AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Lusting for martyrdom, are we?” Blair crossed her arms across her chest as she sat up, watching cavalierly as a myriad of micro-expressions passed through his eyes. “I’m not taking your blood, and you can’t force me to, Raeth.”
“So, I’m back to simply being ‘Raeth’ now?” Kaien quipped, rocking back on his heels where he squatted beside the couch. “I do have a name.”
“You do?” Sarcasm spit through her teeth. “And here I thought you were simply a nameless medic.”
A tick worked in his jaw before his gaze dropped to her wound once more and then down the floor. Kaien took a measured breath before his hands rose to inspect her wound. Blair knew that he was fighting back the urge to strangle her, and he had every right.
And in the aftermath of the intense connection they’d just unearthed between them, she retreated to what she knew.
Even if it hurt him.
Remorse was an entirely different matter. Kaien’s hands, so respectful and gentle against her aching wound, sent shivers through her frame. And his eyes, alight with passion and intimacy mere moments ago, had dulled at her irreverence.
Chapter Thirteen
Nothingwilleverchangebetween us, Kaien thought as he stood to grab what was left of the first aid kit he’d stored in the cabin. He dragged the plastic box off the shelf and slowly returned to where Blair sat perched atop the sofa.
He didn’t meet her eyes when he crouched before her, too ashamed that he’d thought she’d softened toward him. Voice low and unassuming, he cautioned her that, “This might sting.”
When he dabbed at the leaking wound with saline solution, Blair didn’t react. Familiar with the tasks at hand, his concentration ebbed from the mundane. Why had he thought she would ever want to mate with him? Why had he thought she was beginning to cave toward him?
Even now, when he could sense her through the nascent bond between them, she’d gleefully lobbed insults his way, refusing to call him by his name. Now, her silence was far worse.
Deftly bandaging her to staunch the flow of blood, Kaien sighed. He scrubbed a hand through his hair before he returned what little was left of the bandages to the container, then stood to return them to their place in the kitchen.
“Kaien, stop.”
Delicate fingers gently captured his and pulled him to a stop. He didn’t turn to her; couldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he simply closed his eyes and shook his head.
“Please, I …” Her voice wavered in a rare showing of vulnerability.
Everything in him yearned to steal her into his arms and kiss away that helplessness, but he couldn’t take the constant whiplash of her irascible emotions.
He extricated his hand from hers without a word and retreated to the kitchen to stow the kit. Once he completed his task, however, he didn’t return to where Blair sat on the opposite end of the cabin. Instead, he stood mute, his eyes staring—unseeing—at the black countertop that’d dulled with age.
Murky thoughts muddled through his mind. Fisting his hand, he pressed his knuckles into the cool marble, the pain of the contact sharpening against his increasing pressure. Frustrated, he gave in to the primal urge that suddenly coursed through his veins and pummeled his fist into the counter.
Pain ricocheted up his arm and fired through his nerves, but Kaien didn’t bother to notice. Gritting his teeth, he repeated the motion twice more, this time earning a liquid badge of blood for his efforts.
“What are you doing?!” An edge of alarm invaded Blair’s voice when the shrill cry pierced the air from behind him.
He didn’t turn. The vampire appeared by his side only seconds later, horrified, pawing at his injured fist with a face awash in panic. She lifted it up to inspect the damage, Kaien was unsurprised to find it a bloody mess.
“Kaien, what the hell!”
Her beautiful face was scrunched up with concern, her irises glowing with fear and unease. When he leveled her with a hostile glare, the vampire simply reciprocated with an unapologetic stare. Then, in an unexpected move that had him freezing in place, she twisted his knuckles toward her mouth.
And began to gently lick over his bleeding wounds.
Eyes wide, Kaien could only watch as her tongue brushed over the throbbing skin, coaxing the broken flesh to heal. She didn’t stop until the crimson had been cleaned, and the ache had dulled.
As concern gave way to fierce tenacity, Blair’s narrowed eyes caught his. “Stop injuring yourself, you bloody fool.”
“What do you care?”
Her mouth opened to fire off an angry retort, but she stalled, agape, as if she were wondering the same thing. The sentiment only served to make Kaien more enraged.
Spitefully yanking his hand from hers, he pivoted to stomp out of the kitchen and away from the exasperating woman. But Blair apparently wasn’t done with him yet.
