Page 137 of The Crown of Nyx

But by the look on his face, he couldn’t be. Dante could have done anything to that shifter. To all of them.

He’d made sure to keep Maeve from reading memories through blood.

“We know he’s been altering the lifespan of them. Of shifters, in particular,” Rowan sighed, his thumbs caressing the skin under my eyes. “I don’t know what Dante has been doing to them. We were working on that back at the compound safe house, when you were with Adrian and Maeve.”

I sucked in a sharp breath, my heart pounding. “Why didn’t you guys say anything?”

“We didn’t want you to worry.” His eyes revealed the depth of his worry. “I’m sorry. We just wanted to make sure we had the facts before we brought anything to you. For good reason. You have a really, really bad habit of jumping to conclusions.”

While he had a good point there, I still wasn’t fond of the idea that they had been keeping so much from me. “Anything else you want to reveal? Especially while I sit here, bleeding, with no shirt on?” Never before was I glad about wearing a bra. My greatest enemy, keeping my boobs together while not one, but two men stared at me.

Somehow, Rowan’s cheeks turned from pink to dark red, almost the same colour as his hair. It was cute. But he shook his head. “Let’s just see if we can wrap it.”

“You know exactly what she needs to help her heal,” Damon grunted from my other side. “But I do think she has a reason to worry.”

With that, he turned on his heel and stalked into the cover of trees. Based on the demon marks on my upper thigh and hand, he didn’t go far.

The colour left Rowan’s cheeks as he gently wiped the blood from my shoulder and arm. With my skin clean, I could see that the wound hadn’t caused any damage to Elias’s claiming bite, which brought me a bit of relief. The flesh he’d taken with him when I’d shoved him off was already healed, so I was getting somewhere.

It was too slow, though.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rowan murmured, dipping his head to kiss my hair. “I promise. It might be worth letting Maeve have a look later, if we can’t get it to heal now.”

I chanced a glance over my shoulder into the forest, searching for Damon, but despite how massive of a male he was, I couldn’t see him.

Turning back to Rowan, I tugged my bottom lip between my teeth. “We really don’t?—”

“Are you kidding me?” His brows shot up as he straightened. “The only thing I want to do right now is take care of you. Inallthe ways, Ivy.”

I swallowed hard, my own cheeks burning as he rolled his sleeves up to reveal his forearms. Veins and tendons strained as he did, and for some reason—really, against all logic—it was one of the hottest things I’d ever seen. What was it about hands and forearms?

Rowan’s cautious sweetness disappeared as he smirked. “This probably won’t be the most comfortableof places…” He trailed off, eyeing the shallow creek and the trees, before glancing down at the rock I sat on. “But we’ll make do.”

My heart leapt into my throat as my pants did the magical disappearing act. I couldn’t even act surprised anymore, not as I was left in just my panties and bra, staring up at my now very naked mate.

He palmed his cock, which hardened as he stroked it. Now might not have been appropriate, and we certainly didn’t have long, especially with Damon hiding in the shadows…watching, waiting. But I grew wetter, my body reacting to the proximity of my mate.

My eyes swept over Rowan’s body; the runes tattooed onto his hips, his thighs, his now heavy cock hard and ready for me, up his muscular body to meet his stare. Magic thrummed in my veins, and our bond grew hot, desperate for the reconnection of our bodies—and souls.

“I love you so much,” he whispered, bringing his other hand to my cheek again. “You are everything to me, Ivy Wilson.”

Emotions made my throat thick, tears burning their way to the surface. “Rowan…”

“Once all of this is over,” he continued, “I’m going to do everything to make sure you have the life you deserve. We’ll bring the girls home, and we’ll be at peace. I’ll make sure of it.”

If it weren’t for the fiery need burning its way through my body, I might have cracked.

Rising to my feet, I ignored the way my shoulder ached and pulled Rowan in for a kiss. It wasn’t sweet like all the ones we’d had before. And it certainly wasn’t slow.

Rowan took control, the hand on my cheek moving to cup the back of my neck as he deepened the kiss. He let his dick fall and wrapped an arm around my waist,pulling me flush against him. My mate tasted of hope as he swept his tongue into my mouth.

You have no idea how much I crave you, he whispered down the bond, his cock twitching against my belly.No fucking idea.

A moan left my lips, quickly swallowed by his own mouth.Then show me, I said.

Rowan didn’t break the kiss as he lowered me back down onto the rock. He carefully placed his shirt beneath my wounded shoulder and grabbed the rest of my gear to make a pillow beneath my head.

Moving his hand from my neck, he trailed his fingers down my body, leaving sparks of electricity in his wake. My back arched into him, seeking more.

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