Page 63 of Knotted By the Triad

Every muscle in my body protested. My ribs ached, my back was stiff, and my legs felt like I’d done a thousand squats. Between fighting that smuggler, running for my life, riding a dragon, falling out of the sky, and sleeping on the floor, I was surprised I could stand at all. I looked down at my filthy black clothes and grimaced.

“Damn, I need a bath.”

As if summoned by the thought, Daemin walked into the room. I damn near stopped breathing at the sight of him. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hands as he dried his long black hair.

The one around his waist hung dangerously low on his hips, revealing those deep V-lines disappearing beneath the fabric. His sun-kissed skin was still slightly damp, and without blood, dirt, and blue magic covering him, there was absolutely nothing distracting me from the hard planes of his chest, stomach, and arms.

And those tattoos. A girl like me could spend hours tracing them with my tongue. My gaze traveled lower. I could see where the tip of his cock stopped. This alpha was hung. This had to be a fictional man.

They didn’t make men like this in the real world. Daemin lowered the towel from his hair. I slowly looked up and met his eyes. He smirked. He’d caught me looking at his junk. Damn. I started to say something sassy, then I remembered his wound.

“Oh!” I rushed forward. “Your side. Let me check it.”

Grabbing his arm, I turned him to see where the shard had been lodged. The blue lines were completely gone. So was the wound. There wasn’t even a scar left behind. His dragon had healed everything while we slept, and his bath had washed away the blood and dirt from last night.

Which suddenly made me horribly aware of what I looked like. I stepped away from him and smoothed my hands over the wrinkled top of my black outfit. He was all fresh and clean, while I was standing here, looking like a raggamuffin.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“I should be asking you that.”

“I’m feeling great, thanks to you.” His expression softened as he looked at me. “Thank you for taking care of me, Princess.”

Heat crept into my cheeks. I looked away and pretended to be extremely interested in straightening my shirt again.

“No problem. But next time, I’m going to have to charge you.”

Daemin chuckled. “Let me repay you now. Let me take care of you.”

“Take care of me?” I asked, looking back at him.

“Yes. You’re in pain, aren’t you? I’ve got some pain medicine. And you need your wounds tended to.”

“I’ll take the pain medicine. As for my wounds, I can clean them in the shower and bandage them when I get out.”

Daemin stepped closer to me. “You’re in no condition to take care of yourself, Zuri Bane.”

“I’m fine. See.” I stretched my arms out to prove my point, only to wince when pain shot through my ribs.

“Yeah. I see.”

He stepped forward, and before I understood what he was about to do, one arm slid behind my back while the other went beneath my knees. My feet left the floor.

“Daemin, what are you doing?” I screeched, grabbing his shoulders.

“I’m taking care of you,” he told me as he started walking toward the back of the house with me in his arms.

“Daemin, I’m capable of taking care of myself. Especially bathing myself.”

“Mate, I need to do this for you. My dragon won’t relax if I don’t.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the sincerity in his voice stopped me. My own dragon was practically purring now that we were pressed against him. Traitor. I held still as Daemin carried me down a long hallway, his bare chest warm against my side.

My mate.

My dragon was practically cooing in contentment. After my dream, I was really starting to wonder what was real and what was fake. So many things were happening differently than in the book, making me think what Ms. Ellora said in my dream could have some truth to it.

Could I really be Daemin’s mate, and somehow CiCi’s vision got it wrong? I stared up at the alpha who was determined to take care of me. Though the hallway was dimly lit, I could see his face clearly.