The Breed by EL Anders Page A

your
brother—not on the most basic level. The only level that
counts.”
    “I know—I realize that now,” I whispered.
“But…he still feels like my brother, Sylvia.”
    “Well, you were raised as siblings so that’s
understandable.” She nodded. “But you still don’t have to be
ashamed of your feelings for him.” He gave me a level look. “And
you do have feelings for him. Don’t you, Lexie?”
    “Yes,” I whispered and the truth of the words
rushed over me as I spoke. “Yes, I can’t help myself. Oh God,
Sylvia. I…I think I love him.”
    “Then go to him,” she said gently. “And
hurry, Lexie. A male Breeder without his mate doesn’t last
long.”
    “How long have I got?” I was already up,
shoving back my chair and knocking into the table in my haste to be
gone. The mug of tea I’d been toying with fell on the floor and
burst like a bomb, the ceramic shattering into a million pieces and
tea splattering everywhere. I didn’t give a damn.
    “Maybe less than twenty-four hours.” Sylvia
sounded grim. “You have to hurry.”
    “Okay, all right. I’m on it,” I babbled.
“Thank you so much, Sylvia. You don’t know how much this means to
me.”
    “Yes, I do,” she said quietly. “Or I wouldn’t
have called. He’s not just your brother, Lexie—he’s your mate. Go
save him.”
    “I will!” I was about to end the call when my
friend’s voice called me back once more.
    “There’s just one more thing, Lexie,” she
said. “He’s going to need to breed. It’s the only way to save him.
Can you bring yourself to do that?”
    I swallowed hard. Could I give myself to
Lukas? Could I make love to him again, even though I still felt
like he was my big brother?
    I have to, I told myself grimly. If
I don’t, he dies.
    “Yes,” I told Sylvia, my voice shaking. “Yes,
I think I can.”

Chapter Nine
     
    Lukas didn’t answer his phone. I called and
called after I hung up with Sylvia but there was nothing but a
monotonous recording instructing me to leave a message. I left
several but he didn’t respond and he had never told me where he was
staying.
    I walked in circles, my hands clenched in my
hair, feeling desperate. Think, Lexie, where would he
be?
    Finally I remembered that his favorite place
to stay when he was on Earth was the Ritz, downtown in Old Tampa. I
called their front desk and was relieved to hear that he was
there.
    “Are you his doctor?” the front desk girl
asked me just as I was going to hang up.
    “Why?” I said, feeling my heart freeze. “I
mean, why would you ask me that?”
    “It’s just…he looked terrible when he came
in—really sick. I wanted to call him someone but he said he would
call his own doctor. So I thought…” She trailed off uncertainly.
“Never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”
    “Yes,” I said, deciding to go with it. “Yes,
I’m his doctor and I’ll need to see him at once. What room is he in
again?”
    She gave me the room number and two seconds
later I was out the door and into my car. I drove like a maniac,
the girl’s words echoing in my ears. Lukas looked terrible. He was
sick. He needs me, I couldn’t help thinking. He needs me
to help him the way he helped me. My nipples and pussy throbbed
at the thought. Already my honey and nectar were flowing again.
Looking down, I could see that the simple white blouse I’d thrown
on before I left was already see-through. I was glad I had a long
coat in the car—I would need it to cover myself.
    I parked on the curb, threw my keys to the
startled valet, and ran up the steps to the Ritz, wrapping the
heavy coat around me as I went. No time for questions or
pleasantries, I ignored the front desk and made my way straight for
the bank of elevators at the back of the lobby.
    When I got to Lukas’ room, I wished I would
have stopped at the front desk and begged a key. No matter how much
I knocked and shouted, he didn’t answer. I was getting desperately
worried about