Page 80 of Brody
“Good.Finally, you’re awake.”Her tone was clinical, but I could smell the relief beneath the professional facade, could see the shadows under her eyes that told me she hadn’t slept, had stayed awake watching over me all night.
My wolf preened at the evidence of her care, while the man in me ached to cross the room and pull her into my arms.To thank her properly for saving my life.To show her with hands and mouth and body exactly what she meant to me.
But I knew better than to push.
“I didn’t die,” I replied, offering a half smile as I carefully stood, keeping the blanket wrapped around my waist.The room tilted for a moment before stabilizing, a reminder that despite my healing, I was far from recovered.
My wolf, usually so vibrant beneath my skin, felt subdued, present but quieter than normal, recuperating alongside my human consciousness.
She turned back to the stove, flipping a pancake with more force than necessary.“Yup, you didn’t die.”A tremor in her voice betrayed emotions she was fighting to control.“Coffee’s ready.Food in five minutes.”
I made my way to her, each step becoming steadier.When I reached her, I gently turned her to face me, noting how she avoided my eyes.Her scent had shifted, the chemical tang of fear giving way to something warmer, relief mixed with an emotion she was trying desperately to hide.
“Rozi.”Her name on my lips felt like a prayer, a confession, and a promise all at once.I tightened my fingers around hers, tracing patterns on her wrist with my thumb that made her skin visibly flush.“Thank you.”
She arched an eyebrow, keeping her voice deliberately light despite the thunder of her heart that my enhanced hearing could pick up.“For what?Saving your stubborn, noble, self-sacrificing ass from certain death?Someone had to do it, and I was the only one around with the right medical training.”She flashed me a smile sharp enough to cut glass.“Besides, if you’d died before I got those samples from the COL, I’d have to haul your corpse the rest of the way, and you’re not exactly a lightweight.”
My laugh was unexpected, rich and warm, rumbling from deep in my chest.“You’re always practical.”
“Always,” she said, but we both heard what she didn’t say:I couldn’t lose you.Not again.Not ever.
She slapped my hand away, but not before I felt the dampness on her cheek.“You fucker, you almost died on me,” she said, voice breaking on the last words as she blinked rapidly, fighting tears.
Without hesitation, I pulled her against me, enveloping her smaller frame in a gentle embrace.She stiffened for just a moment before collapsing against my chest, her hands pressing against my bare skin.
“I’m here, baby.Don’t cry,” I murmured into her hair, breathing in her jasmine-and-vanilla scent now laced with exhaustion and lingering terror.
“You’re still a fucker,” she muttered against my chest, but her arms wound around my waist, holding me with surprising strength.
Her curves fit perfectly against me, softness meeting hardness in a way that made my wolf growl with approval.The thin fabric of her shirt did nothing to hide the peaks of her nipples hardening against my chest, her body responding to our proximity despite her emotional turmoil.
She felt it too; I could smell the sweet musk of her arousal mingling with the other complex emotions that surrounded her.Life and death, fear and relief, past and future, all collided in this moment between us, creating something elemental and raw that transcended simple desire.
When she pulled back just enough to look up at me, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears, it took every ounce of self-control not to claim her mouth with mine.To show her with lips and tongue and teeth that I was alive, that we were both alive, that whatever time we had left belonged to each other.
Instead, I let her set the pace, let her decide how much or how little she wanted from me right now.I’d walked away without giving her a choice.I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“I’ll be ready,” I promised, holding her gaze.“Whatever comes next, whatever we face at the COL today, I’ll be by your side.I won’t leave you again.”
My words were heavy with the weight of our shared history and the promise of what might still be possible.
CHAPTER19
BRODY
The journey to the COL was slower than planned, my body still recovering from the venom’s assault.Rozi matched her pace to mine without comment, her usual impatience nowhere in evidence.Instead, she pointed out plants along the way, collecting small samples of those that grew in concentric patterns around our destination.
“These formations get more precise the closer we get,” she observed, kneeling to examine a cluster of blue-tinged moss.“Look at the cellular structure.It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”
I crouched beside her, watching as she carefully stored another sample in her collection containers.“Una believed these plants evolved specifically to work with the COL water.That they’re not just growing near it, they’re part of it.”
Rozi’s eyes met mine, that spark of excitement lighting her face.“A symbiotic relationship.The water activates compounds in the plants, and the plants stabilize volatile elements in the water.”She stood, brushing dirt from her knees.“That’s why drinking pure COL water gives temporary effects.It’s incomplete without its botanical partners.”
I nodded, recalling Una’s theories.“She called it the balance of wild and tame.Said neither could exist properly without the other.”
We continued climbing, each step bringing us closer to something ancient and powerful.The air grew thick with magic; there was no other word for it, charged with an energy that made my wolf surge beneath my skin, clawing for release.My senses sharpened painfully—the subtle shift of Rozi’s weight as she climbed beside me, the microscopic changes in her scent as excitement and awe mingled with the jasmine-and-vanilla essence that was uniquely hers, the sound of her heartbeat accelerating in perfect rhythm with mine.
The path narrowed until it was barely visible, only the faintest trail winding between ancient trees whose gnarled branches twisted overhead into a cathedral-like canopy.My wolf recognized this place on a primal level that transcended human understanding.Home,he insisted, though I’d been here only once before.
