Gabriel's Mate (17 page)

Gabriel undid his belt to show the witch what he needed help with when a loud thump from upstairs startled him. He rushed toward the door and looked into the hallway, where he saw Thomas running upstairs.

Panic gripped him. Without giving the witch a second thought, he ran after Thomas. He reached the door to the guest room seconds after Thomas. There, just inside the open door lay Maya sprawled on the floor, her skin glistening, her short red nightdress clinging to her.

Before Thomas could touch her, Gabriel was by her side and gathered her in his arms. “Maya, can you hear me?”

As he held her slim body next to his, he could feel the heat emanating from her.

“What’s wrong with her?” Thomas asked, his voice full of concern.

“She’s burning up.”

“You think it’s the fever?”

Gabriel wondered for a second how Thomas knew about those, then realized that he would have talked to Drake when reviewing the medical files. “It looks like it. I just don’t understand it. Any illness she might have had as a human should have been eradicated by the turning.”

Thomas nodded. “We’d better get the doc.”

“I can help,” the witch said from the door. Gabriel hadn’t noticed her follow them.

Instantly, Thomas shot up from his crouching position and leveled a hostile glare at the woman, ready to attack.

“Thomas, it’s okay. She’s here to help.”

“You let a witch into Samson’s house?”

Gabriel didn’t get a chance to reply. “Would you get out of my way, vampire,” she addressed Thomas, “so I can help that woman? Or would you rather we discussed the problems between our two species while she burns up?”

Without another word, Thomas stepped aside and let her inside the room.

“Carry her to the bed. I want to examine her,” the witch dictated.

Gabriel stood, pulling Maya closer into his arms. As she shifted, he suddenly felt her move her head into the crook of his neck. A moment later, her tongue licked him, making his skin tingle pleasantly. Then he felt her teeth. He barely made it to the bed before her fangs lodged in his neck and she began to suckle.

He sat on the edge of the bed, holding her in his arms while she fed. Maybe she had collapsed because of the hunger, but Gabriel knew instinctively that it wasn’t the answer. Something else was seriously wrong with her.

“She drinks your blood?” the witch asked, her voice full of disbelief.

Gabriel looked at her as she watched them. “She refuses human blood.” His eyes searched Thomas. “Thomas, get Drake here.”

“It’s daytime,” the witch commented.

“Doesn’t matter,” Thomas answered. “I’ll send a blackout van with one of our human guards.” He let his eyes glance up and down the witch. “You sure, you’ll be safe with her?”

“Miss LeBlanc doesn’t want to harm any of us, trust me.”

Thomas shrugged. “If you say so.” He left the room.

The witch cleared her throat, prompting Gabriel to look at her. “How long will she feed?”

“As long as she needs to,” Gabriel answered. He stroked his hand over Maya’s hair and shoulders and suppressed the urge to touch her intimately. Already now he was aroused, and the presence of the witch in the room did nothing to dampen that arousal. Only his sense for dignity and privacy—more for Maya than for himself—kept him from devouring her with his hands.

It seemed like an eternity before Maya released his neck and licked over the incisions to close them. Carefully, he released her from his arms and laid her on the covers. Her eyes were closed. As he removed his hands from her, her body started thrashing. Moans left her lips, indicating she was in pain.

“She seemed calmer in your arms,” the witch commented.

It appeared that way to Gabriel too, but he couldn’t be certain.

“Do something for me,” the witch commanded. “Take her into your arms again.”

“What will that serve?” Other than getting him all hot and horny again?

“I need to see how she reacts.”

Gabriel did as she asked and gathered Maya in his arms again. Her thrashing stopped, but her body writhed against him. He felt embarrassed when he realized that Maya was rubbing herself against him, her hands immediately going to his groin. He couldn’t suppress his own arousal at her action. Hoping the witch hadn’t seen Maya’s subconscious gestures and trying to protect her modesty, he pulled her hands up to his chest.

“That’s interesting.” So much for his and Maya’s dignity—the witch had seen exactly what the unconscious Maya was trying to do to him. “Are the two of you lovers?”

Gabriel shot her an annoyed look. “No. From the things I told you earlier, I figured you knew that I don’t have a lover.”

“So she’s the reason why you want me to help you with your problem,” she hedged.

He didn’t like her probing into his personal life. “It’s immaterial why I want your help. I’m paying you, aren’t I?”

“Wow, touchy. Just proves my point.” She shrugged and put her attention back to Maya. “Lay her back down.”

Again, Maya tossed and turned. Her skin was flushed. More sweat built on her forehead, her neck and chest. Her nipples were clearly visible through the damp fabric, and he felt the need to protect her modesty. As he pulled on the sheet to cover her, the witch stopped him.

“I know you want to protect her, but she’s hot enough. Trust me, vampire, you’re the only one in this room who’s getting off by looking at her body.”

Gabriel snarled at her, but had no reply to her—unfortunately—accurate assessment. He looked away. “Can you figure out what’s wrong with her?”

“I have a suspicion, but I’d like to confer with Drake when he gets here.”

***

By the time Drake arrived a half hour later, Maya’s condition had worsened. Her body temperature was sizzling, her breathing labored, and she was clearly in pain. But the entire time she hadn’t opened her eyes even once. She was delirious.

“What happened?” Drake asked as he entered the bedroom.

Gabriel shook his head. “I don’t know. She told me she was coming down with something and went to bed without feeding from me. A few hours later she collapsed.”

“Has she fed since?”

“Yes, but her condition isn’t improving. It’s getting worse by the minute.”

Drake bent over the bed and looked at Maya, touched her forehead, and looked into her pupils. Only now he seemed to notice the witch, who’d stood near the fireplace and was now approaching the bed.

“Ah, Francine, what a surprise to see you here.”

“Drake.”

“Any ideas?” he asked and gestured to Maya.

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Care to share?”

She nodded. “Excuse us a minute, vampire,” she said to Gabriel and gestured to Drake to follow her into the bathroom.

Gabriel looked at Thomas, who’d entered the bedroom behind Drake. “Odd pair,” Thomas commented.

“They can be as odd as they like to be as long as they can help Maya.” Gabriel stroked his hand over Maya’s hot face. Instantly her head turned toward his hand and her mouth sought out his fingers, quickly sucking his thumb into her mouth. Gabriel gulped down a quick breath. Even unconscious, she was killing him. He could barely suppress his desire for her as it was, but when she sucked his thumb like that, all he could think of was her sucking his cock in the same manner.

He listened for the mumbled voices from the bathroom, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. They seemed to talk quietly in order not to be overheard.

Gabriel pulled his thumb out of Maya’s mouth and stroked her lips with it. Her tongue darted out and licked him. He leaned down to her, bringing his mouth closed to her ear. “Baby, you’re driving me insane. I don’t have any restraints left. If you don’t stop, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

She sighed and pulled his thumb back into her mouth. His cock strained against the zipper of his jeans, the metal teeth cutting into his flesh. He clenched his other hand into a fist, fighting the urge to take her. With a groan, he pulled his thumb from her mouth and stepped away from the bed.

“Have you told her how you feel about her?” Thomas asked.

Gabriel turned his head to look at him. “And then?”

“Don’t you want to know whether she feels the same?”

“And what if she doesn’t?”

Thomas cast a look back at Maya. “The way she craves your blood, I’d venture a guess that she craves your body just as much.”

Gabriel was saved from answering when the bathroom door finally opened and Drake and the witch stepped out, their faces serious. His stomach sank. How bad could the news be?

“We both agree.” Drake glanced at Maya.

“What is it?” Gabriel asked and ran his hand through his hair.

“She’s in heat.”

Gabriel didn’t understand. “Heat? What do you mean?”

“Sexual heat,” Drake explained. “Like a feline.”

“But that’s impossible,” Gabriel protested. Heat was a sign of fertility. “She’s a vampire. Vampire females don’t go into heat—they are sterile.”

“I know that. Don’t you think I know that? But she isn’t fully vampire—whatever else she is, it’s making her go into heat.”

“So, it’s going to go away again?” If it really was sexual heat, surely it was only temporary.

“It would, but—”

“But what?”

“She’s burning up. It’s too much for her body. She could die. And there’s only one way to stop the heat.”

Gabriel had stopped listening. “Die? No. We can’t allow that. We can’t let her die. Doc? There must be something we can do.”

“Not we,” Drake said. “You.”

Gabriel snapped his gaze to Drake and the witch. “Me?”

The witch took a step toward him. “The only way to stop sexual heat is to satisfy her.”

Her words echoed in his head. Satisfy her.

“How?”

Drake had the audacity to chuckle. “I’ll leave that entirely up to you, Gabriel. I trust you do know how to make a woman come.”

Finally it sunk in. They wanted him to make love to Maya. Stepping closer to the doctor, he hissed low under his breath, “But, I can’t. You know I can’t.”

Behind him, Thomas cleared his throat. “If you want me to do it, I will. After all, it’ll be like touching my sister. It won’t mean anything.”

Gabriel swiveled. “No!” Despite the fact that Thomas was gay and had no interest in Maya, he would never allow any man to touch her.

Thomas gave a crooked smile, and Gabriel instantly realized that he’d only made the offer to get a reaction out of him. Well, he’d gotten one, and if he wasn’t careful he’d get the taste of his fist in addition to it.

“I’m not saying you should fuck her,” Drake added, “God, even I wouldn’t suggest doing such a thing to an unconscious woman, but there are other ways. Use your hands and your mouth on her. She needs to orgasm. It’s the only way the heat will break.”

Fifteen

The room was eerily quiet except for Maya’s heavy breathing and the rustling of the sheets as she tossed and turned. They had all left: the doctor, the witch, and even Thomas, to give them privacy. Gabriel knew that Thomas was still somewhere in the house, but had retreated far enough so his sensitive hearing wouldn’t pick up what Gabriel and Maya were doing. It was embarrassing enough that they all knew what was about to happen. Yet it didn’t dampen his arousal.

This certainly wasn’t what he’d planned. For starters, when he made love to her, he’d wanted her conscious and fully aware of him—fully accepting him—and not in this feverish state where she drifted in and out of consciousness. But he wanted to touch her and make love to her, even knowing what state she was in, and he cursed himself for it. She was vulnerable, and he was going to exploit her for his own pleasure.

Disgusted, he turned away from the bed. Would she hate him for it when she came to her senses and realized what he’d done, hate him for touching her without her permission? Would he lose her and any chance he might have ever had of obtaining her affections? But he had no choice, because he couldn’t let her die.

Even in her delirious state, she’d sought to be close to him. She’d writhed against him just the way she’d done it when she’d fed from him before. And the way she’d sucked his thumb, wasn’t that proof enough that she wanted him?

Her heavy thrashing made him turn back to her. She needed him, and no matter what happened later, he couldn’t ignore that need. Stripping off his shoes in midstride, he climbed onto the bed and gathered her in his arms.

“I’m here, baby, I’m here.”

She seemed to breathe easier as he pressed her heated body to his. She appeared hotter than when he’d held her only minutes earlier. The doctor was right, if he didn’t satisfy her, she would burn up.

He wouldn’t undress her in order to leave her as much dignity as possible under the circumstances. And he wouldn’t take any of his clothes off either so he could maintain a semblance of distance. Only his hand would touch her under cover of her nightgown. He wouldn’t look at her naked body, only touch her. That way she would understand that he’d had no choice and that he’d tried everything not to take advantage of her.

Gabriel tipped her chin up with his hand and brought his lips to hers for a feather light kiss. They tasted of salt and woman, fertile and willing. He knew he shouldn’t kiss her, but when he inhaled her scent, his body shut down his brain, and all he could do was react to the age-old knowledge of the mating call.

How he knew she was his, he couldn’t explain, but his instinct told him that the woman in his arms was perfect for him. He’d never felt the same way for anybody else, not even for Jane, the wife who’d left him after their wedding night. He’d never felt the connection he felt to Maya, like their lifelines were interlinked, one only complete with the other.

The more he inhaled her scent the deeper he felt the connection to her life force. When her lips parted under his, he invaded her and captured her tongue with his, stroking and licking, dancing and withdrawing. His saliva mingled with hers, and the taste of their combined fluids drugged him. He knew then that something was happening between them that couldn’t be explained by mere lust and attraction. He would talk to the doctor about it, but not now. Now, he had to save the woman he loved.