Page 18 of Bond of Passion

“Really? I didn’t know that.”

Tavin was actually considering it. Eidolon said the hospital would cover all expenses, plus they’d have fake human credentials set up so he’d have a history and paper trail. “It’s a good—” He broke off as a cramp twisted his left biceps. “Ow, shit.”

Deja was in his face again, her fingers circling his wrist. “You okay? What’s wrong?”

“Arm cramp.” He clenched his jaw as his arm flexed and jerked. “Hey, is it true that your species has a paralytic bite like the Neethul?”

She jerked the way his arm had. “Why?”

“Was just…ow…thinking that the Neebless are related to Neethul, right? So you could bite my arm. Make the cramp stop.”

“Oh.” She bit down on her plump lower lip, and if this had been any other situation, he’d have appreciated the sight of her white fangs making dimples in the smooth, dark skin. “Our venom doesn’t last long. A few seconds.”

His biceps tightened up again, twisting and writhing, and he hissed in pain. “Try it. See what happens.”

Her gaze caught his, the intensity in her eyes making him forget the spasm. It was just one more ache on top of everything else, after all. But her eyes…they were something special.

They’re so much like Gristlen’s.

The thought hit him like a rock troll’s sledgehammer. He hadn’t seen eyes like that since Gristlen died. Maybe because he hadn’t crossed paths with many Neethul demons since that day. And he’d never encountered one of their rare cousins. Did all Neebless have eyes like a clear mountain lake?

Suddenly, the door swooshed open, and Deja leaped away from him as if she’d been caught doing something naughty. Would biting him for medical reasons be considered naughty?

Now he wanted to find out. He wanted those lips, that perfect, plump mouth and those strong, white fangs to be on him. All over him.

Well, everything else might be broken, but your sex drive is in great working order.

Which made sense. If he’d been asleep for a day, he’d missed a few orgasms. The fact that he wasn’t dying or in misery meant that he’d been given a sexual suppressant. But even through the medication, his attraction to Deja sizzled.

Then he heard Eidolon’s voice, and all hopes for being bitten by a beautiful nurse went into the trash like a pair of used surgical gloves.

This was not a promising start to the day.

* * * *

At Eidolon’s sudden appearance, Deja stepped as far from Tavin as she could without looking as guilty as she felt. Though why she should feel guilty, she wasn’t sure. She hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d wanted her to bite him, but she hadn’t. She also hadn’t slit his throat with a scalpel, so overall, she thought she was doing pretty good.

Still, she’d wanted to bite him. She’d wanted to put her lips on him the way she once had. She remembered how he felt. How he tasted. How he responded to her when she dragged her teeth across his skin in a way that drove him nuts.

Her face heated with the memories as Eidolon and a dark-haired female in worn jeans and a black Stranger Things tank top entered Tavin’s room. The female’s bare right arm, wrapped with paler versions of Eidolon’s glyphs minus his personal symbol, made her easily identifiable, even though Deja had never formally met her. Sin, half-sister to Eidolon, Shade, and Wraith, full sister to Lore, and the only female Seminus demon in all of known history.

“Hi.” Her dark gaze locked on Deja. “You must be new. I’m Sin.”

Deja nodded in greeting. “Deja. I saw you at the party, but we didn’t get a chance to meet before…” She trailed off, unsure what to call the incident. “The incident” would probably work, but it kind of minimized what had happened.

“Before some asshole blew up in my hospital and killed and maimed a lot of people?” Eidolon growled, and Deja stepped back from the force of his anger.

“Don’t take it personally,” Sin said. “We’re all really tired of this kind of shit.”

“Gem said something about this being a common occurrence.”

“It’s not that common.” Sin gave a casual shrug. “It only happens on days that end in Y.”

“I wish I could say she’s exaggerating.” Eidolon laid his hand on Tavin’s shoulder, and his dermoire lit up as he channeled his gift into the other Seminus demon.

Tavin had done the same to the Meerie, and she wondered if he’d only done it to seduce and kill her.

Like she was going to do to him.