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Lifting her eyes to meet mine, she holds my gaze and brings the vial to her lips. She pinches her nose before draining the entire thing. “Oh,” she says with a soft gasp. Her surprise is a tickle of warmth. “That tasted better than I thought it would.”
I kneel before her. “This part might not be pleasant, but the pain relief will kick in soon enough.” I take her foot and begin cleaning the rocks and dirt from the bottom. She pants while I clean. I keep my touch gentle but when it comes time to wrap the foot and ankle, there’s no getting past hurting her. The Hecate cursed bond bristles. I grunt, still not used to that feeling, and hesitate.
“It’s okay,” she whispers. “You’re helping.”
I rip two strips of fabric from the shirt and begin to secure the foot. She whimpers a little when I help the foot into a bent position.
“You’re all right.” I look up and hold her gaze. “You’re doing good.”
Her pupils dilate, and her attention strays to my lips and then to my tusks. Another emotion stirs within me. One that’s dangerous but hard to ignore. The longer we stay bonded, the more I heed its demands, the more it’ll mean. We go from being magically tied together to wanting to be together, and I know better than to want something I shouldn’t have.
All a mate means to me is being under my father’s control.
I wrap her ankle, and her body coils tight, tensing from the pain. “Relax,” I murmur.
“Stop telling me what to do,” she grouses.
My lips twitch. “Unlikely.” I tuck the end of the wrap and begin cleaning her legs. She watches me while I work and I pretend not to notice the weight of her attention, heavy as it is.
“So,” her voice is carefully light, “that was a cyclops?”
Even the mention of the monster that almost knocked her head off has me clenching my jaw. She has no idea how close she was to death. Or maybe she does and simply doesn’t care. Either way, she was careless with herself. It’s annoying.
“Yes. They’re territorial even when they have no right to be.” I slip my gaze up to meet hers. “And venturing out at night was foolish.”
“I know,” she whispers, dropping her gaze and pressing her lips together. Her embarrassment warms my cheeks.
“You’re lucky I found you.”
Hurt filters through the bond, but I don’t regret chastising her. If she’s my mate, she needs to be careful. She should take care of herself. It’s natural for me to want to keep her safe, but I don’t know that she understands how much waking up to find her gone bothered me. Using the bond, I explore the emotions she’s laying bare.
Embarrassment. Self-loathing. A little annoyance. But worst of all, pain and tension. The last bit I can distract her from. Her muscles are still bunched tight when I’m done wiping away the blood. I drop the cloth and run my fingers over her calves, pressing the tips into them and massaging.
“Oh,” she breathes and a new sensation washes over me.
Lust.
She wants to leave. I want the bond broken because of what it means, but my instincts don’t want her to leave, and that’s frustrating. The thought of her out there, stumbling around in the dark sets my protective nature on high. She’s safe here with me. Maybe she doesn’t realize that. Maybe I can keep the fact that I have a mate a secret and do whatever I can to protect her. Which means maybe I need to give her a reason to stay.
Glancing up, I catch her gaze on my tusks again and my cock stirs. Whether she realizes it or not, she’s practically begging to fuck me and the bond is more than happy for me to do just that. I shouldn’t fuck her.
She felt too good stretching around my cock. That feeling has the potential to be addicting. I dig my fingers into her muscles and she stiffens, holding her breath.
“You need to relax, little flower.”
“I’m rested,” she argues.
Always arguing.
“You slept. Breathe,” I say, squeezing her muscle again, and this time a soft moan escapes her. “But you aren’t relaxed.” Slowly, I knead my way up her legs. She makes soft noises of relief, but those aren’t the noises I want to hear. I want to hear her whimpering my name. I want to hear her falling apart at my hand.
The bond ripples in agreement and Daisy stirs in response to that feeling, her desire rich like the finest wine. After the bathing pit incident, I know she isn’t ready to take me. I could see if she was up for trying, but I don’t want to break her and many ogres have done just that when paired with smaller mates.
She needs to be stretched to properly accommodate me. My saliva will help relax her muscles and make it so I won’t damage her organs, but it’s best to ease her into taking my cock. Frustrated as she is, she may not even want that. I move one hand higher. Her skin is soft as silk and my palm easily glides up her leg, my thumb dragging along the inside. She sucks in a sharp breath when my fingers dip beneath my shirt that’s bunched around her thighs.
“Orcus,” she says, though not in protest. “I’m not staying.”
I ignore that comment and glide my hands over her skin. “Tell me, little flower.” I hold her gaze, enjoying the pure blazing desire filling hers. “Do ladies like pleasure?” I inch closer and closer to her heat.
