Page 53 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

J arred had had enough. They were getting derailed while Wayla lay unconscious and in pain on the fucking floor. Her breathing was too fast and shallow. Her face was mottled with bruises and trickles of blood kept staining her lips.

Fuck all of this. Ilijas had said something about siphoning off some of the power so he could get in and heal her. He didn’t care what she was hiding or what she was. She was his, and she had claimed him in return. His jaguar roared in agreement.

He still didn’t know how he had let her walk out of his room, but he could do something about it now.

Stomping over, he took one of the moist towels Sim had laid out and knelt next to her, gently wiping her face clean of blood.

She didn’t blast him across the room, and that was all the reassurance that he needed.

Carefully, Jarred leaned in and kissed her cheek, trying to ease the ache. His lips caressed her skin, and it felt like he had stuck his face into an anthill. He was about to jerk back, but a hand landed on his back.

“Good, keep doing that,” Ilijas encouraged him. “Pull as much as you can stomach. It’s helping, her nose stopped bleeding.”

“What?” Hellion gasped. Jarred ignored it and lay down, pressing his whole body against hers. All he wanted was for her to stop hurting. Everywhere their skin touched, his stung. He wanted to roar, shift, pace, roar, pace—

“Enough!” Ilijas’s shout penetrated his thoughts. Hands jerked him back, and Jarred shifted without thought.