Gathering her courage, she threw the door open and stepped into the room. Her hands fisted when Killean smirked at her. She had no idea how he did it, but half an hour ago, he’d had her desperate for more of his touch, and now she was contemplating smacking him.
Killean savored the beauty of her clover-colored eyes and the flush of healthy color in her cheeks. In his many years, he’d seen countless beautiful women, but none of them had affected him as she did. And looking at her, he couldn’t recall a single one of those women.
Moving away from the wall, he opened the door and walked outside to stand under the blue overhang shadowing the sidewalk in front of the rooms. He inhaled the crisp air as he gazed at the mountains on the other side of the road. Their high peaks seemed to touch the white clouds drifting around them.
The parking lot of the hotel had a few other cars in it, but no one was moving about, and the peaceful day was a balm to the tumult rolling through him. He waited for Simone to exit the room before closing the door and taking her elbow.
She stiffened against him but didn’t try to pull away when he led her toward the passenger door of the truck. Stepping out from the overhang, he recoiled when the sun hit his exposed skin and blisters broke out. Smoke rose in tendrils from him while the scent of cooking flesh filled his nostrils.
Killean pulled Simone back into the safety of the shadows as the blisters on his hands broke, and the ones on his face oozed over his cheeks. Cursing his stupidity, he hurried her back to the room as he checked to make sure no one witnessed what happened. The day remained clear of anyone in the parking lot, and the road free of travelers.
Unlocking the door to their room, Killean led Simone inside and closed it behind them. Leaning against the door, he tried to gain control over the volatile sway of his emotions while smoke continued to curl up from his skin.
Chapter Twenty
Simone tried notto gawk at the smoke wafting from Killean or the blisters swelling on his flesh. She forgot her earlier irritation with him as the anguish twisting his face into a grimace caused his scar to stand starkly out against the red hue of his skin.
“Fucking idiot,” he snarled as he stepped away from the door.
“What happened?” she asked as he stormed over to the bathroom and turned on the light.
Killean stood and stared at his burnt flesh while self-hatred coiled through him. The blisters on his hands and face would heal soon, and would do so faster if he fed, but the oozing wounds didn’t matter. What mattered was he hadn’t seen this coming. He’d expected the sun to have a stronger effect on him after he killed, but he hadn’t expected it to bethissevere.
His burnt flesh was one more sign he was further gone into his Savagery than he’d anticipated becoming or realized he was.
Gazing down at the popped blisters on his hands, he watched as blood welled forth and dripped off them. Killean turned the faucet on and plunged his hands under the cold water to rid himself of the blood, but it wouldn’t wash away.
Gripped by confusion, Killean scrubbed at his hands until his peeling skin fell into the sink and the blood flowed freely.
Simone watched in dismay as Killean tore at his hands like a wild animal trying to free its leg from a trap. She had no idea what he was doing or how to stop this, but she wanted to go to him and hold him close. Despite the desperation he emanated, she sensed he needed comfort.
“The blood,” he muttered.
She didn’t think he was aware he spoke, but she didn’t see any blood, not yet anyway. If he kept at his hands like that, there would be plenty of it soon. And how could he keep scouring his burnt skin that way? It had to be excruciating for him, yet he showed no sign of stopping.
“Killean?” she whispered.
He didn’t react to her as his skin broke apart and the first drops of blood dripped into the sink. Horror filled her as she watched the pink swirling down the drain.
“Killean, stop.”
Without thinking, she rested her hand on the sleeve of his shirt. When he twisted toward her, his eyes were redder than the ripest strawberry, yet he didn’t seem to see her. Simone’s hand slid down his arm when she recoiled from the madness oozing from him. She hadn’t meant to touch his ruined flesh, but her fingers fell on his hand.
Hungry for blood, Killean almost dragged her against him and sank his fangs into her throat, but when her fingers touched his skin, a sense of calm spread over him, and he came back to his senses. He glanced down at his hands, but instead of the copious amounts of blood he’d seen coating them, only trickles of it spilled from the flesh he’d split open with his vigorous scrubbing. Those wounds were already healing as were the blisters on his face.
Ashamed and uncertain of what she’d witnessed from him, Killean couldn’t meet her eyes again. He went to turn off the water before realizing his hands trembled and his fangs throbbed with every pulse of his blood. He pulled his hands back before she could see the shaking in them.
Get it together!Lifting his head, he gazed with loathing at the image staring back at him. There had been plenty of times in his life when he hated himself, but none so much as right now.
Not killing was causing him to unravel, but he shouldn’t be losing control in front ofher.
Killean wanted to step away from Simone, but he didn’t trust himself to break contact with her calming touch yet.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I’m fine,” he bit out.
“You said,theblood. What did you mean by that?”
