Page 35 of Carnal Urges

There are just some lines that can’t be crossed.

I look him straight in his icy blue eyes. “I say this not out of disrespect for you, but out of love and loyalty for my friend. None of your fucking business.”

When he opens his mouth—no doubt to holler a threat—I talk over him, my voice loud.

“I will never, ever, not in a million years betray Natalie. Do what you will to me. Beat me, starve me, keep me locked up in this room forever, I don’t care. She’s all the best parts of me, and a better person than I could ever dream of being, and I love her like a sister.I take that back—I love hermorethan my sister. And not in a gay way, before you start in on that again. I just love her. Which means I’ve got her back. Which means I’m not telling you jack shit about herorher man, no matter how much you don’t like it.”

I stand with the intention of turning my back on him and walking away, but that plan goes out the window when the room slips sideways and starts to violently spin.

Then everything goes black, and I fall.

TWELVE

DECLAN

It happens fast.

One moment, she’s on her feet. The next, she crumples to the floor, her legs giving out like they’ve become boneless. Her expression changes in a flash from one of irritation to one of surprise.

Not fear. Not shock. Just simple surprise, as if she’s thinkingThis is newright before she loses consciousness.

Instincts have me reacting without needing to think. I catch her and ease her onto the carpet. She’s completely limp in my arms. Her mouth is slack. Her face is pale.

I noticed the color draining from her face a few minutes ago, but I attributed it to anger at me. It appears to be something much more sinister.

I should’ve known. This isn’t a woman who gets upset from an argument. Or from anything else. Godzilla could come crashing through the door, and she’d probably tell him calmly to piss off, then go right back to whatever she was doing.

Making a deal with the devil for the souls of all who’ve displeased her or such.

“Lass. Lass, can you hear me?”

I hear how rough and anxious my voice is, but am too busy focusing on her to care. Leaning over her on my hands and knees, I brush a strand of dark hair off her face. She’s unresponsive. I lightly slap her pale cheek.

Her eyes move restlessly under her lids. She exhales the faintest moan. Her lids flutter, then her lashes lift and she looks up at me. Her gaze is hazy and unfocused.

“Oh, wow,” she whispers, sounding impressed. “So blue.”

Something in her dazed expression sets off an alarm bell in the back of my mind. “Are you all right? Can you sit up?”

She blinks slowly. Then she smiles and reaches up to touch my face. She strokes her fingers gently down my cheek to my jaw, then sighs in pleasure. She closes her eyes again, smiling.

Something is very wrong.

“I’m going to move you, lass.”

I pick her up, carry her across the room, and ease her onto the bed, adjusting her head on the pillow. When my fingers brush the back of her skull, she makes a small noise of discomfort.

Bloody hell. That’s a big bump.Frowning, I run my fingertips gently over the swollen area.

She winces, then opens her eyes and pins me with a cold stare. “I know I’m irresistible, gangster, but quit fondling me.” She pauses. “Why do you look worried?”

“You fainted.”

That makes her laugh. “Please. I’d never do such a thing.”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

She pauses again to think. “Telling you to suck my dick. Figuratively speaking.”