Page 53 of Blood Bearon
“Uh huh. Okay.” She wasn’t functioning right yet.
Khove put an arm around her and started walking forward, forcing her to do the same, lest he drag her along behind him. “And now you’re going to get to experience some magic,” he said, trying to hold back the laughter at her stunned expression.
“What do you mean?” she asked nervously.
“I mean, we’re about to go through it,” he said cheerfully, before dragging Rachel kicking and shouting through the rift.
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“Don’t youeverdo that to me again!” she snarled as they emerged into what she could only assume was the Manor.
“Rachel, you’re being ridiculous,” Khove said calmly. “And even worse, you know it. Just let yourself accept that magic is real, and be comfortable with howcoolthat is.”
“I just walked through a portal.” She crossed her arms under her breasts, forcing the men who followed to go around her.
“You did,” he agreed, stepping back in, grabbing her by the shoulders and casually lifting her out of the way of the others. “Now be grateful for it and say thank you to Kasperi here, who risked a lot more than you can understand to come and get us.”
She started to say something but bit the words off. Some things you couldn’t take back.
“Thank you, Kasperi,” she said, meaning every word of it. The method of rescue had left her shaken more than she cared to admit, hence the defensive attitude, but she was still very much grateful for being rescued.
“No problem. I know that traveling like that can be unnerving, especially if you had no idea it was a thing. But you’re in good hands with Khove,” the strange man said. “He’s kind of dumb, but he has a good spirit to him.”
Despite everything that had just happened, Rachel couldn’t hold back the explosive laugh that came from deep within her belly.
“I could get to like him,” she told Khove as their rescue party dispersed into the Manor, leaving them alone. “He’s funny.”
Khove rolled his eyes. “Don’t feed his ego any more, please. He doesn’t need it.”
“I heard that,” a voice echoed back down the hallway.
“Are you hurt at all?” Khove asked quietly. “I want to get you checked out if so. Sometimes, the Fae use poison on their blades.”
“No, not even a knick,” she admitted. “Most of them focused on you.”
Khove looked down, then shrugged. “Yeah, those will heal quickly. I am a bit of a mess though.”
“And naked,” she said. “Which doesn’t seem to bother you.”
The big man chuckled, which did…interesting…things to his anatomy. Anatomy she most definitely wasnottrying to study. At all.
“Nudity is not a taboo among shifters,” he said gently, reaching out and snagging her by the arm, guiding her down the hallway. “If you shift without changing, it destroys your clothes. You end up naked. It happens. A lot. So you just learn to accept it. The only real downside is shrinkage.”
Rachel covered her laugh with a cough. “I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about,” she said, feeling her face heat.
Oh God. Did I just admit to looking at his junk? I did, didn’t I?
“You noticed, did you?” he teased, giving the arm he had around her shoulder a squeeze.
“Oh, shut up,” she moaned. How was it that she decided flirting was the best thing to do after they’d come so close to death? He was still covered inpurpleblood for Pete’s sake!
They walked in silence, Khove guiding her through the bizarre maze of halls, until he stopped at what she assumed were his quarters. The doors all looked the same to her, and she’d only been there once before, so it was tough to be sure.
“Now,” he said as the door closed behind them, interrupting her as she tried to speak. “Before you bombard me with questions, I’m going to rinse off really quickly. You’re going to have a drink, I assume?”
“Yesplease,” she groaned. “Anything to take the edge off. I feel like I’m riding a high right now. The adrenaline isn’t fading.”
She steadfastly refused to accept that her body was producing it anew because she was alone with a very naked, andveryhot male her body was telling her to throw herself at.
