Hot Blooded

moving with reluctance as he shepherded the
damaging compound toward his pores. Some of the droplets oozed through his skin,
golden, thick liquid carrying the ability to paralyze his race.
    Juliette pulled a small plastic container from the bag hanging around her
waist. She leaned forward and pressed the lip of the container to his arm,
capturing as much of the liquid as possible before she screwed the lid on tight.
"This might come in handy if your people need to study this."
    He leaned against the boulder, his head back, fighting for air, his strength
gone. Juliette immediately opened her mind to his, sending him as much of her
remaining strength as she could give. She knew the jungle, better than most,
every rustle in the undergrowth, every sound the birds made. Something evil was
stalking them, and the jungle was alive with the news. In her present state she
couldn't escape, but she had no doubt Riordan could fight if given the strength.
    He wasted no time removing every drop of the toxic compound as quickly as
possible. The moment he was certain he had gotten rid of all of it, he dunked
his head into the stream, rubbed the cold water over his arms to scrub off the
thick, sticky residue. Riordan spun around and reached for Juliette, dragging
her onto his lap, cradling her against his chest.
    She felt a jolt through her body, an electric shock as their bodies came into
contact. Her mouth went dry. "What are you going to do?"
    "Exchange our blood. Your blood will help me get us somewhere safe where I
can heal, and my blood is ancient and will restore the strength you have so
generously given to me."
    "Will it tie us together?" Her voice might have been an invitation, but her
palm went up in a defensive gesture, fingers splayed wide against his chest.
    "Yes." His strong fingers slid over her chin, pushed stray tendrils of hair
from her shoulder. "But we are already tied together." He bent his head, his
face buried in the warmth of her soft, vulnerable neck. The water from the small
stream was cold as it dripped from him, down her skin, cooling the heat from the
oppressive humidity.
    A soft moan of pleasure escaped as his teeth sank deep. She settled deeper
into his hard frame, moving with restless urgency as her blood went thick with
heat. Her lashes drifted down, her hands sliding limply into her lap.
    "I claim you as my lifemate. I belong to you. I offer my life for you. I give
to you my protection, my allegiance, my heart, my soul and my body. I take into
my keeping the same that is yours. Your life, happiness and welfare will be
cherished and placed above my own for all time. You are my lifemate, bound to me
for all eternity and always in my care." Riordan spoke the words in a black
velvet voice.
    Juliette felt his voice vibrate through her body, touch her deep inside.
Somehow his words brought them together, skin to skin, organ to organ so that
they breathed with the same lungs, shared the same heartbeat, possessed the same
soul. He flowed through her, a dark temptation, learning her secrets, sharing
his. Kissing her until her body caught fire and ached for his. There were hot
blood and flames licking at her. She shook her head, suddenly caught by the
ritual of the entire thing. A ceremony as old as time.

----
Chapter 4
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    JULIETTE opened her eyes cautiously in the hopes that none of her recent
experiences had been real, that she'd just been having nightmares. She had
participated all too eagerly in the exchange of blood, in the exchange of
kisses. "Damn, damn, damn," she muttered and pushed herself up from the bed of
foliage she was lying on.
    She could hear the steady drip of water. She was in a cave, and the leaves
and twigs that formed her bed were man-made, not at all natural. Riordan had
provided her with the safety of a shelter and a soft bed while he had "gone to
ground." She carefully avoided walking over the spot where she was certain he
lay in a bed of rich soil. She felt him there beneath the dirt and leaves,
buried deep. Still, not breathing.
    Juliette dragged air into her burning lungs and backed away from the spot.
She had a mad desire to fling herself to the ground and claw the dirt away to
get to him. A sob welled up in her throat. She took another step back. "It was a
ceremony of some kind, wasn't it?" She whispered. "My people do not marry." She
backed up another step, although this time her feet dragged. "You're an
extraordinary