“We’re fine,” Sam said, frowning. “Why do you sound sick?”
The young woman sighed. “It’s just a little cold. No worries. Love you.” She hung up.
A muscle ticked in Sam’s jaw. “That’s a worry for another day.”
“Agreed.” Bear scratched his head. “What’s on your agenda to worry about right now?”
Sam turned the full force of his gaze on Honor. “Tonight I’m going to mate my female and lock her down so this doesn’t happen again.”
Tingles exploded in Honor’s abdomen.
Bear grinned. “Now that’s a plan.”
* * * *
Hope set her phone on the bed and fumbled for a throat lozenge on her bedside table. She sucked it, closing her eyes and settling the covers to protect her shivering body. This one must’ve come with a fever. She hadn’t had a cold in over six months, so she’d hoped that part of her childhood had concluded.
Vampires didn’t get sick. Neither did demons or shifters, and she had the blood of all three coursing through her veins.
Yet she did get sick. Oh, she tried to hide every illness from her family and friends, but they were all immortals, like her. They could smell an illness. Her eyes watered and she sneezed several times, grabbing a tissue from the table.
This sucked.
Even so, at least Sam was fine. The dream had been hazy and more than likely corrupted by her cold.
She let herself drift off to sleep. It was early in the morning, and she didn’t have to be up for several hours. She purposely threw herself into a dreamworld with a lot of sun and warm sand. Vitamin D could only help at this point.
The heat instantly warmed her, and she plopped right down on the sand and leaned back against a warm rock. There. That was better. She could bring in a friend but wasn’t certain she could hide her cold. Pax lost his mind every time she got sick, and it was nice to be babied by him, but she couldn’t handle the stress and fear in his eyes. Libby was cranky this early in the morning, and Hope didn’t need to deal with a cranky feline shifter. That left Drake, and for some reason, she didn’t want him to know that she got sick. It was unnatural, and it was embarrassing.
She took a deep breath. Hey. She could breathe. Opening her eyes to watch the light blue water roll in, she took inventory. Interesting. She wasn’t ill in the dreamworld. Good to know. Maybe she was just dreaming for real? She centered herself and sent out a call.
Drake appeared near the rocks, looking around. He spotted her, scouted the area again, and then loped her way. She watched him walk. He was taller than her dad but not nearly as broad. Not yet, anyway. His black hair was thick and reached his shoulders, and his eyes were a deep green. They could almost pass for human, but a stunningly vivid color whispered he was something else. He reached her and glanced down. “Is this how you see me?”
She took in the faded jeans and green tee that matched his eyes. “Yeah. What do you usually wear?”
He crouched and then sat beside her, leaning against the rock, extending his very long legs. “Normally black uniforms. They make it easy to do laundry.” There was humor in the lightening of his deep voice.
She chuckled, so glad she wasn’t sneezing. Not here, anyway.
He waited a couple of beats. “Just us, then?”
She swallowed, suddenly nervous. “Yeah.” For once, Paxton wasn’t in her room when she’d made the jump to the dreamworld. “I take it you and Vero haven’t crashed next to each other playing games?”
“No.” Drake rubbed his hands down his jeans, showing a fresh cut on his wrist. “I’m actually not at home right now. Am elsewhere sleeping off a training exercise.”
She grabbed his arm. “What happened?”
“Long story.” He flipped his hand around and took hers. His wasn’t as warm as hers, but it wasn’t cold, either. “You are one tiny female.” Gingerly, he felt her fingers. “So breakable.”
“I’m tougher than I look.” Tingles wandered over her skin and made her jeans feel uncomfortable. She was eighteen, she’d been kissed, and she’d even had some raunchy dreams involving Yoson An. But who hadn’t? “Have we ever been alone together?”
“I don’t think so,” Drake said. “I haven’t kissed you yet, so it’s safe to assume we haven’t been alone.”
Her stomach clenched in an intriguing way. “Do you want to kiss me?”
“Yes.” He kept her hand and continued watching the water roll in. “Why are you up so early?”
She tried to concentrate. The guy wanted to kiss her but then wanted to talk like everything was normal? Man, she was out of her depth here. Big-time. “I had a bad dream about my uncle Sam.” And couldn’t breathe because of a head cold, but there was no need to share that sad fact. If he did kiss her, he didn’t need to be thinking of snot and phlegm. Maybe she’d just kiss him. Why wait for the guy to make a move?
“Uncle Sam?” Drake chuckled. “That’s funny. The name, not the bad dream. Was it just a dream? Is your uncle okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, leaning into Drake’s side. It was sweet of him to ask. “I actually didn’t see anything in the dream except that he was in danger. For all I know, he might’ve crashed his motorcycle or something.”
Drake relaxed even more next to her. He must enjoy the sun here, where it couldn’t hurt him. “This is nice,” he said, confirming her thoughts. “While we can go out in the sun nowadays, we have limited time before our energy is depleted and we have to return inside. Hopefully we’ll have a better cure soon. Vero is actually working on it. He’s brilliant in the lab.”
Yeah, enough small talk. She rose on her knees, turned toward him, and leaned over to kiss him.
He paused, sucking in a breath. Then he cupped her entire head and kissed her back, his lips cool and firm against hers. He went deep, making her close her eyes. Pleasure burst inside her. Finally.
Releasing her, he leaned back, studying her eyes. “Very nice, Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood.”
It was better than nice. A sound echoed in the background, and he looked toward the trees. “I have to go, apparently. Bring me in earlier in the night next time, would you?” He smiled. “Let’s do this again.” Then he disappeared from sight.
She snapped her fingers, ending up back in her bed. Sniffling and with a headache.
Wow. She’d kissed both Pax and Drake within the span of a few days. They both were good kissers, and her body was all alive. She touched her lips.
“Where did you go?” Paxton appeared by the window.