Chapter Five
Brea
My mouth is too dry to even lick my lips. I simply stare at him, trying to absorb his edict. He’s very dominant, and apparently he expects me to fall into some role of submission. I’m not sure I have that in me. It’s beyond foreign.
Navin rises and lets his gaze skim down my body until he gets to my thighs. His hands come to my knees, and he gently bends them and guides them wider before removing the fastener that’s holding gauze around my thigh.
The thick bulk of the diaper lays heavy between my legs, making my face heat at the reminder. I can’t believe I was so unconscious that I peed myself. I’m mortified.
Navin is very careful as he removes the bandage.
I pull the blanket over my exposed breast and rise onto my elbows to watch. I can’t imagine what he’s going to unveil, but I suspect it will be gnarly.
My eyes widen as soon as the wound comes into my line of sight. I push more upright to get a better look, unable to carethat the blanket falls away from my chest. “That’s impossible,” I whisper.
“What’s that, Little love?” he asks as he angles my leg a bit more to one side.
“I thought you said you found me yesterday…”
He lifts his gaze, grinning. “We did. Are you stunned by how much your leg has healed? My essence runs through your blood now, Little love. It speeds the healing process.”
I jerk my gaze back to the long cut on my thigh. It’s been expertly stitched. It looks like it happened a week ago at least. “Who stitched it?”
He winces. “I did, Brea. I’m not a doctor, mind you, but I think I did a pretty good job.”
I push forward farther, bending over, totally losing interest in my nudity. “It barely hurts.” I reach out to touch it. “Unbelievable.” I thought I was in pain earlier, but I suspect that was just my mind telling me I should be.
He lifts my fingers to his lips and kisses them. “I never want to see you hurting or injured, but when you do, you’ll always heal quickly from now on.”
“Why didn’t I die?” I’m baffled. “He stabbed me. I saw how much blood there was.”
“He missed the femoral artery. I assume that’s what he was aiming for. If he had any braincells, he would have known he needed to cut you open the other direction.”
I let out a sardonic laugh. “Oh, trust me. Mitchel doesn’t have a full head of braincells. He’s an asshole. He was high when he left me to die. I’m certain he had no idea which direction to cut my leg open so I would bleed out, but that was his intention, and as far as I knew, he accomplished it. It felt like he’d cut my leg off entirely. I was in so much pain and shock that I passed out.”
“Good. I’m glad. I wouldn’t want to think of you lying in the woods alone waiting to die. However, whoever this Mitchel is, he’s a dead man,” Navin growls. He means it.
I shudder. Part of me would be delighted if Navin wiped this Earth of the likes of Mitchel, but I don’t want him to. I can already tell Navin is a good man. I don’t want anything to happen to him. “Don’t,” I tell him.
His brow furrows. “Don’t what, Little love?”
I shake my head. “Let it go,” I mutter. “Don’t think of Mitchel. He thinks I’m dead. Maybe you could help me get away from here.” I sit up taller as ideas form. “If I never go back to town, he’ll assume I died. Could you help me? If you have some clothes, boots, and a little food to spare, I could run away and?—”
Navin flinches. “Brea… Little love… What are you talking about? Your home is here now. With me.” He grabs my hips and gives a tug so I shift closer to him and fall back against the covers.
I’m panting as I stare at him.
He moves his hands to my face, cupping me gently. “Brea, you’re mine. I’ll rarely let you out of my sight, Little love. You won’t like it when I’m not in the room. We’re a bonded couple now. There will be no running.”
He’s serious. “But you don’t know me. Maybe you won’t even like me when you get to know me. Thank you so much for saving my life, but I won’t burden you. If Mitchel ever found out I was here, he would kill all of you just for sport.”
Navin’s brows lift. “Why the hell do you think this Mitchel asshole is so powerful? I don’t intimidate easily, Little love. No one is going to get near you ever again, Brea.”
“But we’re not that far from town. A few hours? You would never get away with hiding me forever. Someone would eventually find out I’m here, and when it got back to Mitchel…”
“Brea…”
I shake my head. “I mean it, Navin. He would come for me. I won’t let you risk yourself to protect me. I’m nobody.”
