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He took her by the chin, lifting her face, and peered into her eyes Karina pulled back He leaned closer She tried to scra her still His lips touched her forehead "Fever" Lucas grimaced "Your eyes are still bloodshot"

His presence pressed on her like a physical burden Karina closed her eyes She sat there, world shut out, and pretended that everything would be okay even if every instinct assured her it wouldn’t She had to survive and adapt She had to do whatever was necessary to get her daughter back

When she opened her eyelids, he waited for her with a synthetic cord in his hands She hadn’t heard hi the cord

No Lying there tied up and completely helpless while he drank her blood would be too e e reed to this to save hter They’ll let ht"

He halted

"Arthur said I would stay here for as long as I live That ht"

Lucas gripped the rope His biceps bulged He snapped the rope apart Karina winced "If you’re trying to inti to get"

"I’ to scare you" He rolled the section of the rope into a tight rapped the end about it several times, tied it, and dropped it in her lap "To bite down In case it gets too rough"

She picked it up

Lucas sat next to her "Arthur isn’t in charge of your daughter I a to e, hunger, some violent emotion, but instead she saw only steady calm

"I promise you that no hter will be safe I will never use her against you Everyone is afraid of me, and she will never be bullied or mistreated"

Karina stared at hiht," he said "We can do that Let’s be honest The bitch in the hotel poisoned you Technically she infected you with a virus that secretes a toxin into your bloodstream To counteract the virus, you need my venom I’ve already bitten you once but it will take several feedings before you’re in the clear"

"You’ve bitten h," he said "I was in the attack variant at the ti you anywhere else would’ve caused tooto feel the wound through the fabric of the jeans

"It was a very quick bite," he said "To keep you froht of hi on her, was almost too much to contemplate "Can we do a blood transfusion instead?"

"No We’ve tried in the past and failed There is some sort of relationship between your blood, my venom, and my saliva that we don’t understand I have to feed on you You need me to survive and I need you to" He paused "To counteractback, she could feel it

Lucas’s eyes held no mercy "I’m a predator andTry not to be so scared Don’t struggle The et If you getyou in a puddle of blood I take it you don’t want that"

"No"

"Then stay calm" He nodded at the cord in her lap "You sure you don’t want to be tied?"

"Yes"

Lucas stretched out on the bed, took her by the waist, and pulled her down, flush against hiroin, her back tight against his chest Like two lovers Jonathan and she used to lie like this after sex The perversity of it hter to hi into her butt She tried to edge away from it

"Don’t worry I can’t help it, but I won’t ainstThe odor of hot copper was overpowering now Karina cleared her throat "I feel light-headed"

"You’re breathing in s up"

That explained the shirt co off He wanted no fabric barriers between her and that smell, so it could roll off his skin and take her under "Do I need to do anything?"

"Just lie there and endure Your body needs my venom As I said, I’ve bitten you already to kill the poison, but you got just enough to keep you alive This will take so skin No point in drawing this out

A low laugh answered her He spoke into her ear, his breath a warm touch on her skin "You ever watch hockey?"

"No"

"The Buffalo Sabres had a goalie--Clint Malarchuk Steve Tuttle, a guy on another teaed at the crease, a defense hiht Malarchuk’s neck A shallow cut, only severed the exterior jugular Blood sprayed like water from a hose Covered the whole crease in seconds"

For some reason she couldn’t understand, his quiet voice steadied her nerves "Did he survive?"

"He did Had the skate cut a bit deeper, he would’ve been dead in about two ainst hi is fun, but the pressure within the jugular would expel your blood so quickly, it would kill you" His finger traced an outline on the vein on her neck, sending electric shivers along her skin She wished he hadn’t done that