I reached up and dusted the snow off of his hair. It was just an excuse to touch him. “No,” I said.
Relief flowed into Andre’s features. “Good,” he said, caressing my cheek. “Now, tuck your face and hands into my chest, soulmate.”
“Um, why?” I asked, my teeth beginning to chatter.
“Because I’m taking you back to my place on foot, and you’ll get severely wind burned if you don’t protect your exposed skin.”
Ah. I was getting a supernatural piggyback ride. Sort of. In another situation this might’ve been kind of awesome. But right now, injured and in a blizzard, it sucked big time.
I turned my head and hands in. Andre rearranged his grip to protect me from the wind as much as possible.
“Ready?” he breathed.
I nodded against him.
He tightened his hold and took off. The force of his speed plastered me against him, and the wind howled in my ear. Going this fast, the cold felt like a knife, cutting through my thin layer of clothes and slicing my skin.
Luckily I was a supernatural. I didn’t think a human could endure this without permanent damage. But I would. At least I hoped so. If not I was definitely haunting Argipifex’s ass. That little bastard would pay for killing me in the most miserable way possible.
Soon the cold numbed the bite from my skin. My eyes began to close when Andre slowed down. He shifted his grip, and I heard the click of a door opening and felt a delicious blast of heat.
“Stoke the fire and start up a hot bath,” Andre called out to his staff as he walked us in, slamming the door shut behind him.
I caught elusive glimpses of my soulmate’s house as he carried me through it for a second time, but like last time, I was too distracted to pay much attention to my surroundings.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured. My words slurred since I couldn’t feel my lips.
“Sorry about what?” Andre asked as he carried me up a flight of stairs.
“Insisting you drive me back.”
Andre glanced down at me, frowning at my mouth. “Soulmate, I am the one who’s sorry. I never should’ve put you in that position.”
We entered what must’ve been the master suite. Andre’s quarters. As the heat began to thaw my skin, I noticed that Andre seemed a bit shaky, his strength not quite so inhuman.
“Andre, put me down,” I said gently, even though my legs were so numb I’d probably trip over them trying to walk.
He gazed down at me, worry creasing his features. “I will, my life, just give me a moment.”
We moved through his bedroom, and I heard the sound of running water. As soon as we entered his bathroom, the pounding sound of it surrounded me. Like a shadow, Andre’s staff ghosted out of the room, closing the door behind them.
Andre walked us right into an enormous Jacuzzi tub, the kind that could easily fit several people.
Andre’s brow furrowed. “This is not necessarily going to feel good.”
That was all the warning I got before Andre knelt, submerging my body into the water.
I hissed between my teeth as the extreme temperature change stung my skin. The warm water swirled around us, turning a murky scarlet as blood and dirt mixed with it.
I shook out my arms and legs, and the burning sensation worsened. It took a lot of self-control on my part not to string together a pretty line of curse words.
The sentiment must’ve shown in my expression, since Andre gazed at me pityingly. “I hate to tell you this, soulmate, but this is only mildly warm water.”
“How c-can you t-tell?” I chattered, even as warmth seeped into me.
Andre nodded to the faucet handles. Water still poured out of the faucet. “The way they’re angled.”
Even as he said this, he bent over and cranked one of the faucets. I yelped when, a second later, scalding hot water brushed the skin of my leg.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That was just mean.”
His mouth twitched. “I told you I wasn’t a good guy.” He said this even as he removed one of my boots, and then the other. He shrugged off his coat, and I gasped as he bent down to continue his work.
His head snapped up, his gaze locking on mine. “Is your ankle injured?” he asked, assuming I’d made the noise out of pain.
“Your back …” I said, horrified. I reached out to touch the crimson stain that covered most of his back. It was so much bigger than I’d assumed when I felt it back at the site of our accident. How much blood had he lost?
Andre’s eyebrows rose in understanding, and in the next instant he ripped the shirt off and tossed it over his shoulder. The skin beneath his shirt was smooth. Whatever wound was once there had already healed over.
Silver lining of the evening: shirtless Andre made an appearance. I could die a happy siren-beast.
Andre peeled away one of my socks and began to rub my feet, snapping my attention away from his sculpted torso. I tried to pull my foot away, but he held it hostage.
“No,” he said, and I heard a growl in his voice, “you are not going to be difficult about this.”
“Bossy much?”
“I’m a king,” he said. “It comes with the territory.”
After he finished rubbing one foot, he moved on to the other.
“Andre,” I started again, “you lost a lot of blood.”
A reluctant smile tugged at his lips. “I’m going to be fine, soulmate.” His face darkened up when his eyes moved back to me. “You, on the other hand, are still quite mortal,” he said, “and even though you make blue skin lovely, it’s not a good look for you.”
He got a splash for that.
“How come blood doesn’t seem to bother you?” I asked when he placed my foot back into the water. We were in a pool of it, yet he acted just as disinterested in it as I felt.
“I’m over seven hundred years old,” he said. “I’ve had plenty of time to learn how to manage my needs.” He picked up one of my hands and massaged warmth back into it.
“Plus,” he said, his gaze moving up to meet mine, “true, crazed bloodlust only happened to junkies, and those vampires were weeded out long ago.”