Winter's Kiss (21 page)

Winter smiled and took her hand, guiding her actions and helping her bind his wounds. She covered his upper arms with bandages and pinned each one in place. The wounds on his forearms would heal with the help of his saliva. When she was done, he took her hand and carefully wrapped a strip of bandage around it to protect it while it healed. Tying the end off, he held her hand and stared at it. She had hurt herself trying to protect him. She had come back to help him.

For some reason, it hurt him to know that.

His gaze met hers. Pain and fear swam in her green eyes.

“What happened in the woods?” she said and her
hand
trembled in his.

She wasn’t asking about the fight. She was asking about what had happened to her afterwards.

“You were going to change.” He held her hand a little tighter, offering her comfort and his strength. “Your anger was bringing it about.”

“Is that normal?” Her voice was quiet, petrified. Her heartbeat was off the scale, pounding so fast that he couldn’t help listening to it. The sound made his eyes switch and his teeth sharpen. Fear. Absolute fear. He had never felt her so scared.

“Mikael knew what was happening. Perhaps it is normal for emotions to rule the change. I do not have enough experience to be able to answer your question.” His other hand covered hers, so he held it in both of his. “The people here will look after you, Nika. I am sure of it.”

She took her hand back and glared at him as she wrapped her arms about herself. “I don’t want to stay here. I won’t stay here.”

Winter stood and looked down at her. He had never seen her so small before, so frightened. She had taken everything in her stride so far, had been brave and courageous in the face of the strange new life that she had started. Now she looked on the verge of tears and collapse, and, in his heart, he knew that it wasn’t the prospect of staying here that was making her upset.

It was the fact that he would leave.

“You must, Nika,” he whispered. “These people will know how to look after you and how to train you to use your abilities and control yourself. It is important for you to be with your kin now. They will take care of you.”

She sniffed and lowered her head so her hair fell forwards to cover her face, a waterfall of sunshine.

He looked himself over and then looked back at her. She was so light like sunshine. Perhaps he had been dreaming when he had thought of turning her. Something so bright would never survive in his dark world.

The sun broke the horizon. He felt the change between night and day and heard the call it sent to his blood. His tired body responded, aching for sleep and the rest that would help him heal.

He blinked slowly and swallowed. It was impossible to fight his need for sleep, even though he knew that he needed to talk to Nika. She needed reassurance now more than ever. He cursed the sun for rising. He cursed himself too for good measure.

“I must sleep,” he said and she looked up at him, tears streaking her cheeks.

Unable to bear the sight of them, he walked to the windows and drew the curtains. When he reached the last window, he paused and looked out at the early morning sky. It was the closest he came to a sunrise but it was still beautiful. It was the one thing that he missed. When he had been human, he had never stopped to appreciate the majesty of a sunset or the sunrise. The moment that he could no longer watch one was the moment that he had realised what he had lost.

He looked over his shoulder at Nika. She was sitting on the bed, her soft waves of golden hair caressing her slender shoulders and her face pale from crying. Her dark eyes held his, captivating him as they always did. Cherry red lips curved into the faintest of smiles.

Perhaps it was his lot in life to live to regret the things that he had taken for granted. He had always presumed that he would have time to build up to asking his lord for permission to turn Nika and for courting her. He had always delayed it, as though it could wait. Now he realised that the world didn’t work that way. If you waited, what you wanted slipped through your grasp and you spent the rest of your life regretting that you hadn’t seized the moment and
taken
the time to do the things that were truly important to you.

Nika rose from the bed and walked over to him. She leaned in close as she drew the curtain, her eyes never leaving his. The soft affectionate edge to her expression made him warm inside and stripped away his defences.

“Sleep with me, Winter?”

“Sleep with me?” Nika said again, no hint of nerves in her voice. Her hand found his and the warmth of her fingers made Winter ache to agree. “I need to feel you holding me. If I have to live life without you, can’t I at least have you while I can?”

Winter swallowed his feelings but they tightened his throat, making it difficult to speak. Her words tore him in two and his heart once again battled his mind. In her eyes, there was a light of hope, a warm edge that made him want to give in and take this time that she was offering him, regardless of how much harder it would be to leave her. He needed to savour these moments as much as she did. He wanted to remember what it felt like to hold her, how she smelt and the way her body fitted against his.

“Yesterday was supposed to be a one off, a moment of make believe. You said—”

“I’m sorry,” she said, cutting him off and placing her other hand against his cheek. Her eyes beseeched him, pushing his sense to the back of his mind as his heart took control and said that she needed him. She needed him as badly as he needed her. Her eyes were a warm green sea of affection, endless depths of understanding and love. He had longed to have her look at him like this, to want to be his just as she had told him she did. Her thumb moved against his cheek in a feather-light caress. “I can’t pretend that it didn’t happen. I need to feel you holding me.”

Her hand fell to his bare chest and she looked at it, her eyes filling with tears. His focus moved to her heartbeat.

It was steady and strong, unwavering. Closing his eyes, he absorbed the heat of her touch and the way it made him feel—loved, needed and wanted.

“You make me feel safe,” she whispered and stepped into his embrace as he held his arm out to one side. She curled up against his chest, her other hand leaving his and pressing against his pectoral, mirroring her left one. “Please, stay with me.”

The double meaning of those words cut him to the bone and his jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth. He would stay the night. It was all he could do. When Willem was dead, he had to leave. He couldn’t remain with her and risk her. He wouldn’t. When he had returned to his family, he would find a way for them to be together, a way that didn’t place her in danger, a way for him to be with her and continue with his family in honour not disgrace.

“I will stay with you today,” he whispered into her hair and pressed a kiss to it. Holding her head against his chest, he rested his cheek on top of it. Her heart beat against his chest, rhythmic and soothing.

She pressed a kiss to his chest and then moved away, crossing the room to the four-poster bed. His eyes followed the tantalising movements of her clothes, shifting to take in every inch of skin as the black material fell away. When she was bare, she slid under the mahogany sheets, her pale creamy skin a contrast against the rich dark material.

He stripped without ceremony as he walked across the room to the other side of the bed. Naked, he locked the bedroom door and then slipped into bed behind Nika. She immediately shuffled backwards into him, so her backside pressed against his groin and his chest was against her back. He wrapped his arm around her and

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held her, as she had asked him to. Her bottom shifted against his groin again, sending thoughts through him that he shouldn’t be considering.

“Are your wounds okay?” she whispered in the dim room.

He stared at the curtains to make sure that no light would penetrate them. His gaze scanned them each at least ten times just to be sure. At least Nika was free of that compulsion. The sun wouldn’t harm her.

“They are healing,” he said, growing drowsy and checking the curtains one more time. He told himself that they were shut, no chink of light visible, and the door was locked. Nika wouldn’t open them. He was safe to sleep.

“You need more blood.”

Those four words, a hidden offer, drove sleep from his mind. His gaze finally left the windows and settled on Nika’s neck. The thought of her blood made him hard. A quiet gasp broke the silence. Nika. He shifted his hips back to allow his erection to rise and then ground against her backside. Her little gasp became a moan and she arched backwards into him. The scent of her arousal was strong, filling his mind as much as the thought of her blood.

He couldn’t resist kissing her neck. Her skin tasted warm and sweet. Her pulse beat against his lips, tempting him. He closed his eyes and licked her skin, savouring the taste of her and the way she trembled and moaned against him. This was wrong. He had seen the way those women had looked at him. If he did this, he would only make things more difficult, for him and for Nika.

“Winter.” Her voice was a breathy whisper, still hoarse but this time it was more with desire than her injury. He pushed himself up on his elbow and ran his fingers lightly over the bruising on her neck.

“I am sorry I did not protect you, Nika,” he said, frowning at the dark marks.

She leaned back and looked up at him with a smile. “It wasn’t your fault. You did protect me. You made the horse run. I came back. I got myself caught by them.”

“Trying to protect me,” he whispered and turned away so he was staring at the deep red pillow. “Again I was not strong enough to protect you.”

“Winter,” Nika said and her hand settled against his cheek. She brought his eyes back to hers. “You did protect me. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. Stronger than any of these men. I saw you kill two men tonight.”

“Five,” he corrected. If she was going to attempt to cheer him up by making him sound strong, she could at least get the number right.

Her eyebrows rose. Shock widened her eyes. He got the feeling that she was pretending so he would feel better. She would have seen the bodies. She would have known that there had been five dead.

“You killed five werewolves?” she said with a smile.

It wasn’t that impressive. He had killed more on the battlefield.

He nodded and she surprised him by rewarding him with a kiss. His eyes closed and he leaned into it, eager to feel her mouth against his and to devour the affection.

“If I ask you again, will you kiss me this time?” Those words sent a shudder through him, a spark of hunger and arousal so fierce that he growled. She giggled and rolled back onto her side, away from him.

He stared at her neck, his teeth extending and his hunger rising. She was right. He needed more blood. Her blood probably wasn’t strong enough to assist his healing, but he was going to take it anyway. He wanted it. Craved it more than anything.

Pressing the length of his body against hers, he slid his hand down her side and covered her curly mound. She moaned and writhed against him, the sweet smell of arousal permeating the air and intoxicating him. Sleep could wait. The world could wait when it came to Nika. Nothing was
more
important to him.

She raised her leg and he caught hold of her thigh, pulling her leg over his. His fingers dipped in to find her nub and the slick wetness of her core made him groan. Already so wet for him. He tensed his jaw and kissed her neck, losing himself in the combined sensation of her warm core and her sweet throat. He wanted both.

Dipping his hips, he guided his cock into her depths. He buried himself as deep as he could go and then wrapped his lips around her throat. With his first thrust into her, he penetrated her neck with his fangs. A sweet low moan from her was his reward and a sigh that went on for forever. He closed his eyes and frowned as he pulled slowly on her blood, savouring the strong heady taste of it, ambrosia fit for the gods themselves. His thrusts were shallow, only an accompaniment to the symphony of her

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blood. He pulled harder and she moaned loud enough that anyone in the rooms around them would hear. He didn’t care. She was his. Let everyone know that.

It was a struggle to stop himself from biting her as hard as he wanted. He wanted to mark her completely, wanted to sink his top and bottom canines into her throat and ensure that his ownership of her would never fade. He kept his bite shallow, his thrusts slow and tender. She moaned and writhed against him, her fingers digging into his hip. His hand covered her mound again and he slid one finger between her folds to tease her nub as he plunged into her.

She arched her back and his lower teeth grazed her throat. Too much. He frowned and, before he could get a grip, he was sinking them into her neck. Blood burst against his tongue and he swallowed it down, relishing every last drop of it. He moaned and sucked harder, desperate for more. His hunger wasn’t fading. It was only growing stronger. She moaned again and writhed on his cock. He growled, gripped her hip and thrust hard into her, a warning to keep still. It only made her moan even louder.

Losing himself, he grasped her hip, and thrust deep and slow. He lapped at the wound on her throat, chasing every escaped drop of crimson, and then sunk his teeth back into her. She shrieked and shuddered with her climax, her body convulsing around his. He clung to her as fiercely as she gripped him and groaned into her neck when he came, driven on by the feel of her orgasm. He sighed as he removed his fangs again. Licking the wound on her neck, he savoured every drop of blood as though it would be his last.