Page 129 of The Mech Who Loved Me
Kincaid collapsed back on the pillow, and Ava wilted over him, the thick mass of her golden curls spilling over them. He pushed some of it out of his face with a laugh, then rubbed her back, his cock softening inside her. "Staylikethis."
She burrowed her face into his throat, feeling like she'd finally found a home for herself. Kincaid stroked her hair, twining each curl around his finger, the relentless urge to mark her clearly softening into affection as they cuddled each other and slowly caught theirbreaths.
His abdominal muscles flexed as he curled so he could look down into her eyes. An intimate confession turned his own gaze molten. "Perfect, Ava. You and I are perfect. Iloveyou."
And Ava smiled with pure happiness, and fell asleep inhisarms.
Thirty-One
THERE WASSOMEONE inhisroom.
Someone who wasnotAva.
Kincaid woke with a growl, his vision sliding through shades of gray. Every sense was alive in a way he'd never known before, when he was human. Malloryn came into focus, standing by the window and looking out, his hands clasped behind him and his face awash in the cool afternoon light. Kincaid automatically winced as that very same light stabbedhiseyes.
"Good afternoon," the duke said. "You're lookingbetter."
"Where'sAva?"
"Definitely better, if one is to judge by the surliness in your tone," Malloryn said, with no small amount of amusement, dragging the chair out beside Kincaid's bed and sinking into it. "Ava has gone to visit her friends at the guild, to make sure the guild master is allright."
"And is he?" He owed Garrett and Perry a debt, after all, for taking care of Ava for all thoseyears.
"Garrett's wound has healed," Malloryn said, "though the next stage is to fit him with a biomech arm. Lynch and I pushed the Council to pay for it, considering all he's done forthecity."
"Takes a bit of getting used to," he said, looking down at the ruined stump of his own hand. "I can show him how it allworks."
"Ava would be appreciative of that, I think. How are youfeeling?"
He considered the question. Every day he felt better than he ever had. There was a strength in his legs and arms he'd not realized was lacking. Every step he took was stronger, and he no longer fearedfalling.
The craving virus had worked. He'd not be 100 percent certain his illness had abated, until he had a chance to test his limits—or perhaps until years passed and he could be certain he wasn't getting worse—but hopefilledhim.
"As fit as a bull," heconfessed.
"And mentally? The craving's not easy to getusedto."
Heat flushed through Kincaid's cheeks. "Insanely irrational," he admitted. "Territorial. All my emotions seem heightened, and I have... strong urges at times." The last few days ran through his head in a sudden series of vignettes; of fucking Ava over and over, interspersed with moments where he drained a flask of blood dry, before he took heragain.
The duke couldn't be referring to that, but allthesame....
"Is it always like this?" he growled. The others seemed to be able to control themselves in polite company, but at just the thought of her, his cock was stiffeningagain.
"Not... always. You're facing a dilemma few blue bloods encounter. Not only are you newly changed, but it seems you're also claiming afemale."
"Claimingher?"
"I'm told it's a phenomenon that occurs when blue bloods give themselves over to the primal nature of the blue blood within whenever they meet theirmatch."
Kincaid scraped a hand through his unruly black hair. He needed a shave by the feel of it too. "Jaysus."
"Indeed." Malloryn shuddered, as if the thought horrified him a little. No doubt it did, for the duke lived and breathed control. "What do youremember?"
The memory of the duke breathing into his mouth sprang to mind. "Were you fuckin'resuscitatingme?"
Malloryn paused, his knuckles whitening on the hilt of his cane, an odd look on his face. "That is one of those moments we shall never speak ofagain."
Fine with him. "Right. It never happened." He could remember other things too, and none of it made sense. "You came back for us.Andyou carried me out ofthere."
