“When you were a teenager,” she agreed dryly. “Scotty is over eight hundred years old, not a horny teenager.”
“My mother and father are both well over a millennium old, and they often act like horny teenagers,” Matias assured her with a grin.
“Because they are life mates. All immortals act like horny teenagers when they’re mated,” Beth said with exasperation. “Scotty and I are not life mates.”
“This time, she’s the one who is right,” Donny said almost apologetically to Matias. “Scotty has a life mate. He told me about her on the plane. She’s too young for him to claim yet.”
“Hmm.” Matias didn’t sound pleased at this revelation.
Beth merely grimaced. She’d been surprised at learning this on the plane while listening to the men talk, but hadn’t really considered it since, and didn’t want to either. The man was a hunk of sexy manhood, but usually too annoying for words. At least, he had been in the past. It had allowed her to use him in her sexual fantasies without guilt. At least there, she had been able to keep him from talking. But his suddenly being nice on this trip was just confusing her, and his having found his life mate left her conflicted.
It didn’t seem right to use a mated man to find sexual release. It might be only in her mind that she was doing the wild thing with Scotty, but any immortal older than her could read those fantasies from her mind, tell his life mate and make things incredibly awkward. Heck, now that she thought about it, Scotty could have read them from her mind anytime they’d met over the last hundred-plus years . . . and wouldn’t that have been embarrassing? Fortunately, she was usually so annoyed with the man when he was near that those nighttime fantasies were far away from her thoughts.
“Are you sure he—” Matias began, but paused when the door next to Beth opened.
“Ye’ve only had one bag?” Scotty asked with disbelief as he slid back in next to her and saw the three untouched bags still in her lap.
Rather than respond, Beth simply popped another bag to her fangs and slid over to make more room between them now that the mortal was gone. It didn’t help much. Scotty simply seemed to expand to fill the space.
“Is the pain worse? Has the healing at least started?” he asked as Matias backed out of the driveway.
Beth nodded silently. Healing always hurt worse than the actual wound. She had no idea why. Someone had once suggested that the nerves went numb after the initial injury, but were brought back to screaming life by the activity of the nanos making their repairs. Whatever the case, there was no doubt she was healing, because her arm was now throbbing with pain.
“Are we still going to have pizza?” Donny asked as they drove through the night.
“Sí, I will order it as soon as we get home,” Matias promised.
“Give me the number, and I’ll order right now,” Donny said, pulling his phone out again.
Beth leaned her head back and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something other than the pain as Matias rattled off a phone number, and then Donny made the call. She heard him ask what she liked on her pizza, but couldn’t be bothered to answer. It was taking all of her concentration to keep from screaming. Her arm felt like it was full of fire ants or burning porcupine quills. That was the best way she could describe the pain, and even that didn’t touch on the severity of it. Fortunately, Matias knew what she liked and answered for her. Not that she was feeling anything as mundane as hunger at that point. However, she would be once the worst of the healing was over, she knew.
Beth was just finishing the fourth bag of blood when they reached the house. Her arm was still only partially healed and the pain was kicking her ass. When she stumbled getting out of the SUV, Scotty was immediately there to steady her. After one look at her expression and the sweat on her brow, he scooped her into his arms and carried her quickly into the house.
“Do ye have any first aid supplies here?” Scotty asked as he set her on the couch in the living room.
“Sí, in the outbuilding. But I do not know what they have. I will show you, though. I have to go fetch the dogs anyway.”
Nodding, Scotty straightened and followed the man from the room, barking, “Do no’ leave her side, Donny. And stay alert.”
Donny nodded and, as soon as the pair were out of earshot, said to Beth, “See, he does like you.”
Beth just closed her eyes and shook her head. At that moment, she didn’t care what Scotty thought. As much as she lusted after the man, he could prance around naked and, in that moment, she wouldn’t even have bothered to open her eyes to see it.
“But why is he after first aid supplies?” Donny asked. “The bleeding was stopped before we got in the SUV and the wound’s mostly closed now. At least on the outside.”
“He probably meant drugs,” Beth said through clenched teeth, and then frowned at her own words. She didn’t want drugs. Hunters suffered the healing of injuries without complaint or drugs. It was a point of pride. Besides, she liked to remain in control of her mind and body and had no desire to be knocked out.
Holding herself stiffly against the pain, Beth got abruptly to her feet, relieved when she managed to do so without crying out or falling over.
“What are you doing?” Donny asked, jumping up with alarm.
“I am going to the bathroom,” she answered grimly.
“The bathroom?” He looked dismayed. “But I’m not supposed to leave your side.”
“Well, that could be interesting, then, couldn’t it?” she asked caustically, and headed out of the room.
“I’ll just wait outside the door for you,” Donny decided as he followed.
Beth didn’t bother to respond.
They’d had a quick tour of the house before leaving. She’d even moved her bags to the room she was to occupy. Well, most of them. One of her bags was still in the bathroom from when she’d prepared to head out to the bar that night . . . which was kind of rude, really, she supposed. It was a communal bathroom, after all. The only room with an en suite bathroom in this house was the master bedroom that Matias was occupying. That meant she, Donny, and Scotty would share the bathroom she was now entering.
Too bad for them, Beth thought dryly as she closed the bathroom door in Donny’s face, and then locked it. She wasn’t coming out until the worst of the healing was over.
Seven
“I wondered what you wanted from the medical supplies,” Matias commented. “If I had realized it was drugs I could have saved you a trip. Beth will not take those.”
“Aye, she will,” Scotty assured him as he read the labels on the various drug vials. There were few drugs for pain that worked on immortals, and only one that was truly effective. Spotting it, he snatched it off the shelf, and turned to hurry out of the small pharmacy in the outbuilding next to the garage.
“I am telling you she will not agree to taking drugs,” Matias warned, following him out of the building and pausing to lock the door.
“I’m no’ going to ask her,” Scotty responded coldly as he led the way back toward the house.
“Ah . . .” Matias murmured, falling into step behind him. “Well then, this ought to be interesting.”
Scotty frowned at the words, but didn’t slow or stop, even when Matias halted at the kennel to release the Dobermans, who had started barking excitedly at their approach. Scotty’s one thought was to get back to Beth and end her pain. She’d gone through enough in her life, and would not suffer ever again if he could help it.
Apparently he couldn’t help it, because Scotty entered the living room with Matias on his heels to find it empty.
“What—?” Turning sharply, he hurried back past Matias and the dogs and into the hall leading to the bedrooms. It was the only place he could think she might be. Perhaps she had wanted to lie down.
Spotting Donny outside the bathroom door, Scotty hurried to his side.
“Is she in there?” he asked as he reached the younger immortal.
Donny nodded. “She said she had to go to the bathroom.”
Scotty listened to the sound of rushing water coming muffled through the door, and frowned. “That does no’ sound like the toilet flushin’, or the sink tap runnin’.”