Dirty Deeds
Page 55
“I’m AB positive.”
“Well, neither one of us will be changing blood types then, as I am also AB positive. So, in our case, I have no idea what would happen, how long it would take anyone to figure out what we’re up to, or anything of that nature. As I said before, I’m a willing participant in however much or little you wish to commit to.”
“But won’t that cause problems with the lease?”
Wayne smirked. “Absolutely not. As I’m a cunning and wicked single lycanthrope male, I took the advantage of tricking you into signing a lease that moved you directly into my house. You’ll be seeing me every day because, as of a few hours ago, you live with me.”
I strode to him, took his phone out of his hand, and played at reading the screen, placing the device onto the coffee table with his wallet, keys, and other personal belongings he’d wisely cleaned out of his pockets. I pointed at the tub. “Show me how it works.”
He came over to the tub and pointed at the wall panel, opening his mouth to teach me the nuances of jet tubs. I released my control over my virus, which confused her enough she hesitated, as I rarely fully let the wild side of me out to play. She considered me, considered Wayne, and rather than pounce like I expected her to do, she urged me to capture his hand. I obeyed her wishes, and at her coaxing, brought his hand to my mouth, giving a sole lick of his thumb.
He raised a brow. “Do I pass the taste test?”
Wayne tasted rather like soap, probably from when he’d last washed his hands. “I let her off her leash, and I thought she’d pounce, but she wanted a lick,” I admitted.
Laughing, he reached for me with his free hand and brushed my hair out of my face, sweeping the stray strands behind my ears. “She probably doesn’t like the idea of violence because you were infected under violent circumstances. It’s not violence if I’m standing here patiently waiting for you to take a bite. It’s also easier to bite while we’re human, but I’m willing to deal with your fur for a good cause. My virus isn’t precisely inclined towards violence, either. If you’re hesitant about damaging my pristine, handsome self, I have teeth and know how to use them. I’ll only bite you in a way you can handle, even if we have to experiment until you’re comfortable.”
I pointed at my calf, which still bled and ached under my fur, which kept the virus contained, although I expected someone would be spritzing the room down with neutralizer and giving everything a good cleaning after we left. “It’s still bleeding a little under the matting,” I admitted.
Wayne spat curses, grabbed me by the waist, and dumped me into the tub. “Let’s attend to that right away, shall we?”
I submerged, scrambled to get my head over water, and spluttered. My virus entered a state of shock at the ruthless dunking, and I blinked up at Wayne, who captured my left foot, lifted my drenched leg, and examined where I’d been bitten. “You tossed me in. You really tossed me in.”
“Well, yes. Of course. I wanted to check your leg, and obviously, this is the most effective way for me to get a look at it. I heal a bite like that in a matter of minutes. I’d assumed you’d already healed.”
“No, I don’t. I didn’t know that wasn’t normal.”
“It’s not, but it works out. Wouldn’t it be utterly rude of me to allow your blood to just go to waste like that?”
He raised a brow and waited, staring into my eyes.
My virus, shameless that she was, swooned at his attention. How did she expect to ever make it to a bed if she couldn’t handle him flirting? Idiot virus. Sometimes, I doubted I’d ever understand her. “You just scored a complete knock-out on my virus, I thought you should know. You flirted her straight into unconsciousness.”
“She’s mustering forces to latch her ruthless teeth into me the instant I get your blood anywhere near my mouth. Once she’s staged her invasion, she’ll pester you until you bite me. She hasn’t fainted. She’s relocated to the general vicinity of your leg. My virus will do the same thing wherever you decide to bite. Right now, he’s camping out in my arm and hand probably, hoping you’ll resume where you left off. This is normal, although I’ve never experienced it myself. James and Laurie are pretty good about making sure everybody is aware of how things like this work. Most pairs opt for sex to exchange the virus, but the same principles apply.”
Huh. I took that to mean my virus meant business. “She would have recoiled from that damned corgi, then?”
“Absolutely. That’s one doggone mess she would have done anything to avoid, so she likely fled to a safer place in your body. She’s a smart one. She picked me, after all.”
That she had. “You talk too much, Barnes. Can’t you see I’m bleeding over here?”
Dear Reader,
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While Joyce hasn’t received all the answers to her life’s questions (or solutions to her life’s problems), I hope you’ve enjoyed the beginning of Doggone Mess. The next time you meet Joyce and Wayne, they’ll be diving right back into the fun of finding out more about the bastard who’d attacked Joyce in an alley, more of Wayne’s dirty little secrets, and just how far Joyce will go to take back her life while taking names and kicking ass.
The future installment, coming in early 2022, will be released in Big Fat Book format under the title of Doggone Mess. It will contain this opener plus more of Joyce’s adventures with Wayne, the Devil, and some cameos from other characters from the Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count) series. Yes, the Devil.
He’s the reward for your ongoing patience in the form of a wait for more of this couple and their determination to rid the world of some filth plaguing it.
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Until next time, happy reading!
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~R.J. Blain