Page 752 of Love Bites

She called out, “I need to talk to you.”

“Get away. I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t know what will happen.” He couldn’t speak above a whisper, and his voice was lost in the roaring of his dragon and the fire in his head.

Somewhere outside the pain, Bethany said, “I trust you.”

“You shouldn’t trust me,” he said, air rushing in his scalded lungs. Fire was swirling in his head and chest, turning to rage.“Don’t trust me.”

Bethany floated across the darkened bedroom, light as a sail before the wind, and sat on the bed beside him.

Couldn’t she see the fire filling his veins?

He said, “Leave.Now.”His gravelly voice echoed in his head and the room.

“No,” she said, leaning down, the fragrance of her breath inches from his lips. “I made a mistake.”

“Please, leave,” he said, his voice thickening as his dragon fused with his soul and body. He dragged one finger down the cool heaven of her arm.

Where his fingertips touched her, the burning eased, ice to his fire.

She said, “I should have said yes. I want to say yes. If you’re still asking, I accept. I accept your offer of marriage or mating or whatever you call it. Yes, I want to marry you. Even though it’s crazy and too soon and altogether ill-advised, I don’t want to live without you. I want to live my lifewithyou. I love you, too. I want to be with you, whatever that entails, whatever it means.”

Her words reverberated inside his skull as he fought the fire and noise. He couldn’t make them out, other thanI acceptandI love you, too.

His dragon trampled his consciousness, and Math became a burning, crazed whirlwind ofneedandwantand desperation to relieve the pain.

His skin burned for hers.

His body burned for hers.

His heart yearned for her.

His hand slid down her arm, and his fingers wrapped around her wrist.

“Math?” she asked, looking down at his hand.

He meant to tug her toward him, but the dragon was strong in him. His pull dragged her across the sheets, and she laughed as she skidded over to him. “What are you—”

Her eyes widened, and she pressed her palm on his forehead.

He closed his eyes as her hand cooled the fire in his face.

“Holy cow, Math. You’re burning up. You need a doctor!”

He swam on the scalding desert of the sheets to try to get closer to her ice.“Touch me.”

She pressed her hands to his face and neck. “Your fever must be over a hundred and five. I need to call an ambulance for you.”

“No,” he whispered, laying his hands over hers and pressing her skin against his. “No ambulance. They won’t know what to do. Just touch me. You’re so cool. I feel like I’m on fire. You feel so good.”

She slid down to lie beside him. “Your fever has to be off the charts. I’d be seeing pink elephants, but I often see pink elephants. They helped me move last time. But I think you belong in a hospital.”

He grappled with her, pulling her smooth limbs over his legs and chest.“Touch me.”

His shirt loosened around his waist, and her fingers slipped against his bare skin.

He arched at the shock of ice water splashing on glowing coals.

The burning pain retreated.

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