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Like licking it.
Or somehow managing to fall on top of it.
“How much faster do fae heal than humans?” I asked. I found myself taking a few steps toward the pool, ignoring the ache of unmet need in my body.
“I don’t know.” He spread his arms out over the dark brown stone that made up the inside and outer ledge of the pool, leaning back against the wall of the bath and closing his eyes.
“How long will it take your wounds to heal?” I asked him, growing irritated.
“A day or two.”
Knowing him, he probably refused to admit any weakness. So, he’d probably underestimated the healing time.
Even if he thought he’d heal twice as fast as he really would, three or four days was incredible for wounds like those. I’d seen a man die from a shallow cut as a kid, and he’d had the wound that killed him for nearly two weeks before the infection took him. My stomach still turned at the memory of how quickly he’d passed after the infection set in.
“At least let me look at them to make sure your life’s not at risk,” I said.
Kierden didn’t argue, which I thought was probably the closest I’d get to an agreement out of him.
I sat down on the edge of the pool. When he didn’t move to show me his back immediately, I debated for a few seconds, and then finally put a hand between his shoulder blades and pushed him forward.
The king reluctantly leaned for me and exposed a large wound. There was already a skin-colored patch of some sort covering it, but he’d bled through the fabric. It was stained dark red with blood, not thick enough to stop more from trickling down his back.
“Can I take this off?” I whispered to him, my stomach turning at the sight of the blood.
He grunted, which I decided meant yes.
Carefully, I peeled the bandage away from his skin. The edges were incredibly sticky, but I eventually managed to get it off.
“How did you get this fromwrestling?” I asked.
He didn’t answer right away.
I scooped up some water and used it to rinse the blood off his back, assuming he wasn’t going to tell me at all.
After a few minutes, he finally said, “Vayme returned with his human female. He was struggling to control his rage so he challenged me to a match with weapons. First one to draw blood won.”
I assumed Vayme was the king who still hadn’t gotten back yet when I met Laeli. “You havetwowounds.”
Kierden couldn’t have lost twice, could he? He was so damn massive.
“We fought seven rounds. He got the upper hand twice.”
Huh.
He hadn’t boasted about his strength or about defeating the other man, which seemed out of character.
Then again, all I really knew about him was that he was a king, a warrior, and angry about the fact that we’d bonded. And angry about being hunted by the Beast of the Endless Wilds, though I figured anyone would have the right to be angry about that.
“So you won.”
“He was blinded by rage. It made him weak.”
Oh, the irony.
When was Kierden not blind with rage when it came to me? And yet, it hadn’t made him weak. Not that I could tell.
“Do you have more bandages somewhere?”
