Page 21 of The Way You Bite
He caught her elbow, stabilizing her. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m…fine.” She tried to yank her arm from his hand but staggered. The world went hazy and she almost fell over.
“You’re bleeding. I can smell it.” In one smooth motion he caught her up into his arms, handling her as if she was weightless. Fight him.
She didn’t. His scent lulled her into a haze of hunger. For some bizarre reason, now pressed against the hard contours of his chest, she felt safe. She wanted to burrow and sleep. The sensation made no sense.
He’s the enemy. Make that the enemy’s supreme leader.
This close she could see his lengthy black lashes, the faint lines at the corners of his eyes, and his sculpted, soft lips. She ran her tongue nervously over her dry lips.
“Who hurt you?” He pulled his hand away from her back and showed her the blood. His eyes flashed with danger.
Chills ran down her back at the implication; she had but to say a name and he would annihilate the being. “It’s nothing.”
“I know when a vamp is so weak she’s about to pass out.”
His hand gently rubbed her injured side. Air hissed through her teeth in reaction to the pain while her body bowed to escape his hand. Without warning, she found herself face down on the sofa. He unzipped her dress to expose her back.
“Where’s all this blood from…someone knifed you?”
She wiggled to free her arms. When that failed, she tried to roll. Pain shot down her back and leg, momentarily paralyzing her. She glared over her shoulder at him. “Get off me.”
“Stay still. You must be in a lot of pain.” The genuine concern in his tone surprised her.
The pain she could handle. His concern? That she wasn’t sure she could deal with.
His weight shifted. Taking advantage, she rolled out of his grasp to a sit, ignoring the biting pain racking her body at the movement. She pulled the dress back into place, even though the back gaped open.
“It’s none of your business. Get out of my apartment.” Okay, that hadn’t come out as forceful as she’d intended.
He cupped her chin gently, pulling her gaze to his. “Did Dominic do that to you? Was it my fault?”
The concern in his gaze sucked her in. His thumb reached out to flick over the curve of her lower lip. Oh. My. God. She was doing it again. She was falling victim to his allure.
She batted his hand away from her head. “Stop trying to seduce me. I’ll heal. Go away. Let me sleep.”
“You won’t heal fast enough. I can speed the process.”
“Fast enough for what?” She opened her mind and caught a flicker of his thoughts,“You must be at full strength.”
For what must she be at full strength?
“Let met help you,” he said.
“I already said I can’t be an ER doctor for you guys anymore. There are things in motion that might make me remaining a veterinarian difficult. For God’s sake, Dominic is my father, and I’m about to marry Ambrose DiFalco. Is your motivation political? If so, then forget it. I’m nothing but a pawn.” She moved a couple feet away to rest her shoulders against the wall. If he attacked, he’d win. She had nothing left to fight with. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t try, but she’d die. “You here has catastrophe written all over it.”
“I will not hurt you. Trust me.”
“I don’t trust you by nature of what you are, and the fact you broke into my apartment. I don’t need your help to heal. What I do need is for you to GET. OUT.”
He frowned. Using a paranormal superspeed move, something she’d never mastered, he was in front of her. Promptly, she was face down on the sofa again. The weight of his legs pinned hers.
“Stay still,” he ordered. She heard a strange noise almost like he’d spit.
A warm, moist softness hit her back in the area that hurt most. With a startled shriek she bucked. “Did you just spit and then wipe it on me?”
“Shh.”
