Page 42 of Savage Union

“Oh, I…I’m okay, really.” I wanted to pull away from him but also, I wanted him to keep touching me. I couldn’t help it—I felt the pull of my Fated Mate. I wondered if Turk felt it, too.

“How did you do this?” he asked me, looking down at the heel of my hand which was a raw, angry red.

I shrugged.

“Trying to get away from Jerx. I scraped it on the drain in the shower when I fell.”

“Gods.” He closed his eyes tightly for a moment and I saw all kinds of emotions passing over his strong features. Anger, worry, regret…and more I couldn’t name.

“I’m all right,” I offered tentatively. “I mean, you got to me in time. He never actually…actually got it in me.” The words seemed to stick in my throat but I forced them out anyway, trying not to remember the feeling of Jerx pinning me to the wall or the scent of the harsh soap and the feeling of his hot breath on the back of my neck as he shoved?—

I cut the thought off abruptly, I couldn’t stand it!

“You say you’re all right but you’re still crying,” Turk said, frowning. “I should have gotten to you sooner.”

I swiped at my eyes again.

“I’m sorry—I don’t mean to.”

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he told me. “Here—let me see your palm again.”

I had pulled my hand away earlier but now I held it out again, wondering what he was going to do. I couldn’t have been more shocked when Turk brought my injured hand to his mouth…and licked it.

“Oh!” I exclaimed as a warm tingle ran through me. “What…what are you doing, Captain?”

“Healing you,” he said simply. “The venom my fangs make is capable of healing whoever I choose.” He bared his teeth briefly and I saw his fangs again, though they looked considerably smaller and less scary than when he’d showed them to Jerx.

“Er…thank you,” I murmured, looking down at my hand which was already much less raw. I couldn’t help thinking to myself that Brutes were able to heal their Fated Mates, too. And feeling his warm, wet tongue on me made me tremble all over.

He licked me a few more times and then nodded.

“There—I think that should do it. Did you get hurt anywhere else?”

I shook my head.

“No, Tur—I mean, Captain.” I suspected my knees were bruised where I had knocked them against the hard tiles, but they would heal on their own. I couldn’t have him licking methere—he might get too suspicious.

“All right.” He released my hand and nodded. “Then let’s get ready for bed.”

“Do you mind if I keep wearing your shirt?” I asked uncertainly. “I mean, since all my clothes are in the cleaner?”

“Wear it as long as you need to,” he said. “I usually sleep nude but since you’ll be staying with me, I’m going to change into my sleep trousers.”

He turned and got a pair of long, black satin trousers from the storage cupboard set into the wall. Before I could look away, he was nonchalantly toeing off his boots and pushing down his uniform trousers.

I supposed it made sense—he thought we were both men and we’d been naked in the shower together earlier. But it still felt shocking to see him undressing so casually in front of me. I needed some space and some time to process everything that had happened that night. If I wasn’t careful, my reactions were going to give me away.

“Er, do you mind if I take another quick shower?” I asked him. “I still have shampoo in my hair from…from earlier.”

“Hmm? Oh right—of course not. Here.” He reached into the storage cupboard again and handed me a dry towel. “Take as long as you want. I’m going to bed.”

“Okay. Thank you.” I accepted the towel from him and ducked into the bathroom.

Once the door slid closed, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank She of the Four Faces that I wouldn’t have to spend another night in the same stinking room as Gurflug or worry about Jerx again.

But though I was safer in one way, I was in even more danger in another. The closer I got to my Fated Mate, the more my body would react to his. Sometimes two people didn’t know they were Fated Mates until they spent time in close proximity. That was when the symptoms of The Need started to appear for a woman and The Thirst affected a male.

I had heard of both of these afflictions when the maids whispered together, so I knew some of the symptoms. They could be…extreme.

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