Page 12 of Wild Kiss

Besides the slight line of tension in his forehead, he seemed okay. Or at least better than yesterday.

"How long have I been sleeping?"

“For about fifteen hours. I started checking your breathing about six hours ago,” he joked.

I laughed and rolled onto my back again, checking in with my body. Before I’d fallen asleep…I’d been beyond sore. I was pretty sure my vagina was broke, but now... now I was feeling pretty good.

Maybe ready to add one more mate to the mix.

My chest throbbed, Daxon’s amusement pushing through our bond. Evidently, he’d felt the pang of lust that flashed through me at the sight of Wilder’s naked chest.

That was going to take some getting used to. Even with the threesome action we’d had before the mating bond…I still expected him to rip through the tent and tear Wilder away from me.

“Are you hungry?” Wilder asked, sitting up and revealing a plate of eggs and bacon that had my mouth watering.

“I love you,” I breathed, eagerly reaching for the food. I was starving again.

"I knew I was sweating over the fire all morning for a reason," he joked.

I picked up the fork and scooped up a bite of the eggs, practically shoveling it into my mouth. I chewed it slowly while I thought about what to say next.

When I finally swallowed, Wilder was staring at me patiently, obviously knowing I had something to say.

"It isn't just the mating bond that has you feeling out of sorts; you've always had issues with that."

He sighed and glanced away from me.

"Yes… And no. Everything seems to be up and down in my head. One minute I'm doing just fine, and then something more happens and all my insecurities are set off again."

I nodded, understanding that probably more than he knew. I always thought I was healed from Alistair's rejection, but then something would be said, or a wave of insecurity would hit, and all the bad feelings and self-loathing would come creeping back. I wasn't sure those feelings would ever go away. It felt like they were ingrained in my DNA at this point. Was that what it felt like to him?

"I know about your ex obviously, but what else do you think contributes to it?" I asked hesitantly. I didn't feel great about delving into his insecurities. I knew I didn't want to discuss my own right then, but it felt like a conversation we needed to have. I wanted to make sure he knew I loved him, just as much as I loved Daxon. That he was also one of the great loves of my life.

"Life was a series of disappointments until you rolled into town. When everything would be looking up, something would come crashing down. Every time I thought I had it all, the scholarship, the girl…it would disappear." He shook his head bitterly. "I promise I’ll get my shit together. Maybe it's just this place. There's a darkness in the land, and it's like it’s seeping into my skin. Can you feel it?" he asked.

I nodded. Even though I'd been distracted for several days, I could feel it, the wrongness, the way that their death had cursed the ground we were walking on.

I ate the rest of my breakfast in silence. Wilder looked pleased with every bite I took.

"What time are we supposed to leave?" I asked.

He shrugged, his eyes beginning to heat as he stared at me. "We weren't sure how long you'd sleep…so there's no set time.”

The implication was clear, or should I say the offer was clear. If I wanted to mate with Wilder, no one was going to stop me.

"I want you," I confessed. "I want to feel you inside of me, feel your warmth around my soul. I never want to be without you."

"Thank fuck," he breathed as his lips touched mine. He licked and sucked at my mouth, our tongues tangling together. He was claiming me, and I held onto his shoulders, desperate to get as close as possible to him. His lips eventually trailed down my neck and across my shoulder, the opposite one that Daxon had claimed. He pulled back briefly to stare at me, his green eyes piercing my soul. "Are you sure?" he asked again, and I saw the flicker of fear in his gaze that I would reject him.

I leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss. "Perfectly sure," I murmured against his lips before I slowly pulled away.

His tongue licked at the spot on my shoulder he'd chosen, and then…he struck.

I cried out as the pain tore through me, and I waited for the feeling of blissful heat to block it out as it had with Daxon.

But nothing happened. There was just the cold trickle of blood down my skin. My eyes were clenched when he pulled away, and I was a coward, because it took me a long moment to open them and stare at him.

Wilder was a broken man. His face had somehow paled in the seconds between the before and after of the bite, and his eyes were red and watery. "I don't understand," he whispered desperately, his gaze trailing to the bleeding bite on my shoulder.

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