Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
“Oh!” I exclaimed as a warm tingle ran through me. “What…what are you doing, Captain?”
“Healing you,” he said simply. “The venom my fangs make is capable of healing whoever I choose.” He bared his teeth briefly and I saw his fangs again, though they looked considerably smaller and less scary than when he’d showed them to Jerx.
“Er…thank you,” I murmured, looking down at my hand which was already much less raw. I couldn’t help thinking to myself that Brutes were able to heal their Fated Mates, too. And feeling his warm, wet tongue on me made me tremble all over.
He licked me a few more times and then nodded.
“There—I think that should do it. Did you get hurt anywhere else?”
I shook my head.
“No, Tur—I mean, Captain.” I suspected my knees were bruised where I had knocked them against the hard tiles, but they would heal on their own. I couldn’t have him licking me there—he might get too suspicious.
“All right.” He released my hand and nodded. “Then let’s get ready for bed.”
“Do you mind if I keep wearing your shirt?” I asked uncertainly. “I mean, since all my clothes are in the cleaner?”
“Wear it as long as you need to,” he said. “I usually sleep nude but since you’ll be staying with me, I’m going to change into my sleep trousers.”
He turned and got a pair of long, black satin trousers from the storage cupboard set into the wall. Before I could look away, he was nonchalantly toeing off his boots and pushing down his uniform trousers.
I supposed it made sense—he thought we were both men and we’d been naked in the shower together earlier. But it still felt shocking to see him undressing so casually in front of me. I needed some space and some time to process everything that had happened that night. If I wasn’t careful, my reactions were going to give me away.
“Er, do you mind if I take another quick shower?” I asked him. “I still have shampoo in my hair from…from earlier.”
“Hmm? Oh right—of course not. Here.” He reached into the storage cupboard again and handed me a dry towel. “Take as long as you want. I’m going to bed.”
“Okay. Thank you.” I accepted the towel from him and ducked into the bathroom.
Once the door slid closed, I breathed a sigh of relief. Thank She of the Four Faces that I wouldn’t have to spend another night in the same stinking room as Gurflug or worry about Jerx again.
But though I was safer in one way, I was in even more danger in another. The closer I got to my Fated Mate, the more my body would react to his. Sometimes two people didn’t know they were Fated Mates until they spent time in close proximity. That was when the symptoms of The Need started to appear for a woman and The Thirst affected a male.
I had heard of both of these afflictions when the maids whispered together, so I knew some of the symptoms. They could be…extreme.
I tried to push the worry out of my mind as I hung Turk’s shirt carefully on a hook and entered the shower unit. As I rinsed the shampoo out of my hair, I tried to reassure myself. There was no way it would go that far. After all, Turk didn’t even know he was my Fated Mate—he thought I was just a boy he’d hired to navigate his ship. As long as I kept my distance and slept on the ground rather than getting in bed with him, everything should be fine.
Right?
I certainly hoped so…or I was shortly going to be in a lot of trouble.
20
TURK
Ishut off the overhead glows and got into bed, trying not to think of the boy in the shower not ten feet from where I lay. But it was a losing battle—Cass was all I could think about.
Why had I healed him? The thought hovered in my mind as I tossed and turned. It was true that the venom produced by my fangs could either kill or heal, but a Brute was only supposed to heal his Fated Mate. So why had I healed the boy—why had I put my mouth on him?
I could still taste the salty flavor of his skin, lingering on my tongue. And I could still see the tears in his big, amber eyes. Goddess of the Four Faces, why did he have to be so fucking pretty? For a boy, anyway, I amended to myself. But I had never noticed the beauty of another male before. Why should I start now?
He was in the shower a long time—almost long enough for me to fall asleep. When he came out, a puff of scented steam followed him and he was wearing my shirt again, which was huge on him.