Part 5 (2/2)

She reached for the mouthwash and poured some liberally over the wounds.

Thunder moaned and arched his back.

”Really? You don't make so much as a sound while I'm digging around in your back with a knife but you can't take a bit of disinfectant?” She had to smile. His coloring looked more normal and he had stopped perspiring. He looked so much better already. Relief washed over her.

As expected, Thunder didn't answer. He was fast asleep. His broad shoulders rising and falling with each deep breath. ”I sure hope you don't scar.” She let her hands trail along the hard ridges of his muscled back. ”That would be a shame.”

Tamara stopped mid ... feel. She was copping a feel on an unconscious guy! Since when had she sunk so low? To take advantage of someone who was out cold. One who wasn't even her type, even if he was seriously yummy.

She grabbed the one remaining clean cotton wipe and used it to finish cleaning the dried blood. Then she got to work making more bandages, this time on the other side of the bed, before redressing his wounds.

Something warm wriggled beside him ... and on top of him. It clutched him around the neck. Not an it. A she. The human. The female had both a leg and an arm wrapped around him. Her plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s were squashed up against his side.

The last thing he wanted to do was startle her but he had to see her ... had to ... he turned his head so that he was facing her. Her face was right there, inches away.

Even in the throes of sleep she was a beauty. Her mouth was slightly parted. She made soft snoring sounds. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders. There was a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheek bones. Not easy to spot in pa.s.sing but up this close, impossible to ignore. Mmmmm, melted chocolate. His stomach growled.

Her eyes moved rapidly under her lids, her lashes fanned her cheeks. Her nose was slightly upturned and her mouth generous and sweet. Oh so d.a.m.ned sweet. He couldn't wait for another taste.

She latched her leg tighter around him and pulled herself even closer, her hand curling almost possessively around the back of his neck.

If it weren't for the burning on his back and the feeling of weakness, almost to the point of paralysis, he would've turned his whole body to face her, pulled her against him.

In his current state, he couldn't lift a finger, let alone any other parts of his anatomy.

He felt her breathing pick up. Her body tightened. The human, Tamara, slowly opened her eyes. f.u.c.king amazing eyes. Dark and gorgeous. Eyes a male might lose himself in if he wasn't careful. In this instance, Thunder wanted to throw caution to the wind.

She blinked a couple of time. Those beautiful eyes widened, her mouth rounding up into a startled 'O'. She sucked in a breath as she pulled away from him, moving faster than he thought possible for a human. ”s.h.i.+t! d.a.m.n! Sorry.” She swallowed hard. ”I'm a cuddler. I can't help it. I was asleep so technically I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea.” She held up her hand. This female was so d.a.m.ned cute. ”It had nothing to do with you ... nothing at all. Nothing to do with your hotness or anything. I ...” She seemed to catch herself. ”Oh G.o.d! Forget I said that.” She moved back to his side and put her hand on his brow. A strange move. Was this some sort of mating ritual he didn't know about? He sure as h.e.l.l hoped not since there was nothing he could do about it, and that would be a crying shame.

”Your fever has broken.” She leaned forward, seeming to examine his face. Next she looked deeply into his eyes. This was definitely a way in which humans flirted with males. Blast, pity he was unable to reciprocate.

”I'm sorry, human,” his voice was croaky from disuse. ”As much as I would love to rut you, I'm too weak right now. Give me a couple of hours and I'm all yours.”

Her brows drew together right before her eyes narrowed. ”I can't believe you! You almost died, are still half freakin' dead and yet you're thinking of s.e.x?” She shook her head. ”Typical male,” she muttered to herself. Something he noticed she did often.

”My apologies.” He had to smile at how fl.u.s.tered she was. ”I thought you were initiating s.e.x.”

”What?” She turned her attention to his back.

”Touching my face, looking deeply into my eyes. You were flirting with me ... don't deny it.”

She c.o.c.ked her head and gave him a look that could kill, or worse. ”I was checking to see if you were still running a fever.”

”Running a fever?” He frowned, not sure what she meant. ”I can't run right now, I'm kind of out of it. Even walking would be d.a.m.n near impossible.”

She smiled, but then quickly packed that beauty away. A shame, since the smile lit up her whole face. One small dimple appeared on her right cheek, just above her mouth. She shook her head. ”Running a fever means that your body temperature gets higher than normal.” When he didn't respond, she carried on. ”You get hot and sweaty. Your eyes become gla.s.sy and-”

”Sounds like s.e.x to me.”

”Stop with the s.e.x already. You nearly died, for Christ's sake. You need to get your head out of the gutter. I might start to think that you're perverted or something.”

”I'm sorry!” He couldn't help it. It was his body's way of telling him that s.e.x would help him. He was about to get h.o.r.n.y as h.e.l.l. s.e.x helped non-humans heal. The good news was that he was used to going without. The bad news was that he'd never been wounded so badly before, or been in such close proximity to such a ravis.h.i.+ng creature before either.

He would deal.

No problem.

”I'm not perverted.”

”Could've fooled me.”

”I still don't know what a fever is or why you were looking at me like that if not to initiate s.e.x.”

”I was checking to see if you were still sick.” A look of concern graced her features.

”I'm fine.” He licked his lips. ”At least, I will be soon enough. I'm going to need some time to get stronger,” his voice was still hoa.r.s.e.

She nodded. ”Good! You had me worried. Let me know what you need, I would be more than happy to help out.”

Thunder nodded. ”Water would be good.”

”Oh s.h.i.+t!” She jumped up. ”You must be dying of thirst. I'm sorry.”

”Tamara ...”

She turned back towards him. ”Yeah?”

”Thank you.” He kept his eyes on hers, which softened. ”You saved my life. That took guts, serious courage. I'm indebted to you.”

She moved back to the bed and sank down onto the mattress. ”No problem,” she shrugged. ”It didn't really take guts. It was something that had to be done, so I did it.”

”Don't downplay it, it took guts.”

She nodded once. ”I still don't understand how such small things could cause such havoc. They weren't even that deep.”

”Silver,” he croaked. ”Non-humans' Achilles heel. It's why we choose to stay far away from humans.”

”It's that toxic to you guys?” she said almost to herself, looking shocked.

”Yup. It's pretty much the only thing that will kill a non-human. That and decapitation. Oh and ...” He felt a warm glow inside his chest. ”A lightning bolt to the heart is also pretty lethal.” Thoughts of Cloud entered his mind but the human clasped a hand over her mouth and made a sound of disgust. He smiled. ”TMI?”

She nodded, looking pale. So d.a.m.ned cute. She had used a knife to dig around in his back, yet hearing him talk of death made her queasy. Humans were strange creatures.

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