Reaper Awakened (Hellsgate # 2) - Mina Carter Page 0,3

the heat of the water.

Instead, she lay in a bath filled with ice, her skin so pale she was the same color as the tiles, and her lips were blue. Registering him in the doorway, she looked up, surprise in her eyes. He stepped through the door, determined to cross the distance between them, grab her shoulders and shake the hell out of her. Demand to know what the fuck she thought she was up to.

Before he reached her though, she whispered, “oh, bollocks.” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she slipped under the water.

“Fuck!”

He dropped to his knees by the tub and plunged his hands into the water. An icy wave hit his chest, soaking him through, but he got his arms under hers to drag her out. She was so tiny; it barely took any effort to talk to haul her out of the tub. As they tumbled together onto the cold tile floor of the bathroom, he twisted so that his back hit the floor first, and she sprawled over him. A softer landing. A second later, he laid her down on the tiles and leaned over to cheque her vital signs. Shit. She wasn’t breathing. Jamming his fingers into her throat, he swore. She didn’t have a pulse.

“Oh fuck! Laney... oh God, come on Laney. Please!” he begged, leaning in to start CPR. With each compression and breath of air into her lungs, he prayed silently. She was going to be alright. She had to be alright. He wouldn’t accept any other outcome.

An eternity passed, but it could only have been a few minutes before he felt the life return to her body. She groaned and shoved at him. Rocking back to sit on his heels, he helped her turn onto her side. Her color was coming back, the pallor of death fading from her skin.

“Fuck’s sake, break a couple of ribs, why don’t you?”

“Shit... are you okay? You stopped breathing. I couldn’t find a pulse.” Yeah, so his voice was a little tight with worry. Sue him. She’d been dead when he pulled her out of that tub, and he knew it.

“Yeah,” she croaked in reply, struggling to sit up.

He didn’t give her the chance to get there on her own, hauling her up against his chest. She shivered as she wrapped herself around him. Cold and wet, it was an embrace he would remember for the rest of his life. Reaching to the side, he snagged a large towel from the rail to wrap it around her. She gave a soft sigh of relief and pleasure and clung to him in a way that fed the male animal inside. Making sure to wrap her completely in the towel, he lifted her gently to carry her through to the bedroom.

Once there, he didn’t get far. Sitting on the edge of the bed before his legs gave out, he looked down at her beautiful face.

“I thought--” his throat moved as he swallowed. “I thought that was it. That you’d... you were...”

She smiled and patted his chest. “Not human. Remember? Can’t get infected by lycans... or anything else.”

“Thank fuck,” he breathed and then gave a small laugh, pulling her closer so he could rest his forehead against hers. “One day, beautiful, you’re gonna have to tell me what you are.”

She reached up to brush his cheek. His breath caught at the soft touch. “One day, I promise. Just not today. I’m fucking wet through and frozen to the bone.”

He chuckled, fingers under her chin as he lifted her lips for a soft and gentle kiss. He needed to touch her, needed to kiss her and reassure himself that she was okay. That she was alive.

She wasn’t human, being dead didn’t seem to stick, and apparently neither did a lycan infection. That should all be ringing alarm bells, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was the fact that she was okay. Letting go a long sigh of relief, he stopped asking questions. If there was one thing he’d learned about her, it was that she would answer when she was ready. She was okay, so that was fine. And it left only one thing to worry about.

“Let’s see what we can do about getting you warmed up. Shall we?”

She gave a slow grin as he lifted his head. “Typical man. One-track mind.”

“Is that a complaint?” His thumb smoothed over her cheek.

Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, the still