Drantos(57)
“Did it work?”
“Yes. They sold the land to him and weren’t suspicious.”
She let that sink in. “I’d ask you how old you are but I’m afraid to know the answer. I don’t want to be grossed out if you’re super old, considering where your mouth happened to be earlier. Just tell me you weren’t born in the year eighteen hundred and something.”
He chuckled again. “I wasn’t.”
“I’m glad you think this is funny.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”
“No. Do you want to know how old I am?”
She shook her head. “I’ve had enough shocks for one day. You only appear to be about thirty.”
“We grow a bit faster than humans do as children but then it slows once we hit adolescence. Lycans tend to hit between the mid-twenties to low-thirties range and then the aging just seems to halt there for a few hundred years. We might be the same way. I’m older than the number you said I look but I was born in the nineteen hundreds. Are you warmer? You’re trembling less and your skin doesn’t feel as chilled.”
“You put off a lot of heat.”
“We run hotter. I wish you had gained that trait from your mother. I knew you hadn’t though when I saw how cold you became when the sun went down last night. In that regard, you’re totally human and need to be kept warm.”
The silence stretched between them. Dusti wasn’t sure what to say. She knew so little about Drantos except he certainly wasn’t at all similar to any guy she’d ever been interested in. She needed answers though to the questions relevant at the moment. The future seemed bleak.
“Are more of those…men going to come after us?”
“Not the ones who attacked Kraven and I.”
The tone of his voice, the sureness of it, made her heart stutter. “What does that mean? How can you be so sure?”
He adjusted his body into a more comfortable position and pulled her firmer against him, and continued to hedge. “We did what we had to.”
“What is that?”
“They won’t be coming after you again. At least not those three.”
Her eyes opened to pitch darkness. The grim tone of his voice finally gave her a hint. “You killed them?”
“Two died. One conceded. We had no choice, Dusti. They would have killed my brother and me if we hadn’t won in battle. That would have left you captured, taken to Decker, and he would have handed Bat over to Aveoth.”
She’d known deep inside that’s exactly what he’d meant. He’d killed to protect her.
A laugh burst from her, totally unexpected. Random, silly thoughts followed. She pictured trying to put that beast she’d seen into a coffin. It wouldn’t fit. That seemed funny to her, despite knowing it shouldn’t. It happened when she was under too much stress. It was as if twisted humor helped her cope.#p#分页标题#e#
“You find it funny that I had to take a life?” He sounded surprised.
“No. I think I’m having a breakdown of sorts. And I was just thinking that I couldn’t even get a guy to buy me flowers, and you killed for me. We haven’t even been out on a date yet.”
He pulled her tighter against his body. “I’ll cut down a field of flowers to give you when we reach the safety of home. We don’t have any restaurants in the village but I’ll cook you dinner.”
“That’s so sweet of you to say. Its total bullshit but I appreciate it.”
“You’d be surprised over what I’d do for you, Dusti.” Sincerity rang in his tone.
“You just want to finish what we started today.”
“I won’t deny that.”
“You can’t hide what you want from me in that regard. I can feel you digging into my stomach. My, what a big bulge you have.”
He tensed. “I can’t help it. You’re touching me and in my arms. I know you need rest though. You’re exhausted.”
She nodded again, enjoyed rubbing her cheek against his hot skin. She loved the way he smelled too. Masculine and woodsy. The woods part may be coming from the tree we’re next to, she acknowledged, but it didn’t matter.
She focused, pushing away lightheaded sensations that threatened to make her giggle. Her head swam again and she felt as though she might float away. Her fingers and toes tingled…
The symptoms sank in. She wasn’t having an emotional breakdown. It was more of a physical one.
“We have another problem.”
“I know you’re hungry. I can hear your stomach rumbling. We’ll catch something at first light, and I hope you enjoy sushi since we can’t start a fire.”