Page 81 of The Mech Who Loved Me
His stomach twisted. She was injured, and she needed blood, but... all he could see was Agatha, swaying from the rafters of his house as he screamed and begged for her tocomeback.
Malloryn saw it on his face, and gave a little nod. "Here." The duke began unbuttoning his sleeve to reveal his wrist. "I'lldoit."
And that was all shades of wrong. Kincaid's vision went white and he turned around, clasping both hands behind his head. The idea of Ava sucking on the duke's wrist made him want to punch something—though he had to admit the thought of her drinking blood wasn't the prime cause of thatemotion.
Jealousy?
Shit. He shot her a look, finding her backing away from the duke, scrambling across the tiles, her gaze locked on the vein in Malloryn's wrist with a hunger she couldn't hide.Yesandnowarred within her, and suddenly his hatred for bloodletting washed away. This was Ava he was thinking about. Not some leering blue blood lord who thought all humans were cattle. Not the bastards who'd used his sister like their own blood whore for the night, before casting her out into thestreets.
Kincaid rubbed at his chest as Malloryn drew a small bloodletting blade from the kit in his pocket and placed the razor overthevein.
"My CV levels are in the high fifties, so the cut won't stay open for long," Malloryn warned. "You cannot fight through this, Ava, not without the predator taking over at some stage. Take a little blood to calm it down, and then we can return to the safe house and find your flask for you. Your body needs to heal too, judging by the look of you. You're verylucky."
"Please," Ava panted, but she couldn't look away from the razor. "Please, no. I can do this." She squeezed her eyes shut. "I don't want yourblood."
Kincaid could see the lie on her face. "Malloryn's right," he said gruffly, surprised to hear himself say it. "A little blood from... from Malloryn, and then it will be safe to take you home and get yourflask."
"Can you hold my hand?" shewhispered.
His gutchurned.
"I don't think that's safe," Malloryn interrupted, watching the pair of them. When Kincaid's gaze jerked to him, Malloryn shrugged. "You're human. Your blood smells and tastes better, and you won't be able to hold her off if she goes for yourthroat."
Another slap in the face. Another reminder of what she was. Hell, when had he stopped thinking of Ava as a blueblood?
But this was no easier for her than it was for him.Can you hold my hand?A plea, as if the thought of this hurthertoo.
"I'll hold your hand if you need me to," he said, tilting his head toward the razor. "Distract her. And keep her off me if youneedto."
Malloryn arched a brow, but turned back to Ava. "Ready?"
She swallowed. "Ready."
The razor pressed a white indentation along Malloryn's wrist, which instantly filled with bluish-red blood. Ava moaned, and Malloryn cupped the back of her head and put his wrist to her lips as though he'd done this a thousandtimes.
Kincaid knelt beside them, slipping his fingers through hers. He hated seeing her like this. Hated seeing Malloryn's wrist at her lips, in some vaguely primitive way that needed further investigation when he had time to himself to think, but this was about Ava now. "That's it, sweetheart." He stroked her hair, brushing it off her face and fingering onesilkycurl.
It wrapped around his finger, and he rubbed the end of it between thumb and forefinger, marveling at thesensation.
Ava's eyes lifted from where she clutched at Malloryn's hand, her lips around the duke's wrist. They were pure black, like a demon's, but something about the moment made his cockharden.
Mallorynlookedaway.
And Kincaid remembered the one thing he'd forgotten in all of this: a blue blood's saliva had chemicals in it that could incite ecstasy in their victims. It was the ultimate weapon for a predator like a blue blood, and though it affected people on different levels, it was the thing that had turned his sister, Agatha, from a girl with a promising future to a young woman who couldn't sleep, couldn't stop itching at her skin, craving the touch of a blue blood's mouth on herflesh.
Kincaid and Malloryn locked eyes. If the duke was finding pleasure in this moment then Kincaid was going tokillhim.
Slowly.
But only once they got Ava tosafety.
* * *
Eveningfell.
Ava woke to find someone lighting the candles beside her bed. For a second she didn't know where she was, or who was in her room. Her heart leaped into her throat, and then she recognized the rough stubble along the man's jaw, and the brief flex of the pistons in hismechhand.
Kincaid.
