Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [752]
His eyes were golden, in a face that was a pale gold, with a mane around his head like a furry halo. The face was that strangely graceful mix of human and cat. His shoulders were broader than the leopards’, everything more muscular. His suddenly nude body was pressed between my legs, but not happy to be there. I had a glimpse of his tail flicking behind him, then he collapsed, partially on me and partially beside me.
Where his weight hit, my body hurt. I made a small sound, and he rolled off me and lay there on the liquid-soaked sheets. He looked like some primitive golden god hunted to death. I lay where I was, covered in something I didn’t even want to see. It felt too thick, too…just too. I tried not to look at it, or think about it. I lay there covered in bits of his body, and knew I’d hurt him, badly.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and my voice was an abused whisper.
He rolled golden eyes up to look at me. “That fucking hurt.”
Micah came to the edge of the bed. He took one of my hands in his, and looked at my fingers. “You were bleeding from under your nails. If he hadn’t taken your beast when he did,” he shrugged, “it might have been too late.”
That scared me. It tightened my stomach, and even that hurt, as if I’d abused muscles that I didn’t know I had.
“Thank you, Cookie, more than you’ll know.”
The lionman said, “Did you just call me Cookie?”
“Sorry, it’s the hair, Cookie Monster blue, and the tat.”
“Haven. My name’s Haven.” I think he smiled, but it was hard to tell on the lionish face, from the angle I had. “Though Cookie Monster works just fine.”
“I said Cookie, not Monster.”
“You haven’t seen me at my best, yet” he said, and smiled for sure.
I did not understand the comment. Micah did. “He’s implying he’s big.”
“Oh,” I said, then had to smile up at Micah. “He shouldn’t brag until he’s seen the competition.”
The lionman rolled his face to look at Micah. He wasn’t looking at his face. Micah said, “You aren’t seeing me at my best either.”
Even through the lion’s face I could see the arrogance as he looked up at me, not at Micah. “Trust me, I’ll measure up. Auggie was shopping for size, not just talent.”
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to say Oh, really, Oh, goody, or Oh, boy. Under normal circumstances his assumption that he was going to get to fuck me would have pissed me off. But one, I didn’t have energy left to get pissy; two, he’d saved me. Saved us. Micah, Nathaniel, and me. I could ask for our local pride to give me some lions to follow me around, but this morning, right this moment, Haven had been the only rescue I had. I owed him. Also I’d ripped his body apart, and caused him massive amounts of pain. Oops didn’t really cover that one.
“When you can walk,” Nathaniel said, “I’ll take you to the feeding area.” Nathaniel’s fur glistened under the lights, wetter from being so close to Haven’s violent shift than from his own. He slipped off the end of the bed and padded around to join Micah, who was still holding my hand.
Micah pressed my hand to his face, and it left a wet glistening stain on his cheek. I was so going to need another bath.
“I can walk.” Haven slipped off the side of the bed, and went straight to his knees. “Shit.”
Nathaniel reached down to help him stand.
Haven asked, “Did you take her beast, too?”
“Yes.”
“It didn’t hit you this hard, did it?”
“No.” Nathaniel didn’t bother to explain that it hadn’t been as violent, and no one else did either. I wasn’t sure we were keeping Haven, but if we were then Nathaniel would need to establish some sort of dominance with the other man. That Nathaniel could take that much pain and keep on ticking would help.
Haven leaned against the bed, Nathaniel still holding his arm. Those golden lion eyes looked at