Free Son of Our Blood by Kathi S. Barton Page A

was hurt, bruised, but not broken. You hit your head on the steering wheel
and had a concussion, but nothing life threatening.” He shifted in the chair. “You
would hurt a great deal more if I hadn’t healed you.”
    “And me not wanting you to heal me
wouldn’t have had any bearing on what you wanted, correct?”
    He didn’t answer her because he felt it
was a trap and anything he said would have been wrong.
    “Why me?”
    That threw him off. “You’re my mate.”
    She shook her head.
    “I don’t understand. You and I are meant
to be one and that’s why it is required of me to make you have no pain. I have
to protect you at all costs.”
    “Not that you want to, just that it’s
required of you. I see. Well, that explains a great deal.” He didn’t understand
and when she stood, so did he. “I have to get out of town. I’m assuming that my
truck is wrecked. Did you have anything to do with that?”
    “No.” He felt compelled to tell her his
dad did it so that they’d be together, but didn’t think she’d appreciate that
either. “I only gave you my blood. The accident wasn’t my fault.”
    She moved to the door and tried to open
it. She wouldn’t be able to, not unless he let her. The door was there to
protect him from someone coming to harm him if he was resting during the day. She
turned to him and glared.
    “I want you to open this. I have to
leave now and you keeping me here against my will is a crime.”
    He shook his head.
    “I mean it. I want you to open this door
right now.”
    He moved slowly toward her. “I don’t
want you to leave. I want to make love to you, with you. I want us to bond and
mate. Please.”
    “Are you nuts? Of course you are. You
want to bite me and suck my blood. How nutty is that?” She looked at him
seriously and frowned. “You really believe you’re a vampire, don’t you? You
really are…you’re all nuts. Your whole family is certifiable. I suppose you’ll
tell me that you know a werewolf and maybe a fairy or two.”
    Her voice was flippant, even teasing,
but he heard the fear. The uncertainty. He took off his jacket and tossed it
over the chair. “I do. As do you. Bradley and his mate are wolves. And I know
several hundred fairies. I have an aunt that is a nymph too. A wood nymph, as a
matter of fact.”
    She opened her mouth and closed it
several times before she snapped it closed. He wanted to tell her about the
dragon he knew, the one that he’d ridden as a child. About the aunt that he had
that was the last of her kind until she’d met her mate and now they ruled the
fae together. Then there was the uncle that governed a territory much like his
father’s, his uncle Beau, and his mate Megan. But she was shaking her head
again and he decided that he’d wait for another day.
    “This doesn’t change things. Nothing. I
still need to leave and you need to back off.” She didn’t move away, even
though he was sure she could have. “Please don’t do this.”
    He was nearly close enough to touch her.
He could smell her now and all the scents that she gave off in droves. Hurt,
anger, and a great deal of her aroused scent was perfuming the air around her. He
wanted to touch her, but didn’t know if she’d hurt herself trying to get away
from him. He did put his hands on either side of the wall, bracketing her in.
    “You’re too close and you can’t possibly
open the door with me standing like this. Move back.” She didn’t touch him, but
curled her fists up and put them behind her. “I mean it, Mac, back up. You’re
in my space.”
    “I want to be inside of you.” He leaned
in and buried his face in her neck then licked the pounding pulse. “Do you have
any idea what your scent does to me? My cock aches to be freed and I want to
sink my fangs deep into your flesh.”
    “Back up, please?” Her voice was
breathy, needy, and soft. Her scent now was spiced more with her arousal. He
moved his body closer. Not touching her, but close enough