“I’m not...”
“Yes, it will help him,” Charlotte said, not looking up from her sketch.
“I don’t think…” Bas began.
Bridget shushed him and placed her other hand on his shoulder. She leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I don’t want you to be tired later. Let me help.”
Bas placed a hand over hers and squeezed. “Valid point. Back on board. Let’s get this done, Charlotte.”
Bridget held onto him, enjoying the feel of his strong shoulders under her hands. She had an overwhelming urge to bury her nose in his hair. He always smelled so fucking good.
She shook herself. Maybe she was losing it. She had never had those kinds of urges with anyone. It was like she had imprinted onto Bas Greatdrakes like a baby duck.
Bridget thought back to what Reeve had said about neurodivergence. One of the therapists she had talked to about sex and relationships had told her that it could be hard to make emotional connections with other people and that sex without the connection probably wouldn’t interest her. But when shedidmake that connection, it would be something she really enjoyed.
Maybe I should give them a call and get them to remind me what they were talking about, she thought. It could explain what she was feeling so quickly for Bas.
Bridget had hooked up with hot people before, and looks weren’t something she tended to lose her head over. A face was a face. Bas’s face was great, but he also understood her in a way that no one else had. He would know how to help her on her bad days and would be able to keep her grounded.
You’re in love with him.Her fingers tightened on his shirt. Was she? She hadn’t been in love before.
“Okay, that’s the last one,” Bas said with a sigh of relief. He pulled his mask down so he could kiss the palm of Bridget’s hand. “Thank you, darling. I’m good now.”
Bridget reluctantly let him go and swayed as if she had stood up too quickly. Bas quickly grabbed her. “Sorry, I don’t know why that happened.”
“You’re a bit drained,” Bas said and helped her to a chair. “We will get these patches on, and I’ll get you home.”
“I’m okay now,” she reassured him. Despite her saying it, they still gave her a few minutes. Charlotte recruited a few of the doctors and nurses to help, and Lachlan and Apollo returned from their side adventures in time to get a patch and a patient of their own.
“On three, everyone,” Charlotte said over the noise. “One…two…three.”
As one, they put the patches on their patient’s necks. Like the time before, they didn’t have long to wait before they started to react. They got out of the way as the nurses and doctors took over, and the patients woke up one at a time.
Bas wrapped an arm around Bridget’s waist. “Now it’s time for us to sneak away.”
Charlotte left strict instructions for the patches not to be removed until she contacted them about it, and the doctors hung onto every word.
Once they were outside again, Charlotte sagged against Reeve and scooped her up in his arms.
“Overcooked yourself again,” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter. They are okay,” she said.
Bridget huffed. “So burning yourselves out is a family thing.”
“It’s a not knowing when to quit thing,” Apollo corrected. “I’ll drive.”
“We need to have a meeting about how to hunt and kill this thing,” Lachlan said as they headed towards the parking lot. “Those patches won’t work forever, and old monsters don’t give up easily. It will find new victims.”
“Agreed, but I need to rest first,” Bas said, and Bridget hung onto him a little tighter. “We have a plan of its hunting grounds.”
“Send me some pictures, and I can coordinate the rest,” Lachlan replied.
They said their goodbyes and piled into their cars. Bridget curled up into Bas and was asleep before they made it home.
27
Bas’s head was still mush hours later. He had carried Bridget upstairs, taken off her jacket and boots, and collapsed into bed beside her.
