Free Blood at Stake (Warriors of the Krieger Book 2) by Theresa Hissong Page B

constantly
under concerning the whole mating thing.
    Walking over to the closet, I retrieved my
jeans and a Nights shirt so that I could get ready for work.
I stumbled as I turned from the closet and cursed loudly when my
knees hit the floor. Ow, that hurt!
    “ Lydia ,” Ashby gasped from the
doorway to the room I was using. His face had paled even more than
his normal skin tone. “What happened?” He immediately had me in his
arms.
    “Dizzy,” I said, rubbing my temples. “Not
sure. I feel weird, Ashby.”
    I could feel his anxiety, and it left a bad
taste on my tongue. Cool hands stroked my hair, my face. Quickly,
Ashby laid me on the bed and rolled me over onto my stomach.
    “What are you doing?” I asked into the
pillow.
    “Checking where the bullet wound was,” he
muttered as he lifted my auburn hair out of the way. I sucked in
air through my teeth when he pressed on the already healed area.
“It’s hot to the touch.”
    “What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
    “I don’t know,” he said, averting his eyes.
“Let me see the others.”
    Carefully, he rolled me over onto my back
and untied the sash of my robe, parting it to see the spot where I
was staked between my breasts. His eyes softened as he trailed his
cool fingers over the now healed spot, “It’s okay, baby.” We both
breathed a sigh of relief, but mine was short lived, because I
suddenly weakened, everything around me started to blur.
    “Ashby,” I moaned, reaching up to grab hold
of his bulky shoulders.
    “What is it?” he demanded, his voice
vibrated throughout the room.
    “I…I’m weakening,” I whispered.
    Immediately, my face was pressed to his
neck, “ Feed, dammit! Do it now!”
    I used what little strength I had left to
score his neck, moaning from the taste of his warrior blood as it
drained from the wound directly into my mouth. The first swallow
gave me a jolt of adrenaline that traveled through my body, causing
it jerk in his arms.
    “Drink more,” he said, rubbing circles on my
back. “I want you to feed as much as you can stand. One sip is not
going to make things better,” he insisted.
    I drank until my gut was almost overflowing.
His blood coursed through my veins, giving me much needed
strength.
    “Better?” he asked, still worried.
    “Much,” I sighed. “Thank you.”
    “We need to have you looked at,” he said,
stroking the hair away from my face. My robe was still open,
exposing my body to his gaze.
    Ashby’s eyes flickered down to the skin
between my breasts, the stake wound all but vanished. As I sat in
his lap, my parted robe revealed my stomach and my sex, one fold of
the material had fallen away to show my left leg. Ashby ran his
huge hand up my thigh and under the robe to trace the skin at my
waist. His hand stopped on my side beside my left breast, his thumb
tracing circles on the outer flesh.
    “Doll,” he swallowed. “I’m worried about
this.” I stopped him with a finger to his lips.
    “I’m fine,” I assured him, but I could tell
that he wasn’t convinced. “I just got weak. Until we know more
about this enchantment, I’m just going to have to keep a better
focus on myself. If I feel anything out of the ordinary while I’m
at work, I promise to call you immediately.”
    “Work,” he growled, his mated eyes flashing
with concern. “Do you have to go?”
    “Do you?” I asked, raising a brow. Oh, if he
thought he was going to make me stay here at the estate under lock
and key, then I’d pack my shit and take my ass right back to my
house. I didn’t care if I had to walk,
    “Yes,” he scowled. “I have to
work.”
    “And so do I,” I cursed. “You can’t keep me
from my business, my work. It’s the only thing I’ve done that I can
honestly say that I love.”
    “You know,” he paused, looking a little
afraid at what he wanted to say. “You are technically a Lady of the Krieger . You will be appointed guards.”
    “I’ve been waiting on that,” I