Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 599(@200wpm)___ 479(@250wpm)___ 399(@300wpm)
“It would take a miracle to get through to him,” Bright said bleakly.
“A Christmas Miracle,” Noelle said, trying to inject a bit of hope.
“Yes, a Christmas Miracle. I’ll see you later, my lady,” he said softly. He leaned down to hug her, brushing a kiss over her cheek with aching tenderness.
Then he left, shoulders still slumped, and Noelle watched him go, her heart aching for both him and Burn.
A Christmas Miracle—that’s what all three of them needed.
If only she could find one.
73
NOELLE
It had taken nearly a week in the Med Center for Noelle to finally feel like herself again.
During that time, she’d learned two important facts—one, Commander Sylvan—the ice-eyed Blood Kindred with the lab coat and bedside manner of a saint—wasn’t just a doctor. He was also the head of the Kindred High Council. And two—being a VIP patient of said High Council leader had both perks and drawbacks.
The perk: she got a private room in the elite-level wing of the Med Center, with pale lavender lighting and plush amenities that looked more like a boutique hotel suite than a hospital.
The drawback: Sylvan was extremely thorough.
“I don’t care what they told you on the Skow ship,” he said gently, but firmly. “Nectaritis is a real medical condition—and the levels of hormonal imbalance we’re seeing in your system are concerning. We’re going to treat this properly.”
And he had. With injections, nutrient infusions, hormonal stabilizers, and soothing sonic therapies that targeted her entire endocrine system. Noelle had undergone tests she didn’t even have names for, and at one point, a nurse had wheeled in something that looked suspiciously like a chrome-plated tanning bed and asked her to lie down inside it.
But it had worked.
Slowly—blessedly—her body had started to feel like her own again.
The relentless pressure in her breasts had eased, and the nectar had finally stopped flowing. The throbbing ache between her legs, which had made it nearly impossible to think clearly, had subsided. She no longer woke up drenched in sweat and desire, panting for hands that weren’t there.
It was such a relief.
And yet…all the treatments in the world couldn’t reverse everything that Lupin had done to her.
Case in point—she still looked twenty-five.
When she caught a glimpse of herself in the 3-D viewer in the bathroom one morning, she had to do a double take. Her skin was smooth and glowing. Her hair—now brushed and clean again—was thick and glossy, with not a single silver strand in sight. Even the soft lines at the corners of her eyes had faded to nothing.
When her friend Sylvia came to visit, she’d gasped out loud.
“Dios mío, Noelle! You look incredible,” she’d whispered, clutching her hand. “Like you’ve had the most expensive spa treatment of your life…or a secret affair with a hot alien who knows exactly where to kiss.”
Noelle had laughed, a little too loudly, but she had not explained.
What could she say?
“I got kidnapped by space pirates who forced me to undergo horrific rejuvenation treatments and then I was bought by a Trollox and drugged into orgasmic slavery along with a pair of Kindred warriors who gave me the best sex of my life but now won’t even talk to each other?”
Yeah, no thanks.
She loved Sylvia, but the pain was still too fresh to talk about. She needed to keep it to herself—to process it. The only people she really wanted to talk to about it were Burn and Bright—they had all gone through it together. But since the Light Twin and The Dark Twin weren’t speaking, that made things difficult.
Sylvia had hugged her, left her with a bag of Earth snacks, and promised to check in again soon.
And now it was Christmas Eve.
Noelle sat on the edge of her hospital bed, dressed in one of the soft Kindred travel tunics she’d been given—deep red with silver piping around the cuffs and a V-shaped neckline. Her soft boots were zipped up and her hair was twisted into a loose chignon at the base of her neck. In the pocket of her tunic, a small silver vial pressed against her hip with quiet insistence.
It was Bonding Fruit juice.
She’d gotten it from one of the nurses, a pretty blonde girl who had admitted that she was mated to Twin Kindred warriors.
“It’s not illegal to have the concentrated form of the juice,” the nurse had assured her. “Just rare. And sometimes, a little push is all they need to come together.”
Noelle didn’t know if she’d use it to convince the guys to come back together. She hoped she wouldn’t have to. But it was there, just in case.
She was finally being released from the Med Center. And not a moment too soon—she missed her Abuela fiercely, and she’d promised to be there for Christmas dinner. Commander Sylvan had cleared her for travel and even offered to send an escort with her, but she’d declined. She just wanted to go back to her suite, pack up, and leave quietly.