Then he turned her towards the two doors, leading her to the one on the right. Flipping the light on, he revealed a large bathroom with a claw foot tub and huge shower both. He abandoned her there for a long moment as he went back into the bedroom, but he came back soon enough with her bag of toiletries in hand.
“You don’t have any of that awful soap,” he murmured as he slid past her towards the shower.
“I used it all,” Elena said, crossing her arms over her chest to hide away from him. It left other parts of her more vulnerable, but at least he didn’t stare at that as if he hungered for it.
Leon hummed a response, not paying her the least bit of attention as he set her things out on the long counter by the right hand sink, placing her shampoo and conditioner in the shower.
“This side is yours. I do not tolerate clutter, so use the drawers.” He came to her, brushing her hair back to run his fingers down the column of her neck, across her shoulders before taking up her hands.
Leon gave her a gentle tug to bring her into motion. Crowding her into the shower until his huge bulk blocked her escape. Giving her no choice but to stand in his shadow as he reached out to turn the taps on.
Braced for frigid water to come blasting out of the multiple shower heads, she was pleasantly surprised to find the gentle warmth coating her skin. Easing away the tension as she angled her body so that it hit the sore spot just below her shoulder.
“A bath would probably be better,” he husked against her ear as he plastered his front to her back, ruining her ease in one fell swoop. “But if you’re half as tired as you look, you need more rest.”
It stung her pride. She hated that it did. Hanging her head, Elena stepped deep into the spray so that her hair became drenched, drowning out anything he might have said next. She scoured her scalp with the shampoo, tugging at the tangled locks of her hair after raking conditioner through it, but she came up short when he handed her a soft puff drenched in foamy lather.
His soap, she discerned soon enough, and her surprise at the puff was quickly extinguished as she realized it was hers. He’d gotten it from her bag. She began washing her body, showing as little care for it as she had her hair just to be done with the whole thing.
Leon tsked, grabbing the soapy netting from her hand.Giving a shake of his head, admonishing her for her reckless acts, he smoothed it over her back in careful sweeps.
Elena should be glad he hadn’t broken skin when he’d bitten her before, but each deep bruise left its own kind of mark. Making her overly sensitive to every pass of his hand, the way his fingers brushed against her skin as he brought the puff down to her backside and back up to her shoulders.
He made small noises at her fretting, bringing her to stillness as he crouched behind her to lather her legs. Forcing her to turn to face him so that he could reach her front, he proceeded to soap her with the same care he’d shown her back. Paying special attention to where she squeezed her legs tight together, his hands less than tender as he pried her arms down from where she hugged her breasts flat.
Each time she thought that this was the moment he would begin, he veered away until suddenly there were no more moments. They were both squeaky clean and rinsed well, his hands buffing her dry with a towel large enough to wrap around her body several times.
In the bedroom, he made a warning sound as she rushed to her bags. He plucked them free of her grasp, depositing them into the large room behind the other door. A closet.
“Get in,” Leon said as he stood by, naked as could be with arms crossed over his expansive chest.
Elena crawled up into the bed, lying flat on her back with arms and legs locked. She whined as he climbed up beside her, his legs heavy on the bed on either side of hers before he slid off to the side. Situating her body to his liking, he curled around her back before grabbing the blankets and tucking them high against her chin.
TWELVE
LEON
He couldn’t stop smelling her.
It hadn’t taken her long to nod off, despite the trembling tension pulling every muscle of her small body taut. It’d taken only a little more time for Leon to quit the bed, donning clothes in a hurried rush to be free of the frustrating Omega.
Now, locked away in his office with a whiskey beside him, he thought to drown himself in work until he became too exhausted to be so damned eager for her. Yet he smelled her on every breath, ruining his best efforts to rid his mind of her soft curves and luscious lips.
Gods, but she was a vision, even as battered and bruised as she was.
Another thing that angered him. He should be deep inside his new mate, willing or no. Forcing her to cry out his name, clinging to him in her passion, yet he couldn’t touch Elena for fear of hurting her. She’d never once let on how damaged she was, hiding her winces and cringes behind all that thick hair so Leon had no idea.
Growling, he slammed back the last of the whiskey, raking his hand through his mussed hair as he poured another.
Gods, it would be weeks before she was even healed enough to properly claim her.
Leon wasn’t certain he could last another day, let alone the length of time it would take her to be in any sort of condition to withstand a heat. Which led him to a whole new host of problems.
He still had to find the male who did this to her in the first place.
Leon had put out calls to Silas and other connections, hoping to find some trace of the individual who terrorized his little Omega. Nothing had come of it. Yet.
Silas reminded him to be patient in his last call a mere hour ago, but with her scent growing stronger on his skin by the moment, Leon wanted nothing more than to bathe in the blood of the bastard who dared harm her.
