Chapter Seven
Calista
I’m having a sex dream when I wake up with a start.
My whole body is humming as I sit up on the chair, flushed and breathless with an intensethrobbingbetween my legs. A spot on my neck is tingling with a demanding vibration like it wants something more than a scratch. I look over at the star of my steamy dream and am shocked to find him awake, watching me.
“You’re up,” I say, stunned. It’s been two days and two nights since the battle with the Sea Wraiths. He hasn’t so much as opened his eyes once.
But he’s looking good now. Not just good, but alert. He’s not delirious or half-conscious. He’s fully awake and propped up against the headboard looking at me like he’s never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
My cheeks blush as I tear my eyes away from him. It’s like looking at the sun. It’s too much. Best to see in small doses.
“Was I… making noise?” I ask with my cheeks burning. “I was having a dream.”
“It sounded like fun,” he says with a grin. “I wish I was there.”
You were.
“How long was I out?” he asks in a scratchy voice that sends goosebumps popping up along my arms.
“Two days.”
I stared at you the whole time.
I didn’t know how good I had it. I was able to shamelessly stare at his gorgeous face all I wanted. I spent hours sitting beside his bed, admiring the curve of his nose, the slope of his jaw, the way his Adam’s apple moved whenever he swallowed. Now, I can barely look at him for two seconds before my cheeks flush and I involuntarily drop my eyes.
He runs his hand through his dark hair and I swallow hard at the sexy sight.
“Your arm,” I say, sitting up when I notice it. He just casually ran his hand through his hair with his bad arm and didn’t wince. “It’s healed?”
He rolls his shoulder and then lifts his arm. “It feels good.”
My eyes dart to his shredded stomach as he pulls the blanket down. The gaping wounds are nothing more than fading pink lines. If his healing continues like that, they’ll be invisible by breakfast.
He sits up and twists his body from side to side. I’m trying to look at him like a doctor might examine a patient, but I doubt I’m hiding the lust in my eyes when I see all those muscles turning and clenching. He’ssohot.
“I think I’m all better,” he says, sliding his legs off the bed. He puts his feet on the floor and stands up, stretching and moving with ease.
“I’m so relieved,” I say. “I didn’t like seeing you like that. I was worried sick.”
“I’m sorry,” he says quietly.
“You don’t have to be sorry,” I tell him. This past week was the best week of my life. Watching over him has given me a sense of purpose I didn’t know I needed.
“Well, I am,” he says with a heavy sigh.
“For what?”
“For hogging your bed,” he says, glancing back at it. “For bleeding on your sheets. For being a burden. But mostly, for not being able to protect you.”
I give him a look. “You saved Isen,” I say. “He would have been shredded to pieces if it wasn’t for you.”
He tilts his head. “Isen?”
“The little guy in the crow’s nest,” I tell him. “You stopped the wraiths from taking him.”
“I just roared,” he says. “The other girl did the saving.”
