Helpless (Steel Demons MC #5) - Crystal Ash Page 0,81
to replenish you. I think it’s your best chance to beat the infection.”
Shadow paled slightly. “You’ll take blood, how?”
“With a needle and tubing. Just like when you first donated, remember?”
He nodded, relaxing against the headboard as he sat up. I caught myself staring when the muscles in his arms jumped. For as sick as he was, he didn’t look one bit weaker.
“Okay.” His odd-colored eyes lingered on my face. “I trust you.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand, a gesture that Jandro did not miss. “Ready to get started?”
“Yes.”
Jandro made a very capable nurse, as it turned out. He lifted the spirits of everyone in the room, without goofing off too badly. Seeing Shadow in the shape he was in was probably a sobering experience. Grudge came back soon after I started taking more blood from Shadow. Once I collected about a pint, Grudge rolled up his sleeve and offered his arm without hesitation.
All-in-all, the procedure was simple, and easy to do with the right equipment. Almost immediately after receiving Grudge’s blood, Shadow began looking healthier and more alert.
“I think I can manage a shower,” he said, after all was said and done. “I feel gross.”
“If you can stand, great.” I watched him warily swing his feet to the floor and push to standing. “But you should still rest tonight. We’ll see how you feel in the morning.”
As he took a towel and clean clothes to the bathroom, Jandro turned to me. “I’ll go downstairs and see about getting us our own room.”
“Oh, sure.” I leaned over to kiss him swiftly. “I’ll just be cleaning up.”
It didn’t take long for him to return. “No vacancies,” he reported. “These fucking small towns, I tell you.”
“Oh, okay.” My eyes darted around the room. “Shadow should keep the bed. There a might be a cot folded up in the closet if—”
“Mari, don’t be silly.” Jandro approached me with a curious expression. “The bed’s big enough to fit all three of us.”
I watched him, trying to get a read on his expression, while he did the exact same thing.
“I know you saw me,” I said, my eyes locked onto his. “Why don’t you just come out and say what’s on your mind?”
Jandro’s gaze flicked up to the bathroom door behind me, the shower still running, before looking back at me.
“Has anything happened that I should know about?”
“Nothing beyond what you just saw.”
He folded his arms, one hand stroking the stubble on his chin in thought. “Do you want to be with him?”
Like the man we were talking about, the answer wasn’t simple. It wasn’t just about what Shadow or I wanted, but his comfort level. Maybe an affectionate friendship was enough for him, and there was no need to escalate anything. Maybe, like Gunner at first, he was not into the idea of sharing a woman.
“Or is it just a physical attraction thing?” Jandro tilted his head when I didn’t answer right away.
“It’s more than that,” I said. “But I’m not sure what to tell you, because he and I haven’t even talked about it. We’re just getting comfortable with each other.”
A boyish grin spread across his face. “I see. So you’re just crushing on each other hard and pretending not a damn thing is happening. Fuck, that’s adorable.”
The shower shut off and my pulse jumped.
“I want to get to know him better,” I said in a quick, rushing whisper. “As a potential partner, but not just physically. I want to take things slow, so he’s never uncomfortable.”
“But you do want his dick. You’re imagining it right now, I can see it. You have dick-eyes.”
“Jandro,” I whined. “Please don’t be embarrassing.”
“Oh, mi Mariposita,” he laughed, drawing me into his chest. “You’re the cutest thing ever, and that’s why I love you.”
Twenty-Five
SHADOW
The hunger pangs rippling through my stomach woke me up. I wanted to eat an entire cow, and wash it down with a freshwater pond. But something was holding me down.
No, wait…
I lifted my head to assess the weight on top of me. It was Mariposa, sleeping on my chest.
She looked so pretty, my breath felt momentarily trapped in my lungs. Her cheek rested on my pec, parted lips nearly brushing my sternum. Her arm draped across me, hand resting on my opposite side like how she usually hugged me. Somehow, my arm ended up wrapped around her back with my hand resting on the side of her hip. I found it hard to believe we just ended up this way in our sleep, but