Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
“Not…Tasting Week?” he asked and Severin and Cassie both shook their heads.
“No, not yet,” she said, hoping to reinforce the idea.
“Then…it is still the bathing week,” Ravik decided.
“Yes, which is why you just gave me a bath.” Cassie pointed at the tub and then at her towel.
Ravik seemed to be thinking very hard about that. At last, to Cassie’s relief, he nodded. But the next words out of his mouth sent another rush of anxiety through her.
“Then I must…massage you,” he rumbled. “I must…anoint my mate…with special oils.”
“Wait a minute—” she began.
“We don’t have any of the special oils down here in the bunker,” Severin said quickly, cutting her off. “But if you want, I’ll look for some,” he added. “Only don’t massage her until I find them for you—all right?”
Ravik frowned as though this displeased him, but at last he nodded.
“All right. I will just hold her for now to keep her warm.”
Severin shot an apologetic look at Cassie.
“Er…I’m afraid that’s the best I can do.”
Cassie sighed.
“It’s all right, I guess. As long as he doesn’t try anything.”
“If he does, just tell him to stop. Kindred don’t force women to do anything they don’t want,” Severin said firmly.
“Not even when they’re, er, not in their right minds?” she murmured, casting a look up at Ravik.
“I don’t think so,” Severin shook his head, frowning. “We Kindred understand the meaning of ‘no’…most of the time”
“I hope you’re right.” She nodded and looked up at Ravik again. “Shouldn’t you take a bath too, big guy? You were out in the Dead Zone longer than I was.”
Ravik nodded slowly.
“I will bathe. And then I will hold you and keep you warm.”
“Okay, er…thank you.” Cassie nodded at him. “You take a bath and I’ll see you later.”
Ravik was already stripping off his black leather vest and tight black trousers, revealing a mouthwateringly broad chest with a dusting of dark, wiry hair between the flat copper disks of his nipples.
Cassie turned away quickly, but not before she saw that he had a truly massive cock, which looked like a sleeping python lying along the inside of one muscular thigh.
Crap—I hope he regains enough of his mind to know we’re not really mated before he tries to use that thing on me! she thought, but Severin was already leading her out of the bathroom.
“Come, I’ll give you a tour of the bunker while Ravik is bathing,” he offered.
“Oh, er, thank you.” Cassie nodded.
She cast one last glance over her shoulder at the huge Beast Kindred who was sinking into the large tub and somehow making it look small. Was she really going to have to sleep in his arms tonight?
Surely not, she told herself uneasily. Probably he would go to bed and fall asleep long before she got there. Or maybe his half-Infected mind would forget all about her.
She hoped anyway.
10
SEVERIN
“I apologize again for Ravik’s behavior,” Sev said stiffly, as he led the curvy little human down the long metal hallway lit with flickering glows. “He truly isn’t himself right now—he hasn’t been ever since he was scratched by an Infected three months ago.”
“Three months?” Cassandra sounded surprised.
“Well, more like four, to be honest. But it was three months ago when he lost the power of speech,” Sev corrected himself. “Since then he hasn’t spoken in anything but grunts and growls—until today,” he added.
“So the antidote you gave him must be working, like you said,” Cassandra remarked.
She was distractingly pretty with her long damp hair and large breasts swaying under the tiny red silk garment she was wearing. Her nipples were tight points, poking against the fabric and Sev—who had always been a breast man—had to fight to keep his eyes on her face.
“Yes, it seems so,” he said shortly.
“But…weren’t you afraid to keep him down here with you?” Cassandra asked him. “I mean, he could have gone feral at any moment.”
“There was no real danger of that—I’ve been dosing him with different anti-virals since he was first infected,” Sev said loftily.
But it seemed that Cassandra wasn’t buying what he was telling her.
“They tried anti-virals in the Crystal City too,” she said, giving him a skeptical look. “When our beloved Mayor Kisslyx was bitten, some of the best scientists in the city locked him in a cage and began trying everything they could.”
“Oh? And what was the result?” Sev arched an eyebrow at her, genuinely curious thought he thought he could guess the outcome.
“He turned even faster after they injected him with that stuff,” Cassandra said, frowning. “In forty-eight hours he went from a thinking, speaking, rational being to a ravenous, slobbering Infected who just wanted to eat everyone he saw. Didn’t you think you were taking an awful chance with Ravik? I mean, keeping him so close?”
“He’s my best friend, all right?” Sev snapped, surprising himself by revealing the truth instead of just putting her off. “He’s saved my life more times than I can count and I’ve saved his as well. I can’t just put him out in the Dead Zone to die—not when I might be able to save him!”