Page 40 of Blade's Battle
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ANNA
Anna waited for the shifter with the ebony skin and yellow-flecked eyes to leave the cabin where Blade had been recovering. She didn’t know who the tall shifter was or why he was visiting Blade, but the guards all gave him a wide berth.
Liam had been furious after Blade had attacked him and his guards. There had been a lot of talk about how the alpha was going to punish Blade, but first Blade had to recover. Was this new shifter Liam’s enforcer? Was he there to assess Blade and then determine how best to punish him?
Anna shivered. Blade had been punished enough. Liam’s guards had ripped into Blade like he was a chew toy to be won by the strongest among them. Blade’s skin had been torn, sliced, and riddled with so many wounds she feared he would die. Or worse, turn feral, right then and there.
Three long days had passed since Griff told her Blade was healing, and that she had permission to see him. Twice, she walked downhill, away from camp and toward the cabin where two shifters guarded Blade. Twice, she turned around and returned to the house where she was staying.
The need to touch Blade, to hear his light-hearted laugh, and see the hunger in his eyes wouldn’t go away, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to enter that cabin. The last time she had felt this anxious was when she had been working tirelessly in the lab to find the answer, knowing that any delay would mean Kurt’s life.
Her need to see Blade, to see for herself that he was well, was driving her mad. Even with Kurt, she had never felt such an intense need to be with a man. Not even a man, but a shifter, anear-feralshifter.
With a simple nod from Griff, Anna opened the door to the cabin. Blade sat in a simple wooden chair staring into the fireplace. Since he only wore jeans, she could see the damage Liam and his shifters had done. Most of the wounds had closed, leaving only the faintest outline of a dozen bites on his back, arms, and legs, and a particularly deep slash along his ribs.
Blade’s straightened the moment she entered, but he didn’t turn to face her. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
He rose slowly, his movements pained and stiff. Even for a strong shifter such as Blade, severe wounds took time to heal, and that was when the wolf cooperated. Blade’s wolf was near-feral.
Feral.
Anna shuddered. The very idea of Blade losing to his wolf and going feral terrified her. That was precisely why she needed to keep him calm. The longer Blade kept his wolf under control, the better his chances were of finding a shifter to blood-bond and permanently gain control over his wolf.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Liam was keeping Blade isolated to keep him under control until Blade’s alpha could send shifters to take Blade back to his pack. Blade had injured three of Liam’s guards. Before that, he had killed four of Drake’s shifters. Liam wanted Blade gone and Drake wanted Blade dead. Her shifter was in a mess of trouble.
Four dead shifters because of her. Blade had not even told her about the fourth.
Her shifter. Is that how she thought of him?
No, she couldn’t—shouldn’t—be thinking of Blade like that. Kurt had been her shifter.
“Nothing to talk about,” Blade said from where he stood at arm’s length from her.
Even with thoughts of Kurt lingering in her mind, Anna felt this intense desire to hold Blade, to soothe his pain and protect him from Liam and Drake.
Dark eyes, as intense as ever, stared at her. How the hell did he maintain control over his wolf when she could barely keep from reaching out and tracing over every curve and dip of his body?
“We don’t have to talk,” she said.
The corner of his mouth kicked up.
He’d misunderstood her intent. She was happy to simply keep him company, but that expression, that sexy, endearing and playful mien of his had her entire body tingling. She envisioned his hands slowing roaming down her ribs and moving under her shirt, a finger slipping beneath her bra and finding a nipple to tease, to pinch lightly. Her fingers would dance over his finely chiseled chest, slowly caressing her way up to his neck, pulling him into a kiss.
His dark eyes traveled the length of her. The junction of her thighs heated with an intensity she hadn’t felt in a very long time.
Blade closed the divide between them and seconds later he cupped the back of her head as he pulled her against him. Anna closed her eyes and melted into his kiss.
The kiss was better than she had imagined. Warmth cocooned her, making her feel safe once more. Never had she felt so alone, so isolated as she had these past three days without him. The fear that she would never feel his touch again had been overwhelming. When Liam had had his jaws clamped tightly on Blade’s wolf, ready to tear his throat out, she had been terrified. Not even when Kurt had lay dying had she known such terror.
Here she was, finally touching Blade, reveling in his warmth, his desire, his strength. Blade’s kiss was filled with need and desire, the type she could lose herself in. Except that was dangerous. Letting her feelings grow would only lead to disaster for him.
“You need to go home, Blade, to blood-bond and permanently calm your wolf,” she said as his lips he kissed a path down her neck.
