Page 51 of Heartless

Vail went a perfect shade of pink, but was at my side in a flash. It was hard to miss the fact she moved faster than a wolf, but although it raised a few eyebrows, no one made a comment. Which was just as well. One more jab at my perfect panther shifter and I was going to lose my shit.

Fuck, but it was hard being so weak. Elise, the nurse who’d been looking after me, said I was lucky to be alive from the blood claw wound. But what had kept me in the coma-like state was the stuff in the Denners’ dart gun. A sample of my blood had been sent off to our doctors, and it revealed a new kind of super drug for wolves. Something that lowered our body temperature, blood pressure and breathing to dangerous levels. Which was just another shitshow I was going to have to deal with, as soon as I could sit up without passing out. I was too busy mulling over that problem to notice that Liam had led us straight back to the rock pool room.

“Forget it, Liam. I’ve had enough water to last me a lifetime.”

My enforcer was unimpressed. “Elise said you need another session in the therapy pool.”

Vail bit back a grin at the look on my face, but quickly opened the door and crossed the room to talk to the nurse. There were a lot of hand gestures and nodding, and then the two females swapped places. “It’s my turn to play nurse,” Vail said, with a certain look through her lashes.

That was more like it. “Out,” I told Liam. “And don’t come back unless the Denners are on our doorstep.”

Liam just shook his head and told Vail, “Don’t let him drown.”

She was still biting her lip, which I watched as I stripped off the loose sweats and lowered myself into the water. Every pore clenched at the idea of another soak, but Vail read my sour expression as discomfort, and hurried to my side. “And are you feeling okay? Do you need anything else?”

“Just you,” I told her, leaning back so my arms were braced on either side of the rock pool. I watched her drink me in, and the silence stretched, thick and molten. When she didn’t answer, I gave her a soft smile and ran a hand over my dripping chest. “You going to torture me, sweet thing?”

She seemed to like the playfulness in my tone – to say nothing of the way her eyes were glued to that patch of wet skin – but she cocked a brow. “Hey, I’m usually the one who gets tortured when we’re around water.” As memories of our time together in the mineral pool – not to mention her suds and duds punishment – thickened the air, she flushed bright red. “I mean, like the water ritual in the other chamber. Stripping naked in front of a hundred shifters and having them mock my furless ass.”

I gave a throaty growl. “If you strip down in front of me right now, I promise not to mock any part of your anatomy.”

She gave a breathless little laugh, but unsnapped her jeans and pushed them down her thighs. They were damp from the steam, and took a little effort to peel off, but I didn’t mind the wait. Folding my arms on the near-side of the pool, I tilted my head back so I could watch her undress. It was perfect - her up on a pedestal, so I could worship her with my eyes. I knew she still had a shy streak, but she couldn’t seem to resist putting a little wriggle in her routine as she stripped the sweater over the head. “Damn, sweet thing.” Now I really was in pain. “Where’s your underwear?”

It made her pause for a moment, but when I extended a hand, she grabbed it, and let me help her down into the water. The sound that came out of her was pure bliss, and I eased back across the pool, pulling her with me. The last wash we’d shared was in her cabin’s tiny shower, and while I’d enjoyed every inch of a Vail cleanse, I suddenly saw the benefits of a whole-body soak.

Especially when my hands drifted to her chest, kneading the smooth flesh of her breasts. “Baby, you’re so soft. So perfect.” I hooked her knees over my thighs and dropped hot, wet kisses across her collarbone. “I just want to lose myself in you for a while…”

I thought she felt the same, but her hands came down on my shoulders, easing me back. “I need to tell you something first.” Biting hard on her lip, she pulled her hair back over her shoulder and showed me the bite on her neck. It was confronting. I couldn’t hide that. Seeing another male’s mark on her soft skin. But for some reason, it wasn’t as bad as the Frost Moon, and seeing her perched on the side of Cal’s bed, the light gone from her face, as blank and wooden as a doll. “I… I got hurt in the attack. A Denner got his claws into my stomach. Trey said the only way I’d heal was if he bit me.” She cupped my face, her pain as deep and dark as the water we were sitting in. “You were bleeding out. There was no time for anything else… But it didn’t mean anything, Jasper. I promise.”

I pressed a thumb to her trembling mouth. “I felt you bite him back. Last night.”

She sucked in a breath, her lips pulled tight against her teeth. “Jay!”

“It’s okay. I think… maybe that’s what woke me. I could feel you again, buried in my throat.” She cupped the spot on my neck, her eyes full of regret, but I pulled them away, placing them over my heart. “We’ll face whatever it means. Same as what’s happening with our wolves.”

She sagged a little in my arms. “So he’s not back yet?”

“I can feel him,” I told her, and even now there was a whisper of him in my chest, right under her hands. “But he’s waiting, I think.”

“For me?” If anyone could tempt him out, it was Vail. But I didn’t want to put that pressure on her. Not that she was the sort to back away from a challenge. “So that’s what we do.” Determination gleamed in her eyes. “From tomorrow, I throw everything at my wolf. Whatever it takes.”

Something pinged in my chest at her words. Maybe it was just her working over my heartstrings again, but I wanted to believe it was my wolf. That the stubborn asshole was finally getting the message. Another male could put his mark on her, but she was mine. In every way that counted. “From tomorrow?” I arched a brow at her. “So what are we going to do with the rest of today?”

She arched a brow right back at me, sliding her arms around my neck. “We never got very far into our intensive research program.”

It only took me a beat to catch up. “Into whether all shifter sex is wild and hot and kind of crazy?” I smirked and pressed a kiss to her throat. “Sounds like a lot of work.”

She laughed and dragged my mouth down to her lips. “Sign me up, pretty wolf.”

***

After exhausting the research potential of the rock pool, we helped each other back to the Clan Alpha quarters. I would have liked to carry her there all the way, but I’d pushed my strength about as far as it could go. When we reached the room, I realized she’d been having a sleepover with the other females, and I grinned at the explosion of pillows and candy wrappers.

“Ah, sorry,” she muttered. “I didn’t like sleeping in here without you, so the girls decided to keep me company.”

I couldn’t blame her for picking up a strange vibe from the room. It was the one place I’d always avoided in the Clan Caves, but like everything in my life, it was brighter with the female standing in the middle of it. “No orange nail polish this time?” I asked, looking meaningfully at her toes.

“Tangerine.” She grinned back. “And no. Although asking Liam to put it on the shopping list might be fun.”

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