Page 78 of Hot Blooded

“Thank you.”

He leaned across the center console, pulling her in for a kiss. “You are incredibly compassionate. It is one of the many qualities that I love about you. But I’m putting one condition on this compassion. If it comes down to protecting you from him, I won’t be bothering myself about the thrall’s safety. Understand?”

Tessa nodded. “That’s fair.”

He kissed her again. “Let’s go home.”

Her heart warmed. “To our home.”

A soft purr resonated in Amos’s chest as he put the vehicle into gear.

Chapter 21

Living with Amos was even better than Tessa had hoped it would be. Now that he’d been unleashed, he fucked like a wild animal. He started a wicked game in which he’d creep up on her and nip her—just enough to impart a little venom—and then hold her as a swift little orgasm rocked through her. In retaliation, Tessa started an equally wicked game in which she’d wait until he was on a video call for work, and then stand naked in the doorway, just out of sight of the camera. Both games generally ended in sex.

In the first two weeks of living together, they’d broken an antique lamp, torn curtains straight off the rod, punched a hole in the living room wall, cracked two stair banisters, knocked one of the legs off the settee, and shattered a cut-crystal vase—all during their hunting games. The most devastating of these was when Amos discovered the sapphire-blue Council dress in the back of the closet. Tessa had put it on, since he’d never gotten a chance to ravish her in it, and in the course of their subsequent struggle-fuck, her stiletto heel had ended up embedded in the bedroom wall, one of the bedposts had been cracked in half, two of the towel bars had been ripped off the bathroom wall, the bedroom doorknob had been snapped clean off, and Tessa’s blue dress had been shredded practically to confetti.

Despite his savage approach to lovemaking, Amos was incredibly fastidious. More fastidious than Tessa had quite gleaned before living with him. He wasn’t a nag about it, but she couldn’t help but notice the way he carefully repositioned things that she’d moved out of their original place—a lamp that got nudged over when she’d left a stack of books on the end table, a candle that she’d lit and moved from the bookshelf to the coffee table, a spare bedroom door she’d shut that apparently Amos preferred ajar.

He would even rearrange things that were nominally hers. Even after claiming her, he still had fresh flowers delivered weekly. When she’d turned one of the arrangements so that her favorite part—the sunflowers—could be seen better, she later walked in on Amos rotating it back the way it’d been. He froze as if he’d been caught stealing from her purse.

“Aren’t those mine?” she’d asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

“Of course they are,” Amos said hurriedly. “They just… look better this way.” His expression was somehow both defiant and ashamed, and it had broken Tessa’s composure. She laughed, shaking her head at him. But as soon as he left the room, she’d rotated the flowers back to how she liked them.

It wasn’t long after Tessa had moved in with Amos that the thrall followed.

“Well, your admirer has finally moved into the neighborhood,” Amos said grimly.

“Is he here right now?” Tessa asked, a flutter of fear in her chest despite her sympathy for the thrall.

“Yes. Standing next to the garage. I could probably corner him at the end of the alley if I can get him to run in that direction. It’s a dead-end surrounded by three-story brick walls.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“Listen, he’s scared of you. But he likes me. You’ll have a much better chance of catching him if I can talk to him. And there’s no way he can hurt me if you’re with me.”

Amos considered that. After a long moment, he sighed. “You stay right by my side the entire time.”

With Tessa riding Amos piggyback, they set out after the thrall. Just as Amos predicted, they were able to corner him at the end of the alley. The walls were too high for the thrall to climb, and he wasn’t fast enough to get past Amos.

He huddled against the bricks, eyes darting nervously from Amos to Tessa to the open space behind them. Every time his gaze landed on Tessa, his expression turned imploring, as if she could help him.

“Hey,” Tessa said softly. “Don’t be afraid. We’re not going to hurt you.”

Amos took a cautious step closer and the thrall panicked, scrabbling against the bricks in a futile effort to climb the wall. He dropped back down to the pavement, breathing hard, eyes darting wildly.

“It’s okay,” Tessa soothed. “Catch your breath. You must be so tired.”

The thrall’s gaze went to her face, despair contorting his grimy features.

“We just want to help you. Will you come with us?”

The thrall’s gaze returned to Amos, face rigid with fear.

“Don’t worry about him,” Tessa said. “He won’t hurt you. He’s a big softie. And he knows people who can help you.”

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