“No!” I yelped, “I mean… it’s fine.”
I saw how I could use the injury to my advantage here.
“I don’t remember much from last night.” I said, somewhat truthfully. “The rogues came near, but the venom makes everything hazy. I never saw their faces.” That much was true. The bite just happened after my mark protected me.
“Hmm.” Gideon was still advancing.
Suddenly he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. He pulled me off balance and threw me over his shoulder one- handed, heading for the bed.
“Wha-? Wait!” I squeaked, flailing at his back. “You can’t!”
“I can, and I will.” Gideon said, firmly.
He deposited me ingloriously onto the bed on my back and easily held me down with one arm thrown over my hips.
“This pack and its members are my responsibility.” He continued, as he twitched the corner of my houserobe to the side, revealing my injured thigh through the slit. “If you won’t take care of yourself, then I will make sure you do.”
I inhaled sharply as his fingers carefully brushed over the healing skin. It was bruised and tender, but the pain was much more muted than before.
His fingers traced the scabbed over puncture marks of the creature’s fangs, and then the wider bruise that showed the shape of his mouth in purple where he’d sucked out the poison.
His touch was like lightning. Already I had been aroused by my dream, prophecy? of us together. To have him touching me like this was too much. Too soon.
“I will take care of it!” I arched my back and wiggled away from him. For a moment, he resisted my bucking, holding me in place. Then suddenly he released me.
Seeing my moment to escape, I dove towards the bathroom.
“I’ll bathe now. Excuse me!” I darted inside and slammed and locked the door behind me.
On the other side of the door, I let myself slump against the countertop.
My heart was pounding. Not just from Gideon’s proximity, but from his questions. It seemed like he’d let it go for now, but if he came back with more questions I didn’t know what I would say.
There was no doubt in my mind that he wasn’t above using violence to find out what others knew. The evidence was already on his hands. Would he do the same to me if he suspected I was more than I seemed?
I couldn’t let him see me as a threat to the pack in any way.
I walked across the tile to the bathtub and started the water. As the tub filled, I undressed.
In the mirror, my skin was crisscrossed with marks from what had happened in the woods yesterday. My wrists were chaffed from the bindings, and the bruises on my thighs stood out livid against my skin.
Worse than all that, my nipples were hard as rocks.
Great.
Betrayed by my own body.
I stomped angrily back to the tub, determined to wash away any signs of any-
THUMP
My feet slid out from under me on the humid floor and I went down with a crash.
“Owww…” I crumpled on the floor, rubbing at my skidded knees.
“Avery?” Gideon’s voice was loud on the other side of the door. Oh god, he was still here??
I peeled some scuffed skin off of my palms and ignored him. Couldn’t he take a hint and leave?
“Avery!” Gideon yelled. “I’m coming in!”
I scrambled for a towel unsuccessfully as Gideon battered the door open.
Crap.
Gideon’s POV
For a girl with a wounded leg, she sure could move fast.
I watched the door to Avery’s bathroom swing shut, a bemused frown on my face.
Although her wound was healing, it could easily become infected, and I would much prefer that she have it treated.
Unfortunately, the pack doctor was not my first choice for someone I wanted that close to the future Luna.
I had my reasons.
The bathroom was quiet, and I wondered if Avery even planned on bathing, or if she’d just been trying to get away from me.
I rose from the bed and quietly walked over towards the door. My keen ears could hear her breathing on the other side, and then the rustling of clothes dropping to the floor.
I closed my eyes and concentrated. I could picture her robe dropping from her slim shoulders. The way her hair cascaded down her back.
It all came readily to my imagination and I indulged the moment.
As I heard the water start, I imagined her leaning over the side of the tub. Those hips that were oh-so-grabbable on full display.
I remembered the time I had cornered her in the hallway outside.
The way she had sounded when she’d moaned in my ear had been delicious. A part of me wanted to open that door and make her moan for me again.
The skin on her thighs had been so soft beneath my fingertips.
And my lips.
When I had received the report that there were signs of a scuffle on the path in Silvermoon territory, and that Avery was missing, I had felt my heart leap into my throat.
She may not be my fated mate, but my pack needed a Luna and she was… acceptable.
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