Chapter 18 #2
We’re still healing. Not that hard to figure out.
Of course his smart-ass remarks would break through my mental blocks.
But that doesn’t explain why Natalia is not just hot, but searing.
It’s odd being on the receiving end, and for some reason, I don’t have the wherewithal to pull away from it.
If anything, I long for it to warm every part of me.
Add a blistering singe to the wounds still hours away from healing at my chest.
Most surprising of all, she doesn’t even seem to notice.
The four of us take turns showering. Alexey somehow took the longest, and judging by the curses coming from the bathroom, the water was nothing if not lethal to the claw marks on his ribs.
Dimitri was next, then Natalia. I’d be lying if it didn’t cross my mind to sneak in there while my friends argued over who had the most kills.
Dimitri made a strong argument that over half of Alexey’s were unconfirmed, and that didn’t stop Alexey from criticizing his aim with a rifle.
I paid them no mind. I did little else than sit in the chair next to the desk and listen to her.
Lusted for her scent as she coated it with generic hotel soap.
She couldn’t hide it from me if she tried.
Sure, the dirt swirling the pipes might’ve made it difficult for Viktor to find her, but not me.
Adding soap to something so alluring is like putting a piece of tinfoil over a satellite.
The signal will still go through, and my little wolf’s delicious fragrance is no different.
The shower knob twists and the water cuts off.
“Nik?” she calls out, forgetting she’d only need to whisper my name before I’d come running.
A heavy cloud of steam rushes out when I open the bathroom door, and as I take two steps in, my chest seizes.
Standing with one arm cupping her breasts, and the other hiding the most decadent part of her, Natalia stares at me, water streaking down each side of her face.
My entire body stiffens, intense desire circling the drain in my own stomach.
I’ve been deprived of her body for far too fucking long and resisting it now is somehow harder than fighting off a shift during a full moon.
I glance away, not just out of respect, but because if I keep looking at her, I’m not sure how much longer I can control myself.
Control the urges cording the veins in my forearms and tightened fists.
“Are you okay,” I ask, scanning the blood stains Alexey left on the sink.
“Are there any more towels?”
I glance at the rack and see the plain white towel with red splotches and thick black body hair sticking to the fabric.
An unexpected grin creases my lips. Maybe having her shower third was a bad idea.
Reaching under the sink, I grab a fresh towel, wrap it around her, and pull her closer.
She lets me. She doesn’t even flinch when I dry the droplets on her cheek using one exposed corner.
“And to think, the humans call us animals,” I murmur, leaning in close enough to taste the hotel toothpaste on her breath.
There’s a flicker in her eyes, and each brow tenses.
She doesn’t say anything, only lets her delicate pink mouth hang open.
Us. I said us. Natalia isn’t human anymore.
Not fully. There’s a dormant part inside of her now, a monster getting stronger every time the curse of my bloodline finds a new artery to invade.
It won’t be long until she feels the effects.
A few days. Maybe less. It’s near impossible to gauge when a human’s senses heighten after being turned.
She peers down at her feet, her mouth thinning to a straight line. “Because I’m not human.”
I bring my hand to her cheek, fingers sliding between wet strands of hair. “No. You’re not.” Looking at her ankle, only the scars of Viktor’s teeth remain.
“There’s something I want you to do.” Her voice is soft and pleading.
“Anything.”
Natalia swallows hard, and when she looks me in the eyes, the subtle glow I’ve seen before flashes in each iris and disappears. “I know it won’t change anything. You can’t be cursed twice—” She pauses and laughs incredulously. “But I need you to do this for me.”
I draw a breath and wait. Hanging off every word.
“Bite me,” she finally says, her voice firm and unwavering. “The same way you bite someone to turn them.”
I hold her gaze, tilting my head to the side in contemplation.
I don’t know if she even knows what she’s asking.
The last person I bit was ripped apart to show the consequences for disobeying an alpha.
For turning without permission. Ida died a more horrible death than her sickness would’ve asked for.
Because of me. Biting Natalia wouldn’t affect the changes happening within her now, we both seem to know that.
But she’s asking me to do something I swore I’d never do again.
Her stare intensifies, and she grabs both sides of my face, hands warming my jaw.
“Viktor did this to me out of anger. Turned me because he had something to prove. I don’t want to be reminded of it every time I see this scar.
To think that there’s a piece of me that’s his.
” Tears fill each eye and spill out, adding to the water dripping down her cheeks.
“If I have to pretend you were the one that turned me, then, so be it.”
Something simmers in my chest. It’s hot. Scalding, even. I made a promise to myself years ago, but I also made a promise to protect her at all costs. And if that means sacrificing a vow to preserve the Natalia I’ve fallen in love with, then I’ll do what I must with a fucking smile on my face.
I give her a solemn nod until my fangs grow to a sharp and pointed length. She reacts by arching her head and exposing her neck to me in submission. There’s no fear in her eyes, only the familiar glint the woman I saw before my brother cursed her. Before he cursed my prey.
“Take a deep breath, Natalia,” I say, my voice low.
She does without question. And as her chest lifts to its peak, I drive my teeth into the side of her neck, burying past the first few layers of untouched skin.