Page 20 of A Bloom in Winter

The strangled sound that rose up Callum’s throat, that came up from the past, was just barely caught and held—and like a wild animal, it tried to get free.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said roughly.

The vampire stopped with the cleaning. But didn’t look up. “How can I not.”

“You don’t start.”

“Too late for that, isn’t it.”

Rubbing his eyes, Callum tried to find a change of subject, something else to say. Words failed. Then again, he never allowed himself to think about the past or the vampire who had both kept him alive . . . and driven him away from that old, crumbling sanatorium—

Goddamn it, the soft stroking on his ankle made him want to scream.

Apex was just so gentle with the soapy corner of the hand towel, the blood turning things rose-colored in a bad way—and what do you know. Suddenly, between one blink and the next, they weren’t here, in this pine-scented outbuilding, on this rich male’s estate. The calendar was set back to another lifetime, and they were in a different place.

He was coming around from a coma, his body’s pain signals overwhelming so much of his brain . . . except for one thing: Awareness of how this fierce vampire took care of him.

Callum moved his foot out of reach. “That’s enough. It’s good.”

Apex sat back on his heels, and the silence that crashed down had Callum looking at the open doorway and wondering which one of them was going to use it first.

“Do you have any Polysporin? Neosporin?” Apex asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where?”

“I’ll deal with it later.” When the male didn’t move, he tacked on, “You can go—”

“I’d wondered if you were dead,” the vampire said. “All these years. When I didn’t hear anything about you.”

Callum held out his arms. Turned this way and that on his hips. “Still alive.”

In the sense that he had a pulse and lungs that went in and out.

“Have you been back to Deer Mountain a lot?”

He shook his head. “No.”

Apex glanced away. Then nodded as if coming to some kind of conclusion. “Here.”

The hand towel with its diffused bloodstains was held out, and Callum took it because he figured it was the quickest way to get the male to depart.

“Mayhem’s with me.” Apex got to his feet. “If you want to avoid him also, you’ll need to give a pass to the big house for that reason, too.”

“I never go over there.” He thought of the generators. “Unless I’m required to.”

“Okay—”

“When are you leaving?” Callum blurted.

The laugh that came back at him had an edge. “When my job’s done. That okay with you?”

The male didn’t wait for a reply. He just went back over to the stairs, his powerful body moving like he was stalking something. When he hesitated on the threshold, Callum kept his mouth shutso he didn’t press for details. Like, was this a kitchen installation that was going to take months? A roof repair that would last a week? A boundary line assessment of some kind that could be done in twenty-four hours?

If it was that last one, he could make that work. With the others? He was seriously thinking of handing in his resignation now.

Apex looked back over his shoulder, those unforgettable, jet-black eyes narrowing. And then he just descended the steps without another word.

---