Adam drank greedily, the water pouring down his chin as he gulped the sweet liquid.
"Not so fast," she murmured. "Just take it easy."
He drained the glass dry. Waited for her to fill it again.
Then he noticed there were shadows under her eyes. "Have you…slept?"
She shrugged. "Little bit."
Sunlight trickled through the blinds. "How…long have I been out?" His voice was stronger.
The cup pressed against his lips. Her eye met his. "Two days."
Two days.
Three swallows and the glass was empty. "More."
For an instant, he swore her eyes heated. Then she looked away. "I-I'll go refill the pitcher."
When she stepped away, he finally found the courage to glance down at his body. He shoved the sheets away.
"You're fine." Maya had paused near the bathroom. "No cuts, no broken bones." His gaze rose and he saw her give a little shrug. "Not even so much as a bruise."
She opened the door, disappeared, and he thought he heard the faint murmur of her voice.
He glanced back at his body. She'd stripped him. Washed him. He could smell the faint scent of soap on his body and he knew that before, he'd been covered with blood and grime.
"Here." She was back by his side. Holding out the paper cup. "From the looks of you, I figure you're probably strong enough to hold it yourself."
He took the cup. His fingers brushed against hers.
A small shiver shook her body.
An answering quiver began in his groin.
Her gaze raked over him. Hot. Searching.
But he had to know. "You didn't…bite me again, did you?"
She licked her lips, muttered what could have been, "Don't tempt me." Maya shook her head, sending her dark mane brushing against her cheeks. "If you're trying to ask if you're a vamp, the answer is no."
He hadn't thought that he was, but it was still damned good to know. He took a long swallow from the cup, nearly draining all the water.
Maya just stared at him, a curious tenseness in her body.
"You look pretty good," she finally said softly, "for someone who should be dead."
Tipping back his head, he gulped down the last of the water and then crumpled the paper cup into a ball.
"Um, you're one to talk." The lady was undead and she'd taken his breath away from the first moment he'd seen her.
Maya grabbed his hand. Her flesh was slightly cool against his, but just that one touch had his body tightening with a sudden, fierce yearning.
"I thought you were dying on me." Something that could have been pain, but surely wasn't, lurked in her eyes.
His jaw clenched. "You dug me out." Memories were coming back to him. The falling ceiling.
The pummeling rocks.
And Maya.
Her touch. Her voice. Calling to him.
Saving him.
If she hadn't pulled him out, he would have died. Pinned as he'd been, he wouldn't have been able to escape and with the constant battering pressure of the rocks on him, there would have been no chance for regeneration.
If the cave-in hadn't killed him, eventually, starvation would have.
The vamp who'd attacked him had planned well, but he obviously hadn't counted on Maya.
And, Adam realized, he hadn't trusted her enough.
His hand flipped over, caught hers. Linked tightly with her fingers. He stared into her bright blue gaze.
Maya Black had saved his life. She could have left him. Taken his two hundred grand and walked out of the tunnels and gone on with her life.
She just kept surprising him.
Time for trust. He owed her trust.
Time to take a risk.
He just hoped he didn't frighten her. Adam didn't want Maya to be afraid of him.
"There's something you should know," he told her, and realized that his voice had hardened to a growl. He was just so damn nervous. "Maya, I-I'm not human." Never had been .
Her lips thinned. One eyebrow rose. After a beat of silence, she finally murmured, "No shit, Slick."
Adam blinked. "What?"
She climbed onto the bed, eased down beside him. Kept her fingers locked with his. "I knew from the first taste that you weren't human." Her left hand lifted, traced a gentle line down his throat. "Your blood was different."
And she hadn't said anything? "Why didn't you-"
"I don't want to talk now." Her lips were close to his. "Later-later you can tell me what the hell you are."
Another hard blink.
"Right now, Adam, I just want you." Her mouth brushed over his. So soft. So easy.
So right.
"I just want you," she whispered again.
He sure as hell wanted her.
She'd seen death enough times to know what the beast looked like. The lifeless eyes of a perp.
The bloodstained clothes of a victim.
The still body of a child.
Yeah, she'd seen death too many times in her life, and she'd been damn sure that she'd been seeing death steal Adam's life.
Not human. Hell, yes, she knew that. She wasn't a f**king idiot. But right then, she didn't really care what Adam was.
As she'd told him, she just wanted him, needed to feel his flesh against her. In her.
Needed to make damn sure this wasn't some twisted dream and that he was real.
Alive.
Because there'd been so much death in her life. Too much.
Her hand left his throat. Pressed against his lips. "You have to be quiet," she whispered. "Don't make a sound."
His brows furrowed. "What? Why?"
"Shh." They'd get to the whys later. She kissed him. A light, gentle kiss, a wet glide of her tongue past his lips.
Her legs straddled his naked hips. Her thighs pressed against his and his chest-the guy had a freaking amazing chest-pushed against her br**sts.
His c**k was swelling. Her hips shifted against him and she rubbed her sex over him, hating the denim that separated her from that hard heat.
But this time, she didn't want the sex between them to be hard and fast.
Not her usual style. She wanted something…different.
Her tongue rubbed against his.
She'd missed his taste in the last two days.
His hands were on her now. Sliding under the edge of her T-shirt and moving up her back.
Strong fingers. Warm flesh. Caressing. Stroking. Slipping around her body and cupping her br**sts.
She hadn't bothered with a bra. Not much point when she'd been keeping a death vigil.
Until dawn. When the sun rose, his body had changed before her eyes. The bruises had faded.
The cuts and lacerations vanished. The bones snapped back into place.
Death had disappeared from the room.