Page 28 of The Healer (The Blood of Legends #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

UN ‘BEAR’ ABLE

L unar, Rhys ached for her. The agony in his groin was distracting. And her scent had intensified, now aided by the close confines of the Jeep. The way the sunlight played across her face, the laughter in her eyes, the curve of her neck to her pebbled breasts. He loved it all. Casting a glance out the window, he sucked in long calming breaths. He loved her and had committed the moment she gave herself to him.

His bear was somewhat pacified, but still demanded he mate.

And it had been a close thing when he bit her shoulder. Thankfully, he hadn’t drawn blood. She had his in her, they had made love, and now, all the connection needed was her blood in him. That was, had she been a shifter.

She did have some shifter traits in her genes with Amos as her grandfather. Rhys didn’t know how humans might react to the mating call. He worried his bottom lip with his teeth, wondering how best to tell her the ecstasy she had felt when he had smeared his blood across her palm had started the mating sequence for him.

She thought Dane an ass, which was why his blood hadn’t triggered a similar reaction. Fuck, Rhys would have had to kill Dane if she had found the polar bear attractive. Small wonders.

She parked the car in a vacant spot and gestured for Rhys to follow. The sunlight streamed down, making him uncomfortable, his bear forced to slow its pacing. Inside the hospital, he trailed her upstairs and into a lab, hand sanitizing as she had done.

She disappeared down an aisle, then reemerged, only to disappear again. “Evie?”

A dark head popped out of a room at the back of the lab. Her brown eyes widened. “Ilona?”

“Oh, there you are. This is Rhys.”

Her friend hurried forward, a rainbow of colors in her leggings and baggy shirt beneath her lab coat. “The Rhys?”

“Yup, he…um, shared his blood.” Ilona held out her palm.

“He did what? Oh.” Evie grasped Ilona’s hand and ran her thumb over the red line. “Fuck me, James,” she whispered.

“I want you to draw my blood again and give me both vials.”

“What? Why?” Evie’s brow furrowed as she gathered a few things.

“I have an interview in Inner City, remember. I texted you the details.”

Heat engulfed his chest, and he settled his gaze on Ilona. She had known before his arrival. Right, the business card. Watching as she gave blood, he couldn’t get over what had happened since his arrival. Callie had been right to urge him to get his ass over there.

Lona was his, was fulfilling his wildest dreams by moving to Inner City, and he had all the confidence she wouldn’t work at Heartstone, but at his laboratory, searching for the healing gene.

Her cause was noble, and maybe, this was the investment opportunity he’d been looking for. There was money to be made in healing, not that he planned to farm her cure to the highest bidder. Just enough to secure his…their pack’s future.

As they chatted around the microscope, he waited, running his gaze over Lona’s curves. Soon, he would have her beneath him, her moans serenading him, her cries and pleas urging him on, and her explosive orgasm drenching his cock with waves of heat.

He growled and offered the room his back to adjust his jeans again. It wasn’t helping, and with the humidity, he had discarded his jacket.

“Honestly, I can’t take you anywhere.” Lona looped an arm through his, and with a small cooler bag in hand, she waved at Evie. “I’ll text you when I arrive.”

“You better, and whatever you discover. Nice meeting you, Rhys.”

The lab door closed, but instead of heading for the exit, Lona dragged him into a room and locked the door.

“What—?”

“Doctor’s restroom.” She gestured to the bed in the corner, then toed off her sneakers and shimmied out of her jeans, taking her panties with it.

He groaned at the scent of her teasing him. Unbuttoning his jeans, he shoved them to his knees with his cock bobbing in eagerness. Scooping her off her feet, he pinned her to a wall, and thrust in, a growl tearing his vocal cords.

“So good.” He grunted, withdrawing to thrust again.

Her head bumped against the wall, so he shuffled forward to place his hand behind her. Then thrust again. She cried out, moaning and gasping when he gyrated his hips.

“Fuck, you’re breathtaking, Lona.”

He wanted to admire the woman in his arms but also wanted to experience every one of her scintillating mini orgasms rippling along his length. They increased in frequency, and her mewling hinted the big one was close. So was his, with his nipples hardening, sparking fireworks to shoot to his groin. His balls spasmed, sending shivers along the length of him.

He wanted her to come first. Withdrawing, he paused, then plunged in. She arched, her face flushed, her eyes rolled back, and she cried out. Sweet heat engulfed him, barreling him toward his release. He roared but smothered it by biting her shoulder.

The taste of her blood lanced across his tongue, and another orgasm shuddered through him. Stars burst across the backs of his eyelids. He opened his eyes to lose himself in her hazel gaze. His hips twitched with smaller explosions, but instead of releasing her, he kissed her, swiping his tongue over her bottom lip, teasing hers, tracing the caverns of her mouth. He couldn’t get enough of kissing her, of fucking her.

And now she was his, mated. His bear danced with joy, but sadness tainted Rhys’s heart.

Lunar, how would he tell her?

He pulled out, moaning at the loss of her softness. As he watched her dress while buttoning his jeans, he settled his gaze on her shoulder where a few red droplets stained her T-shirt. “I bit you. I’m sorry.”

She chuckled. “I didn’t mind. Kind of like it, surprisingly.”

Together, they left the hospital, and not ten minutes later, she opened the door to her apartment. Had he any control, he could have waited, and perhaps not drawn her blood.

Her home was in stark contrast to her parents’. The stacked boxes in the corner and the secondhand couch hinted at a life in transition. The green cactus was the one spot of color. He trailed her into her bedroom, placed the unfolded boxes against a wall, and stared out the window at the city skyline.

“It won’t take me long to pack. Want anything to eat? We can order in.”

He shook his head, then smiled at her. “The only thing I want to eat is you.”

She gasped, and pink splashed her cheeks again. “This is what the Lunar Fest is like? Every month?”

He nodded. “I handled it fine, but since meeting you, the urge to mate has me in its grip.”

“Mate.” She mouthed the word as if testing the way it rolled off her tongue. “Well, help yourself to anything you need.”

As she unfolded a box, he undid his boots, and sprawled on the bed, content to watch her dart across the bedroom.

He folded an arm under his head. “What about your lease?”

“It expires in two months. I might just leave what I don’t want. The landlord can do with it as he pleases.”

“So we set off for Inner City as soon as we pack the car?” Glancing at her bathroom, he considered taking a shower.

“Yup, sounds like a plan.”

Leaping off the bed, he strode to the kitchen, picked up her keys, then headed downstairs to retrieve his duffel bag. Starting the long drive in clean clothes might be a good thing, although, he planned to make love to her along the way, maybe strum a few orgasms from her while stuck in traffic.

He also wanted to learn everything about her. They had started the game in Coedwig, so at least he knew her favorite color, music, movie. But he needed more. Returning to the apartment, he placed his bag on the couch and dug out a fresh set of clothes. She had filled one box and was working on another when he strode into the bathroom. While he waited for the water to heat, he watched her again, admiring the sunlight flaming her hair.

“You’re making me nervous.” She flashed a smile, then grabbed clothing out of the closet to fold into the box.

“I love the way the sunlight kisses your hair.”

“One quickie and you’re waxing poetic?” she teased, dropped the stack of jeans into the box, and sashayed toward him. His breath caught when she peeled off her T-shirt, tossing it on the carpet. She unclipped her bra and massaged her breasts. “I could do with a shower.” One by one, she removed her sneakers and jeans until she stood naked before him.

He ran his gaze over her, his body tense with need. Shifters and their stamina. As a human, once or twice a day would have been all he was capable of. She captured his trembling hand and placed it over a breast. He feathered his touch around a nipple, down her belly, across her belly button to her sex. Cupping her there, he captured her gasp with his mouth, thrusting his tongue into the hot warmth as he plunged his finger between her intimate folds. Lunar, she was wet for him.

Keeping his eyes open, he thrummed her clit, rubbing and twirling until her breath hitched. Then he worked that spot until she cried out and spasmed against him, her fingernails digging into his chest through his T-shirt. Steam flooded them from the bathroom, but he didn’t care if a cold shower awaited him.

She did, darting around him to switch it off. Laughing, she faced him.

The minx tormented him, and he was undecided how to take her. He wanted slow and sweet, like this morning on the floor of the guest room. She scraped her nails up his stomach, lifting his shirt.

“Off.”

He obeyed, peeling it off.

She yanked at his jeans, undoing the button and slipping a hand inside to stroke the length of his cock. He arched his back, relishing the burn of need that rose with each caress.

“Off.”

He removed his boots and slid out of his jeans, trembling with restraint. Her eyes widened as she trailed her gaze over him. Her fingers followed the path, tweaking his nipples, circling his belly button, and then wrapping around his cock.

He groaned again, arching his hips to thrust at her.

Her warmth and scent came closer when she cupped his balls.

He trembled, the sensation too exquisite and intense.

Letting her have her way went against his alpha genes when he wanted to toss her onto the bed and fuck her hard. What he needed was for her to be comfortable around him, even though she hadn’t shown a hint of shyness despite the blushes.

She latched onto a nipple and sucked hard while pumping his length. He swayed, his knees growing weak.

“You have a beautiful body, Rhys.”

He shuddered. Her saying anything in that voice of hers was an aphrodisiac to his senses.

She circled him, squeezing, stroking, pinching, and slapping, until every inch of him yearned for her touch, was eager to please her.

“Come.” She tugged him toward the bed.

He stumbled forward and sprawled across it. Then she did the most amazing thing. She climbed on top of him and rubbed her sex across his length, up and down. Arching her back on a moan, she flicked her eyes open to meet his.

Color stained her cheeks, but she shuffled and slowly impaled herself.

Fiery need engulfed him. He gripped her hips, holding her in place, tempted to thrust up. His pelvis jerked, eager to do just that.

But she stilled when she was fully seated and sat upright, bending his length to a painfully pleasurable degree. Instead of fucking him like he longed to do, she captured his hand and pressed it to her sex. Ah. He grinned.

Toying with her clit sparked her hips to move, and as he thrummed her, she rubbed her channel along his length. Whimpers and gasps escaped her, and when she nudged his fingers aside, he leaned back to watch her stroke herself.

She thrashed, gyrated, bouncing her breasts while stroking him closer to an orgasm. Spots circled his vision when she cried out, his name tumbling from her lips. When she bucked then slumped, the heat from her pleasure saturated his cock. He took over, gripping her hips to thrust up. Unblinking, he watched her come apart again as lightning shot from his balls to his cock.

She threw herself across him while he fucked her, but when she bit his shoulder, his world exploded into white, hot joy so intense he spasmed, riding the wave for what felt like an eternity. He rolled her over to kiss her, pinning her beneath him as tiny sparks fired and mini orgasms trembled his body.

“Lona.” He couldn’t think of anything to say, how to convey what she made him feel. It was too soon to tell her he loved her.

“I bit you.” Concern furrowed her brow, as if she had done something wrong.

“I’ve never experienced that. Bite me whenever you want to.” Fuck, hell, yeah, was what he wanted to say, but he would sound like the Neanderthal she had called him.

“Is it as good as when you bite me?” She brushed his hair off his shoulders and trailed a finger along his jaw. He wanted to close his eyes and savor her touch.

“What did it feel like for you?”

“Oh, amazing. My impending orgasm goes from wow to epic.” She grinned. “It’s why I don’t mind.”

“It’s the same for me.” He cupped her cheeks and kissed her. His nostrils flared as he sucked in the scents from their union, memorizing them. “Come, shower. We’ll stop for food when we refuel.”

She nodded, then stretched to kiss him.

When he withdrew, she winced.

Laughing, he stole another kiss before lifting off her. “We should give your body a chance to recover. I’ll run you a bath, then shower while you soak.”

“The man of my dreams,” she teased, her gaze following his stroll to the bathroom.