Page 86 of Claimed
Tanner runs past me and wrenches open the stall. He turns the water on full blast.
“As hot as you can,” I tell him.
He doesn’t ask questions, just adjusts the knob and jerks back.
I step over the sill and stand under the spray, soaking her flushed body in heat.
They are silent outside the open door. “She’s human. I don’t …” Ruin shakes his head. “How is that possible?”
“It’s distant,” I murmur, tilting my head back. My magick angles the head to my liking and it cascades over her.
One of them makes a sound, and I ignore it.
“Like generations back in her family tree, distant,” I add. “It’s why Horan could heal her.”
“But why I couldn’t heal everything,” he says from somewhere just outside the bathroom.
“What happened?” Ruin asks. “Is she okay?”
“I fed from her and somehow she fed from me. But her body was too depleted to give as much as it did.”
“From you taking from her last night?”
My eyes raise to Tanner and the expression on my face is not friendly “From eating her out until she couldn’t do anything but shake.”
He gulps.
“What can we do?” Ruin asks, clapping his hand on T’s shoulder.
“She needs heat. Food would be good if I can rouse her.”
“On it,” comes Gage's voices from behind him.
“Does she need to feed again?” Tanner asks softly.
My head whips to him and I snarl.
He holds his hands up, his silver eyes luminous in the low lighting. “I won’t try anything, Caine. Not without both of your permissions. And I could feed you, too, if you needed it.”
I stare at him, some of the anger fading as fast as it came.
“You helped me. Nisha would be okay with it.” He flushes. “She would actually want to watch.”
Ruin snorts. “Well, I’m not volunteering for sexy time. No offense. But I can get the blanket from Horan’s bed and see if they have any kind of electric heating pad at the front desk.” His dark gaze scours me. “Shewillbe okay, Caine. She’s in the capable hands of the one that can help her the most right now. Take a deep breathe. She’ll be okay.” I nod. He turns and walks out.
Tanner waits. “What do you want me to do?”
I wrestle with the thought. Torn between not wanting anyone else to touch her, but knowing even my heat alone isn’t enough.
“You can help keep her warm,” I manage. “Nothing more.”
His head inclines. “Whatever you both need.”
There is no teasing in the words, no hesitation. Just a friend offering all he can to another.
I try not to let it sway me, but it’s damn hard.
“Thank you.”
