survive.
For a second, he was confused about its origins, but then the message truly sunk in.
“Nadya,” he said, “I need to lie with you.”
He started to remove his clothing, and as he bared his torso, he could really feel the heat rising from her, sure as if he were in front of a fire. Moving faster, he kicked off boots, peeled socks, pulled off his pants. No undergarments.
Staring down at his sex, he gave it a quick pep talk to not get peppy. This was medicine, he told the damn thing.
“I’m going to lie with you now.”
She moaned a little and moved under the towel. “Kane?”
“Yes,” he said urgently. “Yes, it’s me.”
“Help me…”
“I will. I have to lie down with you.”
Nadya lifted her arms up, rolling herself back and forth on the pallet.
“Here I am.”
Gritting his teeth, he shifted down and stretched out next to her. Immediately, she settled against him, her body like cozying up to a rock that had been baking in the sun, the dry heat warming him as if, sure enough, his flesh was a sponge for it.
The ragged sigh she let out suggested that it wasn’t all in his mind, that what the old female had told him to do might work.
“I’m just going to get us sorted,” he said awkwardly as he moved arms, shifted legs, positioned them better.
And that was how, for the first time in two hundred years, he came to be naked with a female.
No, that wasn’t quite right. Cordelhia had never been fully nude the few times they had been together. She had always declared the need for her modesty by retaining her silken nightgowns, and of course he had wanted to honor whatever made her feel more comfortable.
Besides, though he had wanted further closeness from hisshellan, he had never been sure whether that was just the nature of sexual acts—or whether it was specific to his mate. Not that the answer to that would have mattered. He had just wanted Cordelhia to be happy, whatever that entailed.
“Shhh,” he said as he ran his hand up and down Nadya’s shoulder.