Page 8 of Monstrous Hunt
Gingerly, I ran my fingers over the joint, then her other knee, mentally comparing the structure beneath her skin. “I don’t feel any jagged edges, but it’s too swollen for me to tell if it’s out of joint or merely bruised.”
With her sore leg down in the water, her thighs parted enough to bare her sex. Such a tiny little opening. A delicate flower to crush and tear apart. How the fuck had Kroktl made room inside her without injuring her? Her flesh was pink and healthy looking, not torn, bruised or damaged. He’d fucked her enough that I could still smell his scent on her even days later.
My cock started to swell and distend out of its sheath, and I could no longer deny the very real scientific, instinctual principle emerging from my body.
This miserable little human is my fucking mate too.
5
NATALIE
Sunlight had never felt so fucking good. I could almost feel fresh energy flowing through me. The gentle warmth and light heated my skin enough that I didn’t feel like death warmed over.
Using my good arm, I pushed up to a seated position so I could see the damage for myself. Though looking at my swollen knee made my head swim and my stomach churn. Combined with the pain, I couldn’t quiet my stomach. Retching, I twisted to the side and vomited into the water. Every heave wrenched my shoulder, but I couldn’t stop until my stomach was empty.
Morning sickness? Or only pain?
Yeah, I hurt. But I’d almost passed out several times in the cave as I forced myself to take weight onto the knee. Sitting here wasn’t as bad as trying to stand up.
“What the fuck is wrong now?” Axxol’s harsh voice made me think of clanking metal rumbling deep in the ground. “Is the food not to your liking either?”
Slowly, I sat back upright, keeping my eyes closed until I knew I wasn’t going to pass out. If I felt better, I would have laughed out loud at how aggrieved and put out he sounded. “Don’t kidnap someone if you don’t want to feed and take care of them.”
“This is temporary.”
Opening my eyes, I studied him. Temporary, how, exactly? I didn’t think he was going to let me go out of the goodness of his heart. Violence shimmered around him, as if he was barely in control of himself. Between the fury threaded in his voice and the formidable scowl on his face, he scared me. Like really scared me. As if the moment I said something he didn’t like, he’d wrap his hands around my throat and throttle the life out of me. Or maybe he’d just change his mind and start ripping me apart, eating me while I was still alive and kicking. Even better if I was screaming and crying too.
That was the kind of edge glinting in his eyes.
Like Kroktl, he didn’t have any hair at all, and his body was oddly proportioned with thick, broad shoulders and long arms. Though his legs were even longer, his thighs even more massive than Kroktl’s. A feat indeed. His eyes crackled with icy blue fire, a cold so hot it burned. His skin was darker, more of a charcoal gray mottled with sapphire blue and black. The blue markings ringed his eyes and temples, spreading down the back of his neck. When he turned to scoop more water into his palm, I could see the blue continued down his spine.
A blue racing stripe. I fought the urge to giggle.I really am losing it.
Silently, he offered his cupped fingers to me. Yeah, I wanted a drink to wash the acidic sour taste out of my mouth. But I didn’t want to put my face that close to any part of him. Thinking quickly, I asked, “Is it safe to drink?”
His eyes flashed a deeper blue, and his brow creased into deep canyons of annoyance. “How the fuck would I know?”
Leaning over, I dipped my fingers into the water and lightly dapped my lips. The current was surprisingly deep and fast—right before it dropped through a dark slit in the rocks. A way out, maybe? If I could keep from drowning with only one arm and leg.
Keep his mood light. Play weak and scared and dumb. Not far from the truth.“Thanks, but I’ll wait to drink the bottled water. If you thought the smell was bad before, you don’t want me to get the runs from drinking contaminated water. The cold does feel good on my knee, though.”
His jaw clenched and released like he was grinding his teeth. Or sharpening them, ready to bite me in half. “This cut looks infected.”
I’d thought my wrenched knee was bad, but now that I was looking at the cut he was worried about, I was horrified. A four-inch-long scrape on my opposite thigh was red, inflamed, crusted with grime, and oozing. I didn’t know how long I’d been in that cave, but it was definitely festering. It was a testament to how much my knee and shoulder hurt that I had no idea about this wound. It might even need stitches. “There’s a first-aid kit in the food crate.”
His upper lip curled in disdain. “I don’t have to be a medic to understand that human medicine’s the same as worthless.”
“I don’t want to lose my leg due to gangrene.”
He leaned closely enough that I could feel his breath fluttering across my thigh. Nerves tight, I tried to sit still, even though my instincts screamed at me to jerk away. An open wound in the jungle was bad news. Especially with a predator nearby. His nostrils flared, his lips parting, as if he could already taste my blood spurting on his tongue. Goosebumps flared on my skin. My teeth chattered. Fine trembles rocked through my body.
His tongue flicked across the wound. I sucked in a harsh breath, shaking harder. Fighting the urge to run, bum knee be damned.
“Don’t run,”Kroktl had said.“Don’t ever run.”
Axxol’s eyes rolled up to look at me though he didn’t lift his head. Watching my reaction, he swiped his tongue over the wound again. My thigh jumped helplessly, my body shaking. A low warning rumble rolled from his throat. He seized my leg, clamping his fingers around my knee.
All predator. Locked in on me.
