Page 49 of Undying Thirst

A large palmrubbed against my head. Groaning, I leaned into the touch, enjoying the tingles that were traveling down my spine.

I popped my eyes open, and Ren stared down at me with his eyebrows raised. He propped himself on his elbows, staring at me over the expanse of his muscled, tattooed torso where I currently rested my head. We were still on the hard ground, but half of me was all over Ren’s body.

I’d been rubbing my cheek dangerously low on his stomach, damn near his dick. Fortunately the low-riding black sweats covered the tented front.

“Continue please,” his deep voice had taken on a husky intonation I hadn’t heard before. Up until now, everything he said had been angry, abrasive, or rude.

“You’re like a little cat.”

“Like a kitten,” Jax said with his deep accented voice. He stood leaning near the door with his back against the wall, arms crossed.

Ren raised an eyebrow at Jax who cleared his throat and crossed his arms.

I popped up so fast.

Four pairs of vampire eyes stared down at me.

Asher crouched and curled the blanket that had pooled at my waist around my shoulders.

“Good job, Pet,” he crooned, clasping my cheek in his large palm.

I scowled, but he only smiled.

“What . . .?” The answer reared to the forefront of my memory. “Oh.”

“Are you struggling?” Asher asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “Considering humans have difficulty with death.”

“I’m fine,” I said stiffly. I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the sand sensation rubbing against the insides.

“Our Pet is stronger than what you give her credit for.”

Our? I snapped my head to Ren so quickly it hurt my neck. His gaze hadn’t moved on from me.

His keen focus freaked me out.

“Back to the important bits,” Jax interjected. I didn’t miss the backhanded comment. “Calliope had to have sent him. She’s the only one that could have known. You.”

I swiveled to look at him. “When she sent you here as a spy, did she ask you to give her the lay of the manor?”

“For the millionth time, she didn’t send me.” I was getting tired of repeating myself. He’d believed me when I admitted to the transgression, but refused to doubt, just a little, that I worked for Calliope? Ridiculous, trust-issue riddled vampire.

“As mentioned,” Tobias interjected from his stiff stance behind Asher’s crouched body, interrupting whatever diatribe Jax was about to embark on. “No one knows of this manor unless we’re being watched.”

“The question to answer is why now and why was a dead human dumped on our doorstep. It’s targeted to?—”

“Me,” I croaked. “He found me.”

My stomach might as well live outside my body with how often it fell. The hollowness caused nausea to rise. It could be theonly explanation. He’d found me. I’d begun to suspect, but the picture the man took of me, and the?—

“Breathe, Catalina,” Asher murmured and smoothed his palm down the back of my neck. “You’re safe. No one will touch you.”

The words swirled in my brain, but my body had a difficult time believing it. A tremble coasted over my hands.

Asher sat back on his haunches and swept me onto his lap and clicked his tongue as he rubbed my shoulder.

“Come, sweet Pet, tell me who is after you? I will not allow it to happen.”

A large, heavy palm wrapped around the back of my neck and forced my head up. I met Ren’s eyes who’d sat up.

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