Van Helsing Rising - Helen Scott Page 0,34

he says, turning and heading for the door.

Dragon catches his arm and drags him back. “What the fuck was that?”

“I should take to the Prez first…”

“You don’t tell me now and I fucking bite your nose off, how about that?”

The doctor pales, and I hold my breath. My brother can do some crazy things when he gets like this, so I have no doubt he means what he says.

“That was…that was holy water.”

It hits me like a ton of bricks and my knees start to feel weak. The energy in the air shifts and Dragon releases the man, who scurries off like the devil himself is chasing him.

My gaze locks with my brother’s and too many things click into place. “This wasn’t how we acted when--”

Striker cuts me off. “But we don’t know what happens when women--”

“But wouldn’t she have to have been given it recently?” I ask.

None of us speak, but our gazes go back to the woman.

Crash suddenly turns and heads for the door, but he speaks over his shoulder. “None of it really matters, because there’s no fucking way she’ll survive the night.”

16

Dani

I wake up and feel like I’m in a nightmare, except that a warm body is curled around me, and the mind-numbing pain is gone. My eyes slowly open to the sun peeking through the curtains of a window. I shift and look behind me and find Dragon there. He’s watching me, his hands clenched around my forearms, a strange exhaustion in his face. He has a five o’clock shadow, the look of a man who can do dangerous things to me, and he seems to be watching me too closely.

But I must be fucked up, because I find him reassuring rather than frightening.

“You’re awake,” he says softly.

I nod, unable to stop myself from noticing the way the sunlight makes the gold flecks in his eyes glow.

“Are you…hurting at all?”

I’m not sure what to say. “I feel strange. Good. Alive. But it’s like there’s something beyond that…”

“I’m keeping your pain away,” he says, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. “But the truth is that I didn’t think you’d make it to morning. So you lying here, talking and capable of thought... It’s a surprise.”

“Why did you think I wouldn’t make it through the night?” I ask, trying to piece together the last moments I remember.

“No woman has survived what you did.”

“Which is?” My heart’s starting to beat faster.

He strokes his hands along my arms and a strange rush of calmness comes over me.

“Stop doing that!” I say, tossing my head.

I know I sound angry, but I’m not. I’m frustrated. Something about the way I feel is wrong. He said he’s keeping my pain away, probably in an attempt to help me, but the thing is, I need to know how I actually feel, not how he’s making me feel.

“Trust me, you don’t want me to stop.”

“Fuck you!” I shout, anger uncoiling inside of me. “Let me decide how I want to feel.”

I’m sick and tired of being controlled. I’m a person, not a thing, and the sooner these guys realize that, the better.

That calmness rushes over me again.

I turn in his arms to face him, but his hands still stay on me. I try to shove him, but his jaw locks and he grips my arms harder. Frustration makes me use all my strength to shove him onto his back, and then I climb on top of him.

“Let go of me,” I demand, glaring down at him.

“Fuck,” he whispers.

And then arousal hits me like a wave.

I don’t even know what I’m doing when I lean down and kiss him, but I’m instantly grinding myself against his erection. The need to have him inside of me is so damn overwhelming that I reach for the button of his jeans and undo it, then yank his zipper down. I’m reaching into his pants to pull out that hard dick of his when someone says, “Dragon, you want to lock down your horny dick?”

Turning, I spot Striker, Crash, and Phoenix leaning against the wall of the bedroom. They all look more than a little amused. Maybe even aroused…or jealous. I can’t tell for sure as I try to clear away the fog of this need that consumes me. My gaze locks with Crash’s as I rub myself against Phoenix. He licks his lips and I swear I can feel him getting hard too.

Crash finally looks away, swearing under his breath.

“I was just trying to keep