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“Are you ok?” He’s off me and kneeling beside the bed, his fingers running through my hair. “That was stupid.”
Being an insecure idiot, I wonder if he means kissing me was stupid or climbing on top. “Other than the last part, I kind of liked it.” My face warms from my vulnerable declaration.
He slips his hand into mine. “I’ll get you to Ben tomorrow. For now, it’s probably better if I sleep across the hall.” There’s an unfamiliar shyness in his expression.
I sit up straighter in the bed and place my hands in my lap, twisting the blanket. “It’s probably also not the best idea to kiss me when you have a girlfriend.”
With that, he’s on the bed again, his hand on my thigh. “Susan’s not my girlfriend. We spend time together, but we have a mutual agreement to keep feelings out of it.”
“You better reiterate that to her. She made it clear that you belong to her. Suggested I spend more time with Rafe.” I lean on my side, taking extra care with my ankle.
“Under no circumstances are you to be alone with Rafe.” He frowns, his hand massaging my leg. “He’s a werewolf in sheep’s clothing and always looking for his next conquest.”
I don’t want to be anyone’s conquest—even Bastian’s.
“I’ll remember that.” I force out a weak smile, still sad our kiss kept him from staying. There are so many questions I have about the prophecy, the First City, and about what happened to his parents. They can wait until morning.
He leans forward, kissing me on the cheek and enveloping me in his warm aura. “Good night.”
His scent lingers after he’s left the room, so I wrap the blanket around me, imagining he’s still here and trying to block out the pain of my ankle. I lie awake for a long time, first listening to the sounds across the hall, then the melody of crickets and other creatures outside the window before drifting to sleep.
A soft knock on the door wakes me. I stretch my arms above my head. The sharp pain in my leg has blood pumping harder than usual through my veins. I groan loudly, fighting back the tears.
Bastian slams the door open and sits on the bed beside me, lifting the blankets as if they’re made of lead, probably trying not to hurt me. He rolls up my pant leg to reveal an ugly mass of black and purple that used to be my ankle. “It’s worse than I thought. I need to get you to Ben before you go into shock.”
My stomach growls, taking priority over my ankle. “Is there an apple I could take on the road?”
“I made us sandwiches.” He stands and walks to the door. “I’ll come back to get you in a minute or two.”
I shift in the bed so I can hang my legs over the edge and use my arms to prop myself up to a sitting position. It’s terrible to feel useless. I balance on my good leg to stand, then hop over the floor to the desk chair, making it easier to manage. The letter Bastian wrote to his friend Xavier was still there the night before, but now it’s gone. He didn’t want me to read it.
“What are you doing out of bed?” He stands in the doorframe with his cloak and pack on. In his hand is what I assume is my sandwich wrapped in a napkin.
“Put yourself in my situation. You’d never lie around doing nothing.” I sit down in the chair and lace on my left boot.
He quirks his lip, scratching his ear. “Yeah… well, at least I’d be smart about not following the doctor’s orders. I’d use a crutch so I wouldn’t fall.”
I lift an eyebrow. “So, you’re Doctor Hale now? Better not let that go to your head like the whole commander role.” It’s flirting, but the truth in my words settles like bricks between us.
“I didn’t ask for it.” He leans against the doorframe. This morning, he’s tied his hair back, revealing his beautifully chiseled jawline. “It’s a role I fell into. After my parents died, I wandered for a while, lost in my grief. When I found Levi again, the others assumed I was a rebellion fighter. More like I lifted one too many hay bales in my life. Gray taught me how to use weapons. Turns out, I’m a natural.”
“I meant nothing by it.” I brace my hand on the desk to stand. “You fit the role so well, I figured you relished in the attention.”
“It’s the complete opposite.” He crosses the room to where I’m standing. “Put your arm around my neck.” I comply, and he sweeps me up into his arms as if I weigh nothing. After our time together last night, his touch is magnified, searing my arm and thigh.
I rest my head on his chest as he carries me down the stairs to the living area and then out the back door by my bedroom. We take a different trail than the one we use to go to the training grounds. It’s also much later. He let me sleep in.
“I was the youngest of three brothers.” He breaks my concentration on the rhythm of his heartbeat. “Frank and Chilon always outshined me in everything—wrestling, farm work, attention from our parents, women. This pushed me inward, so I turned to books and learning to find my worth in a strength-dominated world. Muscles and physical prowess accomplished tasks around the farm, not knowledge of fairytales and enhanced vocabularies.”
Still hesitant to touch him, even after our heated kisses the night before, I lay a hand on his chest. “But you have both.”
He laughs. “I didn’t always. Compared to my brothers, I was a scrawny child. It took years of working on the farm to build my strength. And years of having my butt kicked by them.”
“What happened to your family?” I let the question hang between us, knowing the same hurt all too well. Levi told me the story, but I want Bastian to open his heart to me.
His face darkens as he stares ahead of us. Strong hands clutch me tighter. “Miscretes. It wasn’t random. It was almost like they were after something my parents had, and they didn’t plan to leave a single living thing standing until they found it. Burnt down the farm, our home, and slaughtered my entire family.”
I close my eyes as waves of his pain roll off him, drowning me in the intensity of his aura. The connection between us is palpable as I grip his arm asking, “How did you escape?”
