“Is there another kind?” Vitra asked, nostrils flaring. “Your shirt, however, is ruined—Mr. Thorn was forced to tear it off you.”
“To get to the wound,” Drayven bit out. He finally looked at me, dark eyes pleading for understanding. “My saliva has a clotting agent and…Ana, I’m sorry I?—”
I was so confused. “Why are you sorry? You saved me from bleeding out.”
He clenched his jaw before speaking. “I did, but I also exposed you. I stripped off your brassiere.”
Seriously? He was worried about that? “Okay, so everyone got an eyeful of my boobs. So what? I don’t care. I have nice boobs.” I paused and reached for the bandage on my chest. “Istillhave nice boobs, right?”
Darla snort-laughed, and Drayven’s mouth twitched, but Vitra remained still and serious as stone.
“Mr. Thorn, tell her, or I will,” he ground out the words.
A low growl rumbled from Drayven’s chest. “Dammit, Vitra, there’s no need.”
“Yes. Yes, there is. Shemustbe made aware. You acted without her consent.”
“I did what I had to,” Drayven said, shooting Vitra a sharp look. “You would have done the same.”
“No, Mr. Thorn, I would not.”
“You’d have let her bleed out?” Drayven challenged.
Vitra opened his mouth, then snapped it shut, leaving me fascinated by the muscle that feathered along his jaw. He was furious.
But why? Because I was alive? Or because Drayven had licked me? Did Vitra want to lick me and see my boobs? Heat pooled low in my belly at the thought of his tongue on my skin. Of his hands on my body.
Both males broke their eye-off and slowly turned to look at me, nostrils flaring slightly.
Fuck, could they smell my arousal?
I filled my mind with images of dead critters and glared back at them. “What?”
Drayven quickly looked away, but Vitra held my gaze, a challenge in his topaz eyes.
Darla sighed heavily. “If neither of you will explain the significance of what’s happened to Miss Onyx, then I will.”
Twin spots of color stained the tops of Drayven’s cheekbones. “No. I can do it.” He cleared his throat. “A barghest marks his chosen mate with the scent carried in his saliva. Ahealingsaliva, only to be used on a potential oractualmate.”
My fuzzy brain took a moment to comprehend, and when it did, indignant heat gripped my throat. “Youmatemarked me?”
“No,” Drayven said at the same time Vitra said, “Yes.”
For fuck’s sake. “Which one is it?”
“I need to mark you three times to claim you. This once won’t matter.”
I relaxed against the pillows. “Okay, so we’re good. As long as you don’t lick me again.” Gosh, that sentence sounded odd.
“Then maybe don’t get yourself injured,” Vitra snapped. “You could have been killed tonight. It was foolish and stubborn to agree to battle a Baobhan Sith, especially without access to the Weave.”
“But I won.” I grinned up at him. “I beat her and… Shit.” My smile dropped. “Is Ruspin okay?”
“He’s fine,” Drayven said. “He’s in the barracks with the Thropes. I’m sure he’ll want to thank you as soon as he’s able to shift into his human form again. What she did to him over the years…” He shook his head, lip curling. “He’s lost his beast voice and is trapped in his beast form. For now.”
“As noble as your intentions were, Miss Onyx, they were still rash,” Vitra continued. “If you’re to survive at Nightsbridge, you must be more discerning in the battles you choose to fight.”
“I chose to fight to save Ruspin, and I’d do it again.”
