Blay, to answer your question, I am going to remove it in the OR. Ehlena’s prepping everything. Jane’s going to assist. We’re ten minutes out.”
“Why is he not bleeding to death?” Blay stared down at his mate. “Why are you not passing out from blood loss?”
“Do you want me to?” Qhuinn winked. “You could totally have your way with me then, you know.”
“You let me have my way with you anyhow.”
“This is true. On that note, how’s now sound?”
“I think he’s going to be fine,” Manny said dryly. “But we need to make sure the removal is done carefully and in a place where if something goes wrong, I can fix it. Now if you boys will excuse me, I’m going to scrub up.”
As the human left, Qhuinn reached for the front of Blay’s shirt and grabbed on in desperation.
“Should I call him back in?” Blay took that hand and cradled it between his own. “Do you need—”
“You’re looking good tonight—”
“What?”
The hand in his returned to the shirt—and released the top button. “You just look so good. And you smell nice. And I want to touch you . . .”
As Qhuinn licked his lips, those blue and green eyes started to twinkle in that way they did when things were taking a turn into naked territory.
“Qhuinn.”
“Yes?”
Blay pointed to the knife. “You’re not getting horny with that sticking into you.”
“You don’t think so? ’Cuz I’m pretty sure you’re wrong about that. And mmmm, sticking things into people.”
As the male started to roll his hips, Blay glanced down the bed. Sure enough, behind the fly of those leathers, a thick erection had sprung up out of nowhere—
A hissing noise preceded an abrupt halt of the grind, and as Blay refocused on his mate’s face, Qhuinn lost that lovin’ feeling: Gone was the sexual speculation. In its place was all kinds of well-shit-that-hurt.
Blay kept his I-told-you-so’s to himself. “Just rest, okay?”
“We have ten minutes.”
“Well, eight now.”
“It’s a shame to waste them.” Qhuinn turned his head on the thin white pillow and stared at the center of Blay’s pelvis like there was a bull’s-eye hanging off his Hermès belt. “Besides, I have something that’s working just fine.”
“Your brain is not it.”
Qhuinn deliberately licked his lips again and then bit down on his pierced lower one with his fangs. Next up on the roster was some kind of pleading sound in the back of his throat, and his final player on the field was his tongue. Which really wasn’t fair. That ball piercing made an extended appearance, the steel catching a glimmer in the light of the exam room as it flicked back and forth—
Blay groaned and closed his eyes. “What are you doing to me—”
“What I’d like to be doing to you, is more the point.” That hand, that talented hand, went for a stroll down Blay’s torso. “I’ll be quick about it and it’ll feel good for you, I’ll make sure of that.”
Well, duh, the male always did. The guy’s jaw was double jointed—
As Blay felt his own arousal get cupped through his fine slacks, he tottered on his feet—and sure, at least this time the wobble was not from terror. But it was not from relief, either. There was an operation looming, and that knife was still STICKING STRAIGHT UP out of Qhuinn’s pancreas.
Or whatever anatomy was playing pincushion.
“Gimme just a taste,” Qhuinn growled. “Come on, just a taste . . .”
Blay swayed so badly he had to catch himself on the gurney’s edge. “This isn’t the time—”
“Oh, I think it is.” That hand went for the zipper. “Tell me to open wide for you, Blay. Tell me you’re going to fill my mouth up. Tell me you’re going to stretch my lips and—”
The door swung open and Blay jumped back so far, so fast, he slammed into the wall, rattling the framed Claude Monet poster that added a slice of color to all the clinical stainless steel and tile. The good news? Ehlena, the clinic’s nurse, was busy rolling in a piece of equipment so she missed all the rearranging. On both his and Qhuinn’s part.
“—just need a quick EKG,” she was saying. “Won’t take a moment.”
Qhuinn’s voice dropped to a whisper as he looked up at Blay. “Six minutes. Still enough time. And my heart’s doing a-okay, so we can tell her to go.”
Blay glared at the fool. “You are out of your mind.”