Gray laughed, not bothering to say anything further before disconnecting.
What would Gray—or better yet, Cicero—say if they saw the hold she had on him? Agreeing to let her stay with him went beyond insanity. He’d taken only enough blood to satisfy his thirst. Just barely. Tomorrow, when the sun had set, he’d need to find better sustenance. A willing partner among the humans who’d want to exchange sex for blood. What he’d done to her was just short of stealing, if not worse.
By the time the pizza had been called for and delivered, he was no closer to figuring out why he reacted to her the way he did. But the good news was that he hadn’t felt any of the nausea or weakness plaguing him for the past several hours. His stomach growled its disapproval at him from time to time, but he suspected that had more to do with the quantity he’d taken than anything.
Pizza in hand, he knocked on her door, waiting for her soft voice to bid him enter before turning the knob. He then sat in one of the chairs farthest away from the bed, watching her eat. She’d finished the first slice before he decided to tackle the problem at hand.
“Alice—”
She yawned before taking another slice from the box. “You should eat too.”
A smile touched his lips. “I’ve eaten already.”
“Crap. Almost forgot to take my medication.”
Frowning, Bast watched her scramble from the hold of the comforter and to a neat little pile she’d created on the bedside table. A single key, a small box of mints and some loose change were there. A few dollar bills, crinkled and damp, had been laid flat in an attempt to dry them off as well, he figured. She pried open the candy tin before fishing in its contents.
“What are those?”
Alice returned to the bed, picking up the bottle of Coke he’d added to the food order. “I told you, my medication.”
“What is it for?”
“Nothing. Just prophylaxis.”
“Like birth control?” A surprising wave of dismay rushed him.
She looked up sharply, her eyes wide. “What? No. Nothing like that. Just...forget it, okay?”
His emotions settled, but not altogether a good feeling. The tightening in his stomach didn’t have to do with his illness this time. Pulsing in his teeth made him sharpen his focus. “This is a mistake. You shouldn’t be here.”
“Because I won’t tell you about my medication? It’s just lamotrigine and I have to take it daily. There. Happy?”
The name was unfamiliar to him, but he didn’t care. He leaned forward, making sure he had her full attention. “No, this isn’t about your meds. I shouldn’t have said yes earlier. I was desperate and hurting and—”
“It’s the middle of the night, Bast. Are you really kicking me out now?”
Fuck. Of course not. “Not now, but in the morning.”
“But what if you get sick again?”
Alice rose to kneeling. The shirt she’d chosen was loose and big on her small frame, barely covering her thighs, reminding him that she wore nothing underneath. His gaze dropped to the subtle sway of unfettered breasts, and Bast had to pull his attention to safer areas. The haphazard curls of her hair had tightened into ringlets, emphasizing her youth. Her cheeks were flushed, and the lighting made her eyes brighter.
He tightened his jaw, feeling the beginning stirrings of hunger that had no right to life. “Why aren’t you afraid of me? Street savvy will only take you so far.”
“If you were going to do something to me, you would have tried it by now,” she replied softly.
“I don’t know if that statement is merely arrogant or just plain naïve.”
She paled, just a fraction, enough to let him know he might be getting through to her. This was too dangerous. For both of them. “You wouldn’t hurt me.”
“And what makes you so sure of that?”
She shrugged a single shoulder. “Just the way you look at me.”
“How do I look at you?”
Alice met his gaze. “Like that.”
He didn’t have to question her response. He knew what she saw. The desire. The heat. The want. No matter how he concentrated on something else or how he’d thought it had been tamed, it still remained. Forcing her away was the only way to keep her safe from him. From his world.