Meant to Be Immortal (Argeneau #32) - Lynsay Sands Page 0,124

our wives or partners. The belief is that the nanos somehow suss out the perfect mate when she or he is near, and once they do—” he shrugged “—that’s it. We’re off the market. See, we’re like wolves and swans and stuff. We mate for life. So, you know, you wouldn’t have to worry about Mac messing around on you like your first husband did if you agree to be his life mate. We’re loyal to the end, and really good in bed because we experience what our mates are experiencing. We share the pleasure back and forth somehow.”

CJ’s eyes narrowed skeptically. While the sex with Mac had been crazy hot, she hadn’t noticed sharing his pleasure. It had just been crazy, extreme pleasure.

“Bet he didn’t let you touch him, then, huh?” Bricker asked as he plucked the now empty bag from Mac’s mouth and applied another.

CJ blinked at the question as she realized Mac never had let her touch him. Every time she’d tried he’d changed position, or taken her hands in his and held them over her head to discourage it.

“Yeah, see, he had to do that. If he hadn’t and you’d stroked his shaft and felt his pleasure coursing through your body, you’d have wanted explanations,” he pointed out. “And he couldn’t risk explaining until he was sure you cared enough about him that you might be willing to be his life mate. Otherwise, he’d lose you.”

“Lose me how?” CJ asked with a frown.

Bricker met her gaze solemnly. “The entire last three weeks or more since the two of you met would be wiped from your memory and replaced with some nice generic recollection of a boring case in a boring town, not worth thinking about.”

CJ sat back on her heels at this news. So, if she and Mac didn’t work out, he’d be erased from her memory? All of them would. The entire last few weeks?

“The only way it won’t work out is if you refuse to be his life mate,” Bricker said quietly, grabbing another bag of blood in preparation of the next switch needed. “But that would be a shame since you both love each other.”

“We do?” she asked, but her question really was, Does he?

“He loves you,” Bricker told her firmly. “I normally wouldn’t be able to read him because he’s so much older than me, but even older immortals are easily read for a year or so after meeting their life mate and Mac’s been an open book since meeting you. He loves you, and I know you love him . . . so, hopefully, you’ll make the right decision.”

CJ was silent, her gaze on Mac as Bricker switched blood bags again.

Twenty

Mac woke up thirsty. Rolling out of bed, he headed for the bathroom to get a glass of water and walked into what he was pretty sure was a wall. Cursing, he stepped back, put a hand to his head, and turned, smacking into what felt like a chair. That brought another curse and then the light turned on.

“Mac? Are you okay?”

The sudden light in the room left him blinking, but the sound of CJ’s voice made him smile. “Sorry,” he said, turning toward her voice. “When I first woke up I thought I was in my apartment in New York and walked into your wall.”

“Oh.” He could hear the smile in her voice, but also could actually see it now. His eyes had adjusted to the light.

“Good morning,” he said, and then grimaced and said, “Or evening, I guess. What time is it?”

“About ten o’clock,” she said softly, and then asked uncertainly, “How do you feel? Do you need more blood?”

Mac stiffened. “Blood?”

She shifted in the doorway and nodded. “Bricker left a lot here for you. He said you’d probably need more when you woke up. I’ll get you some,” she decided, and spun away to hurry off down the hall before he could say anything.

Mac stared at the empty spot where she’d been standing a moment ago, his mind whirling madly, and then glanced around in search of his phone. CJ had asked him if he needed blood. What the hell was going on? What did she know? And how did she know it? Now that he was fully awake, he remembered helping her bring in her luggage and finding Jefferson here. The bastard had tried to shoot CJ, he recalled, and he’d jumped in the way. That was pretty much the last thing he remembered other than using