Part 9 (2/2)
”Where's your vial?” she asked, standing. ”Can't Hugh use yours?”
”You don't think I would've offered already?” he said, his tone spiteful. ”I gave mine to a friend last week and keep forgetting to replace it.” He hung his head with a small shake.
A golf-ball-sized lump sat in her throat. Maybe she'd misjudged Dane.
Hugh let out a choke, startling Tess and bringing Dane closer. They squatted beside him. She put her hand on his shoulder.
”There is something you can do.” This time Dane spoke to her as if they'd been friends for years.
Tess didn't want any more friends. The rapid pulses migrating back and forth between her chest and her gut were a clear indication that she did not-should not-get involved with these two wolfen.
Yet she said, ”What?”
”I know this is going to sound strange, but your saliva-”
”No.” Hugh shook his head in protest and let out probably the last deep breath he had.
”Your saliva,” Dane continued, ignoring Hugh, ”can save him. The enzymes in it act as a natural disinfectant and when they mix with the protein in the nerve growth factor of Night Runners, it breaks down the poison at the molecular level.”
Biology was one of Tess's favorite subjects in school, but this was a little over her head. ”Is human female saliva in your vials?”
”Not just female, but given the circ.u.mstance, I think you're in a better position to help,” Dane said.
”So what, you want me to lick his wounds?” There was no way she'd lick her own, let alone the s.h.i.+fter she was supposed to eliminate in the next few days.
Hugh let out a small gurgled sound. ”I said no.”
Dane still wasn't listening. ”No. I want you to kiss him. The mouth will absorb the saliva much quicker than anywhere else and we're running out of time.”
”Kiss him? I don't think so. I just met him.” She'd wanted to kiss Hugh five minutes after meeting him. Of course, she thought his name was Trey and he was human. And the beer sliding down her throat had lowered her inhibitions, and lessened her nervousness at being on a date with someone for the first time since Jason.
Jason.
He'd died in her arms and there hadn't been a thing she could do to save him. Her eyes met Hugh's. She could save him. Right here. Right now. With only a kiss. A little mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
”If you don't, Tess, he's going to die.”
Chapter Seven.
An uneasy feeling settled in Tess's gut. She'd never saved anyone before. Hugh might think she'd saved him in the warehouse, but she hadn't. Not really. She'd only helped so she could eliminate him later. Under other circ.u.mstances. Because that was what she did. She manipulated situations and people-no, not people, Veilers-so that she could kill them.
Suddenly, the ground felt cold as ice under her hands. The murmur of traffic in the distance evaporated, the whisper of wind ceased, the buildings around her faded into nothing. Her eyes were locked with Hugh's, and what she saw there completely unnerved her.
He'd said no. Twice he'd said no. He didn't want her to do this, but in the faded blue eyes she couldn't tear her gaze from, she saw fear. And humanity. She looked away before compa.s.sion ripped every ounce of obligation from her. Before she not only saved him, but spared his life no matter what it cost her.
”I need a second,” she said, turning her head so she could think clearly. She hated, hated herself for even having to think. What kind of cruel, insensitive person was she? What kind of person didn't save the life of another?
A person owned by P.I.E., that's who.
What if...what if Hugh could help her find out who killed Jason? What if they could work out some sort of deal? A trade. She'd help him find Trey if he helped her find the wolfen responsible for Jason's death. And at the same time, she could look into his life and find enough evidence to eliminate him.
The arrangement would help solve all her current problems.
She looked back to Hugh. ”Okay. I'll do it.”
Like a falling star, something twinkled in his eyes for the briefest moment. She straddled his legs, her dress inching up her thighs as she got comfortable. She placed her hands on the car on either side of his head, and moistened her lips with her tongue.
”It might take some time,” Dane said, ”so don't let up until he breaks the connection. He'll know when to stop.”
Tess wondered exactly what kind of kiss this was supposed to be, but didn't ask. If she was going to do this, she was going to do it right. She'd never get another chance to kiss him.
She hadn't kissed anyone since Jason, and now the thought of surrendering her mouth to Hugh's made her hungrier for physical contact than she'd ever been.
G.o.d, she was pathetic. Even in his weakened state, Hugh got her juices flowing.
”This sure as h.e.l.l better be on the up and up,” she said, ”or there will be h.e.l.l to-”
Hugh cupped the back of her head and brought her mouth to his. His lips were dry, frigid and stuck together. They tasted a little salty, like beef jerky.
After a couple of seconds, his lips softened and relaxed. His eyes closed as they made deeper contact. And d.a.m.n if that didn't send a rush of warmth to everywhere she was cold. She'd forgotten how the gentle glide of lips could make her entire body feel wanted. Needed. Cherished. She'd wanted a kiss so badly tonight and now it meant more than she ever could have imagined.
He moved his hands down her back to settle them on her hips, and pulled her tighter. She s.h.i.+mmied closer, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s meeting his chest while her hands slid down the car and curved around his shoulders.
Her eyes fluttered shut. They settled into a tender kiss, their mouths grazing one another with the lightest, yet most significant touch. The stubble lining his jaw and upper lip was softer than she'd imagined. She liked it, enjoyed the texture that was all Hugh. The feel of him would forever be etched in her memory. And cause an eternity of torment.
Reminding herself this was a cure and not a real kiss, she started making a mental list of all the things she hated. Liver and onions. I hate liver and onions. People who don't say bless you when you sneeze. I hate those people. Filling my car up with gas. I hate that. Missing the perfect wave. That sucks. Blisters. I hate those b.l.o.o.d.y things, and I'm feeling one on the bottom of my foot right now. Stupid borrowed shoes. Stupidity. I hate stupidity. And what I'm doing right now is so stupid.
Oh h.e.l.l...
Hugh parted his lips and hers immediately followed. His tongue swept into her mouth and swirled around in such a delicious way that she forgot about everything she hated. Forgot about what day it was, what year, what name she'd been given. Everything inside her turned pliant, soft, agreeable.
One other man. Tess had only kissed one other man like this. And it was nothing like this. Bliss braided its way through her, explosive and terrifying. Every pain she'd endured over the years disappeared from memory. Their mouths made a seamless, perfect fit. Every tilt, every breath, every tangle of their tongues was as if she'd found where she belonged.
She pressed her mouth firmer to his, the tenderness they'd started with giving way to a more heated connection. She felt him gaining strength, could sense it in the pressure he kissed her with, but also in the way his body perked up. His slouch vanished, his chest puffed out, his grip on her tightened. And his very hard length pressed against her.
Tess almost jerked away, his arousal bringing her too close to losing the thread of control she had left. But the satisfaction, the knowledge that she had turned him on when he'd been so close to death, rendered her unable to stop. She opened her eyes and saw color had returned to his cheeks, sweat no longer dotted his forehead.
The kiss was working.
A smile spread across her lips, and his eyes flew open. The cloudless sky blue hue was back. Pa.s.sion and recklessness too. They gazed at one another for a few more seconds before her eyelids closed, catapulting her back to the euphoric state of saving his life.
She moved one hand to the back of his head where her fingers ran through the soft hair curling just above his jacket collar. Her other hand moved down to his chest, where she spread her palm to feel the strong beat of his heart.
He kissed her harder, faster, deeper. His mouth opened wider and his tongue grew more playful, the tip of it moving back and forth around the inside of her lips, then slipping in deeper. Tess imagined his mouth attached to other parts of her body and tingles like fireworks on the Fourth of July settled deep in her belly. Lower.
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