Page 36 of Dragon in Denial
“Oh, right.” The tap squeaked as he turned it off. A blast of warm, moist air hit her as he opened the glass door and then closed it again. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and noted he’d snagged a towel and was vigorously rubbing it against his skin.
She jumped to her feet. “You okay while I go grab you some clothes?”
“Yeah.” His voice sounded so defeated. She had no idea if it was from the ride down from the high that he was obviously starting or from whatever horrible living nightmare the drug had induced in his head. Maybe both.
She scooted from the room and dug a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt out of his luggage. “I’m going to be right out here,” she said, pointing at the open door after handing him his clothes.
He nodded and she partially closed the door behind her, and leaned against the wall, hovering, in case he called out to her.
He didn’t. A few minutes later, he exited the bathroom wearing the shorts but apparently forgetting the T-shirt. His hair was damp, his hazel eyes no less bloodshot, although the dilation was starting to recede. The scrapes and cuts already were looking better. The swelling around the one eye was even more pronounced though.
“I’m going to grab some ice from the ice machine for that swelling.”
Ketu shook his head and snagged her arm. “I didn’t do this. Darius did.”
She stared at him. “He hit you?”
“Yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about. He force-fed me the drug. I didn’t take it willingly.”
Antoinette was pretty sure her jaw dropped to her chest. “How?”
He clutched his head with both hands and squeezed his eyes shut. “This sucks. I must be coming down right now because everything feels duller, yet I’m feeling more focused. And so fucking tired.”
“Hopefully, that’s a good sign. Maybe you won’t get the shakes and the puking like Eulalie always did.” Antoinette pulled another bottle of water from the mini fridge. “Drink this. You need to stay hydrated.”
He did as she commanded and then shook his head. “I don’t get why she went back for more. Seriously, this sucks.”
Eulalie had said the same thing after her first go-round with dragon’s blood. And yet, a week later, she’d taken another hit. And after that one she said she never wanted to do it again. But a few days later, she was high again.
The cycle went on for weeks, months, until she was almost never sober—she said the comedown was too damn difficult to deal with.
Antoinette pulled back the sheet and comforter. “The best thing you can do right now is sleep.”
He stumbled toward the bed. “Will you stay with me?”
She wanted to, and yet she didn’t. Now that she knew he hadn’t taken the drug of his own free will, she wanted nothing more than to comfort him, help him through this.
Which wasn’t good. She didn’t need to get any more attached to him. She didn’t need to feel for him. She didn’t need to want to take care of him.
Yes, they were mates, and sure, all that stuff was supposed to be part and parcel of the union. But discovering they were mates meant nothing if they didn’t want it to. Since they hadn’t yet talked about it, she didn’t know what Ketu wanted.
Wait, yes, she did. He wanted to leave New Orleans as soon as he could finish whatever task his reeve had sent him here to complete. He’d made it perfectly clear he had no interest in staying.
Which meant if she were truly willing to make a go at this mating, she’d have to leave her home. Her son would have to leave Ketu’s parents, the only grandparents he knew;.
That was a lot to take in, a big decision to make.
And that was all on top of the fact that her fated mate didn’t even trust her enough to believe she wouldn’t actually deal the drug that killed her best friend.
“Don’t stress out,” Ketu said. “Trust me, there’s nothing sexual going on in my head right now. I just want a friend. I just need you to be with me. Nothing more.”
Oh sure, like that was any better. That was exactly the way she’d felt when Eulalie died, except Ketu had run instead of staying and comforting her. She didn’t blame him anymore, but she sure as hell couldn’t do the same thing to him.
“Okay, fine. I need to text your mom and let her know what’s going on.” After she saw to that task, she pulled her sweatshirt over her head. “I’m taking off my jeans, but only because I want to be comfortable.”
“Guess it’s a good thing you don’t go commando too.”
“I see your smartass sense of humor is returning.”
