Page 38 of Rescued

“Fucking beautiful,” he murmurs, his voice rough and full of awe as he collapses onto me.

“Yeah,” I breathe, my arms wrapping around him as I pull him close. “Damn.”

His weight presses into me, his body still inside mine, and for a moment, everything feels perfect. I press a lazy kiss to his lips, smiling when he leans into it, his hands brushing over my sides.

“Stay,” I murmur, my voice heavy with exhaustion but full of meaning.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he whispers, his forehead resting against mine.

And as my eyes drift closed, I believe him.

I roll over, stretching lazily, my arm flopping out across the bed to find…nothing. The sheet is cool, empty. My eyes snap open, and I sit up quickly, glancing around the room.Where the hell is Mika?

Stomach growling, I stumble out of bed, feeling the pangs of missed dinner. “Mika?” I call out, rubbing a hand over my face and trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep.

“In here with the pup, babe,” Mika’s voice drifts back, calm and steady. “Had to give him his antibiotics and pain meds.”

Oh. Crap. The puppy.How the hell could I have forgotten about the injured pup? Guilt stabs through me. I didn’t mean to crash so hard, but the combination of physical exhaustion and the emotional whirlwind that is Mika had knocked me flat. Still, that’s no excuse. I hurry toward the spare bedroom, not even bothering to grab clothes.

The sight of Mika crouched in front of the kennel greets me as I step into the room. His sweatpants hug his ass in a way that’s downright criminal, and I can’t stop my gaze from lingering.Damn.I’m officially a sex maniac now, but at least it’s only for one man. That’s got to count for something, right?

“How’s the puppy?” I ask, forcing my attention to the dog instead of the glorious view in front of me.

“Good, all things considered,” Mika replies, his tone focused but gentle. “I think the pain meds knock him for a loop, though.”

I hum in agreement, watching as Mika gently rubs the pup’s head. The care he shows is heart-melting. I should probably be paying attention to that instead of his ass, but, well, I’m only human.

“Uh, Mika?” I venture, as a thought suddenly pops into my head.

“Yeah, babe?” he answers distractedly, still crouched by the kennel.

“Do you…heal from everything?” The question sounds dumb as hell coming out of my mouth, but now that I’ve asked, I can’t backpedal.

Mika finishes securing the kennel and stands, turning to face me. He points to his neck as he starts to explain. “We heal incredibly fast, but no, not from everything. Silver doesn’t harm us unless it’s a bullet through the head. But any bullet to the head, a long fall, car crashes, decapitation…those things are fatal. Severe trauma can still kill us.”

I watch as a shadow of something flits across his face—pain, maybe—but he shrugs it off and flashes me a wink.

“I take it that’s a werewolf thing?” I ask, trying to keep my tone light but secretly enjoying the way Mika’s eyebrows slam together in irritation.

“I’m ashifter,not some Hollywood monster,” he splutters, looking so offended I have to bite my cheek to keep from laughing.

“Well,” I press, unable to resist, “what’s the difference?”

Mika frowns, clearly unimpressed with my teasing. “Werewolves aren’t real. We are. We don’t change only on full moons; we can shift whenever we want. And shapeshifters don’t attack random people. We can’t turn anyone into a shapeshifter just by biting them anyways.”

Okay, well that was real clear.Not.Then, hey—

“What do you mean you can’t turn someone into a shapeshifter ‘just’ by biting them?” My curiosity spikes. He wasn’t offering any information up before, but now that he’s cracked the door open, I’m shoving it wide.

“It’s, uh…” Mika hesitates, running a hand through his hair. “It’s an exchange of blood and…other fluids.”

The blush creeping up his cheeks makes me raise a brow. “Really. What fluids, exactly?” I’m curious. I mean, because, if there aren’t any other gay shifters, then how could anyone know what has to be exchanged? Unless there has been instances of a female shifter changing a male, which is where I’m thinking the information must have come from.

Mika groans, his hand flying to the back of his neck. Well, it’s… To exchange, uh, each person has to…shit!”

“What? That’s fucking wrong, Mika!” I blurt, and I just know my eyes must be bugging out of my head.

Mika’s jaw drops open then snaps back together with a click of teeth. “No! No, I meant ‘shit, I’m fucking this up’! Swear to God, Gabe…”

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