Her skin was warm. So soft.

He pressed his fingers against the side of her neck, but he was shaking so hard, he couldn't tell if what he felt was her pulse or his own trembling.

His fingers brushed the luceria and the faintest hint of color danced within the band. It wouldn't do that if she was dead, would it?

Madoc lifted her out, shoved the black nylon away, and cradled her in his arms as he hurried to Tynan's suite. He was the best healer they had. Even if he hated Madoc, he had to help Nika.

Liam appeared beside him. "Nicholas said you might need some help. What can I do?"

Madoc felt her chest rise, pressing against his. She was alive.

Relief threatened to buckle his knees, but he held it together and kept moving forward.

"Wake up Tynan. He needs to fix her."

Liam said nothing, but he sprinted ahead.

Tynan's door was hanging open when Madoc got there. He rushed inside, through the living area, and down the stairs to where Tynan slept.

Liam had already woken him, though he didn't look alert. His voice was thick and groggy as he said, "Lay her down."

Madoc didn't. He didn't want to let go of her.

Tynan rubbed his eyes and gave himself a shake. "What happened?"

"I don't know. Some kid knocked her out and stuffed her in a suitcase."

Tynan leaned over her, making Madoc go tense. He didn't want the f.u.c.ker touching her blood. Not ever. But how else was he going to figure out what had happened to her?

The Sanguinar straightened, picked up Nika's delicate wrist, and felt for her pulse. "She's been drugged. I can smell it. Give her a few minutes to wake up on her own."

"Can't you do something?"

Tynan stared at Madoc with more than a hint of anger glowing in his ice blue eyes. "I'm weak. Some a.s.shole broke my neck yesterday."

"I'll give you blood. Whatever you need. Just make her better."

"It's not enough. Not after what you did to me."

Madoc swallowed hard, trying to dislodge his pride from his throat. "I'm sorry," he told Tynan, staring right into his eyes. It was a dangerous thing to do with a Sanguinar in the best of circ.u.mstances, and these were far from that. "I lost control. Joseph already knows. You'll have your justice. There's no excuse for what I did."

"None," agreed Tynan, his gaze cold. "Though we both know the reason."

Madoc shot a worried glance toward Liam. He wasn't sure if he could still be sent to the Slayers now that his lifemark was no longer bare, but he didn't want to risk being forced apart from Nika. No one could ever know he'd once been a candidate for death.

"My blood oath," offered Madoc. "I offer you my blood oath to save Nika's life and make up for the harm I caused you. I freely give you as much blood as you need, as often as you need, so long as it doesn't impede my ability to protect Nika."

"That's a good start, but it's not enough."

"What more can I give you?"

"Children. I want your vow that you'll let me try to cure your sterility."

Madoc didn't even need to think twice, though he knew that whatever Tynan intended to do to him would probably hurt like h.e.l.l. "Fine. Whatever you need to do. Just save her. Please."

A flare of white light spilled from Tynan's gaze. A slow, victorious smile stretched his mouth. "Done."

Tynan counted Madoc's vow as a great victory. The man had no way of knowing that Tynan never would have asked for his death. He needed him too much to throw away perfectly good blood for the sake of justice.

Madoc also didn't need to know that Nika was perfectly fine, and that the drug she'd breathed in would dissipate within a few minutes, leaving her nauseated, but with no lasting damage.

Madoc's panic was a lever Tynan could not refuse to use. And now he had another candidate for his fertility experiments. Not a bad day's work.

Tynan took Madoc's offered arm and drank deep, sending the man to sleep to avoid any more unfortunate accidents. Tynan's neck was still stiff from yesterday.

Liam stood over them, watching, so Tynan finished feeding on Madoc's powerful blood and made a show of healing Nika.

It took little effort to speed the effects of the anesthetic in her system and wake her up. While he was at it, he healed the few small burns on her fingertips and the bit of bruising he'd sensed along the walls of her v.a.g.i.n.a.

Little Nika was no longer a virgin, a fact that Tynan found promising, considering Madoc was now his personal guinea pig.

"She'll be fine," Tynan told Liam. "She just needs to rest a while. I'll keep Madoc here for a bit longer."

"He stays, I stay," said Nika, her voice groggy.

"Then I'm staying, too," said Liam, clearly mistrustful of Tynan's intentions.

Tynan shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm not going to do anything to him he didn't give me the right to do."

Let them watch. He didn't care. Madoc was his now, and he intended to make the most of his new subject. He'd give Madoc the fertility serum he'd been working on, and then implant him with an insatiable appet.i.te for s.e.x. Between those two things, he'd know in a month or two if his latest cure had worked.

Tori's pains had been getting worse all day.

She knew what it meant. She knew that the dull ache in her back meant it was time. The thing inside her was ready to be born.

Darkness seemed to close in around her, forcing the chill of the cave walls against her skin. It sucked the heat from her blood, and along with it, all hope that Nika and that man would find her before it was too late.

No one had come for her, and until now, she hadn't realized just how much hope she'd put in the stupid idea that they might find her. She would have been better off not hoping at all, because now the loss of hope seemed almost too much to stand.

Beneath the skin stretched too tight over her belly, the thing shifted, causing a bulge to slide under the surface.

Tori wished she didn't hate it. She wished that some kind of maternal instinct had kicked in, helping her get through these last few long months. As hard as she tried, she couldn't imagine it as a real baby with soft pink skin that smelled sweet. All she could see was Zillah's fangs, the way sweat beaded up on his pale gray skin, and his too-long fingers as he held her down.

Tori shoved the memory away and focused on keeping her emotions in check. Whenever she was afraid, the need to reach out for Nika was harder to resist.

Unfortunately, Tori was scared to death. The thing inside her was going to come in the next few hours, and it could easily kill her. And if it didn't, she knew what her future would hold. Once the thing was born, Zillah would come for her again. He'd hurt her again and put another thing inside her.

Somehow, death seemed better.

Another painful spasm gripped her back. She sucked in a breath and forced it out between her teeth.

She would not call out for Nika. She would not repay years of her sister's companionship and kindness by letting her suffer through the birth of this thing along with Tori.

Nika deserved better.

"It's time, isn't it?" she heard Zillah say from deep within the shadows outside her cell.

"No," lied Tori.

"Have you called her yet?"

"Who?" she asked, just to make him mad.

He stepped out from his hiding place to where she could see him. Excitement made his black eyes sparkle. He smiled as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. "Don't worry. I can be patient."

"Wait as long as you want. I'm not calling her."

"You will." His words rang with complete confidence. "Before our child is born, you will."

Chapter 20.

Madoc woke up in his own bed. Sunlight filtered through the closed blinds, giving a soft glow to the room. Nika was tucked beside him, curled into his body. Her slender fingers splayed over his waist and her cheek rested over his heart.

He was a bit fuzzy on how he got here. The last thing he remembered was being in Tynan's room.

He turned to look at the bedside clock to see how much time had pa.s.sed. Sitting in front of it, obscuring the red numbers, were four bottles of sports drink. A note was taped to the top of one.

Rehydrate. You're going to need it. T.

Tynan.

So, the attack on Nika and the blood oath hadn't been a bad dream.

In the s.p.a.ce of a heartbeat, he relived the entire event. The panic of knowing something had happened to her, the fear of losing her, the need to make it better and never let anything ever happen to her again. It all slammed into him, robbing him of breath.

Madoc rolled over and wrapped his arm around her, thanking whatever G.o.d was listening for her safety.

Nika squirmed in his too-tight embrace, so he relaxed the pressure. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s slid over his bare chest, and he could feel the velvet drag of her nipples against his skin.

She was naked. He could feel it now, all that soft, warm skin sliding against his.

They were both naked.

Madoc couldn't remember how that happened, but before he had time to ponder it, a wall of l.u.s.t crashed down on him, making him hard. He gritted his teeth against it, struggling not to crush Nika in his embrace.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gave him a smile so sweet it nearly broke his heart. "You're awake," she whispered. "How are you feeling?"

Like shoving his c.o.c.k into her. He didn't say that, though. He kept his lips pressed together, knowing that if he opened them, he'd kiss her. And if he kissed her, he wouldn't stop until he was driving hard and deep inside her.

Nika frowned and rose to her knees, pressing her hand against his head as if checking for fever. "Are you okay? Tynan said you needed to drink a lot."

He understood her words, but he couldn't seem to care about responding. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were beautifully bare, hovering near his head. She reached over him for a plastic bottle, and Madoc couldn't stop himself from shifting just enough to capture her nipple in his mouth.

Nika gasped and moved closer, flowing over him, lining herself up so he didn't have to stretch his neck to reach her.

He grabbed her shoulders, holding her steady while he kissed his way to her other breast so he could taste it, too.

"I'm not sure we should be doing this," she said, breathless. "You're dehydrated."

He didn't give a f.u.c.k about that right now. All he cared about was whether she was wet enough to take him.

She pulled away, and he let her go only because he really wanted to get her under him. Before he could manage to move her there, she slipped away and rolled over his body until she was standing on the floor beside the bed. She grabbed one of the bottles and thrust it at him. "Drink. Sanguinar's orders."

If that was what it would take to get her to comply, he'd do it. He sat up, ripped the cap off, and guzzled the bottle down, staring at her the whole time. A trickle escaped the corner of his mouth and Nika's eyes followed it down his chest.

She licked her lips as Madoc tossed the empty bottle to the floor.

Nika knelt on the edge of the bed and leaned forward. Her tongue met his skin, following the path the liquid had taken down his torso.

Madoc's body clenched. He felt her sliding inside his head, poking around. He didn't want her to see how raw his need for her was, how consuming and demanding. He wanted to be gentle with her. Go slow. Make up for what he'd done before.

He gripped her arms and pulled her up until he could kiss her. Her mouth was soft and sweet against his. Her lips parted to let his tongue slide in and taste her.

He groaned, knowing no other woman would ever taste half as good or go to his head quite like Nika did. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't resist her. She was his weakness, and, at the same time, everything he'd ever wanted.

This time, he wasn't going to lose control. This time he was going to treasure her, go slow and give her the kind of pleasure she deserved. Even if it killed him.

Her hands roamed over his chest, making his lifemark shiver in delight. Her fingers were warm and supple as they kneaded him, tugging him closer as her breathing sped up against his mouth.

She pulled her lips away and stared at him with eyes a much darker blue than normal. Her pupils swelled, her irises thinned out, and her eyelids were low and heavy, as if she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. A bright pink flush was spreading out over her neck and chest, so pretty he couldn't stop himself from kissing it.

He worked his way down her neck, nipping and kissing as he moved down. Nika's pulse pounded in her neck. He flicked his tongue against the luceria, and it sent a shock of power winging through his body.

Her sharp intake of breath told him she'd felt it, too.

"Like that?" he asked.

An incoherent moan was her only response, but she tilted her head to the side, inviting him to do it again.

He did, and this time, that shock went straight to his groin, making him hiss in a breath against the acute pleasure of it.

The link between them throbbed, and he could feel a frantic kind of need spilling out of her. He recognized it as s.e.xual frustration and wanted nothing more than to ease her, but not until he knew she was ready. He couldn't stand the thought of hurting her again.