“I know! You could ask him to heal you. Blood Kindred can do that—they can heal their mates or the women they want to become their mates!”
“Heal me how?” Cassie said uncertainly. She thought Stone might have said something about this but she wasn’t sure.
“With his essence—the blue liquid that comes from his fangs. The same stuff he injected you with to heal the burning pain you were having,” Liv told her.
“Oh, I don’t know…” Cassie tried to move again and winced. “Ow! The places I’m hurting…”
“Are probably exactly the places he’d want to lick you to spread his essence,” Kat finished for her, grinning. “Just ask him, doll. And see where it goes from there.”
Cassie still wasn’t sure about the idea of asking her partner to “heal” her at all.
“I’ll think about it,” she said firmly. “But that’s all for now.”
“Of course.” Liv smiled at her. “Would you like to soak in a nice hot bath and drink a glass of wine and think it over? It might help you get your head on straight if you could just relax and process some of the craziness you’ve been through.”
Cassie smiled back.
“I’ve never heard of a doctor who proscribed a hot bath and a glass of wine as a treatment.”
“Best treatment there is for almost anything,” Liv said, grinning. “So—what do you say?”
“I say yes,” Cassie said gratefully. “Um…” She looked around the Med Center room she was in. It was much nicer than a hospital room down on Earth, but it still looked kind of medical. “Do you have a bathtub around here?”
“We can get you into one of the guest suites—there will be a nice deep bathing pool in there,” Liv told her.
“What? You’re already discharging me?” Cassie asked, surprised.
“I don’t see why not.” Liv shrugged. “Your blood work showed a lot of chemicals, but all of them have been neutralized. And you’re kind of bruised and sore but you don’t have any injuries that time—or a Blood Kindred—can’t heal.” She winked.
“I still don’t think she ought to be by herself,” Kat objected.
“She won’t be,” Liv said. “I’m going to release her into the care of her partner. Which means they’ll have to spend time together and sort everything out.”
“But—” Cassie started to protest but Liv fixed her with a stern look.
“Doctor’s orders,” she declared. “I prescribe a hot bath, a glass of wine, and a night to work things out with your partner. If you have any problems, you can call me in the morning.”
“I doubt that.” Kat winked at her. “Have fun, doll. We’ll be rooting for the two of you.”
Then they both left the room, leaving Cassie to wonder exactly how awkward following her new doctor’s orders was going to be.
Fifty-Nine
“I, um, hope you don’t mind staying here with me,” Cassie said lamely as Stone helped her get settled on the large, overstuffed couch in front of the fireplace. She liked the cozy, romantic atmosphere of the guest suite they had been assigned, but it made her miserable to see how unhappy Stone looked.
Her partner’s mouth was set in a grim line and he hadn’t said two words to her since he had come to pick her up from the Med Center and bring her here. He had been completely silent, only nodding when Liv gave her discharge orders that Cassie was to have a warm bath and some wine to calm her nerves and that she wasn’t to be left alone for any reason.
“She still has some chemical residue in her bloodstream, so I’ll want you to keep a close eye on your partner, Commander Stonev,” she’d said sternly. “Please stay by her and give me a call if any problems arise.”
Stone had nodded his agreement and then picked Cassie up and carried her silently and stoically to the guest suite, which was close to the Med Center. And now, here they were and what was she going to do if her partner never spoke to her again Cassie wondered? He was just standing there, staring into the flickering blue and gold flames of the fireplace, as though lost in some private remorse.
“Stone,” she said. “Did you hear me? I said I hope you don’t mind staying with me for a while.”
“Of course I do not mind,” he said stiffly. “Though I should not be here—I ought to be locked in a secure cell.”
“Why? Because of what we did on Bachanalius?” Cassie demanded.
He turned to look at her.
“Maybe you should say what was done to you. You certainly were not a willing participant.”
“What? What makes you say that?” Cassie demanded, frowning.
“Because you were tied up and helpless,” Stone shot back, his voice harsh. “And then you were drugged, making you unable to consent to what I did to you in any meaningful way.”
“What you did to me saved my life,” Cassie pointed out. “We both know that drug was the serum from the Amaryllis Fatalis plant that Dr. Sslwx told us about in the lab! If you hadn’t, uh, done what you did, I’d be dead right now!”
“I used you roughly.” Stone looked down at the fire again. “I bruised you, Cassandra. I hurt you.”
“You had to,” Cassie said gently. She patted the couch cushion beside her. “Look, Stone, won’t you come over here and sit so we can talk this out?”
He shook his head stiffly.
“There is nothing to say.”
“Yes, there is, damn it!” Cassie exclaimed. Forgetting her injuries, she tried to jump up to go shake some sense into him. But the bruising pain inside made her gasp and nearly stumble to her knees.
“Cassandra!” Stone was there in a flash, scooping her into his arms. “Don’t try to move!” he said earnestly. “You’re hurt inside—I know because I hurt you,” he added, his voice going low and miserable.
“Oh, Stone…” Cassie sighed and cupped her partner’s cheek. He was wearing his Kindred uniform—black trousers with a satiny pale blue shirt that made his pale eyes stand out gorgeously. But when she looked into those eyes, Cassie saw they were suspiciously bright.
The sight shook her. She had never seen Stone cry over anything or anybody. He was as stoic as they came. But now his pain over having hurt her seemed to have overcome his emotional barriers and he looked close to breaking down.
“Stone,” she said again and kissed him gently on the cheek. “How about if you help me take that bath, Dr. Liv ordered? She said it would help with the pain and soreness.”
“Of course.” Stone nodded at once. “I believe the fresher should be just through here.”
He carried her through a bedroom that had a perfectly enormous bed with a champagne-colored spread on it and into a bathroom with what looked like a small swimming pool set into the floor. Scented steam was rising from it and there were stacks of fresh towels and some soap and sponges beside it. Someone had even thoughtfully provided a bottle of chilled white wine and two slender wine glasses.
“Wow, this is nice,” Cassie exclaimed. “This whole apartment is set up like a honeymoon suite.”