gaze. “I can’t feel it. You may as well stop.”
“On a human, massage would bring blood flow and begin to wake the nerves. I’m going to assume it’s a similar process for vampires.”
He sensed Mira telepathing, and he aimed his thoughts at Kelsey. After being so afraid she was injured beyond what she could repair, he needed the connection to her. Part of the desktop had locked in her spine just below her neck. A few inches higher and it would’ve hit the part that kills vampires. For a few terrifying seconds, he’d thought she was gone.
What is Mira telling you?
That it’s making you feel better, so I shouldn’t ask you to stop. You’ve never wanted me to telepath with you before. Are you okay?
I’m fine, but you aren’t.
Mira tells me I will be. Have you ever seen a vampire in a wheelchair? No. We can regenerate everything except heart and brainstem. Spinal cord might take a little longer, but it’ll happen.
Are you still hurting?
She didn’t answer, so he asked a different way. Okay, I can sense you’re in pain, but I can’t get a handle on how bad it is.
I’ll be okay. Pain at this point is a gauge, so I’m thankful for it. It means I’m alive. Besides, it’s steady. I can deal. I was wearing a bulletproof vest and fireproof pants. Why am I burned all over?
Your arms caught fire, and it spread over your skin, under the fireproof fabric. Your spine was hit above the vest, in the back. The pants were ripped and torn by flying debris, so the fire got to you that way, too.
Kelsey was in and out of it for the rest of the plane ride, and since they landed during the day in Chattanooga, she was taken to Marco on Signal Mountain in a lightproof box.
Eunice wanted her home, but Mira made a good argument for her going to her Master’s home to heal, and Fabio had agreed with her.
Besides providing blood for Kelsey, Marco’s flock provided sexual energy as well. The Master Vampire had two wolves fuck right beside her, and she was told to put her hands on them and drink from them as they came.
Direct energy, straight from the source, was such a rush.
And when they finished, a cougar and a human were brought in, and she was told to only drink from the cougar.
The Dragon King was brought to her again, and while she drank from his arm, he told her how brave she’d been.
“You did the job, Kelsey, and you did it admirably. You worked with a firefight just outside the door, and don’t think I’m clueless about the kind of focus that took. Never doubt how brave you are, or what you’re made of.” He ran a hand down her hair without moving the mouth sucking at his other arm. “And you immediately knew a bomb was about to go off. I didn’t catch it. You kept both of us from being injured as badly as we could’ve been.” Another stroke. “It’s been a long time since I’ve felt protective, almost fatherly, over a young vampire. I spoke with my wife about it, and she’s of the opinion it makes perfect sense.”
Fatherly? Well, that was new. She wanted to ask how it made sense, but she didn’t dare open up a telepathic connection without his permission.
“The way I brought you in, agreeing to your upbringing, and then when you add in the connection I see and feel between you and the three men you live with — men I consider mine — she’s probably right, which I have to say is bloody annoying sometimes. Her being right in general, not being right about you.”
Kelsey had drunk enough from him, and she carefully removed her fangs, pulled them in, and tongued the holes in his arm to promote healing.
“If you go with us on a mission in the future, I’m going to want to feed you before we go in, so if you get a small injury, you’ll more likely be able to heal it quickly.”
“I don’t know what to say, other than to thank you again for the gift of your blood.” She looked at her arms and back up to him. “The burns are visibly better in only the time it took me to drink.”
“I know you’ve been feeding practically one after another, your body going through the blood as fast as you can drink it, but I’d like you to take fifteen to