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After bracing my hands on the mattress, feeling the smooth, warmed sheets beneath my palms, I started to shift up a little bit. I felt too vulnerable in this position, even if I’d never felt safer than with Luca.
There were twinges of pain, discomfort that had a gasp almost leaving me, and a low growl of concern left Luca. How strange to be able to discern the different tones that came from him. From ones of anger and protection, to growls of pleasure and of worry, they were so different to me that it made me feel that much more connected to him.
Of course I’d felt that way with my family, but I’d been with them my whole life. To experience this with someone who I just met had wonder filling me.
“Ah, îngera?, don’t push yourself.”
“What does that mean?” I whispered. “I heard you call me that before.”
He gave me a small smile as he continued to smooth his thumbs along my face, his touch gentle and soft, which felt like a contradiction to his sheer size and the power he wielded.
“It means ‘little angel’.” His voice was soft but gruff. “My little angel.”
The endearment had a flush rising under my cheeks immediately. My new position had my back braced against the thick, hard, and cold wooden headboard. I could feel the grooves and indentations from what I assumed were engravings.
And although it was sturdy behind me, keeping me seated and securing me, the male in front of me felt even stronger.
The new position had his hands falling away from my face, but as if he couldn’t stop touching me, Luca gripped one of my hands, holding my tiny one between his larger ones. Mine was childlike in comparison, and I felt a jolt of feminine appreciation fill me.
He kept smoothing his thumb back and forth over my pulse point, his eyes locked on mine as if he couldn’t bear to look away. I’d never felt such intense attraction before, never had anyone look at me with such undying conviction that I was theirs.
But Luca gave me that—had me feeling that—in spades.
“How long have I been out?” I cleared my throat as my voice sounded unused and scratchy. I licked my dry lips, and a second later, Luca was handing me a small glass of water, as if he read my mind.
I gave him a grateful smile and took the glass, our fingers brushing gently together, that spark of connection and electricity instantly slamming into me. It was powerful enough it had my lips parting slightly from the intensity of it.
“Do you want more?” He was already rising and taking the glass from me, as if he anticipated me saying I did.
But I shook my head and pulled the blanket over my lap a little higher, suddenly feeling a chill surround me. “I’m okay. Thank you. How long have I been out?”
He set the glass down and sat on the edge of the bed, taking my hand in his once more, as if he needed that connection, as if that small touch reassured him that I was really here.
I knew his touch did that for me.
“A few hours.”
There was a spike of relief but also of panic at hearing how long I’d been unconscious.
The panic had set in because the worst-case scenario that had initially filtered through my head was that I’d been out for a day at the least. But then the relief had come because it had only been a few hours, and I didn’t want my family worrying about me anymore than they were.
“I worried that, because you are a hybrid, you wouldn’t heal as quickly.”
Although I didn’t heal as fast as other Otherworld beings because I was a hybrid, I did heal quicker than a human. Luca, being a full-blooded Lycan, would probably be nearly healed by now if in the same situation. But for me, it would take a full day before I felt like myself again.
But I was alive, so I couldn’t complain. And on that thought, I remembered the fight… no, the war that had broken out in the woods.
I felt my eyes widen, my pulse quicken, and a gasp left me.
“Your brother and father are fine,” Luca said as if reading my thoughts and gave my hand a light squeeze in reassurance. “They were all alive when I left.” There was a little snarl in his voice, as if he was angry that he hadn’t done more damage.
A part of me understood where he came from. I knew enough about mated Otherworld males—from watching my father with my mother—that when a mate was in danger, everything and anything was done to protect their females. Death of the offender was the typical end result, the only one at satisfying that protective, territorial side.
I closed my eyes and felt relief flood me. “I’m glad.” But then I snapped my eyes open when I thought about Luca being hurt. “Oh God. What about you?” I struggled to sit up more, but light pressure on my hand stilled me.
