Hot Blooded

those terrible lines. His touch was beyond gentle,
was causing her stomach to do flips and somersaults. Beads of sweat trickled
down the valley between her breasts, and she was certain it had nothing to do
with the humidity. The small burns miraculously stopped stinging under his
ministrations. When he finally lifted his head and looked at her with his dark
eyes, she saw the stark hunger smoldering there.
    Riordan allowed her arm to slip from his fingers before moving a short
distance away from her to the stream.
    Juliette half sat with her back against the tree trunk watching Riordan
carefully. "Thank you. It really does feel much better." She studied the lines
in his face. "Is there really poison in your system?"
    He glanced at her, his black, black eyes blazing a trail right to her heart…
or her body. He began to carefully ease out of the bloodstained and tattered
shirt. All the while his gaze remained on her, making it difficult to breathe.
"Unfortunately, yes."
    "Why? Why would they do that to you?"
    "Because I am different. I am a creature to be loathed and hated. And
because, I fear, they wish to kill our prince."
    The burns on his skin were horrible to see. "Did they heat the chains? Is
that how those burns got there?" Juliette wanted to rush to him, press her lips
to those terrible marks. He had to be in such pain, yet he had attended to her
first.
    "They had vampire blood and they painted the chains regularly with it. They
knew the blood was toxic and would burn as acid does. And they hoped the scent
of blood, when I was drained and starving, would drive me out of my mind." He
gave her a faint smile. "Perhaps they succeeded."
    Juliette shook her head. "You're saner than they will ever be. We're both a
bit shaky, but we made it out of there."
    "Thanks to you. I am sorry you have to see me this way. As soon as I remove
the poison, I'll restore your strength to you."
    "I'm not as dizzy. I think my body's already recovering. You just worry about
you." She wanted to look away as his face grew paler, as he made a tremendous
effort, using every ounce of reserve strength in an attempt to analyze the
poisonous compound used to paralyze him. A part of her mind was merged with his,
or perhaps it was the other way around, but she could see the data flowing
through his mind and was amazed that he understood each separate composite. "Who
are you? How do you know all this?"
    He leaned back against a moss-covered boulder. "I have lived a long life and
learned much over the years. There is little else to do when you have nothing to
live for. Knowledge is power and it keeps one alive, even when one no longer
wishes to remain in a barren world." His dark eyes slid over her. He reached out
his hand.
    Juliette had no idea why she put her hand in his. The moment his fingers
closed around hers her body came alive, and it felt right. Juliette wanted to
pull her hand away from the heat of his, but he looked bone weary and tormented
and she didn't have the heart.
    "You changed that for me. You gave me back colors and emotions. I have four
brothers. I have lived with them for years with only the memory of my affection
for them, yet in that one moment when you spoke to me,
I felt
that deep
love for them again. How could I ever repay such a gift?" His voice was soft,
almost as if he were talking to himself.
    "I love my sister and cousin so much. I can't imagine not being able to feel
my love for them. I'm glad I could, in some way, restore those feelings to you."
She tightened her fingers around his. "Have you always lived in South America?
You're obviously familiar with the jungle." She knew he was resting, gathering
his strength to break down the poison and push it from his system. She could
feel him continually scanning the skies, worried the vampire might have tracked
them in spite of his sacrifice of precious blood to lay a false trail. He had
fought vampires on many occasions and she briefly touched on those hideous
battles through their link. The creatures were grotesque and evil and worse than
the human monsters she'd encountered.
    "Many years ago, when our current prince was still young, his father sent
many of us out in the hopes we could stop the spread of evil. I was fortunate
that my family was sent together. It made it easier to endure being so far from
our kind, so far from our homeland. We made this our home." He squeezed her
fingers as if for courage and started