Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 11-15 - Laurell K. Hamilton [838]
“So I’ve got faulty data.”
“If you like,” Jean-Claude said.
Auggie looked at me, with Nathaniel still wrapped around me. “Micah’s right. I think like a lion. I don’t see Nathaniel as a problem, because he’s submissive. I do feel the need to prove myself more dominant than the other dominants in your bed. But, damn, there are a lot of them.”
I shrugged, holding Nathaniel’s arms like you’d keep a shawl from spilling down your arms. “Is that why you tried to grab Micah, and why you stared at him like he was some kind of hooker?”
Auggie shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I don’t dig the macho shit, Auggie. Flex your dominance on your own time, not on mine.”
Auggie pointed behind us, turning us all to look at Noel. He was still on all fours waiting to be noticed. “You say your local Rex doesn’t run his pride the way most do.”
“He doesn’t,” Micah said.
“His lion is reacting like he knows the rules.”
“Joseph’s pride know how to be lions. They just don’t do that whole Serengeti-plains-dominance-fight at each kill,” Micah said.
“That’s what it means to be a lion,” Auggie said.
“Actually,” I said, “lions native to forested regions don’t do that. The fluidity of dominance, and the complicated social system, seem peculiar to the African plains region.”
Auggie gave me a look.
I actually felt myself beginning to blush, and fought it off. Nathaniel hugged me. “Smart girls are so sexy,” he whispered.
I managed to say, “I have a degree in biology, and I did research on the various animal forms once the coalition got going.”
Auggie gave an abrupt laugh. “I’ve been dealing with lions for thousands of years, and I’ve never picked up a book about them.”
I just stared at him. “How could you not want to learn as much about them as you could?”
“I live with lions, I don’t need to read about them.”
“I live with vampires, and raise zombies damn near every night, but I still read my trade publication, and keep abreast of the articles on all the undead.” I shook my head at the level of arrogance he was admitting to. The really scary part was that he didn’t see it as arrogance.
I couldn’t deal with Auggie anymore. I still felt the pull of his power, but it was just love. I could fight against love. Richard and Jean-Claude had given me lots of practice doing that.
I patted Nathaniel’s arm. He kissed me on the cheek and let me go. I went to where Noel was waiting on the floor. “Get up, Noel.”
He got up, eyes flicking behind me toward Auggie. It made me glance back, but the vampire actually wasn’t doing anything but looking at him. I touched Noel’s shoulder, turning him so he couldn’t see Auggie. “What’s up, Noel?”
“Travis and I need to talk to you.” He tried to glance back at Auggie. I touched his arm, kept him from doing it.
“Fine, we’ll talk.” I started toward the couch. I herded Noel with me. Micah and Nathaniel came at our backs. I wasn’t sure if they wanted to hear everything, or were covering my back in case Auggie decided to get all weird again.
Requiem was sitting beside Travis. He had a hand on the man’s forehead. “He is going into shock.”
I knelt in front of Travis. His face was gray-tinged. “Jesus, Travis, shift and heal this.”
He gave a small, tight shake of his head. His voice was tight, but breathy. “Give me your beast, make me change.”
“My beast is fine where it is, Travis.”
“You need to feed the ardeur on one of us, or give us your beast, Anita, please.”
I looked into his pain-filled face. “Do you really want to have metaphysical sex while you have a broken arm?”
He shook his head, grimacing. His upper body folded over his injured arm. He spoke, still bent over. “No, not really, but I also don’t want you making that blue-haired freak our Rex.”
“I won’t…”
He stared at me from inches away. His face was beaded with sweat. He was shaky, and hurting, and should have seemed weak, but he didn’t. There was a lot of force in that look. “Anita, if you make him your animal to call, or your