Page 93 of First Ritual

I swallowed another few times. “What was I doing?”

“I’m unsure what you’d been doing. There was a delay in me following you. I had to figure out how to portal somewhere I’d never been before. When I got there, you were passed out and in this state.”

There was a delay. My lips almost twitched. Opening a portal to somewhere unknown was impossible magic. Never before done. He’d figured out the impossible in a matter of minutes—had made magus history—but was annoyed at the delay. “How?”

“I focused on your location. Not a nice feeling to portal into the unknown.”

I bet. And he’d still done it. “Thank you.”

“Don’t. I did this to you in the first place.” He grunted, working caked dirt and blood off my arms with the washcloth. “You have wounds all over you. Scratch marks, not all of them from rocks and branches. It’s like something has scratched you.”

Wild held up my arm where three deep gashes were visible. “What animal could do this to a magus?”

“Wolverine,” I answered.

“A wolverine couldn’t—”

“Hugh Jackman could.” Look at me, capable of a joke. Talking with Wild—touching Wild—was helping. Last time I woke after an episode, I didn’t speak for a week.

Wild muttered about stupid human references, then went mute while staring at my bleeding arm.

What? I lifted my head, but the angle was awkward. I couldn’t see.

He licked my arm.

My brows lifted as he then licked his lips and groaned.

Uhm. “Wild.”

Wild jerked in the water. He then stared at my arm, then looked at me in horror. My blood coated his lips.

“I just drank your blood,” he blurted.

Yep, I’d been present.

Wild wiped his mouth a few times. “I just drank your fucking blood. What’s wrong with me?” He groaned. “Does it even mean anything if I apologize and blame the monster within me at this point?”

I placed a hand on his chest. “It’s okay. Forget about it. What’s a bit of licking between friends.”

Though I was learning that everything Wild was driven to do was for a reason, so guess we’d find out what blood consumption meant in the scheme of things sooner rather than later.

He shook his head, then continued cleaning me. His jaw clenched on and off. On and off.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I told him. “Or hard on my skin.”

Wild didn’t pause in his cleaning, though he eased the pressure. “This whole mating bullshit. I used to be able to trust myself. I was the only person I could trust. Now I don’t know what I’ll do from one moment to the next. It’s… unsettling.”

Wild had been trained to be perfect, so he’d likely take a loss of control extra hard, but this scenario would be hard for anyone. To lose trust in your body and mind. To drink someone else’s blood without knowing it. “I’m sorry this is happening to you.”

He sent me a sharp look. “I just drank your blood and you’re saying sorry to me?”

“The blood was already outside of my body. To be clear, you will never be allowed to bite me. And, in case you don’t know this, it’s good manners to accept my apology.”

“Thanks, then,” Wild said after a beat.

“You’re welcome. Pass me the cloth. I’ll finish.”

The work was slow, but with the heat of the water, and Wild saving me from drowning three times, I managed. The thought of Wild cleaning my butt and vagina motivated me to persevere. Washing with him on lifeguard duty was awkward enough.

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