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)
And yet Ravik looked at Cassandra for safety.
Not because he loved Severin less, though—because something in her body called to him—soothed him and fought back the virus.
But what was it? Severin was itching to run experiments but of course he couldn’t—not yet.
Cassandra turned suddenly and looked at him. He realized belatedly that she had caught him staring with what must have been a grim expression on his face.
“Hey—I need your help for a minute,” she said sharply.
“Hmm? Oh, sorry.” Severin came back from his thoughts to pay attenion. “You need my help? Because I don’t think I’m strong enough to hold Ravik down while you treat him,” he said. “I’ll try, of course, but—”
“No, that would only make him more upset,” Cassandra said impatiently. “What I need is your knowledge—is this stuff safe to ingest?” She waved the tube of burn ointment at him.
Severin frowned.
“Are you saying you want to eat some of that? Why?”
“No, I don’t want to eat it—I just want to make sure it won’t poison me if I get some in my mouth. Don’t ask why—just answer the question,” she added, because he could feel his brows drawing together and knew he must look like he wanted to ask several questions.
Which he did—many questions.
Questions such as—Why would burn salve be in your mouth? What exactly are you planning to do to my half-infected best friend? And why does the thought of you doing almost anything with your mouth make it nearly impossible for me to think straight?
Severin pushed the thoughts aside and held out his unburned hand.
“All right, let me see the tube.”
She gave it to him and he scanned the ingredients briefly, then nodded and handed it back.
“It should be fine. There’s nothing that would be poisonous to a human in the ointment. It’s mostly a cooling mineral gel suspended in sterile oil, with a low-grade dermal regenerator and a topical analgesic. It might numb your lips slightly, but it shouldn’t harm you.”
“Good, thank you.” Cassandra nodded and took the tube back from him.
Then she squeezed out a small amount and—keeping her back to Ravik—smeared some on her lips. When she turned back towards the Beast Kindred, they were shiny with the ointment.
“Okay, big guy,” she said softly. “I won’t try to put the ointment on with my fingers. But what if I kiss it better?” She pointed to one of the red burn marks on his broad shoulder. “Hmm? Would that be okay? Can you let your mate kiss you?”
Severin’s mind went blank.
Not completely blank, though. Somewhere in the distance, the scientist part of him observed that she had found an elegant solution to the problem. Ravik refused the ointment from her fingers, but he might accept the same medication if it was delivered through affectionate contact. Cassandra had already demonstrated that her scent, taste, and touch improved Ravik’s cognitive function. Adding a soothing, nonthreatening gesture might both calm him and treat the injuries.
It was excellent thinking—brilliant, really.
Unfortunately, the male part of Severin’s brain had noticed only that Cassandra’s lips were slick and shining and that she intended to put them on Ravik’s body.
His fangs sharpened uncontrollably and his shaft got hard so fast it made him dizzy.
He clenched his uninjured hand into a fist and forced himself to remain still. Ravik needed this—Cassandra was helping him. And Severin had no right—absolutely no right—to feel anything except gratitude. He definitely should not be feeling lust at the idea of watching the gorgeous, curvy Mature Elite put her mouth on his best friend.
For his part, Ravik looked confused at first, but when Cassandra pursed her lips, Severin saw the light of comprehension dawning in his golden eyes.
“Mate…kiss…better?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Yes, exactly. Mate kiss better.” Cassandra nodded. “Can you hold still and let me?”
After a long moment, Ravik nodded.
“All right.”
“Good.” Cassandra nodded in apparent relief.
She leaned down—though she didn’t have to lean very far at all, since even with him sitting and her standing she was barely taller than him—and pressed her lips to the red burn mark on his shoulder.
Severin stopped breathing.
It was just a kiss, he told himself—just a healing kiss, absurd as that sounded. A practical method of applying salve to a patient who was too frightened and regressed to accept treatment any other way.
But Ravik’s entire body relaxed under the contact and he seemed to get relief at once.
And Cassandra…Cassandra looked impossibly soft as she bent over him, her brown hair falling forward over one shoulder, her red silk nightgown brushing the tops of her thighs, her mouth gentle against Ravik’s burned skin.
And as she kissed him, something happened—the fog in Ravik’s eyes thinned.
Severin saw it happen. The Beast Kindred was definitely responding to her touch, as much as her scent, the scientific part of his mind noted. The other part though how beautiful she was, kissing his best friend.