She charged toward the door, but Luther pulled her back. He leaned down to her and whispered into her ear, “Don’t let him rile you up. Though you do look utterly sexy when you’re mad!”

She didn’t get a chance to reply, because Luther’s warm lips captured her mouth for a kiss that robbed her of her breath.

28

“Let’s deal with this,” Luther said and opened the door to the hallway, leaving the bedroom ahead of Katie.

The three men from Scanguards were pacing in the living room when he entered followed by Katie. He walked up to Blake, but before he could start explaining, Wesley took a few steps toward Katie.

“What the fuck happened to you?” He pointed to the bloodstained shirt. Then he charged at Luther, fists raised. “You hurt her, you fucking asshole?”

Luther blocked Wesley’s punch with ease, pushing him back without fighting back. He didn’t think it wise beating up Katie’s brother. “I didn’t hurt her,” he ground out.

He felt Katie’s hand on his arm as she moved to his side. “I got injured. It wasn’t Luther’s fault.”

Well, that was a blatant lie on Katie’s part, because it had been his fault. He hadn’t kept her safe like he’d promised.

“How?” Wes hissed, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, approaching slowly.

“I got stabbed by a prison guard.”

“A prison guard?” Blake interrupted.

Before either Luther or Katie could answer, Wesley snatched the edge of Katie’s shirt and lifted it by a few inches. “You’re healed.” He turned his head to look at Luther. “You gave her your blood.”

Not a question, but a statement. Though it sounded like Wesley wasn’t pleased about it.

“I had no choice. Her lung was punctured. She would have died.”

Next to him, Katie sucked in a breath and grabbed his elbow. “What?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you tell me how bad it was?”

“I didn’t wanna worry you. Besides, you’re fine now.”

“Fuck!” Wesley cursed. “Jesus Christ, Katie, what did you get yourself into?”

“How much did you give her?” The question came from Blake.

Luther exchanged a look with the vampire. “Enough.”

“Well, that explains that. So you decided to get quid pro quo for saving her life, didn’t you?”

He knew Blake was referring to the fact that Katie would have been aroused by his blood, whether she was attracted to him or not. Considering that her brother already seemed to be annoyed with her, Luther decided to shoulder the responsibility for what had happened in the last hour. After all, it was his fault. He’d given into her demands to have sex when he knew full well that she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to make a decision.

“Yes, I did. I took advantage of Katie.” Though he didn’t regret it. Making love to her had been the best thing he’d done in over twenty years. And if he had to pay for it now, so be it.

“You didn’t!” Katie shot back at him, bracing her hands on her hips. “I told you already, it had nothing to do with your blood. Idiot!”

“Let me handle this,” Luther said through gritted teeth. “It’s better this way.”

“But you’re distorting the facts!” Katie protested.

“Stop!” Wesley raised his hand in a plea for silence, his face red with rage. “I don’t think I wanna know the facts about what happened in there.” He motioned to the bedroom in the back. “I have a feeling I know more than I ever wanted to know. But what I do wanna know is what the fuck you’re doing with him and why you got stabbed by a prison guard. Maybe we should start with that.”

Blake folded his arms over his chest, looking at them expectantly. “I’d like to know that, too. And start from the beginning.”

“And you’d better not leave anything out,” Grayson added, aggression rolling off him.

Luther caught his look. There was no love lost between them. No surprise. The young hybrid clearly knew all about Luther’s past, how he’d tried to kill his mother. Hell, Grayson wouldn’t even be here today if Luther had succeeded. Somehow he couldn’t blame the guy, though that didn’t mean he had to like him.

“You got my message about the letters?” Katie asked, looking at Blake.

He nodded. “I called you back right away, but got no answer. When we couldn’t find you, Haven searched your house, but found no sign of the letters.”