“The border between the Unaligned and the United. This tunnel is how I cross between the two without anyone knowing. I’m trusting you to keep this between us, and that includes not thinking about it around your mind reading boyfriend.”
Oh shit.
“How do you-”
“I know more about the company you keep than you do. I make it my business to know everyone you know because I’m trying to keep you safe.”
His cryptic answers are driving me crazy right now.
“Why? Why are you trying to keep me safe?”
He turns to me as he stops, his hybrid blues holding a secret under the mask that hides his whole face. It’s a simple mask, but it’s made to keep me from even catching a glimpse of any of his facial structure.
“Because if I help you, you can help me.”
“What does that mean?” I grumble, his vague answers annoying me all the more.
“You’ll see when the time comes. Everyone has an ulterior motive for the things they do. You need to learn that now and stop being so naïve.”
He climbs out of the car, and I look to see we’ve left the long tunnel and turned into an underground parking area full of flashy cars.
“Naïve?” I bark.
“Yes, naïve. You believe everyone to be as they appear to be. People have secrets, Aria. No one is any better than you in that area. Stop assuming they don’t have secrets just because they’re not emergent-bred. Learn to see it and stop overlooking it when you do.”
“What does that mean?” I growl while damn near hobbling behind him.
“Not important right now. You’re here for a reason, and we don’t have long before your friends and family find your trail and follow you to the edge of the line. Right now, you need to take my blood so you can heal the rest of the way,” he says too casually.
My eyes have to be taking up most of my face right now, gaping in shocked disbelief. He didn’t just say that. I have to have imagined it.
“Do… huh?” I stammer out.
He unzips his hooded sweatshirt and rolls up his black tank underneath to expose a sexy, defined hipline just above his low hanging pants.
Oh damn.
“Take my blood and heal. We've got more important things to discuss, and we can't talk with uranium eating you up inside. You can take it from an artery to speed up the process and cut down on the amount of closeness you'll need afterwards. If you want, I can blindfold you so that I can remove my mask.”
I'm pretty sure that sounded much kinkier than he realizes, and if I wasn't in love with Jase, I'd definitely consider it. On the other hand... did he really just propose a blood fuck quickie? This is so frigging mind-blowing.
“I’ll heal on my own. It’s just a slow process.”
“You’ve been hit with uranium. Just take my damn blood. We’re wasting time, and I only had the one pack of diluted blood.”
“I can’t take your blood. I don’t take fresh blood from someone I don’t know just to heal. My body heals against uranium wounds... it just takes it a while. Packaged blood is slow to heal too, but it eventually works.”
He lowers his shirt while tilting his head, and then he walks over to me, his dirty blond hair creeping out just enough to give me some piece of the puzzle to my mystery man.
He rips my shirt up, and I just let him. I don’t fight him, shy away, or even question his intentions. I feel... comfortable around him, too comfortable - and safe as well.
I can feel rather than see his smirk for my lack of reaction. His eyes stare at the open skin on my side that is slowly fusing back together, and he takes in a deep breath.
“You’re the only one to do this,” he murmurs in disbelief.
“How do you know that?” I ask as he stands up slowly.
“Because I’ve done extensive research. Uranium wounds need blood for healing for everyone. The fact you can heal against uranium proves I was right about how special you really are.”
