Page 50 of The Mech Who Loved Me
"Paralyzes them. It does something to a blue blood's blood pressure and their muscles. I've looked into it, but I'm not quite certain what it does on a cellular level. Unfortunately, there aren't many blue bloods that will allow me to paralyze them momentarily while I take samples. And I clearly cannot use myself as a test subject. I tried once, but by the time the paralysis wore off my blood cells had returned to normal, though my CV levels were exacerbated. No,"—she traced her finger over the page, ticking off plant names mentally—"hemlock has nothing to do with this. But I do recall something.... A plant that came from the Himalaya region I was warned never to use against a blue blood. I was researching a toxin, or a weapon, something to take down thedhampirwith. It was just a throwaway line in a book I flagged as interesting, but didn't get time to pursue. Everything with Zero happened soquickly."
"A plant that could destroy one of thedhampir?"
"Maybe." Ava's finger paused on a pair of words, excitement flooding through her. "Caterpillar mushroom. That's it! It's grown above an elevation of three or four thousand feet in the Himalayas, and I always thought it an unusual plant, as the lower part is a caterpillar, and the upper part is a fungus. Basically, the fungus spores land on the caterpillar and as it grows thecaterpillardies.
"It has tonic properties, I believe. Or the Chinese certainly believe so. I read transcripts of a Tibetan medical text by Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje about its aphrodisiac properties. They call it Yartsa gunbu. And that," she said, snapping the book closed, "is the limit of my knowledge. Beyond, do not touch if one is a blueblood."
"Interesting."
Ava couldn't quite read the tone of that one word. "What do you mean? You keep looking at me with that strange expression onyourface."
"I'm just... you're frightfully intelligent, didyouknow?"
Her heart thudded in her chest. "Frightfully?"
He looked at her, his eyes narrowing as if he saw right through her. "Poor choice of words. You're astoundinglyintelligent."
It still made her feel a little discomforted. Her ex-fiancé, Paul, had been wary of her thought processes, until she'd learned to censor herself and not delve into such topics thatinterestedher.
Kincaid leaned toward her, bringing his lips close to her ear, "Your great, big intellect makes me want to do naughty things to you, MissMcLaren."
This man was clearly not a small-minded man like Paul. Ava caught herbreath.
He continued, "Maybe one day you can spout all of these big words at me while I run my hands beneath yourskirts,and—"
"Kincaid!" she gasped, and he burst intolaughter.
Ava slapped him on the arm, her face burning. She had the sudden urge to kiss him again, just to see if her memories of last night's events were quite as overwhelming as they'd seemed, or whether she'd simply been caught up in the moment of her first assistedorgasm.
"Has no one ever flirted with youbefore?”
Ava snapped the book shut, and set it aside. "Of course they have. I was engaged once. There was flirtation, though... decidedly more mild than your so-calledattempt."
"So-called attempt?I see I'm not succeeding very well. Perhaps I should press my endeavors?" He stepped closer, backing her against the desk and trailing his fingers down over the lace that covered her breasts. "I keep thinking about theseprettytits."
Ava's breath caught. "You're sovulgar."
"You're entirely too innocent. And," his voice dropped, "youhavenoidea."
He'd startled her again. What was it about this man that made her enjoy his flirtation so much? She knew they were all kinds of wrong for each other, but she simply couldn't helpherself.
Ava gave him a sidelong glance. "Perhaps, Mr. Kincaid, Icouldimagine."
Kincaid’s smile grew soft and heated as he rested his knuckles on either side of her hips. "That's the spirit. Now tell me... engaged? I didn'tknowthat."
"It was a long time ago. Before Hague kidnapped me. Actually," she amended, "Hague's kidnapping is the reason my engagement ended." Storm clouds brewed in her heart, an old hurt she'd never quite gotten over. "By the time I returned home to see my family, they'd moved on. Paul thought I was dead, and he'd already become engaged to someone else." Only six months missing, and she'd been replaced, as easily as if she didn'tmatter.
"He's afoolthen."
Ava's shoulders relaxed. "Why do you always know the perfect thingtosay?"
"Haven't you realized yet?" he drawled. "I'm theperfectman."
"Perfectly ridiculous," she said, pushing at his chest. But she was smiling again, her woes forgotten. "Now stop distracting me. We haveacase."
"And now we have a lead. So what's the next step? How do we find this caterpillarmushroom?"
Ava finally unleashed a smile. "I know just theplace."
