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“Adam.” His fingers slipped into my hair.

“You didn’t run!” I snapped. The words shot out of me before I’d had a chance to even think them. “You didn’t run. You said you would . . . You lied.”

“To save you.” Bloody fingers skimmed down my cheek.

We hobbled on, limping toward our room. Anger and fear combined to make a heady concoction, making me see red. It was too much. He could have died.

“I am so mad at you.”

He pulled me close and bumped his head with mine. “My dear, I am sorry.”

“Are you going to be alright?” Galbraith approached. “Do you need anything? First aid?”

“No, he’s mine.” Another growl rumbled out of me. “I’ve got this.” I needed to get Victor back to our room.

Galbraith raised his hands and backed up. “Alright. No harm meant, Adam. Your demon friend? Jenny tells me she pointed him in the direction of Whiteacre Falls, where the nearest hospital is. He had Zander with him.” The alpha held my gaze, his concern valid. Was I a risk to him and his pack?

“Thank you,” I squeezed out through clenched teeth.

“Zander might not be pack, but he’s kin. So thank you for looking out for him. All three of you.”

I might have said more than a grunt if Victor hadn’t been bleeding all over me. It took an age to hobble up the motel steps and into our room. Once inside, I set Victor down on the end of Zee’s big bed. “I’m going to eat them all,” I grumbled. “Slow roasted.”

Victor’s hint of a smile summoned my own. I rushed him, flung my arms around him and buried his face against my chest, my hands in his hair. “What do you need?”

“You . . . just you.”

I held him, and he held me, and for a moment it was just the two of us against what felt like the world. The only thing that could have made the hug better was Zee, but he was off saving a life, so I couldn’t blame him for that.

“I will never stop protecting you,” Victor whispered, his voice raw.

I pulled away and knelt, resting my hands on his knees so I could peer up into his eyes. “Victor, you know I’m almost indestructible.”

“It is the almost that concerns me.”

He was a fool. I should have been the one protecting him. I brushed his hair back from his face. He turned his head and nuzzled my wrist, fangs emerging. If he waited much longer, with all the blood loss he’d become vicious. It had happened before, and I did not want to see him rabid and starving like that ever again.

“Lie back,” I told him, sounding snappy and not caring.

“I fear I am in trouble with you.” He lay back, propped on his elbows, and when I climbed onto the bed next to him, he settled down properly, resting next to me.

“Yes, you are. There will be groveling and apologies. But first, let’s get you healed.”

After hooking a leg over his, I snuggled closer and tilted my head, exposing my throat. His arm came around me, folding me into his embrace, and those smooth, cool fangs slid into my neck, unleashing a wave of lustful sparks. There was no chance of stopping the moan that slipped free, or preventing myself from clutching him tighter. Being close to Victor was like catching a star—he consumed my body and thoughts, turning me into a thing of pure need.

He was all cut up and needed my blood to heal, so this was not the time to hump his leg, but I was as much animal as man and I’d never stop wanting him, even when he was bloody and bruised. Maybe because he was bloody and bruised.

It wasn’t long before his hand eased up on gripping my arm and slipped between us to clutch my dick.

“If you think this is going to make up for lying to me . . .” I began, but then his experienced fingers stroked. With his other hand, he flicked open my fly, burrowed inside and found his prize. Skin on skin lit me up like a firework. I forgot how to speak, forgot I was a man, and growled his name like a mating call.

“You were saying?” Silvery eyes tried to pull me into their allure.

“Then you are absolutely right,” I croaked.

“Hm, good. That is my plan.”

He hadn’t taken much from my veins, but it was enough that the cuts on his face had begun to heal. A few smudges of dirt and dried blood remained. I swept them away with my thumb, prompting his smile. He was going to be alright, and that was all that mattered. Relief made me dizzy, or perhaps that was his merciless handiwork.