The moment the easing of her muscles registered, she yanked herself out of the relaxation.
Cutting off the water, trying not to think, she wrapped herself in composure instead of a towel as she went over to the pair of sinks. Even though she instantly got a chill, her skin goosebumping up all over, she brushed her teeth on autopilot, forgetting that it was dinnertime instead of bedtime. She only remembered this as she was spitting out her Crest into the sink, but then that was another way to commune with where Daniel was at, wasn’t it.
Change of taste. Food no longer as appealing because it had—
“Lydia.”
Jerking up from the black marble basin, her eyes shot to the mirror. Behind her, through the open door, Daniel had propped himself up against the headboard, and as he stared at her, he had the strangest expression on his face.
Without thinking about it, she covered herself with her hands and spun around. “Are you okay?”
“Sorry,” he said as he looked down.
“I’m coming.”
Grabbing a towel, she hustled over to the bed. “What’s wrong? What do you need?”
“I’m fine.” Daniel’s hand lifted to brush her off. “I just need—”
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in,” she said over her shoulder. Then she lowered her voice. “I’ll get dressed, hold on.”
As a member of the staff brought in a rolling cart, she hustled into the walk-in closet and dropped the towel. Reclothing was done out of one of the drawer lineups in the center built-in, and really, it was just a swap-out of clean versions of what she’d worn as she’d left the estate this morning. She had been sleeping fully clothed lately because she kept expecting to have to follow Daniel down to the laboratory in a medical crisis.
A waft of roast beef and roasted potatoes shut down her hunger instead of piquing it further—and she braced herself before she could reopen things and step out. The staff member was gone, but two trays on pop-up tables had been placed on either side of the bed.
“Are you okay?” she asked Daniel, who was where he’d been, leaning back against the headboard.
When he didn’t reply, she went over and sat down on the edge of the mattress by him. Taking the starched damask napkin from under a sterling silver fork, she flipped the square out of its folds and placed it over Daniel’s chest.
“Do you want to start with some beef first? Or the potatoes?”
While waiting for an answer, Lydia started in with the cutting, making quick work of the slab of prime rib that had been cooked to a perfect medium rare. She made sure the pieces were on the small side, in order to reduce the choking risk.
“Here, let’s start with the meat,” she murmured.
Turning to Daniel, she pinned a smile on her face. There was a pause before he opened his mouth. But then his jaw lowered and she delivered the piece in between his lips.
“Good?” she said as she went back to the plate for another serving. “Good.”
As he swallowed and she put another piece on the tines of the fork, she felt like she was doing something positive, gaining ground on the slippery slope they were sliding down. With so little within her control, this was a balm for her raw nerves.
A small step in the right direction. Even though it wasn’t going to matter much.
In the long run.
TEN
DOWN IN THE Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center, Rehv emerged from out of the office and traveled on sure feet down the long concrete corridor. Passing by the weight and locker rooms, he arrived at the start of the clinic section, and he didn’t need to knock on closed doors to locate his Ehlena.
He knew exactly where she was.
And he didn’t announce himself with his knuckles because he knew she was alone.
Opening the door to one of the exam rooms, he stepped inside, and his shellan looked around her shoulder. She was across at the supply cabinet over the stainless-steel sink, restocking things with gauze packs. Dressed in surgical scrubs and Crocs, with her hair twisted up on her head and pinned by a clip, she was in her element as she stretched up to the highest shelf, pushing the white boxes with the red crosses all the way back.
Instantly, she turned to face him. “What’s wrong.”
Lowering his lids to half-mast, he drawled, “Can’t a male come see his female on the fly?”
Ehlena laughed and put a hand to the base of her throat. “Always. But you can understand why I jump to a not-so-hot conclusion—”
She stopped short as he shut them in together and threw the lock not with his mind, but with his fingers. Slowly. So she saw what he was doing.
“I’m going to the Colony,” he said in a low voice.
Her eyes drifted down his torso, going to his hips. His mink duster was unfastened, hanging in two swaths that exposed his dark red silk suit—and his erection.
“Are you,” she said breathlessly.
“Yes.”
He tossed his cane and stalked over to her, grabbing her body and yanking her against him. His mate’s scent instantly bloomed, and her mouth parted as she looked up into his eyes.
Just as he was about to lower his head, she put her hand on his sternum, right over his heart. “Wait, why are you going?”
“I have to have a conversation with someone.”
Ehlena closed her eyes and shook her head. “Be careful up there.”
“Always,” he said. “I’m the King, remember.”
At that, he took her lips, penetrating them with his tongue while he swept his hands down to her hips. The dopamine he took to control his symphath tendencies when he was in mixed company had one very bad side effect: He was impotent as long as he was dosed. But every time he had to go to the Colony, he needed to have all his faculties available to him.
Especially the ones that made him dangerous to others of his kind.
You didn’t go into a battle without weapons, and the chemical castration of his evil instincts was a death sentence up there. Even if he was the ruler of all symphaths.
Picking up his mate, he laid her out on the examination table and wrenched her knees wide. Then he clamped his broad hands on her thighs and rode down the taut muscles under the thin scrubs bottoms. When he got to her core, he palmed her sex and arched over her, going back to her mouth. As he rubbed her, he felt the heat.
And nearly came in his fucking slacks.
“I have to be faster than I want,” he muttered. “Goddamn it.”
Shoving up the top half of her scrubs, he pushed her bra out of the way and latched on to one of her nipples, sucking, licking. Back down at her waist, he jerked the tie out of its bow and then tore the goddamn pants in half. He wasn’t any nicer to her panties.
Before he unzipped himself, he eased back and took a long look at the female who was laid out before him, that loose pale blue shirt up under her armpits, her breasts exposed, her nipples tight, her legs wide open.
Her sex swollen and gleaming for him.
He wanted to go down on her. And even checked the clock on the wall, the one with the white face and the navy blue arms—damn it, he needed to get his message delivered STAT.
His hands were sloppy at his hips as he ripped his zipper down. And the second freedom presented itself, his cock jumped out, a reminder of how often it was on the back burner. As his slacks hit the floor and he freed the button on his suit jacket, the blunt head of his erection went right to her core, without any guidance from his palm—except he wanted to draw this out, even if only for a little. Wrapping a grip on his thick shaft, he thrust his hips forward and stroked her with his tip, up and down, up and down—and now a partial penetration.