Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 797(@200wpm)___ 638(@250wpm)___ 532(@300wpm)
“Yes,” he said softly. “I’m helping—trying to help, anyway.”
Cassie swallowed, suddenly aware of how strange and intimate this was. Ravik’s cock was still in her hand, hard and hot and slick with her saliva and the cooling ointment. Severin was standing close enough that she could smell him—clean and sharp like icy wind over dark water—and his presence seemed to wrap around the scene as surely as Ravik’s hand wrapped around her hair.
“Keep going, sweetheart,” Severin said, his voice rough again. “He eyes are almost fully clear—I can see it.”
Sweetheart.
The word slid under her skin like a warm hand.
Cassie told herself she was continuing for Ravik…for the cure…for science.
But she knew that wasn’t the whole truth.
She continued because Ravik’s groans made her feel powerful. Because Severin’s eyes on her made her feel beautiful. Because her sex drive had woken up after years of disappointment and neglect and seemed determined to make up for lost time.
She took Ravik into her mouth again, deeper this time, using her hand around the base of him. He was fully hard now—huge and heavy and pulsing against her tongue. There was no way she could take all of him, but she did what she could, hollowing her cheeks and stroking the rest of the thick shaft with slow, firm pulls of her hand.
Ravik’s thighs tensed under her palms.
“Cassie,” he groaned. “Fuck, Cassie…so good…feels so good.”
His voice sounded almost back to normal.
Severin sucked in a breath.
“Again,” he said. “Make him say your name again.”
Cassie pulled back just enough to lick the underside of the broad head.
“Say my name, big guy,” she whispered.
Ravik’s golden eyes locked on hers.
“Cassie,” he said, his voice deep and certain. “My beautiful Cassie.”
Her heart fisted unexpectedly in her chest. Behind the desire and the heat of what she was doing, tenderness rose up and caught her by surprise.
Because he sounded like himself—like a man, not a beast. He sounded like a Kindred warrior fighting his way back to her one word at a time.
“Oh, Ravik,” she whispered.
Then she took him into her mouth again.
This time, Severin came closer and crouched beside them. He still didn’t touch her, but his presence was right there, his voice low and intimate beside her ear.
“His cognition is stronger,” he murmured. “Breathing steadier. Eyes clear. You’re doing beautifully, Cassandra. Don’t stop—suck him deep in that beautiful mouth of yours.”
A shiver ran through her.
The praise shouldn’t have affected her so much, but it did. She made a soft sound around Ravik’s cock and the vibration made him jerk in her hand.
“Fuck!” Ravik groaned.
“That’s good,” Severin said, his own voice tightening. “The vibration stimulated him. Do it again if you can.”
Cassie shot him a look.
“Scientific reason?” she asked after pulling back.
“The pleasure response,” he said, but there was a glint in his eyes now that told her he knew exactly how thin that excuse sounded. “Also because he liked it…and I liked watching you do it,” he added.
Despite herself, Cassie laughed. The sound came out breathless and a little wicked, and she barely recognized it as her own.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to deprive him of medically necessary vibrations,” she said.
“No,” Severin agreed solemnly. “That would be irresponsible.”
Ravik looked between them, his brow furrowed.
“Cassie laughs,” he said. “Sev jokes. This is good. But sucking is better.”
For a moment, the three of them simply looked at each other—Cassie kneeling between Ravik’s thighs, Severin crouched beside her, Ravik almost fully back to where he’d been last night again.
“So…” she said, looking at Severin because apparently he had become the director of this entirely inappropriate medical procedure. “How long do I need to keep this up?”
Severin’s gaze dropped to Ravik’s shaft and then rose again to her face.
“I think…” He swallowed. “I think we may need to let him finish.”
Cassie’s stomach flipped.
“Finish?” she repeated.
“Yes.”
“You mean come. You want me to let him come in my mouth.”
Ravik groaned and she wondered if he was understanding this exchange.
“Yes,” Severin said. “If you’re willing.”
Cassie’s mouth went dry—which was inconvenient considering what she had been doing with it.
“And what is the scientific reason for that?”
Severin’s expression shifted, the arousal still there but threaded now with real thought…real concern and scientific calculation.
“Ravik’s seminal fluid may contain active Beast Kindred immune factors,” he said. “If the pleasure response is pushing the virus out of his neural pathways, those factors may be especially concentrated at climax. His body could be producing a surge of anti-viral proteins, pheromonal markers, and mating hormones all at once.”
Cassie stared at him.
“And you think I should…ingest them?”
“I think oral exposure may allow your body to sample those proteins through the mucosal tissues in your mouth and throat,” he said carefully. “Your own blood is already resisting the Hunger Virus in a way I don’t understand. If you drink Ravik’s seed while his system is actively fighting the infection, it may strengthen whatever response your body is producing.”