Page 19

I’ve never felt such bliss and agony at the same time.

Ignoring the discomfort, my eyes drift shut as I enjoy the warming of my skin and the rejoicing of my aching muscles.

I submerge my head for several seconds, willing nothingness into my brain, blocking out all the unpleasantries of the last few days .

I grab a cloth sitting on the lid of the tub, dumping lush lilac-smelling liquid onto it. I scrub my skin until it’s pink and raw and the water has cooled.

I hear what I assume is Ledger coming back into the room. My toe pops the stopper out, and I watch the dirty-tinged water swirl down the drain.

Sighing, I lift myself out of the bath, squeezing out my hair. Then, I realize my leggings are shredded and my tunic is covered in gore.

Scanning the area, I’m relieved to find a dark green robe hanging on the back of the washroom door.

It appears to be a worn silk material and only comes to my upper thigh, but I’m thankful for it no less. When I put it on, it drapes nicely against my skin.

Opening the door, I see Ledger laying out some clothes on the bed.

“Stiny was able to find me some women’s clothing.

Not sure how they will fit you, but I figured they would be better than your torn and tarnished…

ones.” He stops dead in his tracks as he sees me.

His eyes drag down my body. He swallows thickly, and his eyes linger before he clears his throat, looking away.

He scratches the back of his head before speaking.

“Sit down; we need to get those wounds rewrapped.” He juts his chin to the bed a few feet from me while turning to grab whatever supplies he snagged.

I glance down at myself, knowing it’s too late to change now and head over to the bed .

Before I can sit, Ledger lowers himself down the front of my body. My eyes nearly bulge out of my head as he passes along all my most sensitive parts until he is kneeling before me.

I brace myself, holding my breath. My hands fist the front of my robe, closing it further, and my eyes drift to the ceiling.

I let out a squeak of surprise when cool metal brushes my thigh. My eyes dart down as he cuts the wrap in two with his sharp dagger. “Would you stop doing that.” I say through gritted teeth as the wet fabric slaps onto the ground.

My eyes stay laser focused on Ledger on his hands and knees before me. I nearly quake at the sight of him.

The cool side of the dagger and his fingertips linger on the warmed skin of my thigh.

He studies the wound with a tight jaw. My toes dig into the floor as he blows out a breath.

“So, doc, am I going to live?”

“Sit, Layla,” he demands, and I do as I’m told almost immediately. “This is not funny; you could lose your leg if this gets infected.” My mouth is suddenly dry, and my palms slick. Wait, was I nervous?

Gods, I hope that my sudden feelings for this man are just from near-death experiences and blood loss. There is no other explanation—mere days ago, this man ripped me away from the only place I have ever called home .

The excruciating sting of the alcohol snaps me out of my thoughts. I choke as the cool liquid drips down my leg. Flying back, the bed thuds loudly against the withered wood walls causing particles to dust the air.

“Jesus, Ledger, you could warn me first.” I cradle my knee in my hand, carefully keeping the wound facing away from him.

“Give me back your leg; this must be done if you are fond of it.”

“Can’t someone a little more in tune with emotions do this—like Mia? I’m not one hundred percent convinced you feel pain— or really anything at all.”

“Alright, go ahead and stay like that. I’m rather enjoying the view.”

Remembering I am in a very small robe, I fling my leg back down, my hands scrambling to the ends of it again and pulling it as far down as I can. “You’re a pervert.” I glare as I slide back over to him. He wets the rag again, his lip ticking up for a moment.

“Brace yourself.” My hands move to the edge of the bed, squeezing, and when the alcohol-drenched rag touches my skin, a pained noise I didn’t know I was capable of is thrust from my throat.

Ledger’s hand drops as he fists the rag. “How does your healing ability work?” He stands.

“What?” I grit my teeth against the pain in my thigh .

“What do you think about when you heal? What activates your powers?”

“I don’t know, Ledger. What does this have to do with anything?”

“Please humor me, Layla. What were you thinking about when you healed me from the Kerolu?”

“I was thinking of things that provoke good feelings: the sunrise, the lagoon we stopped at.” I look away from him. “Stuff like that.”

“You’re not telling me something.”

“Well, I can’t remember everything …”

“Layla.” He snarls my name.

“The alcohol wasn’t that bad. I’m ready, dump it on the wound.”

“Say. It.” His demand has me spewing the truth faster than I would spoiled milk.

“Your fingers. I was thinking of how your fingers felt that night when you were distracting me from the dire wolf.”

He stiffens at my confession as he stares at me, my cheeks aflame. The silence in the room is deafening as seconds tick by. Ledger slowly lowers to his knees again in front of me. “I’d like to try something with your permission.”

“What? Try what?! No, I’m fine, really, I’m not that attached to my leg anyways—” I start to push myself back across the bed, away from him.

His strong hands snake around my calves, pulling me to him. My mouth snaps shut. “Just give me two minutes. I need you to trust me for two minutes. Can you give me that?” My body is taut, my back rigid, my hands fisting tighter on my robe.

Ledger exhales, his breath skating over the top of my thighs.

His words ricochet around my brain, making my heart thunder. Trust. The only man I’ve ever trusted is Maddox. Now, my captor of all men, wants me to let down my walls for him. To allow him access to me, and for what? I’m not sure I am even capable of a verbal response.

The second his warm, callused hands ascend on my calves, my resolve begins to melt away. Two minutes. I could allow him two minutes.

“Layla, I need a yes or no.”

“Time’s ticking.” I rasp. His hand pauses before his fingertips slide down one calf. His eyes don’t leave mine as his touch caresses my foot, dragging his fingers up the sensitive arch and skimming over each toe. His touch is feather light as he begins his perusal back up.

I shiver, and I’m sure Ledger notices because it seems to spur him on.

His green eyes heat as his fingertips deliciously skate along my skin.

My brain narrows in on his touch, the sight of him, and all thoughts of anything else vanish.

His fingertips glide around my ankle, and the back of my knee.

When his powerful hand works its way up my uninjured thigh and squeezes, I nearly groan .

I watch as his tongue darts out to lick his lips.

He lowers his mouth to my inner knee and places a kiss there.

Oh hell. He moves leisurely up my thigh, his warm breath scorching my sensitive skin.

He places one more tantalizing kiss on my inner thigh, and it is an effort to stop them from spreading for him.

I let out a shaky breath. Heat pools in my belly, and somewhere in all of that, I can feel the slight tingle of my power awakening as if curious.

“I’m going to lay you back now.” His voice is rough, and his scruff grazes my ear as he speaks. He pauses, listening for my answer, and a humiliating squeak of agreement is all I can muster before his corded arm guides me down to the bed.

Ledger knocks my thighs open enough for his knee to slide in between them.

I pray he can’t feel the radiating heat coming from me.

He leans down, his nose skimming where my robe meets in a V between my breasts.

He drags it up my chest, following the fabric to my shoulder, his sultry breath fanning across my skin.

He tugs the robe down and places a torturous kiss on my bare shoulder.

On instinct, my eyes fall shut, and my head digs into the mattress. My chin tips up ever so slightly, giving him better access.

One of his hands moves to my waist, his incinerating touch soaking through the thin fabric. His nose drags up my clavicle and coasts agonizingly slow up my neck, making my flesh and nipples pebble. My back arches, chasing more .

He shifts above me, and when he does, his hard length caresses my upper thigh. My hands fist in the blanket on either side of me. The urge to touch him, feel his manhood, is almost enough to drive me insane.

His hand moves languidly up my rib cage, and I nearly whimper in frustration when his fingers tighten around my side, his thumb stopping just below my breast.

His mouth, however, continues. His damp lips dust over my hammering pulse point, and I grind my hips into the mattress to keep them from lifting. Unhurriedly, they skim my jaw, making my breath hitch.

His labored breaths match my own as he stops at my mouth. His lips barely brush mine, and I am so lost in the moment, and the feeling of him, the desire for him to keep going, his words barely register when he chokes out, “You’re glowing.”

I blink, meeting his lush forest-green eyes. I catch a glimpse of his unfiltered desire, a look I’m sure my own face mirrors. We stare at each other for a long moment, catching our breath, the tension almost suffocating.

My eyes drift down our bodies, a faint glow emanating from my pale, buzzing skin. Ledger stays stock still, hovering inches above me. I notice he hasn’t showered or changed yet. That small detail, the fact he is taking care of my needs before his own, gives me a surge of satisfaction .

The skin on my thigh is now unmarred, slightly pink, and smooth. I touch the milky skin of my belly and am met with no pain.

The bed shifts as Ledger’s hand comes up to rest on my thigh, his thumb trailing over the freshly healed skin. “You’re remarkable.” He looks incredulously at me.

All I can do is stare dumbly at him, processing that he just seduced me into healing myself. I actually healed myself.

His fingers tighten on my thigh and his eyes trail up my body. When they land on my face, they linger on my lips. I run my hand over his forearm and up his bicep. When I get to his neck, I pull gently, lifting my head a fraction of an inch, itching to taste him.

Ledger makes a faint throaty groan, abruptly dropping my thigh as he unravels from me and pushes back.

His sudden absence feels like a bucket of ice water being thrown upon me. I jolt up and grab the robe, hugging it to me tightly. Disappointment fills my veins, and it’s a struggle to keep it off my face.

There is a thick silence in the room as we both collect ourselves. I keep my eyes firmly on the ground. I can feel Ledger’s presence everywhere, the scent of cedar and leather clogging my senses.

“Layla.” My name on his lips sounds tortured. “You must understand. I refuse to take any more from you than what I have already demanded. ”

“I’d like to get dressed.” I feel too exposed, too vulnerable, and if he didn’t give me space, I knew I would bolt, tiny silk robe and all.

He pauses for a pregnant moment before nodding and walking into the bathroom. The door shuts with a click.

A man has never made me feel even half of what I’d felt in those minutes. The worst part was he’d barely touched me, hadn’t even kissed me. I was grateful he’d stopped it. I should have stopped it myself.

My face falls into my hands, and I groan. “Get a grip, Layla.”

I look at my stomach again, no bruising to be seen.

I did that; I used my powers on myself. I get a glimpse of my thigh and marvel at the freshly healed skin.

Just moments ago, it was an open, jagged wound.

I stand up, testing it and moving my leg around, not a twinge of pain.

This is something so foreign, something I was sure was not possible. I wonder if I can do it again.

I hear Ledger shuffling in the bathroom, and yank on the clothes he brought up. They are simple: some undergarments, a pair of britches, and a black top, both big, but I am grateful, nonetheless.

I’m pulling on my boots when Mia walks through the wall into our room. She looks gorgeous, her brown skin and black hair now clean and luminous.

“Hey, I thought I’d check on you two. Make sure you haven’t put that dagger Ledger gave you to use on him yet. ”

“You can walk through walls?!” It hadn’t occurred to me; I had not seen Mia’s powers in action yet.

“Walls, doors, trees, an array of objects, really.” She shrugs, walking in further. “Where’s Ledger?”

“He’s in the bathroom.”

She raises her eyebrow, and a sly grin comes over her full lips. “Shall we go get some wine?”

“Please.” I nearly jump off the bed at the offer.

“First, let me fix your hair, what in the Gods’ name were you doing after your bath?”

A blush breaks out on my face, and I try to hide it from her as she fixes strands of my hair.

“Oh, girl, I totally get it. Where do you think I’ve been for the past hour? Travel gets long; I’d be a crazy person if I didn’t take care of my needs occasionally.” She gives me a wink, and I smile awkwardly back.