Page 66 of UNAwere

He lets out a shuddering breath.

‘What’s happening to me?’ I whisper, tilting my head to regard him.

He meets my eye in the dim light. ‘You just need to cool down.’

‘Why?’

His hand lifts and smooths across my forehead, and I lean into it. ‘Because your body is heating up.’

‘Why?’

He grunts, picking me up off the sink and setting me on my feet under the cool stream of water. When I almost fall, he catches me, swearing, and steps in with me. And I moan, tilting my head back as cold water splashes across my scorching skin.

It feels divine. Heavenly.

And the warmth of his body, pressing against me between our wet shirts, feels even better. My hands roam up his broad back, feeling the dips and curves of his muscles. I sigh, pressing in close.

‘Cool down, Sybbie,’ he says softly, breathing hard. ‘Then we’ll get you to bed.’

I blink up at him, and he lifts a hand, smoothing it across my mouth to wipe the blood from it. His palm trails down my throat, washing the blood away, and towards my chest, where he gathers the shirt in his fist and uses it to wipe the blood off my breasts.

My nipples are in painful points, and I moan, throwing my head back at the friction the T-shirt causes when he moves it. And he’s looking down at them, panting, brow buckling.

‘I need…’ I’m trying to get a grasp of what I need.

I need cool. I need heat. I need skin.

I need him.

‘You need to cool down,’ he says.

His hand strokes across my forehead again, and when he seems satisfied with my temperature, he turns the shower off and carries me out. I’m sat back down onto the sink, and he grabs a towel and dries me down. I groan, writhing against his touches, needing more.

He grunts, ignoring me, and picks me up again, carrying me out into the room.

‘You just need to sleep it off,’ he tells me, voice strained.

I whimper. ‘I don’t think that’s what I need.’

‘You’re okay,’ he says gently, pushing back my wet hair. My head is on the pillows, and as comfortable as this bed is, I need him. ‘You’re safe.’

‘Jude…’

His face twists. ‘Get some sleep, Sybbie.’

He forces himself from me, and I moan, writhing in the blankets. The ants are back, and they’re crawling, biting, stinging. My thighs are embarrassingly slick, drops of fluid dripping down them.

‘Jude…’

I can’t see him. I don’t know where he is, but I need him here, with me.

There’s a low growl from the corner of the room. ‘You’re alright, Red.’

I roll onto my stomach, moaning, grinding my nipples against the mattress, arching my back, my bare arse rising from the bed. I feel cool air hit the backs of my thighs, and the sensation is good, but it’s not enough.

‘Jude,’ I beg.

I’m breathing hard. I’ve gone insane with need.