Page 38 of Demon Shock

“Bram’s right. You look pale. You shouldn’t push yourself so hard.”

She led me inside, walking past Zach and Will on the way to the bathroom. They watched us but didn’t comment.

“Strip,” she said, turning on the faucet.

I looked from her to the open door and back again.

“I need to see how bad it is,” she said. “And I can’t do that when you’re wearing clothes.”

She wanted to inspect me? What if she didn’t like what she saw?

The panic, which had faded, flared again as I debated what to do. Should I undress, or should we talk about non-sex emotions first? Maybe I could make her one of the foods she liked. Or sing one of her songs to her. But I couldn’t remember any of the words. No matter how hard I tried, nothing filled my head.

Her pretty blue eyes watched me expectantly.

“The water’s warming. Hurry and shower. That last snow bath you took didn’t get everything.”

Slowly, I removed my shirt. Her gaze swept over my torso, assessing and dismissive. I wanted to cringe and cover myself with the material again, but she motioned for me to turn around.

Reluctantly, I did. Her hands gripped the waistband of my sweatpants. My eyes went wide. The material was down around my ankles a second later.

I froze in full panic, hands slightly out to my sides.

A snort sounded from the doorway, and I turned to look at Zach, who was covering his mouth.

“It’s not as bad as I thought,” Ava said from behind me. “Zach, see if you can find some super glue. It’ll burn, but it should hold it together until it heals. My grandpa used more than he should have and lived to tell the tales.”

I didn’t know what was happening and glanced at Zach.

“Your bite is bleeding,” he said.

I twisted around to see myself in the mirror and spotted the twin half-moons carved into the top of my backside. I recalled bending to light the fire and feeling the pull back there when they’d reopened from the last stop but hadn’t thought much of it. Bites healed quickly.

“Why didn’t you say you were bitten?” Ava asked.

“I forgot.”

I had. Just after it’d happened, my thoughts had been on washing quickly and rejoining Ava in the truck so she could keep telling me about her favorite sleeping position. After lighting the fire, I’d been more concerned with collecting wood for the fire so Ava would be warm enough.

“If someone had bitten my ass like that, nothing could have made me forget it,” Ava said. “Now get in the shower and wash.With soap. I hope you’re right about immunity and don’t get any kind of infection once I glue that shut.”

She left the bathroom, walking out past Zach, who was still grinning at me.

He glanced after her then leaned in to whisper, “If she looks mad, she’s not. She’s worried. Worried is good. It means she cares about you. Now, go shower.”

I felt more reassured, hearing him say the same thing that Bram had, but still a little concerned about Ava’s inspection.

Stepping under the water, I began to wash while trying to understand what had just happened. Ava had pulled down my pants to see all of me. She’d wanted to know how bad I was. She’d looked at me dismissively, but then she’d said I wasn’t as bad as she thought.

Did that mean I was good?

I looked down at myself.

Angel said most women liked men with muscles. Some liked abs. Some liked pecs. Some liked forearms. She said preferences depended on the woman, just like males had preferences regarding females. Some liked breasts. Some liked butts. Some liked legs.

My brothers had asked why males didn’t prefer a female’s pussy. Angel said most men weren’t attracted to a woman’s pussy because it’s not something they see all the time. Ghua said that was because human males didn’t know how to talk their females into walking around without clothes.

The thought of Ava walking around with no clothes filled my mind, and I forgot what I was doing.

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