She opened her eyes to find herself looking directly into Bast’s dark eyes. Not the eyes of a dragon, but those of the vampire. “You’re back,” she said on a breath.
“Never went anywhere.”
She twisted, seeking Drew out, but Bast’s wing kept her covered and out of his view. Her joy at finding that he’d reverted diminished slightly at the realization that he hadn’t returned completely to normal, but she’d take this over nothing any day of the week. It didn’t stop her from leaning forward to capture his mouth with hers either.
Bast issued a low growl, a sound of wanton desire, as he plunged his tongue into her mouth. He not just kissed her, but devoured her mouth, taking and giving until she was breathless. “You stayed with me,” he murmured against her lips when he finally broke the kiss.
“Of course. Did you really expect differently?”
“I could have hurt you. Or some of the Council, for that matter. I should have been put down.”
“Like a diseased animal? Is that what you think of yourself?” She started to shove away from him, disgusted. Hurting for him as well.
Sebastian grabbed her wrists, yanking her toward him. His eyes flashed, a dangerous swirl of red creeping into them before fading. “What I think is that...” He paused, seemingly at a loss for words. So unlike the warrior she’d spent the past few days with. “I think that I wouldn’t see you harmed for all the world. If it means putting me down to ensure it, then I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“You stupid, noble man,” she grumbled.
“You don’t mean that. I’ve got wings. Sexy, remember?” His eyebrows waggled up and down, much to Alice’s grudging amusement. His lips twisted in a smirk and then came down on hers again. The flare of passion he aroused in her arose so suddenly, she released another soft whimper.
“Just because I can’t see you doesn’t mean I can’t hear you. Also? The sun is about to roast me whole. Can we all at least go inside now?” Drew, on the other hand, didn’t sound the least bit amused. Or aroused.
“He’s not protected from the sun like I am,” Sebastian said almost at a whisper. Louder, he added, “and the idiot would probably burn to a crisp rather than leave us here in privacy.”
His wing dropped, and Alice squinted against the blanket of dawning light covering them. She turned onto her back to find Drew actually stood facing away from where they lay. Not the lecher he’d implied after all. She studied him intently, wondering why he didn’t get out of the sun’s rays before it was too late. She didn’t quite know how the whole thing worked, but didn’t it make sense for him to run?
“You get inside before my woman thinks you’re a spark away from going up in smoke,” Sebastian said, echoing her thoughts. Sebastian squeezed her closer, and together they watched Drew turn and go inside.
“He’s not really hurt from the sun, is he?”
He grunted. “No, he wouldn’t really burn up just like that.” He snapped his fingers for emphasis. “For a vampire, the reality of being burned is very gradual, very prolonged and very painful. Thankfully, we have several minutes of burning before serious damage is done. Mother Nature is a little kind, even to us odd creatures.”
It was good news. She needed every ally possible when it came to helping Sebastian. Even now, she tensed while remembering the evening before and the way the Council members had stared at him. At the horror on their faces that one of their own had become this thing. She wasn’t naïve enough to believe there wouldn’t be consequences for becoming a danger to the very people he’d been obligated to protect. “About last night...”
“How bad was it?” he asked softly. “I can only remember snippets, and what’s there is behind a fog.”
Alice took a deep breath and thought about what to tell him. How to tell him. There would be no sugar-coating that it was quite possible he’d lost the faith of the people he knew. “I...”
Drew appeared at the back door. He looked troubled, anxious. “Bast,” he said slowly. “I just received a phone call. A message for you.”