Page 47 of Blood Sugar

Something must have happened at the motel.

Never again.

She was moving in with me.

Unless she wanted her own place, then I would install UV film on all the windows.

Either way, once this was over and she was well, I would be visiting that motel and finding out what the hell they did to my girl.

As Sadie slowly drank, I muttered healing spells over her skin to help speed up her body’s natural repair process. The angry red splotches faded, and color returned to the rest of her skin.

Her tongue ran over my wrist, healing the punctures.

Groaning, Sadie pushed off of me and sat up, rubbing at her head with one hand.

“How did you find me?”

“You didn’t show up, and I felt—Sadie, I didn’t know, but I think we are bonding. Soul-bonding. That’s what Liz said.”

“You’re not making any sense,” she said, a tired but sweet smile brightening her face. My heart stuttered, relief rushing through my veins. “Slow down and explain, please. What do you mean, ‘soul-bonding’?”

Taking a slow breath, I tried to sort out my tumbling thoughts. “Did you know that if you feed from me regularly enough, it will bond us together? I think that’s starting, because I could feel you.”

Reaching out, she cupped my cheek and smiled fondly. “And you came to rescue me.”

“A little too late, obviously. What happened?”

She shrugged. “The motel kicked me out. We had a verbal arrangement that I would pay them when I got my first check, but he changed his mind, apparently.”

My hands balled into fists. “You could have asked. I would have paid you sooner.”

“I don’t want you to do that. It’s their fault for being so awful.” She shuddered.

I didn’t want to manhandle her when peeling burns still covered her shoulders, but I needed to hold her. Reaching out, I pressed against her ribs, guiding her against me. Her cheek rested in the crook of my neck.

“It doesn’t matter now,” I said. “You’re coming home with me for as long as you need. Forever, if you’re willing.”

“Rowen, we need to discuss the whole bond thing.”

“No, we don’t. We just let it happen,” I answered without thinking.

Sadie stiffened in my arms. Pulling back, she scowled at me. “We’ve hooked up twice—or three times, whatever. You didn’t even want your sister seeing us together. I’m certainly not your girlfriend, but you want a soul bond?” She drew out the words, her pitch rising.

Cringing, I stroked my hand down her thigh, over her dress. “I should have said something sooner. I was worried about pressuring you and scaring you off.”

“Communication is always a better choice, Rowen,” she growled.

“I’m sorry.” Leaning forward, I tried to kiss her, but she jerked back.

“Nope. We aren’t going to get distracted. We need to talk this out. Like we should have done yesterday.”

“You’re right.” Raking my hair back, I tried to pull words into logical, helpful sentences. “I want you as my girlfriend. I want you to meet my family. When my sister showed up, I thought you’d be upset getting caught like that. I imagined that wasn’t how you wanted to meet your boyfriend’s sister.”

“You’re not wrong about that. But you clearly didn’t want her knowing about us.”

“Yeah, because we hadn’t talked about us yet.” Gnawing my bottom lip, I searched her face.

Slowly, her pinched expression relaxed. “You want me to meet her?”