“You can have him.”
Christian rubbed at his neck and then looked at his fingers. “My eardrums healed an hour ago, but I can’t get that infernal squelching out of my head.”
“Hope you don’t have tinnitus.”
“Thank the heavenly angels that isn’t possible. Perhaps a tiny drop of your blood might speed along the healing,” he said with a wink. “Maybe a thimbleful?”
Christian was teasing, but the request lingered in the air. Whatwasn’tI willing to do for him? Sharing blood in large quantities wasn’t a good idea, but neither of us seemed influenced by the other’s power.
I put my finger in my mouth and pricked the skin with my fang. A pearl of blood formed on the tip and glistened.
Christian did a double take and then stopped. “Jaysus, I was just having a little fun with you.”
I held out my finger. “Just take it.”
He clenched his jaw and averted his eyes from the bright drop of blood. “I’m not feeble.”
“How will you be able to hear the lion if your ears are ringing? I’m just helping you get your revenge.”
“Or are you just trying to tantalize me?”
“Come find out.”
He sucked my finger into his warm mouth, his eyes never leaving mine. When his tongue swiped across the cut, his eyes rolled back before he closed them. Christian moaned as if he were a starved man devouring meat for the first time in fifty years.
When I yanked my finger out, it left a streak of blood on his bottom lip.
“You’ll be the ruin of me, Miss Black.” He licked his lips and smiled. “And I taste your satisfaction, so don’t think you pulled the wool over my eyes.”
I shrugged and kept moving. “How are your ears?”
He caught up in two strides. Instead of answering, he took my hand and squeezed it. There was no telling what that man could taste in my blood. Christian had lifetimes of experience, and his powers far exceeded my own.
But I didn’t mind the hand-holding.
At the mouth of the cave, grey smoke clouded the air from a dying fire. Claude passed through a veil of darkness and into the open. He had changed into a long-sleeved brown shirt with a high collar. Despite lack of sleep and everything we’d been through, his curly golden hair seemed perfectly styled. But his eyes were narrower than usual, and his nostrils flared.
“What happened?” I asked, letting go of Christian’s hand.
When he spoke, all four of his fangs were showing. “He kidnapped her.”
“Who kidnapped her? And who is her?”
“Carol.”
My heart sank. General’s brother must have run ahead of us. “Is anyone hurt? We got one, but we didn’t think the other one would come back here right away.”
Claude shook his head slowly. “That vile Shifter she calls her beau took her.”
Christian chortled and hefted his bags. “They’re probably off diddling in the woods somewhere.”
Claude gave Christian a reproachful look as the Vampire strutted into the cave without a care in the world.
“Did you try to find her?” I asked.
“Viktor won’t allow anyone to leave, not with the two left behind. Matteo went out, but he doesn’t own her scent.”
“How did it happen?”
