Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 103719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103719 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
He was going to have to thank his sister for encouraging this.
So yes, he had been certain Lydia Susi was going to be here, and all he’d had to do was wait for her—and he hadn’t been worried that she’d bring Daniel Joseph.
Her memories told Blade that she preferred to come here alone.
This was her solace away from her dying mate, the place where she could breathe and shore up her strength for the sadness and grief she stewed in down below.
Thus, she was before him. And she was magnificent.
“You were told to come find something on the mountain,” he said in a low voice—and he knew she understood him in her wolf form. He could tell by the way she tilted her head. “Therefore, I am here for you.”
He’d deliberately kept his red robes on because he’d anticipated she would ascribe to him a religious connotation—and with the way those glowing lupine eyes stared up at him, he knew she had.
“Your mate is dying. There is nothing you can do. You are in the transition between what is your present and what will soon be your past. You worry what is next, but that is no longer a concern. I have found you. I am here… for you.”
On a lot of levels, he couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth, but then he reminded himself that he was just trying to get her to stay with him a little tonight and then come again tomorrow. He needed time to understand this reaction of his, time to figure out—and neutralize—the burning he felt in his veins when he saw her.
“I will never hurt you,” he repeated. Like it was a vow.
And strangely, he meant it.
In response, her nostrils flared, and her twitching jowls relaxed a little, less of her very impressive set of fangs showing. Likewise, the muscles in her thighs stopped spasming. But she didn’t trust him yet, not by a long shot—and he was under no illusions. If she didn’t like something, anything, about him, she was going to be off into the night, possibly never to return.
Either that… or she was going to attack him.
And he would have welcomed that.
For a moment, he had an image from back in his private quarters: his beautiful scorpion, so small, so deadly.
Ah, so that’s what this is, he thought with some relief.
Lydia could kill him. Not easily, because he would fight back to the death against her. But it was impossible for him to respect anyone or anything that was not a threat to him and likewise… he was compelled by anything that presented him with a mortal danger.
“You will come here,” he told her, “and I will be waiting for you. That is all for now. I shall see you on the morrow at this time—and worry not. There is no threat down at the house, not against you. You are safe to come and go.”
He knew she was itching to change form, and it would be entirely pleasing to see her naked—another surprise for him. Except he could not be here for very long. He had to condition her to want to meet him, and therefore, he needed to leave her curious and a little confused.
He would be on her mind.
She would come tomorrow.
And then, one way or another, he could get her out of his system so he could finish his work—and move along to destroy that lab.
After which…
Well, he was going to take a long fucking vacation, he thought just as he was about to dematerialize away—from his wolf and her mountain.
THIRTY
SO YOU HAVE things to think about.”
As Gus spoke, he held up the test in front of C.P. Phalen. Then he put the wand with its two windows and all its lines down on the rolling table next to the hospital bed. Turning away, he was at a loss—but that had to do with so much more than where his physical location was.
He went over and sat on his stool because he didn’t know what else to do. The good news? He’d been a doctor for a very long time, so his role in this bombshell moment was fairly prescribed.
Har, har.
Over on the bed, C.P. took the test by the end you were supposed to hold, and tilted it so she could see those peepholes. When she just stared at the result, he cleared his throat.
“That’s a strong response,” he heard himself say. “But to be more precise, we’ll need a blood test.”
“This can’t be happening.”
“So you weren’t using protection, I’m guessing. Or was there a malfunction?”
He had no clinical reason for going there, and he feared his personal one was making him behave like an ass. But he couldn’t stop himself.
“Of course I didn’t use anything,” C.P. said in a numb way, like she was talking to herself. “I was told I couldn’t have children—why did Anderson not catch this?”