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  “Ugh!” Mei-Li shivered involuntarily at the mental image of Dungston’s blood pooling all over her front porch. “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “You are my responsibility now, Mei-Li—mine to care for and protect. Every drop of your blood—every hair on your head—is precious to me.” His steel gray eye flashed silver. “I will not allow anyone to harm you again—you have my word as a Kindred and an Enhanced One on that.”

  “All right. Um…thank you.” For some reason his words and the intense way he was looking at her made her feel breathless and flushed.

  “You are welcome.” He held her gaze for a long time and Mei-Li wanted desperately to look away but found that she couldn’t. Her heart was pounding in her chest and her hands were shaking so badly she clenched them in her lap, trying to hide her trembling.

  At last Six turned his attention back to her knee. “I believe your wound is clean now. It is time to seal it.”

  “Oh good. Do you have a Band-Aid?” She looked critically down at her knee. The gash was no longer bleeding but it still looked deep. “I guess it would have to be a pretty big one, though to cover all that.”

  He frowned. “A band-what?”

  “A bandage with adhesive on it,” she explained. “It sticks to the wound until it heals and then you peal it off.”

  “So it only covers the wound and then you have to wait for it to heal? It doesn’t actually knit the flesh together again?”

  Mei-Li shrugged. “Well…no. I mean, it’s just a Band-Aid, not a miracle bandage or anything.”

  “That sounds like a poor sort of sealant,” Six remarked.

  Mei-Li put a hand on her hip. “Well, it’s what we have on Earth for first aid. Why, do you have something better? Some bandage that will heal me instantly?”

  “I do have something of the sort but it is not a bandage.”

  He lifted a small squeeze bottle with a long glass nozzle which was three quarters full of purple liquid. Mei-Li thought she understood.

  “Hey, is that some kind of wound glue, like they use in the hospital sometimes?” she asked nervously. “Like Krazy Glue for cuts? Because I’ve heard that stuff really stings and it’s only good for shallow cuts so if you’re going to try to—”

  She stopped speaking abruptly when Six raised the bottle to his lips and squirted a dollop of the purple liquid into his mouth. He swished it around as though it was mouthwash and then spat a small amount into the bowl of blue cleanser.

  “What in the world?” Mei-Li murmured, watching the strange display. “What are you going to—”

  This time her words ended in a gasp because Six had leaned forward, grasped her calf, and licked a long trail over her wounded knee.

  “Hey!” Mei-Li jerked her leg away indignantly—or would have if the big Kindred hadn’t had such a firm hold on it. As it was, all she succeeded in doing was kneeing him in the chin.

  “Ow.” Six sat back, frowning, and rubbed his jaw with his free hand. “Why did you do that?”

  “What do you mean, why did I do that? You freaking licked me, you big pervert!” Mei-Li pulled at her leg again. “Let me go!”

  “Not until you are healed. Which will never be accomplished unless you hold still and let me continue.”

  “Let you continue? Are you crazy?”

  “No, I’m trying to heal you.” He spoke with strained patience, as though he was talking to a not-very-bright three year old. “Why won’t you hold still and let me?”

  Mei-Li crossed her arms over her chest. “Look, just because you ‘claimed’ me and got me up here all alone on your ship doesn’t mean you can do anything you want. I mean, I appreciate you being sweet and cleaning my cut but I’m not just going to jump in bed with you the first night we’re together—or any night for that matter.”

  His forehead furrowed in obvious confusion. “Why would I wish us to bounce on the sleeping platform together? Is that what you do on Earth for entertainment?”

  “Bounce on the what?”

  “The sleeping platform—what you call a bed. Why should we wish to jump or bounce on the bed together?”

  His words brought to mind the sleep overs she’d had as a little girl when she and her best friend Molly had jumped on the bed and had loud, laughing pillow fights. The idea of doing that with the huge Kindred warrior was just ludicrous.

  “You don’t get it, do you?” she said. “When I said ‘jump into bed’ I didn’t mean it literally. It’s a way to say I won’t, you know…” She gestured aimlessly with one hand. God, she really didn’t want to be discussing this with him right now.

  “Oh…” His face cleared. “I understand now. Did you think I was trying to have sexual relations with you a moment ago?”

  “Well…yes.” Mei-Li felt her cheeks getting hot. “Weren’t you?”

  “No—I was simply trying to seal your wound.”

  “But you were licking me. Licking my thigh. Well, close to my thigh, anyway.”

  Six shook his head. “I understand your confusion but it is not yet our tasting week. I was not attempting to lick you in a sexual manner—I was simply trying to heal you.”

  Tasting week? What the hell is that? Mei-Li wanted to ask, but she needed to figure out what was happening with the knee licking before she went off on a tangent.

  “I still don’t get it,” she said. “How is licking me supposed to seal my wound?”

  “It’s Tolleg medical tech,” Six explained. “They use their tongues for most medical procedures and so their technology—this sealant—is activated by compounds in the saliva. That is why I have to put it in my mouth first and then apply it with my tongue.”

  “That’s weird,” Mei-Li said flatly. “I mean, I don’t want to be disrespectful to your culture but why would anyone make medicine that’s activated by saliva?”

  “When you meet the Tollegs you will understand. But it isn’t just the saliva—the compound also requires multiple strokes of the tongue, over and around the wound site to stimulate the flesh to knit together.”

  “So…you don’t just want to lick me, you want to lick me a lot,” Mei-Li said flatly. “For a long time…all over my knee and thigh.”

  Six nodded, as though it was no big deal. “Exactly.”

  She shook her head. “I’m sorry but I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t have to like it,” he said patiently. “You just have to hold still and let me heal you. Will you do that?”

  Mei-Li looked away and nibbled nervously on her lower lip. She really didn’t want to let him do this. Not just because it was weird, though. Because it made her feel…strange. She was pretty sure if some random guy off the street had asked to lick her leg, she would have been disgusted. With Six, she didn’t feel disgusted or repulsed. She felt…well, she felt the exact opposite. And she shouldn’t feel that way.

  He’d basically carried her away by force and she’d seen him break Randy Dungston’s arms and legs like matchsticks without batting an eye. He was dangerous—bad news. There was no way she ought to be feeling anything but fear and revulsion right now. But that wasn’t what she was feeling at all. She felt—

  “Mei-Li, look at me.”

  Despite herself, she felt her eyes drawn to him.

  “Yes?” she whispered reluctantly.

  “I only want to heal you.” He looked into her eyes, his voice deep and calm. “I give you my word as a Kindred that I will not make inappropriate sexual advances. Will you trust me?”

  “I…” She had a feeling he was willing to kneel there all night, waiting to heal her until she agreed. And it wasn’t like he had to trick her. If sex was what he wanted he could have taken it at any time—he was so much bigger than her it would be no contest. But he wasn’t trying to hurt or force her, he was waiting patiently for her reply. “All right,” she said at last. “But no going under my skirt or trying to get into my panties.”

  His forehead furrowed. “I am trying to remember the Earth vernacular I studied on the way here. Panti