“You’re healing me?” she said.
I nodded, and the beast growled his approval. Was that disappointment I heard in her voice? I hoped so because I planned on having her writhing against my tongue again very soon.
“You know I have accelerated healing as well, right?” she said in a soft, sweet voice that lifted goose bumps across my shoulders and tingled down my spine.
Maybe so, but not as fast as me. There were several bruises on her skin and it stressed the beast out to see them.
She tried to push me off, but the beast growled louder, and she sighed and gave up, giving me what I wanted. Good. She squirmed again and giggled.
“It’s warm and it tingles,” she rasped, then gasped and squirmed some more. “I can feel it working.”
My chest expanded with relief and pleasure that I could do this for her, that she was experiencing a feeling that was good enough that it made her laugh, and my rogue beast agreed with me wholeheartedly.
In these moments with Roxy, when I gave in to the beast’s instincts, even if they confused me, he and I slipped back into alignment, and we were in perfect harmony. It was intoxicating and filled me with a sense of rightness. I wasn’t sure if the feeling actually came from being with Roxy, or that I was again one with my beast.
The former confused me. This need to be close to the little handmaid made no sense. And the latter made me feel like a parasite. Honestly, I didn’t understand what I was thinking or feeling, only that I needed to do this, to care for her, to tend her wounds.
She’d stopped squirming and laughing, but she wasn’t trying to push me away either.
“I think I’m okay now,” she said in a soft voice that made my skin tingle.
But I couldn’t stop, not yet, not until I’d licked every bit of red, raw skin, not until I was sure I hadn’t missed a spot. I lifted her, so she was sitting up, and again she let me. This way I could get better access to her shoulders and upper back. Gathering up her thick hair, I lifted it out of the way and got back to work.
That’s when I spotted the vicious scar at her side. It was red and inflamed and had to be painful. “What happened here? Why does this look so fresh?”
“It’s nothing. The mud in Ferine irritated it, that’s all.” She tried to pull away, and I pushed her back against the mattress and carefully dragged my tongue over it.
“Lothar…you don’t have to?—”
I swiped over it again, and she gasped softly, her fingers sliding into my hair.
This scar, I didn’t like it. I wanted it gone. I wanted anything that caused her pain, now or in the past, fucking gone. When I licked the ragged scar for the last time, and I was certain I had tended to every single wound on her body, the knot in my gut finally loosened.
“You’ll be okay now. You’re okay.” The words swimming around my head tumbled from my mouth. I wasn’t sure if I was reassuring her, myself, or the beast when I’d uttered that, but again a wave of relief washed over me.
She stared up at me, a look in her eyes I didn’t understand, while her hand touched my back, her smooth warm skin sliding over mine in a way that was gentle, soothing. “I’m okay, Lothar. Thank you.”
The beast wanted to nuzzle, and I didn’t resist. I let him have control and went with my animal instincts. A repetitive thumping sound rolled from my chest as I rubbed my face against her throat, as I branded her with my scent. That was very important, covering her with my scent again after washing it off. I needed everyone who came near her to smell my scent on her.
The beast was blissed out and taking me along for the ride. “Will you get on your hands and knees for me, female?” The beast growled, talking through me again, but I was totally on board with the request. I felt fucking dizzy with lust for her. I couldn’t think straight, my mind wholly focused on mounting the curvy little female beneath me. I kissed her throat, her jaw. “Will you?” I asked against her skin, but this time it was all me.
She made a soft, desperate sound that had me lowering my body on top of hers, forcing her to fall back on the mattress. Hooking a hand under one of her legs, I spread her wide so I could grind my hard cock against the soft silkiness between her strong thighs. I kissed her cheek, the corner of her mouth. “Please, kitten.”
Roxy stilled beneath me, sucking in a shaky breath. “Lothar?—”
A light flashed so bright that when I spun toward it I had to lift my hand to shield my eyes. The closet. The light began to fade instantly, until all that remained was a soft glow from around the door.
The flash of light had come from inside.
I snarled, bounding off the bed.
Roxy followed. “I think we’ve got company.”
Chapter
Nineteen
Roxy
