Page 115 of His Retribution

Havok's eyes light up as he sets down the drill, then proceeds to walk toward me with a limp.

"Oh my gosh." I half laugh, half scold. "You're such a dork."

He pouts again as he stops in front of me.

So I roll my eyes. "Where does it hurt, lovey?"

"Here." Havok extends his arm so his thumb that is barely bleeding is in my face.

I scoot toward the edge of the bed, lean forward and lick his cut then press a kiss to the pad of his thumb. "Better?"

"Still hurts." He smirks.

"That cannot possibly hurt. It's basically a paper cut."

Havok shakes his head. "Not that."

I frown.

He smiles.

Then my mate points to his crotch that's at half mast and grins. "It hurts here, my angel. I need you to kiss it better."

"Oh my gosh!" I shove at his stomach as he cackles like an idiot. "It's bad enough you're strutting around topless and barefoot, wearing those damn sweats while you act all manly fixing shit. I don't need you throwing your dick in my face too." I hold up my book. "I'm trying very hard to learn about mypeopleand should not be interrupted."

Havok picks up the drill, does a silly, though very sexy little dance with it as he backs toward the window. "You are one to talk, my love. Look at you sitting in our unmade bed, sheets a mess of blood and cum, every smooth inch of your perfect body on display since you chose to read about your people while completely naked after our love making." He tsks, shaking his head. "I can even see every one of my love bites, my marks that are fading all too quickly on your delicious flesh."

I roll my eyes and try to fight my hives. "I can put on a pair of panties if you want, but that's as far as I'm willing to go when I know we're just going to bang again as soon as you either figure out what the problem with the shades is or get too frustrated to continue."

"No no." Havok grins evilly. "Do not get dressed on account of little old me." Then his ice blue eyes glow white. "You're like the hottest nerd ever right now. Messy braid, naked body, nose in a book talking science and genetics. I'd hate to ruin that fantasy with an unnecessary pair of panties."

"Then hurry up and get back to work so I can ogle you in quiet while I flex my brain muscles."

My love laughs and turns back to his project. "Now what was it you were saying before this piece of shit tried to take off my thumb?"

"I read that a fae's gifts can be transferred to their mate and wondered if that's maybe why you can now tolerate the sun?"

"Possibly, though we know that's something that could be transferred through feeding from you."

I nod and go back to the book. "Right, but what if...what if the reason those things were temporary was because they weren't backed by a bond like ours? Like being mates, sharing the blood-bond is a requirement in order to permanently gain the ability to heal quicker or endure sunlight?"

Havok pauses, tilts his head from side to side. "You may be onto something, angel. If fae's abilities transfer, albeit temporarily, to a vampire when they feed, I'd imagine mating one would result in far more permanent effects solely based on the way our genes change during the act."

"Right!" I smile at his back then frown as I watch Havok scratch his ass. "So it's safe to say your insane great-grandad wasn't too far off the mark, he just didn't know about the mating thing."

"Perhaps, but keep in mind, my love, I am not like the rest of my kind. It is entirely possible that the things that happen between us are unique to us specifically. My genetics are quite different from your run of the mill vampire."

"Don't I know it," I mumble as Havok rips the steel panel right off the wall. "So my thoughts could be right but might just apply to you and I. You think maybe that's what Henrich was referring to last night?"

My heart shrugs as he looks to where the panel was connected, and starts checking the wires. "Henrich has a great many theories about us, I'm sure, and I have yet to see him proven wrong. If you like, we can discuss it with him later." Havok rests his hands on hips with a frustrated sigh. "These almost look as though they've been tampered with."

"How so?"

"I can't say for certain but the wires appear to have been cut then frayed intentionally. Henrich designed them himself, Milos and I installed them, and they should have lasted at least a solid twenty years before any possible need for a tuneup."

"So they definitely shouldn't have malfunctioned after a little over a year." My stomach flips. "Do you think… think that maybe someone got in here and did it on purpose? Intentionally tampered with the shades to hurt you?"

Havok turns to me, brow furrowed but is quickly replaced by a comforting smile. "I rule nothing out, my love, but the only creature that could have entered our home to do such a thing would have had to have been human."