Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [965]
The man trailing behind Micah was dark complected, with very short, close cut hair, and there was something about his skin tone, even by starlight, that didn’t look tan. He was handsome in a young, almost preppy sort of way, but muscled and very alert. That explained why Merle hadn’t been glued to Micah’s side. We’d had a change of guard. Micah introduced him as Noah.
I’d dreaded seeing Micah again—wondered what I’d say, how I’d feel. I wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I’d thought I’d be. Maybe I’d have been more so if I hadn’t been trying to defend Nathaniel’s honor. Maybe because I didn’t give any sign of what we’d done, Micah didn’t either. Or maybe he was as confused as I was about it. Or maybe that’s how casual sex works. I just didn’t know.
“What is everyone so tense about?” Micah asked.
“Show him, Nathaniel.”
Nathaniel never questioned, just stepped out from behind me and showed his back to the two men.
The bodyguard gave a sharp whistle. Micah’s eyes widened, and he looked over Nathaniel’s shoulder at me.
“You did this?”
I nodded.
“She didn’t,” Elizabeth said.
Caleb had risen as far as he could on his knees and was sniffing my stomach, his face pointed towards other things, but he was careful not to touch them. I don’t think he would have sniffed my groin in front of Micah. Elizabeth was right on one thing. The leopards just weren’t as afraid of me as they were of Micah.
“She smells of blood, too,” Caleb said.
“Get away from me,” I said.
He smirked, but he crawled away.
“Are you saying she has a wound on her like what he has on his back?” Elizabeth asked.
Caleb nodded as he crawled.
“Then she’s lying. Whoever did his back, did her, too.”
I sighed. “Am I really going to have to prove this?”
“I would take your word,” Micah said, “but apparently your pard won’t.”
“It’s just that we’ve wanted you to take one of us like this for so long,” Cherry said. “And now . . . I think we’d have believed sex but not this. It just doesn’t look like your work, and Elizabeth’s right about one thing. Nathaniel is your favorite, and you do protect him.”
Great, no one believed me. “Fine, just fine,” I said. I started sliding out of the shoulder holster to let it flop at my back. Pulling my shirt out of my jeans wasn’t a problem, even taking it off and laying it beside Nathaniel’s shirt on the car hood wasn’t a problem. I was wearing a very nice black bra. It was meant to be seen. Jean-Claude had been a very bad influence on my wardrobe. The problem was taking off the bra. I really didn’t want to do that.
I undid the back, but held the front in place. “What happens when you see the bite mark?”
“If you show me a bite mark on your breast that doesn’t have fang marks in it, I’ll believe it was Nathaniel,” Micah said.
Everyone had crowded close. I never liked being the center of attention, not for this kind of thing. “Give me a little breathing space guys.”
They moved back a fraction of a step, and I thought, screw it. Everyone here, except Elizabeth and maybe the new bodyguard, had seen me naked. Oh, hell. I slipped the bra off and laid it on the hood with my shirt. I made absolutely no eye contact.
A hand came into view, and I grabbed the wrist. It was Caleb. “Nathaniel gets to take a bite, and I can’t even touch it.”
“No, you can’t,” I said.
Micah didn’t come any closer. “Why did you mark him?”
I met his eyes, expecting to see accusation, or disdain, or something negative. But his face was very still. “I needed to sink my teeth into something. I needed . . .” I shook my head and looked away. “It wasn’t sex I wanted. I wanted to feed.”
“No.” Elizabeth came crowding close. “No, you can’t be Nimir-Ra for real, not for real.” There was something close