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His senses were a muddle and his insides frozen. He couldn’t get his thoughts together. He tasted Daisy, but he also tasted her blood. What was she doing?

A flicker of warmth in his gut ignited into a bigger flame. It burned away the ice that had run through his veins ever since he’d been strapped to the examination table.

His blurry vision and pounding head vanished as Daisy wrapped her arms around his neck and straddled him. She clung to him like he was her life raft.

His body responded as she pressed against him. His arms curled around her, and his cock twitched to life.

Daisy pulled back, her breathing ragged. “That’s it. Come back to me. I know you’re still there. Keep fighting. Fight to stay with me.”

Before he had a chance to reply, her mouth captured his again, her tongue feasting on him as their breath mingled, and the kiss exploded more fire through him.

He moaned into her mouth and clung to her just as tightly as she held him. There was no way he wanted to let this go. Daisy was his. She was his everything. He’d die for her, but he’d prefer to live beside her and spend every day doing this. He wanted her heat molded against him, her tongue spiking pleasurable fire through his brain, and her increasingly breathy pants making him hard.

She rubbed against him, a groan sliding from her mouth as their tongues tangled in a desperate, passionate battle.

More welcome warmth flooded through Rexx. He felt whole again. He’d been fading, sliding from this world, too beaten and damaged to carry on. He’d only experienced this sensation once before, after months of torture and painful experiments. Something in him had snapped. He’d heard it late one night, while lying in a pool of his own blood. That was the closest he’d ever come to facing death until today.

Fuck! Rexx cracked his eyes open and jerked away from Daisy. His gaze flicked over her face, and his gut tightened. “No! You gave me back my energy. You need it.”

She rested her forehead against his. “I wasn’t sure if it would even work. But you were dying. I had to try something. I’d do anything to keep you alive.”

He stroked a hand down her shaking back, feeling the clamminess of her forehead as she pressed it against his. “If you don’t have my energy, you can’t control the Inkral tech. It’ll take over again. You won’t be able to fight it.”

Her breath was already shaky, and her body was wracked with a shivering she couldn’t seem to control. “It was so worth it. You’re already healing. The wounds on your stomach are closing up. There’s no more blood loss.”

Rexx scraped his fingers across his abs. The holes where the probes had been jabbed in still hurt, but she was right. He could feel energy coursing through him, working on healing his injuries.

“Take it back.” He tried to kiss Daisy and return the energy.

She ducked and rolled off his lap. “Nope. It’s yours. I don’t need it. You’ll fight for me and keep me safe. You always tell me that’s what you’re here for.”

Rexx groaned, grabbed her, and lifted her back into his arms. “Daisy, I wish you hadn’t done this. I’m—”

“If you say you’re not worth it, I’ll shoot you. You’re worth it to me. That’s what matters. Now, get us out of this mess. And when we’re free...” Her hands slid down his chest. “When we’re finally done with being heroes, I want to show you how happy I am that we’re both alive.”

He huffed out a surprised laugh. “Does that mean I’m on a promise?”

“If you can keep me alive, I’m all yours.” She arched against him and gasped. Pain shot across her face, and she fell back.

Rexx caught her, horror wrapping around his heart as he saw a long, black line snake beneath Daisy’s skin and up her neck.

His knees threatened to give out as he stood, holding Daisy close to his chest. It would be awhile before he was back to full strength, but he didn’t care. He had to get her help.

Rexx grabbed a discarded jacket off the counter. He threw it over Daisy’s head to protect her from the stinging ice shards in the rain before heading out of the store.

He strode back along the main route where there were more stores. There had to be a doctor around here. There’d be a dispensary or somewhere he could get medication, find something to slow down the spread of the Inkral technology as it slid through Daisy’s veins, taking her from him.

Rexx slowed as he reached a brightly lit storefront. His mouth twisted to the side. This wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. He kicked open the door and marched into the clean, white waiting room of the vets.

A tall woman with blonde hair looked up from behind the counter, her eyes widening as she took in the scene. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“She needs help. You have to help her.” Rexx staggered to the counter, still holding Daisy tight against him.

She groaned and shifted in his arms, but her eyes remained closed, lines of pain etched across her forehead.

The woman behind the counter had humanlike features, but she had purple eyes. She peered down at Daisy, concern on her face. “What happened to her?”

“She’s been infected with something. It’s spreading. Do you have sedatives? They seem to slow down its progression.”