Page 57 of Bitten By Desire

His features relaxed, dropping his mask for once and putting his sorrow and anguish on display. His eyes searched mine as I stood crying, and after what felt like an eternity, he closed the distance between us and kissed me so gently I cried harder.

Clutching his curls, I pressed into him, meeting his softness with unbridled ferocity as the earthquake around us ceased. My tongue lashed his, demanding, and he answered without hesitation.

Lips swollen and bruised, we separated, me panting, him still searching for something in my face as he wiped at the remaining tears with his thumbs.

“I love you, you frustrating vampire,” I said. “I’m going to find a way to save you.”

He smiled, but his eyes remained sad. “If anyone can, it’s you, Dr. Devaux. But I consider this penance for the pain I’ve caused others, including you.”

“We have a life to live. You promised me,” I reminded him as I approached the cot with the machine lying innocently at the head.

“I will attempt to keep my promise.”

He helped me undress, folding and setting my clothing neatly beside me. Every brush of his fingers sent shivers running through me, heating my core despite the coldness of his hands and the air around us. My nipples peaked almost painfully, an effect I couldn’t exactly hide. But being the gentleman he always was, he stayed focused on my face and was as careful and clinical about his movements as possible.

When I finally lay back on the table, he rushed to the next cell to rip the sheet off its cot and returned to lay it over me. The restraints still lay broken at my sides, and he ignored them completely.

“Drink from me before I do it,” I said as he reached for the machine.

He froze.

“Then feed afterward anyway. But maybe that will help.”

His mouth tightened into a line then relaxed as he gazed down at me. Without argument or complaint, he set the machine to the side, leaned down, and set his lips to my throat, inhaling the scent of my skin. I reached up and clung to his head as the familiar prick and sensations of euphoria washed over me.

He pulled at my blood with fervor, ending the connection too quickly and gliding his tongue over the spot. I moaned as he straightened, color returning to his face and eyes as I watched. He kissed me briefly and set the machine on my head.

One moment, I was staring at the man I loved, the next, I was floating in the cosmic light show between dimensions. I spun in place, searching for Pythia, but she was nowhere to be found. The frustration I’d been holding at bay burst forth. This wouldn’t cost her any energy, she’d already told me that. It was her space. So why wasn’t she here to aid me?

You don’t need me, Char, she whispered in my mind.

“I need the door to the fae realm,” I told the universe at large, focusing on my goal.

The shining purple archway appeared before me instantly, and I relaxed. She was right. This was my space to control, and I was ready.

Just as I reached for the doorway, something occurred to me.

If I could travel between dimensions, could I bring someone else through as well?

“I need to get to Hazel’s cottage,” I said, and a new door opened, shining bright pink beside the purple.

Without hesitation, I flew through, and the scent of Hazel’s cookies welcomed me. She sat on the end of the couch by Zoe’s sleeping head, plucking at her blonde curls then letting them spring back and watching her with such love on her face that my heart swelled.

But they weren’t why I was here.

I flew through the door to the bedroom and found Binx. Instead of tossing and turning, he lay still now, sweat still soaking his brow and the pillow beneath him. His dark skin, normally so rich and almost golden brown, had a sickly yellow undertone to it. And the bandages on his arm and side no longer covered a dark bruise that had spread across his smooth bare chest almost to his heart.

Thankfully, that same sculpted chest still rose and fell with breath, though slow and shallow. I glanced at the clock in the room and once again found myself gripped in the clutches of panic. He had less than an hour—minutes left until sunrise.

“Okay, buddy. Let’s get you out of here.” I wasn’t sure how or even if I could do it. But I had to try.

I tried to grab hold of him, but my hand slid right through his arm and into the bed. I yanked it out immediately, clutching it to my own chest and chewing my cheek. If I couldn’t touch him corporally, how could I move him through dimensions?

Think, Char.

Pythia had said I could will myself to be seen. So that hopefully meant I had control of my senses in here. Right. Telekinesis.

I focused on the sleeping form in front of me and called up my magic. I reminded myself of how I felt when I’d formed the earthquake in the brig. It didn’t take much to touch those still raw feelings, and I grabbed hold and transferred them to Binx. Just like Julian, he was on the edge, and I couldn’t let him die.

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