My God, he’s good-looking.
The man’s sensual lips twitched. Amusement shone in his eyes. “You think so? Thank you.”
Her breath caught. Had he just read her mind? No way.
Why couldn’t she put a name to his face?
His smile faltered. “You don’t recognize me?”
His eyes were definitely familiar, the unusual swirl of gold and orange a striking combination, and that voice…she knew it too. But…hadn’t that been a dream?
“Mitch?” she whispered. Was it really him?
He nodded. “The one and only.”
She swallowed. “Can I have a drink of water, please?” Her voice was raspy, her throat dry.
He handed her a cup and she drank greedily.
“Whoa, easy there.” He pulled the cup back. “Not too much at first. You haven’t eaten for days. I’ve been dribbling small amounts of water in your mouth to keep you hydrated. You’ll need to take it slow at first.”
She drank more slowly, then handed him the empty cup.
She looked at him again. Hard.
“That really wasn’t a dream? You really stowed away in my cart yesterday?”
He cleared his throat. “Uh, that wasn’t yesterday. That was a week ago.”
“A week?” The headache hit hard, pounding angrily at her skull. She clutched her head in her hands. “You really are real?”
He chuckled. “Uh, yeah. See…” He motioned to himself, waving his arms up and down his body. “I’m very real. And my God, am I good looking.” That last was said teasingly, but it caused her skin to heat in embarrassment.
“Since when can you read minds? I thought you could only feel others’ emotions.”
He shrugged. “Thoughts, emotions, energy…it depends. Right now the energy coming off of you is confusion and bewilderment.” He smirked. “And embarrassment.”
Kate smacked his arm. “That’s not fair. I don’t have any privacy when I’m around you.”
He sobered. “If it makes you feel better, that’s the only time I’ve ever been able to read your mind. Your thoughts were so loud you may as well have been speaking out loud.”
Kate lowered her gaze. She had been a bit overwhelmed when she’d first noticed him a moment ago. He was so much better looking than she remembered. Or maybe it was just the lack of beard that allowed his handsomeness to show through.
She cleared her throat and stared down at her lap. “Wait, why am I in bed?” She broke off as a memory flashed through her skull.
Strange, lizard-like creatures with glowing yellow eyes and sharp fangs, snapping at her hand, latching on to her foot, trying to eat her.
Kate swallowed back the bile that threatened its way up her throat. She jerked her gaze to Mitch’s. “The drifters. They tried to eat me.”
He gave an apologetic nod. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
Kate glanced down at her left hand that was wrapped with a blood-soaked bandage. What had the drifters done to her?
“Did they eat my fingers?”
Mitch cleared his throat. “They took your pinky, but the rest of your fingers are still there.”
Wanting to see what the drifters had done to her, Kate unwrapped the bandage. She stared at her injury, the missing pinky finger. Only a small bony stump remained where her finger had once been. She wiggled the stump, surprised when it worked. She wiggled her others fingers, but they all worked fine. She wouldn’t let the loss of her pinky stop her.
You’re a drifter now, Kate. You’ve been bitten. You’re no longer human.
You’re a drifter.
A drifter.
Kate bolted upright, her heart pounding, panic rushing through her.
No! I don’t want to be! I just want to be me.
Mitch grabbed her shoulders and gently pressed her back. “Relax. You’re okay now. They’re gone.”
She stared at him. He was touching her and it didn’t appear to bother him. Why? She certainly wasn’t giving off any positive energy right now.
“Why are you not affected by my negative energy right now?”
His gaze locked on hers. “Because you give off so much goodness that it neutralizes the negative energy, filters it, if you will, and makes the negativity more bearable. I can still feel all your emotions, both the positive and the negative, but your rare goodness makes the negative stuff less painful.”
Rare goodness? What exactly did that mean? She’d never thought of herself that way before. Kate couldn’t deny they shared some kind of connection, but she wasn’t sure what it was. A physical attraction, certainly, but it felt like something more…
Neither one of them moved. Kate couldn’t drag her gaze away from his, locked in his spell.
He’s so frickin hot.
He grinned. He had a nice smile. It lit up his whole face, transforming the harsh lines into sleek handsomeness.
“I wouldn’t go that far, Kate, but thanks for thinking so.”
Kate smacked his arm again. “Stop that! Stop reading my mind. You just look…different without the beard.” Unable to resist, Kate lifted a hand to touch his jaw. He froze, his gaze still holding hers, but he didn’t push her away like she expected him to. She gently ran her fingers along one side of his smooth jaw, then the other. “Does this hurt?”
He puffed out a breath. “No.”
Their gazes locked. A heartbeat passed.
He leaned away—deliberately, she was certain—and her hand fell into her lap. He was putting distance between them.
“Do you remember what happened to you now?”
She nodded. “The drifters. They attacked me. You saved me. Then I passed out. Why were the drifters in the crater? You said it was one of their lairs. That doesn’t make sense to me. Why would your friend Ethan live with drifters?”
He sighed. “Ethan…studies them. It’s a long story. But I promise I never would have brought you here if I thought you would be in danger. I thought I could keep you away from them. I’m sorry.”
There was so much remorse in his eyes that Kate couldn’t resist reaching over and squeezing his hand. “You’re forgiven. You saved my life. Thank you.”
He lowered his gaze, looking uncomfortable. He cleared his throat, pulled his hand free.
Silence stretched. Why had Mitch saved her life? He could have easily let her die. And been free of her.
“Why did you save me?”
He stared at the bed, not meeting her gaze. “I didn’t save you. Only ten percent of victims survive the drifter bites. It didn’t really matter what I did or didn’t do. It was your will to live that kept you alive. I just tried to make you as comfortable as possible while your body fought off the venom.”
He could deny it all he wanted, but he had saved her. Now she owed him more than he owed her. How did you repay someone for saving your life?
“You did save me, Mitch. Now I owe you.”
He shrugged, his gaze coming back to hers.
I’ve been bitten. Like him. Will my eyes change now? Will they glow at night? Will they become reptilian like his?
She had too many questions. Where did she start?
“Now that I’ve been bitten, what’s going to happen to me?”
His gaze turned serious. “Your life will never be the same again.”
* * *
Mitch’s answer was somewhat vague. Kate needed a more specific answer than that. “Will I turn into a beast or something now? Like you?”
He snorted. “Do I look like a beast to you?”
Kate let her gaze travel from his handsome, chiseled features down his T-shirt-clad chest, his hard, flat stomach, his long, muscular, jean-clad legs, and back up. Everything about the man was a work of art, perfection, including his short dark hair that begged her to run her fingers through it. She’d seen most of his lean, muscular body in the tub the other night and had been left breathless by his sheer masculine beauty. Mitch was no beast. Not at all.
She pulled her gaze back to his, her voice
slightly breathless as she whispered, “No.”
He smirked, then grew serious. “You will receive a gift from the drifters. It may take a few days for you to figure out what it is.”
Kate held his gaze. “How many gifts do you have?”
He hesitated. “Seven. Well, eight with the bites I received trying to protect you, but the new one hasn’t revealed itself yet.”
She felt her eyes go wide. “Eight? You’ve been bitten that many times?”
“No. I received three shared gifts, the rest from being bitten.”
Kate wrinkled her brow. “What does that mean, shared gifts?”
He sighed. “It might be too much information overload for you right now. You’ve just woken from a week-long coma and an extremely high fever. Your heart nearly stopped. Twice. It was beating so slowly I could barely detect it. I thought you were going to die. You really should be resting right now.”
He rose and started to turn away. Kate grabbed his arm. “Will you show me your gifts?”
He hesitated, then returned to the bed, sinking down on the edge next to her. “One of my gifts is this.” He reached over and lifted the lantern from the end table and turned the wick down, shutting it off, filling the room with darkness.
Kate’s heart danced a nervous jig in her chest. What was he doing?
“Mitch?”
A flame suddenly appeared, lighting the wick, filling the room with light again.
Kate stared at his hand where a small orange flame flowed from his fingers into the lantern.
She let out a soft gasp. “What? How?” Kate leaned away from him as several emotions swirled through her: fear, awe, disbelief.
“What the heck was that? Was that real fire? What are you?”
“I thought we already had this discussion. I’m just a man, Kate, with supernatural abilities I received from the drifters.”
He’d just made fire from his fingers. What the hell? That was cool, yet…scary.
“I don’t want to be a freak like you. I just want to be normal.”
Something flashed in his eyes. Pain? Had she offended him?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. You’re not a freak. You’re just…different.”
He snorted and rose from the bed. “I would imagine you’re hungry. I’ll go make you something to eat. When I come back, I’ll explain everything.”
She’d hurt his feelings. Guilt slammed into her. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. Mitch was just so…different from anyone else.
But he was right. She was hungry. She sighed, relenting. “Okay.”
He smiled, though it seemed forced. “Relax for a few minutes. I’ll bring you some food. I’ll explain everything while you eat, okay?”
Mitch disappeared down one of the tunnels, she assumed the one that went to the kitchen area.
He returned about five minutes later with ham and cheese slices, bread, and another glass of water. Kate sat up and hungrily devoured the food.
Mitch watched her with that smirk that never seemed to fade. How long had he been hiding his emotions behind that smirk? What had happened to him? Losing the woman he’d loved had probably had something to do with it. Kate could relate. Losing her entire family all at once had made Kate keep her distance from others over the years.
Kate’s curiosity about him would have to wait. Right now she needed to know what might happen to her now that she had drifter venom in her veins.
“So…talk to me, Mitch. Explain what’s going to happen to me now.”
He settled onto the edge of the bed again. “Before I begin, there’s something you must know. Now that you’ve been bitten, we can’t…” He paused, lowering his gaze. “We can’t allow our physical attraction to—” He broke off, cleared his throat. “We can’t get close physically, Kate. No kissing. No touching. No sex.”
What? Though she’d never wanted to get close to a man before, she was deeply attracted to Mitch. She’d been looking forward to exploring what was between them. She wanted to experience a physical intimacy with him. And now he was saying they had to keep their distance? Why?
She stared at his face, willing him to look at her. But he stared at the dirt wall, at a dinosaur fossil—a round skull of some kind—embedded in the earth.
“Why?”
He cleared his throat. Finally, he pulled his gaze back to hers. “Like I said, I received three of my gifts from others. It’s called ‘sharing.’ When bitten creatures bond, they can share their gifts. They may share all of their gifts, some of their gifts, or only one of their gifts. I don’t want to burden you with my empathy, Kate. I can’t risk sharing it with you. It might be too much for you. Hell, sometimes it’s too much for me.”
Kate swallowed hard. “What do you mean by bonding?”
“Generally, it means befriending another creature, sharing an emotional connection. But with humans, it requires more. I’ve been friends with Ethan for years, but never shared any gifts with him. I just assumed he’d never been bitten, but now I know better. For some reason, I can bond with other non-human bitten creatures without touching them.” He picked at the blanket near his thigh. “I’ve bonded with a cheetah and he shared his speed and his senses with me, yet he never let me get close enough to pet him. We were companions, friends. We hung out together for a short time until he died. But with Lisa, I never shared any gifts with her until after we became lovers. With humans, apparently, bonding only occurs after males and females become physically intimate. But it’s more than just that. They also have to share a strong emotional connection first. Ronin attempted to bond with a woman named Claire, thinking all he needed was the physical intimacy, but since she didn’t love him, the bonding didn’t work. Instead, she bonded with Gabe, a man she’s been in love with for years. And once humans that share an emotional connection become physically intimate, their gifts grow more powerful.”
Kate stared into his eyes. Was she emotionally connected to Mitch? The answer came quickly: yes, she was. She may not be in love with him, she’d only known him a short time, but yes, she was emotionally connected to him. She cared about him, considered him her friend. Did he care about her as well? He must, or he wouldn’t have taken care of her, nursed her back to health.
“So since we share an emotional connection, a friendship, if we make love, not only will we share our gifts, but the gifts will make us more powerful?”
He nodded, averting his gaze. “Exactly.”
He’d more or less just admitted he felt an emotional connection to her. Were his feelings simply that of friendship or something more? Kate didn’t understand any of this. It was confusing. It was crazy. Was it even real?
“Can we become physically intimate without the bonding?”
He cleared his throat. “You’re asking if we can have sex and keep our emotions out of it and keep from bonding and sharing our gifts?”
Kate nodded. She probably wouldn’t be able to do it, but he was a man, so he might.
Mitch sighed. “I don’t make a habit of sleeping with other bitten creatures, Kate. Lisa was the only one.” His gaze softened. “So I don’t know the answer to that question.”
Kate did. And the answer was “no”.
“So you’re afraid that if we become physically intimate, that I might share your empathy and that it will become too much for me?”
“Yes.” His gaze was intense as it bored into hers. “I can’t allow that to happen. I won’t let that happen.”
“So we just ignore our physical attraction?”
His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed. “We have to.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
He groaned. “Kate…”
Fine. It was probably better this way. Kate had a feeling he would only break her heart anyway.
“Just remember not to run away from me. It triggers my predatory instinct to chase. To subdue. And I’m afraid I won’t be able to control it. Not with you.”
Not with you.
“Okay,” she said slowly. I won’t run. But a part of her wanted to do just that, to see what would happen. Unexpected longing coiled in her loins. She wanted him to chase her. To subdue her. To touch her and kiss her and show her what she’d deliberately been missing all these years. She wanted to experience all of that with Mitch. Man or drifter, human or beast, she wanted him. She wasn’t worried about what might happen if they bonded and shared their gifts. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore. Mitch had goodness in him, no matter what had happened to him, no matter how much humanity was left inside him. She’d seen the man underneath the drifter and she’d liked what she’d seen. He’d saved her life. He was a good man.
Kate cleared her throat. “So, what now?”
His smirk returned. It was obviously forced. He’d gotten good at slapping it on to hide his feelings. The thought of not ever being intimate with her must pain him as much as it did her. Mitch could hide some things from her, but not that. She was learning how to read him. He wanted her. He could deny it all he wanted, but Kate knew it was going to be difficult for both of them to keep their distance. Their attraction was too strong. Would it be too strong to ignore?
Mitch rose from the bed. “Now, we get you all better. Then, I teach you how to hunt.”
CHAPTER NINE
Kate recovered over the next few days. She was weak at first, but gradually her strength returned, along with her vibrant spirit. The loss of her pinkie finger didn’t bother her as much as Mitch had feared. Her resilience amazed him. Fortunately, the wound on her ankle had healed without any restrictions.
Her gift had not yet revealed itself, or if it had, Kate hadn’t told him what it was. He didn’t pry. She would tell him when she was ready.
He sensed her worry, her fear. She was afraid of receiving a gift, afraid it might turn her into something inhuman. She had no secrets from him, not emotionally, at least. All her feelings spiraled into him. He experienced them right along with her. He hadn’t been able to read her mind since that first day after she awoke, which was a relief. He wasn’t sure why or how he’d been able to read her thoughts that day, but for some reason he couldn’t anymore. He respected her privacy. He wouldn’t want anyone to read his mind either. Reading others’ thoughts was actually quite rare. It had only happened to him on a few occasions.
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