Page 33 of Soul Bound

She applies pressure until the bleeding has stopped. Her small hands carefully clean away the dried blood around the claw marks. Ryker had done a number to my arms; claw marks wrap around both sides, all the way up to my elbow. A perfect bite mark also sits on the inside of my right wrist—the same wrist that is currently broken.

Winslow doesn’t know it’s broken though, so when she turns my hand suddenly to get at more dried blood, I can’t hold back the hiss of breath I let out.

Her hands freeze and her big eyes are now full of panic. “What happened? I thought I was being gentle.”

I put my hand over hers to assure her. “You are, Ryker broke it. It’s going to take a little bit longer to heal than the flesh wounds.”

“Hebrokeyour wrist?” She scowls. “Your brothers suck.”

I bark out a laugh before I can stop it. “I’ll admit, you haven’t seen their good sides. Don’t get me wrong, they’re massive jerks and overall pains in my ass, but I wouldn’t want anyone else standing behind me in a fight. I don’t trust anyone more than I trust them and Remi.”

She looks at me like she doesn’t believe me, “I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Once they learn you’re Esme’s niece, you’ll be treated like family. Ryker is going to feel like such a tool for what he did when he learns the truth. He’ll probably be afraid Esme is going to put a curse on him or something.”

“That’s if there’s anything left of him to put a curse on…” Winslow threatens under her breath.

She steps up onto her tippy toes so she can wipe away the blood that’s on my chin. I watch her face as she does it, my eyes taking in every detail of her elfin features. I never noticed it before now, she has gold flecks in her green eye. You have to be really looking at her to notice it, but now that I do, it’s all I can focus on. Her eyes, while odd, are mesmerizing to look at.

She’s so focused on what she’s doing, she doesn’t even realize I’ve been staring at her, but when she does, her eyes widen slightly, and a light blush covers her cheeks. I don’t miss the way her eyes dart to my lips for a fleeting moment. If I hadn’t been staring so intensely at her, I probably would have missed it. My eyes follow a trail from her eyes to her plump lips. I’m not surprised to find her worrying her bottom lip—something I’ve noticed she does often.

The sudden urge to kiss her suddenly takes over me. All I can think about is what she will taste like, what it would feel like to bite that bottom lip that is currently between her perfect white teeth. I wonder if she’d let me take charge, or if she’d fight me for dominance? Knowing her, she’ll fight me the whole time to lead.

“Ranger.” Her voice cuts through my thoughts and I finally tear my eyes away from her mouth. “I think it’ll be easier if you just take a shower at this point. The blood is pretty caked on…” She pulls her hands away from my face, and I’m shocked to find I miss the loss of her touch.

I blink, trying to focus on what she’s saying. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

She nods her head in agreement, taking a healthy step away from me. I don’t know why I feel offended she’s putting so much space between us, but I am. “My computer is on the nightstand. Help yourself to it so you can contact your friend.”

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” She tosses the bloodied rag into the sink. “Okay, see you in a minute. Holler if you need help,”

I raise a brow. “Helpshowering?”

Her face turns pink again, “Because your wrist is broken.” She waves at my hand dismissively. “You might need help opening bottles or whatever.”

“Right.”

“Right…” She backs away from me slowly, feeling behind her for the door. “I’m just going to go…” She twists around abruptly and literally flees from the bathroom.

Shaking my head, I look in the mirror and I find myself doing something I haven’t done in a while. I’m smiling. And it’s all because of my little witch. She can look a pissed off Ryker in the face and not even blink, but the second she catches me looking at her like I want to kiss her, she freaks out. I don’t understand this girl, but I’m determined to.

11

Winslow

Hey, remember when I said I didn’t have a crush on Ranger Weylyn?

Well, turns out I’m a big fat liar, liar, pants on fire because I think I may have ateeny-tiny, little crush on him.

I’m not ready to start sending out wedding invitations or anything, but the way he was looking at me back in the bathroom like he wanted todevourme, made my stomach do that annoying little flip-flop. I know I started it by staring at his lips first, but he took it to the next level with the way he was looking at me.

I had to get out of there as fast as possible because all I could think about was climbing him like a tree and kissing the ever-lovingshitout of his too hot for this earth face. Based on how he was looking at me, I think he would have been on board with it, but I can’t allow that to happen.

We are supposed to be focusing on Thalia and her missing baby. I know we are kind of at a standstill until Esme finds a tracking spell, but we cannot be distracted from the task at hand. And besides, the best I can offer him is a quick fling because I won’t be sticking around much longer. Once we find the baby—and wewillfind the baby—I’ll be moving on. Montana isn’t where I’ll be settling down after all of this is over. I don’t know where I’ll go, but I know I can’t stay here with Ranger.

I mean, look at the damage I’ve already caused him and his family since I showed up here. Ranger literally attacked his brother for me, and now they’re both beat to hell. Pruitt’s home has been vandalized by my ghost friend. And if my parents find out I’m here, they will send their goons to collect me. And based on how they behaved when they found me in New York, they don’t mind breaking bones and personal property to get to me. I can’t inflict that kind of trouble on this family.

Even though I kind of hate his brothers, I can tell that this is a good family. They don’t deserve the kind of trouble that is headed my way. So, need to find this baby and get the hell out of dodge.

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