Chapter Fifteen
Sitting at my desk in the lab, I read over the results again. Everything had gone exactly as I’d hoped. My drug had worked, and it had passed the most recent clinical trials.
Leaning back in my chair, I willed myself to keep it together and not burst into relieved sobs. I’d done it. Now I just needed to hang on another day or two so I could meet with the press.
Which might be a problem since each day I was able to work less and less. It was only mid-afternoon and I’d already had to lay down on the couch in my office for a nap… twice.
By the time I was ready to leave for the day, I found it difficult to drive home or prepare food. And just yesterday, I struggled to walk from the lab to my vehicle. Beckett had lifted me into his arms and carried me to the car without saying a word.
Then he’d driven us home and carried me straight to my bed. I’d fallen asleep, only waking to eat the protein rich dinner he brought to me. With my waning strength, I wouldn’t have been able to work at all if it hadn’t been for his attention and care.
He had declined to extend my life by biting me, yet he was willing to put aside his life to help me finish my life’s work. So, in reality, he’d granted my request, just not in the way I’d asked.
I hated knowing I was a burden, but every time I experienced guilt pangs, I reminded myself of the lives that I was trying to save.
“So what are you curing?” Beckett asked, appearing behind me.
His hands rubbed my tight shoulders, but it was his comforting warmth that helped the most at easing the soreness from my strained muscles.
“Fleas,” I answered automatically.
Over the years, I’d found it was easier to make a joke than launch into a description of my work. Tilting my head back, I took in his raised eyebrows and the slight curve of his lips.
“You want to run that by me again?” he growled, the sparkle in his eyes betraying the playfulness within him.
“Do wolf shifters get fleas?” I asked, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Instead of answering, Beckett leaned down and kissed me.
It was unexpected, but I wasn’t disappointed. He’d been a perfect gentleman during our trip from the cabin to my house, and he’d taken to sleeping in the guest room or on the couch the past ten days.
I’d missed snuggling into his warmth, but it was the best decision. The last thing we needed was to continue fanning the flames of desire… which was why this kiss was so unexpected.
I should’ve pulled away and reminded him of our arrangement—one that did not involve biting of any kind and definitely didn’t include sex. Instead, I let him pull me to my feet and into his arms.
My body eagerly responded to his touch by melting against him. What if this was the last time I was able to taste his lips? Unable to resist him, I returned the kiss with pent-up enthusiasm.
He lifted me into his arms and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he pressed my back against the wall.
Beckett’s tongue met mine, and I whimpered, every thought in my mind scattering like strays with a dog catcher hot on their trail. His hard length throbbed against me, and I tilted my hips, needing to feel him even if it was through several layers of fabric.
Heat flooded every nerve ending in my body as his mouth and hands grew aggressive and demanding. His lips trailed down the column of my neck, and his hands slid under my shirt to explore my flushed skin. A moment later, he sat me on my desk and kneeled in front of me.
“I don’t think…” My words trailed off as my mouth went dry.
I wasn’t sure what he had planned, and while I wanted him—and wanted this—I still wasn’t sure that intimacy between us was a good idea.
Not to mention, this was going to be a late night in the lab as I prepared for my presentation. I wasn’t sure I had the energy to spare.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m, um… running on a low battery right now.”
He pulled me against his powerful chest and I was amazed at how being in his arms felt like being home. Inhaling deeply, I snuggled into his heat.
“Shh.” Beckett ran a hand down my hair, gently shushing me.
“Are you trying to tell me to be quiet?” I asked, pretending to be incensed.
“For someone with low energy, you sure are spicy.” His mouth captured mine in a gentle kiss, then traveled down my neck.
“I really do want you.” Even though I didn’t owe him an explanation, I didn’t want him to think I was blowing him off.
“And I want you,” he rumbled.
With him nuzzling my neck, it was hard to think. But then a thought came into sharp focus, and I my heart leaped into my throat.
I pulled away, rolling over so that my belly pressed against the desk and my feet were on the floor. Grabbing my keyboard, I typed furiously.
Ideas were flowing freely, and I hurried to record everything as my excitement grew. When I finished, I squeezed from between the desk and Beckett’s body and rushed to prepare slides according to my notes.
Adjusting the microscope, I watched, hardly daring to breathe as I waited.
There was no reaction.
“I think… I think it worked.” I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Things never went that smoothly in the early phases of research, and I was thankful that for once, luck seemed to be on my side… or at least taking pity on me.
“You never did tell me what you’re curing.” His voice was still rough with lust, but his curiosity seemed to have won.
Exhaling, I turned to face him. “You know how transplant donors struggle with their body rejecting their new organs?”
Beckett nodded.
“I’ve developed a drug that has the potential to put an end to transplant rejection. Its success rate in clinical trials was over 90%.”
His jaw dropped. “Are you serious? That will change the world.”
“Yes, but that’s not all.” My body was vibrating with a chaotic mix of anxiety and excitement.
He raised a brow, waiting for me to continue.
Leaning back on the stainless-steel counter, I chose my words carefully, not sure how he would take it. “I didn’t want to sway your mind. But you already decided that you’re not going to mark me, so I might as well tell you.”
I hesitated, swallowing hard. “You can’t change your mind because of what I’m about to tell you.” I didn’t want him to feel guilty about changing his mind.
He lifted his hand, dragging his index finger across his heart in the universal symbol of making a promise.
My heart thumped painfully in my chest. “I discovered that my drug had the potential to cure the transfusion rejection between humans and wolves. However, I’ve struggled with activating one of the components due to the difference in wolf and human DNA.”
I could barely force the words from my raw, aching throat. “And I’m pretty confident I just figured out the last part of the formula. I won’t live to see it through all the testing and trials, but using my notes, a cure can be developed within a few years.”
Pain flashed across his face, and my stomach dropped.
We were both remembering Idrie. The EMTs had said that her femoral artery had been nicked. They’d told us she’d lost too much blood already, and she was slipping into unconsciousness. Then they couldn’t find her pulse at all.
Deep down, I knew that even if they’d gotten her to the hospital before she passed away, they wouldn’t have stocked enough of the blood her body would’ve been able to accept.
The feeling of helplessness I’d experienced that night had lingered for several years. It had driven me to research the challenges wolves faced when it came to medical care.
Depending on the severity of the wounds, most wolves could heal themselves within hours. But they couldn’t replenish their blood fast enough to keep from bleeding out, which was why blood transfusion was the number one issue wolves faced. They couldn’t accept human blood… but my drug was going to change that.
“You are working to save the lives of humans… and wolves?” Beckett asked, his voice hoarse.
I nodded, then gripped the table as I tried to stop the world from spinning. My heart pounded harder and faster until I couldn’t hear anything over the thundering in my ears.
“I didn’t want to tell you, because…” I faltered as the edges of my vision darkened. Focusing on his blurry form, I drew strength from knowing I wasn’t alone. “Because…”
No, no, no. This can’t be happening! I just need one more day.
My stomach heaved, and I fought to keep from throwing up my lunch. Everything went silent and my exhausted body finally caved.
My fight was over and the cursed mutation had won.
I woke up, alone.
Heart pounding, I sat up, looking around in confusion. I was in my bedroom, but I had no memory of how I’d gotten there.
“Beckett?” I called, searching the dimly lit room but finding it empty.
An internal tug had me looking to my right, and I felt certain he was somewhere in that direction, but all I could see was the far wall of my bedroom and the empty chair by the window.
Sitting up, I was stunned to realize energy was flowing through me, making me feel as though I could leap from the bed and do all the things I hadn’t been able to do for years.
I clambered from my bed, gasping in shock at the absolute lack of pain or faintness in my body. No, that wasn’t true. A deep pain thrummed in my chest, and I felt almost desperate to find Beckett.
What if I was having a heart attack? Was I going to die alone?
Closing my eyes, I steadied my breathing so I could take stock of my body and search for what hurt. But other than that hollow ache, nothing else in my body was causing me pain.
I was alive, energized, and ready to take on the world. Scrubbing a hand down my face, I froze as his scent filled my lungs as though my nose was pressed against his skin. Bringing my fingertips to my lips, I gasped as I realized I was smelling where he’d touched me.
Dazed, I stared around the room, taking in the sharp colors as my ears rang from the noise all around me. I’d been living in a two-dimensional world, trapped in a flat, boring, unimpressive existence. But now I could hear, smell, taste, even feel the world around me as though it were a living thing.
And with a flash of clarity, I understood why. My fingers brushed my neck, confirming what I already knew.
He did it.
Beckett had promised he wouldn’t, but he’d marked me… then he’d left me alone.