Page 31 of Shadow Bound

“If you knew the things I did, you wouldn’t be saying that,” I whisper. “It doesn’t matter how many good things I do or how many people I save—there is no making up for what I’ve done.” Again, I attempt to twist my body from his grasp, but he’s not having it.

My breath catches in my throat when I feel his lips brush against my ear. “Did you do those things willingly?”

“No.”

His hot chest is making me feel like I’m on fire. I’m suddenly self-conscious of how cold my skin is compared to his. There’s no way my cooler body feels good against his chest.

“Then you’re not responsible for what you did. That’s all on Sterling.” I feel his big hand flex on my hip where he holds me, his fingers digging into my flesh. “If you want to be a good person, be good. Stop hiding behind the monstrous mask they gave you.”

Feelings. I’m feeling too many of them at once and I need it to stop. Doing what I do best, I bare my teeth. “Put. Me. Down.” I seethe.

“Or what? What are you going to do, Beau?” He abruptly drops me back on my feet and steps back a foot. The sudden change makes my head spin again and I find myself swaying. When I stumble to the side, Ransom’s hand grips my upper arm, steadying me. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Not waiting for me to answer or put up a fight, he drags me back across the parking lot.

Pushing through the wooden door of his room, he shoves me softly toward the free bed next to Sawyer’s. “Lay down,” he orders sternly. The room still smells like blood, but the delicious scent of Ransom’s soap and cologne overpower it just enough for it to not drive me crazy. Instead it’s the scent of Ransom that makes my veins hum.

I try to stand up from the bed, not about to start taking orders from him. I spent the first twenty-two years of my life taking orders from a man, I’m not going to start doing it again with someone else. While Ransom is nothing like Sterling, I still refuse to obey just because he said so. “I don’t know who the fuck you—”

Ransom’s fingers press against my chest and shove me back down onto the mattress. The bed creaks under my weight and I feel the springs of the thin mattress digging into my ass. “I said lay down.” His blue eyes search my face. “I don’t want to sound like an ass, but you look like shit. I can’t even tell if the dark circles under your eyes are from that sexy makeup you wear or not anymore. And honestly? I thought it was impossible to be paler than you already were but, you’ve proved me wrong. You’re so pale right now you’re basically translucent. And these cheekbones?” His calloused thumb glides over the more protruding bones on my face. “These are long past being considered heroin chic.”

I huff out an annoyed breath and flick his hand away from my face. “You said you didn’t want to sound like an ass.” I focus on his hands because looking into his scrutinizing eyes is too much to handle. My eyes trace the prominent veins that sit on the back of his hand and snake up his forearms. For the first time in my life, I’m not looking at veins because I want to sink my fangs into them. No, I want to trace them with my tongue.

“I said I didn’twantto be one,” Ransom says. “Not that Iwasn’tgoing to be. I would offer to get you a cheeseburger or something, but that wouldn’t help, would it?”

I’ve never had a cheeseburger, but now doesn’t seem like the time to admit that. “My body can’t absorb any nutrients from human food. I just need to go find an ER or clinic that I can steal some blood from.”

Ransom bobs his head. “Sure, but uh, how do you plan on sneaking into a doctor’s office without anyone seeing you? Your little shadow trick isn’t exactly working. You can’t exactly waltz in there and order up a pint of blood like it’s a fast-food drive-thru.”

I stand up and this time he lets me. My body sways and I lock my knees in hopes of forcing myself to stay upright. The humming that had left after sitting on the roof for a while returns.Shit. “I can be sneaky even without my power.” Lifting my chin stubbornly, I stand toe to toe with him. His face is blurry, and the room starts to feel like it’s spinning.

One side of his mouth quirks up, before he steps out of my way and gestures with his arm toward the door. “Okay, sweetheart, let’s see what you got.”

Feeling victorious, I shove past him and stalk toward the exit. My legs feel like they’re made of lead and my feet drag on the carpet. The blurriness turns into black spots, forcing me to blink to clear my vision, but it’s not working. I make it five feet away from the wolf before I feel my knees give out. I have no idea if I ever hit the dirty motel carpet because my world is black before I make contact.

Pounding at the door forces my eyes open.

Panic surges through my body and I fly into a sitting position, quickly taking in my surroundings, checking for threats. The motel room is dark, meaning I was asleep for at least a couple of hours. Light from the small TV that’s muted shines through the small, dated room. Breathing from the other bed has me turning, Sawyer still lies there with his arm and head bandaged, his eyes are closed, and his chest rises and falls in steady breaths. I don’t know if he’s truly sleeping or still passed out from the blood loss he experienced earlier. Either way, he doesn’t look like he’s in a terrible amount of pain.

I however feel like I was run over by a dump truck and then they put that bitch in reverse and ran me over again just to make sure they really finished the job. My bones ache and my muscles scream as I move. My head feels like it might explode from the pounding taking place in my temples. The low glow from the TV makes my eyes burn.

I can’t help it, I let out a low moan and drop my head into my hands. Nessa used to deprive us of blood. Depending on her mood, it was to condition us or punish us. The longest I’ve gone without the proper amount of blood was two weeks. I felt like I might die then, and now? Now, I know I will. My systems are shutting down as we speak.

The sound of the chair creaking on the other side of my bed catches my attention. My head jerks to the side to find Ransom sitting in the small chair. He looks comically large, his huge frame dwarfing it. His boot-clad feet are propped up on the bed I’ve been sleeping on. It looks like he may have moved the chair closer to the bed.Why? So he could watch over me?

He now wears a tight light gray thermal; his defined muscles show through the fabric.

“You slept for two hours and you didn’t move once. A couple times I thought you’d died—I don’t know if I’m ever going to get used to that fucked-up heartbeat of yours.” Ransom shakes his head as he stands from the chair, worry marring his face.

“Two hours?” I don’t know if I’ve ever slept that long consecutively in my life.

“Your body obviously needed the rest,” he offers over his shoulder as he walks to the door.

Shit, the knocking!Bolting off the bed, feeling a little bit steadier on my feet, I rush across the room. When he grips the doorknob to open the door, I put my hand over his, stopping him. “Stop,” I warn. “You didn’t even check to see who’s on the other side.” My senses are so off right now, I can’t even pick up on a scent or hear the heartbeat of the visitor. For all I know, it could be Nessa with an assault rifle pointed at our chests.

His dark brows furrow as he looks down at my hand that’s touching him. I realize this is the first time I’ve voluntarily touched him. The other times were because we were fighting, or I was saving his hide. “I didn’t have to,” he says slowly. “They sent me a text saying they were here.”

“Fuck.” I drop my hand from his. “Your family.”

“It’sjustRemi and Dr. V,” he says.

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