"Stop moving and I will!" Caine shouted.

"Grab her before she-f.u.c.king h.e.l.l!"

She was up the stairs and down the hall before she realized that she was running. She skidded to a halt in front of Caine and Danni's room. She raised her fist to knock, but then shook her head, calling herself an idiot as the sounds of a struggle became louder. She grabbed the k.n.o.b and threw the door open and then....

Stood there.

She just stood there, trying to take in everything that she was seeing. Christofer lying on the floor, his clothes ripped to shreds, Danni's arms wrapped around his bicep, holding his arm tightly so that he couldn't pull his wrist away from her bite while Caine had his arms wrapped around Danni, trying to pull her off Christofer, pleading with her to let him go.

"All right then," she muttered, around a yawn.

After noting that Danni's color had improved, she turned around, shut the door behind her and headed down the hall towards her room where she planned on spending the next hour lounging in a hot bath and enjoying the box of fudge that she'd swiped from the glowering b.a.s.t.a.r.d's bag.

Chapter 60.

"How's Danni?" Cloe asked, not bothering to open her eyes as she raised one leg out of the water and laid it across the top of the tub. The white bubbles sliding down her smooth tan leg drew an appreciative smile from him.

"Hungry," he said, wincing as the torn skin marring his wrist quickly knitted together. He reached back, grabbed a handful of his ripped shirt and pulled it off, letting it drop to the floor to join Cloe's small pile of clothes.

"I take it that your blood worked?" she asked, bringing that beautiful long leg of hers back into the water so that she could sink lower in the deep tub.

"Like a charm," he murmured, kicking off his shoes as he unzipped his pants.

"I was wondering when Caine was going to get around to asking you for some of your blood," she admitted on a sigh as she sank even lower in the tub.

"Me too," he said, surprised that Caine had been able to hold off this long.

Then again, he'd also been terrified that Christofer's blood was Danni's last hope. Caine hadn't been in a rush to find out that even that wouldn't help her. He'd wanted to hold onto any hope that he could for as long as possible, but after refusing to eat for the fifth day in a row, Caine had lost the luxury of time. Christofer had considered offering his blood to Danni several times over the last couple of weeks, but like Caine, he hadn't been ready to find out that his blood was useless, which as it turned out, it was.

The first attempt to feed Danni his blood had failed miserably. She'd barely managed to swallow the first mouthful of his blood when she'd reacted violently, leaning over the bed and spitting it up in a trashcan just as she had done after every other attempt. Caine, looking like his whole world had been destroyed, had been willing to accept defeat.

Christofer hadn't.

He refused to let another woman in his life down. He'd be d.a.m.ned if he was going to be forced to sit back and watch as another woman suffered. He hadn't been able to save Marta and he would have to live with that for the rest of his very long life.

Caine shouldn't have to.

"How long did it take for your blood to work?" she asked as he shoved his boxers down and stepped out of them.

"A couple of hours," he said, pressing a hand to his upset stomach at the reminder of what he'd had to do to make his blood work.

He paused by the tub, wondering if he should go downstairs and binge on a few bags of bagged blood to work the rest of the demon blood out of his system. His stomach took the decision out of his hands. Placing a hand over his increasingly upset stomach, he leaned back over to pull his clothes back on when Cloe's hand covered his, stopping him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, releasing his hand to reach over and run her wet fingers through his hair.

His first instinct was to lie to her and tell her that everything was okay. He didn't want to burden her with his problems, but he couldn't lie to her. He knew that lying to her, even a small lie, would hurt her and he'd rather spend an eternity in the lab than to cause her anymore pain. She would find out that he'd lied of that he had no doubt. By morning everyone would know about the miracle cure that had helped Danni get better.

"Demon blood," he groaned, wincing when sharp pain shot through his stomach.

"Demon blood?" Cloe asked, moving to her knees so that she could reach over with her other hand and gently run her fingers over his lightly whiskered jaw as she ran an a.s.sessing eye over him.

"Yeah," he said, pressing his hand tightly against his stomach. "My blood alone didn't work. So, we decided to see what would happen if we mixed my blood with the demon blood the Council had originally given her to help keep the cancer at bay."

"How much did you drink?" she asked softly, gently cupping his jaw.

"Twenty bags," he admitted, closing his eyes when his stomach rebelled at the reminder of all that acidic blood that he'd forced himself to consume.

Drinking the blood had been time consuming. It had taken him a lot longer to drink the bagged demon blood than the cold human blood that he normally consumed. The taste and the texture was not only different, but it had filled him up a lot faster. He'd managed two bags an hour, force-fed Danni his blood and then started the process all over again. They'd been prepared to do it all night, but by the third feeding Danni was with it enough to be able to feed herself. By the fifth feeding.......

She'd been ravenous.

Thank G.o.d she'd decided that she preferred Caine's blood to his, he thought wincing as more pain shot through his stomach, reminding him that he needed to dilute the demon blood in his system. It shouldn't take much since Danni had nearly cleaned him out with the last feeding.

"Baby, you're in pain," Cloe said, sounding worried as she continued to fuss over him.

"It will be fine," he said, opening his eyes as he reached up and covered her hand against his jaw. He forced himself not to smile, knowing that she'd just fumble for an excuse for the endearment. So instead of letting her know just how much the endearment meant to him, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. "A bag of blood should take care of it," he promised her as he pulled back so that he could quickly get dressed. He wanted to be back in time to join her before she- "Why don't you drink from me?" she suggested, knocking him on his a.s.s.

"Danni," Caine said, groaning long and loud as Danni moaned against his skin, her arms wrapping around him as she pulled herself onto his lap.

With a little sigh that had his lips twitching, Danni gently removed her teeth from his neck, pressing a soft kiss against the tender skin as it started to heal. "Did I take too much?" she asked, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

"No," he said, shaking his head, ignoring the black spots dancing along his vision as he turned his head so that he could kiss his mate.

Danni chuckled, moving to sit up so that she could look him in the eye as she said, "Liar."

"I'm a little hungry," he admitted, returning her grin as he leaned in to kiss her, unable to help himself.

She looked so.........

Beautiful.

Her hair was fuller, silkier. Her face flushed beautifully against her tanned skin. Her body had filled out in the last few hours and smooth muscle once again shaped her body. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were fuller, larger than he'd remembered. Her hips were curvier than he'd remembered them ever being. But, the thing that him sighing with relief was the sound of her heartbeat.

It was beating strongly against her chest.

"Thank G.o.d," he murmured, brushing his lips against hers.

"Can you smell the cancer?" she reluctantly asked as she pulled away just far enough so that he could see her nervously nibbling on her bottom lip.

He met her frightened gaze and held it, along with his breath, terrified that Christofer's blood had strengthened the cancer right along with Cloe's body. Realizing that he couldn't put this off, he slowly exhaled and then, keeping his eyes locked with hers, he inhaled, scenting the air around her.

"Well?" she asked, holding her breath as she waited for an answer.

His lips pulled into a grin as he leaned forward and kissed her.

"Gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone," he repeated, grinning against her lips."Be sure," she said, pulling back so that she could search his expression, looking for any sign that he was only saying what she wanted to hear.

He reached up and threaded his fingers through her hair. "I can take you to the Boston Compound right now, sweetheart. We can probably get the test results within a day or two," he offered, moving to get up and set her aside when Danni pushed him back down with a firm shake of her head.

"That would take too long," she said, reaching up and moving her hair back away from her neck.

"What are you suggesting?" he asked, not sure that he wanted to be the one to tell her if the cancer was starting to spread again.

She sighed as reached down and took his hands into hers. "You know what I'm suggesting."

He opened his mouth, but nodded. "No matter what I find, remember that Christofer promised to supply you with blood everyday if you need it."

"I know," she said, giving him a small smile.

"And remember," he said, leaning in to kiss her again, "that I love you."

"I love you, too," she said, her smile genuine this time.

He kissed her one more time before he pulled back, tilted his head to the side and leaned in so that he could press a kiss against her neck. "Ready?" he asked her, though he was preparing himself for the acidic taste of her blood.

"Yes," she whispered, threading her fingers through his hair, holding him close.

He pressed one last kiss to her neck as he allowed his fangs to slide down. Sending up a prayer, he opened his mouth and struck.

A low growl shook her out of her thoughts.

Caine's arms tightened around her as he released another s.e.xy growl that had her licking her lips. When he suddenly stood, bringing her with him, and turned around, slamming her against the wall, she may have let out an embarra.s.sing squeal. A gasp escaped her when he tore her shorts and panties clean from her body, but it was quickly forgotten as a scream of pleasure tore from her lips as he suddenly filled her with a hard thrust that had them slamming back into the wall.

She chuckled breathlessly as she asked, "I guess it's good?"

His answering moan had her smiling and closing her eyes in relief and thanking G.o.d for stubborn Pytes like Christofer.

Chapter 61.

What the h.e.l.l was wrong with her? she couldn't help but wonder as she found herself shifting forward to let a reluctant Christofer step into the tub behind her and sit down.

"You don't have to do this," he said as he adjusted his legs on either side of her and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her flush against his body.

"I want to," she said, embarra.s.sed by just how badly she wanted to be the one to feed him.

After what he'd done to her, not to mention the attack that she'd endured as a child, she shouldn't want to experience his bite again, but she did. Call it morbid curiosity, momentary insanity, but she wanted to experience the kind of pleasure that she saw on his face when she bit him while they made love and replace her nightmares. She wanted to know if Madison was right, if being bitten by a Pyte while making love was the most erotic experience of her life. But, most of all, she wanted Christofer to experience the pleasure that he denied himself every time they made love.

She also wanted to change the past.

"Why?" he asked, pressing a kiss just below her ear as she wrapped her arms around his as they held her tightly against him.

"Does it matter?" she asked, shifting so that her legs were touching his.

"Yes," he said hoa.r.s.ely.

"Do you want to bite me?" she asked, wishing that he would just go ahead and bite her before she lost her d.a.m.n nerve.

He pressed another kiss to her neck as he released a low, s.e.xy growl that had her toes curling. "More than anything."

"Then do it," she said, tilting her head to the side to expose the base of her neck to him.

When she felt his warm breath tickle her neck, she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, her entire body going tense as she waited for those razor sharp teeth to slice through her skin and- "No," he said, pressing a kiss against her neck.

"But-" she started to argue even as her body remained tense, ready for his attack.

"No," he said, cutting her off with another kiss as he moved his arms out from beneath hers.

"But-"

"Shhhh," he whispered soothingly as he pressed another kiss against her neck. "Just let me hold you for a few minutes."

She nodded numbly as she lay in his arms. There was no point in pushing him. He'd made up his mind and nothing she could say would change anything.

Which of course meant that she was just going to have to go ahead and take the choice out of his hands, because there was no way that she was going to put this off for another day.

"Can I have some of that, please?" Marc asked, yanking him out of his thoughts as he sat at the large kitchen island, staring down at the large gla.s.s of lukewarm blood in front of him.

He looked down at the counter and frowned until Marc gestured to his gla.s.s of blood. "You drink blood?"

"Yup," Marc said with a careless shrug as he reached for the cookie jar and pulled it closer so he could grab a handful of Oreos.

"Why?" he asked, handing the gla.s.s of blood over to the boy, his own bulls.h.i.t momentarily forgotten as he watched the young boy stuff an Oreo in his mouth and follow it with half the blood.

Marc popped another cookie in his mouth before he answered. "So I can grow normally," he explained, grabbing another cookie as Christofer digested the information.

"So, when you're sixteen you'll actually look-"