“Oh...my...God,” she said with a shaky breath.
He held her against him, enjoying the aftershocks making her shudder in his arms. “Thank you.”
“Thank me?” She laughed, sounding surprised. “I am most definitely thanking you. I’m almost embarrassed at how easily I did that.”
“Did what?” he asked, stroking her slick hair away from her face. He wanted to see those eyes again. Wanted to kiss her lips. It made little sense, but the urge was there.
“All you did was kiss me and I...well, took to it very nicely.” She twisted to look at him, her face turning bright red as soon as she did. The way she studied him gave him the sense he wasn’t supposed to know the extent of her reaction. But he knew. Damn, how he loved it. “And I cannot believe I just did that. With a complete stranger. Who is sick. In his shower.”
Alice pushed away from him, scrambling on her hands and knees to the other side of the stall. She rose to her feet, swaying on unsteady legs. Bast rushed to her when they gave out, catching her before she fell. He’d taken a good deal of blood from her and she would need a little while to recover.
“That was one hell of a kiss, mister. I’m a little dizzy.”
She weighed next to nothing, a fact that startled him. Another minute or two and he might have taken too much, indeed. “When’s the last time you had something to eat?”
“Put me down—”
With no intention of acquiescing to her demand, he stepped out of the shower, taking just enough time to turn off the running water. The mess in the bathroom could be dealt with later. The woman he wanted to deal with now.
“You helped me. Let me help you. I’m only going to take you into the guest room, so you can dry off and get into bed. I’ll order a pizza for you or whatever you’d like.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know, but I’m going to. You have no idea what you’ve done for me tonight.”
No, he couldn’t explain how she’d saved his life. If anyone had seen him—any of the lycans, any of the guards, any other vampire—the destructive possibilities boggled his mind. The kindness of this human would not be forgotten. She’d given him food when none other could be obtained, not to mention staved off a mysterious illness that made him even more vulnerable.
“You sound much better.” He felt her studying his face. “You look better. How do you feel?”
“Like new.” Meaning it. The sun would rise in a few hours, but he had phone calls to make. Tomorrow evening, the guard would expect him to show up for part of the ongoing manhunt under way, but what if he became sick again? He had to find out what was happening to him before then. Had to.
“Your fever feels like it’s broken, so I guess the shower worked.”
“Yeah, I think whatever it was has passed. Maybe a twenty-four-hour bug, you know?”
She made a noncommittal noise and he wasn’t sure if he’d satisfied her curiosity. God knew he didn’t have any answers.
They didn’t speak any more as he carried her down the long corridor, the hardwood floor cool beneath his bare feet. At times he wondered why he’d chosen to live in such a large home, but tonight he was thankful for the extra room. She needed a place to rest. To recover.
“What do you want on your pizza?”
“Bast, I—”
“If you don’t specify, I’m just going to go with everything.”
The maid kept the rooms in the house ready for a guest at all times. No telling when one of his men would need a place to crash. This particular one was farthest from his bedroom. He didn’t need to feed again, he didn’t think, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about letting her stay beneath his roof. Then again, with his sexual appetite only whetted and not sated, he wasn’t sure who was more dangerous to whom.
“Everything would be fine. Thank you.”
“Good. I’ll make the call.” He lowered her onto the bed, trying not to smirk at how she avoided eye contact with his groin. “There is some men’s clothing in the drawers, extra towels in the closet. Help yourself to them. In the morning, you can take a real shower if you’d like. For now, just get some of your strength back with rest, and later, food. Okay?”