“No.” Why was his voice so relaxed and quiet when anxiety made hers overly loud and tight?
“Do you have butterfly closures or a pressure bandage or something I can use on it?”
“There’s no need.” He covered one of her hands with his. “Stop applying pressure and look at the wound.”
Brow furrowing, she glanced up and found his face close to hers. She swallowed hard. “What?”
“Check the wound.” He withdrew his touch.
Kayla dropped her gaze to the arm she’d wrapped the towel around. Carefully, she peeled the heavy cotton cloth away. The gush of blood had already reduced to a trickle that ceased even as she watched.
Impossible. A wound that bad would not stop bleeding so quickly. She had suffered much shallower cuts that had bled far longer.
Beneath her fascinated gaze, the smooth edges of the wound drew together at each end. The rest sealed as though an invisible zipper were being pulled. A long scar formed, dark pink at first. But as she watched, it faded as the thick ridge shrank, flattened, and transformed into new, unblemished skin.
Kayla wiped Nick’s arm clean with the towel.
It was gone. The gash was completely gone.
She drew the trembling fingers of one hand along the smooth tanned skin of his muscled forearm. When she reached his palm, his fingers curled around hers and clung.
She glanced up and admitted in a hoarse whisper, “I feel like I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole.”
“I know,” he said, his voice equally soft. “This is a lot to lay on you all at once.” The amber light in his eyes now fascinated her more than it scared her. “But I’m still Nick, Kayla.”
Swallowing, she nodded. “And you’re immortal.”
“Mostly,” he qualified. “Decapitation will kill me, but little else will.”
She scrambled for some explanation. “Are you like Thor or Superman? Are you an alien?”
His lips turned up slightly. “No. I was born here on Earth. I was just born with more advanced DNA than ordinary humans.”
He had mentioned advanced DNA earlier.
Her mind raced. “Were you created in a lab or something? Did someone conduct genetic experiments on you when you were in the womb?” She knew science had already developed methods of editing human genomes, altering DNA, and modifying gene function. Had they done that to Nick? He said he had been born this way. She’d thought scientists were still holding off on altering the DNA of a fetus because any such alterations they performed would be passed down to that fetus’s children and grandchildren and they worried over the repercussions.
“No.”
“Then why is your DNA more advanced?”
He combed his fingers through his hair, ruffling it a bit. “The short answer is: there have been men and women with advanced DNA on Earth for thousands of years. They’re just far fewer in number. And the more they mingled with and married ordinary humans over the millennia, the more that advanced DNA was diluted until today most gifted ones don’t even realize they’re different.”
“Gifted ones?”
“That’s what we call those of us who possess the advanced DNA, because it gives us special gifts that ordinary humans lack.”
“Like your friend Seth’s ability to heal with his hands.”
“Yes.”
“You can’t do that?”
“No. I was born with a different gift.”
“What’s yours?”
He stared at her for a long moment, unspeaking.
“What are you doing?” Dread pooled in her belly. “You aren’t reading my mind, are you?” Was he telepathic? Please don’t let him be telepathic! Because she had woven a hell of a lot of sexual fantasies around him over the years. And if he could read minds, then he knew—
“No. I don’t have that ability.” He smiled. “I was just procrastinating.”
“Why?”
He squeezed her hand. “Could I maybe share my gift with you another time? You already have a lot to process. And it’s been a long day.”
She also hadn’t reacted very well to his having superhuman speed and felt like crap for the hurt she’d seen flash in his amber gaze when she’d taken that fearful step back from him. “You think it’s going to freak me out, don’t you?”
“Yes.” The word emerged a resigned growl.
And Kayla realized his hold on her hand had tightened, as though he feared she would jerk hers away and make a run for it.
She studied his face. A lot of anxiety resided in his handsome features.
He was afraid she would turn away from him. The longer she held his hand, the more certain she became of it until she could almost feel his dread herself. I didn’t want to lose you, he’d admitted, implying he had feelings for her. And he seemed to fear he would lose her now if his gift—whatever it might be—scared the hell out of her.
“Okay,” she conceded, the need to make him feel better overpowering her curiosity.
“Okay what?” he asked.
“You can tell me another day.”
Relief softened his features and loosened his shoulders. “Thank you.”
Offering him a tentative smile, she shrugged. “It’s the least I can do. I’m still alive because you and your friends saved me.”
“You might have survived without our intervention.” Reaching up with his free hand, every movement slow as if he expected her to bolt, he brushed her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear, the light touch leaving little tingles in its wake. He cupped her cheek in his big palm. “But I couldn’t take the chance you wouldn’t. And I couldn’t bear to see you in pain.”
This time her heart hammered against her ribs for a reason other than fear. “You risked a lot, saving me, didn’t you? You risked a lot just explaining all of this.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re trusting me not to tell anyone.”
“I am.”
Reaching up, she cupped his jaw, now stubbled with a five-o’clock shadow. “I won’t betray your trust, Nick. I promise.” Sudden impulse drove her to lean up and press a brief kiss to his lips. “Thank you for saving me.”
His eyes brightened. The hand on her cheek moved, sliding around to cup the back of her neck. His gaze dropped to her lips.
Her pulse quickened.
Drawing her toward him, he dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers.
Chapter Five
Kayla’s pulse stuttered.
Nick was gentle at first, as though he expected her to pull away.
When she didn’t, he increased the pressure and teased her lips with the tip of his tongue. As soon as she parted them, he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue inside to stroke hers.
She barely managed to bite back a moan. Curling her hand around the nape of his neck, Kayla buried her fingers in his short, soft-as-silk hair. Damn, he could kiss! Her body went up in flames as her mind blanked. She tightened her hold when his loosened, afraid he intended to pull away. But he didn’t. Instead, he lifted her effortlessly and settled her across his lap, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.
Her breath shortened as he continued to tease and torment her with his tongue. She didn’t think she had ever in her life been so turned on by a kiss. She would pass it off as a reaction to her close brush with death, but knew it was simply because this was Nick kissing her. She had fantasized about him for so long. And the reality was even better than the fantasies.