Page 94 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

I put both hands on his chest and steered him to the mattress. He reluctantly let me push him, taking one step back, then another, until he reached the mattress and sank onto his ass.

“Take your towel off,” I said bluntly.

It was almost… an order.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

I narrowed mine back.

Finally, he undid the towel and it fell onto the bed.

Though my gaze caught on his erection, and I wanted to comment on it, my eyes moved quickly to a wound on his thigh. It was angry, red, and bleeding lightly.

I looked him up and down, then climbed onto the bed to see his back, taking stock of his injuries.

Damn, there were a lot of them.

“Your sister is good,” I remarked, grimacing as I wiped a bit of blood from one of the smaller cuts. It was a miracle he was still awake, considering that he’d healed me and bled plenty from his own wounds.

He made a noncommittal noise. “It wasn’t a typical fight. We grew up practicing together, so she knows how I move.”

“And you know how she moves?”

He confirmed it.

“Would she have been the queen, if she hadn’t joined the cult?”

“Yes. I never wanted the throne, and she did. I would’ve vastly preferred a life in this house, away from the drama.”

“Really?” He had me curious. “What would you like about it?”

“There would be no important decisions to make. No one’s life in my hands. I could spend my days breaking ice when we weren’t fighting, and I could walk off the battlefield without the guilt of my people’s blood on my shoulders.”

“If you defeated the cult and your parents came back, would you give them the throne?”

He chuckled, his back still facing me. “In a heartbeat, if the people would follow them. When they ran away, they ensured that our warriors would never allow them to rule again.”

My lips curved upward a bit sadly. I wished there was some way to make that happen for him.

His eyes were looking a bit unfocused, and worry curled in my stomach.

“I think you should rest. Climb under.” I pulled the blankets back. Though I needed to cover his wounds, Gleam and Coarse hadn’t returned with the bandages and antidote.

I still wasn’t sure about the bond connecting me to Coarse, which made me hesitant to use it. But, I was worried about Ravv, so I finally reached out.

“Are you getting close? He’s not doing good.”

“We’re almost there,” the idorr said, his voice surprisingly un-grumpy.

I hadn’t expected to end up bonded to Gleam’s mate, but I couldn’t say I hated the idea. He would protect me, as he’d proven when he pulled me out of the river. Our connection would make it harder when Ravv and I went our separate ways, but I would figure out a way to make it work.

“And you have the antidote?”

“We do.”

The steadiness in his voice made me feel slightly better.

Having Coarse would help me avoid relying on Ravv, I realized… and that was a very good thing, because I was really starting to worry that I was becoming dependent on him.

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