It darkened, not from embarrassment but from pain, when I tugged the sock from her foot. The blood had dried and made the fabric fibers stick to the open wound. It made a crackling sound that was drowned out by Ness’s hiss of pain.
“It will be over soon,” I whispered.
She grunted and let her head fall back. This wasn’t new to her. I hadn’t been here long, but she’d gotten hurt several times in that short span. I was amazed that her skin was still smooth. She should have been riddled with scars, but her shifter healing had spared her. That was good. I was glad that she didn’t have to relive those moments every time she looked in a mirror.
I examined the gash in her foot. It’d started to close, albeit very slowly. The edges of it did not look good, though. Her skin was red and angry. She might have done some quick thinking by turning her sock inside out, but it was still a sock.
Swallowing my sigh, I leaned forward and grabbed the peroxide and a swab. “This is going to sting.”
“Like it didn’t when I cut myself? Do your worst,” she said.
Her voice was defeated, and it nearly broke me. I gripped the peroxide so tight that it threatened to burst in my hands. When I released a breath, a little bit of the tension went with it. I kept my hands steady as I cleaned Ness’s foot.
She didn’t squirm, but she made plenty of distracting noises. I had to stop several times as my dragon reared its head to listen curiously. I wanted her to make those noises for me, for her to squirm for me—not out of pain, but out of pleasure.
Holy hell. It must have been too long since I’d last had a woman in my bed. My hormones raged out of control like I was fifteen all over again. I didn’t need this while Ness was in pain. She deserved better than this. She deserved someone who would focus on making her pain go away.
“I found a body,” Ness said.
I paused and lifted my head. She met my gaze. Her expression was grim and pale, but that might have been from the pain.
“I asked Addie to help me find one of Alvin’s victims. We found her buried in a shallow grave in the woods. It might have been on the edge of Alvin’s territory.”
I tensed. “You went looking for bodies on Alvin’s property? What if he catches your scent? If he finds out what you’re doing, then he’s going to retaliate again.”
She threw her hands in the air. “It doesn’t matter what I do anymore! Every time I turn around, there’s someone breathing down the back of my neck. If I don’t do something, then no one will.”
While Ness wasn’t wrong, I feared for her safety. If she kept sticking her neck out, someone would take the opportunity to attack.
I furrowed my brow and reached out a hand to beckon her toward me. “Speaking of necks, let me take a look at that.”
Ness turned around, putting her back to my thigh. She reached to pull her hair over her shoulder. Rivulets of blood had dried along her neck. The wounds themselves were nearly closed. I gently swabbed the area to clean her up. She sighed and sank into me.
My dragon told me to haul her onto my lap and wrap my arms around her. This close, I breathed in her scent. It made my core clench and my blood boil.
“You should get some sleep soon.” I couldn’t be in her presence much longer.
My beast thrashed. It made demands I could not fulfill.
Ness leaned away from me and wrapped her arms around her middle. I couldn’t see her face, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to. Instead, I stood and grabbed her overnight bag from the chair. Tossing it into her lap, I told her that she could take the bedroom again.
The enchanted wine was beginning to make my head throb. Or was that my beast? I couldn’t tell the difference anymore. All I knew was the painful humming in my head. I needed to get away.
When was the last time I shifted? The beast needed to spread its wings and fly. Maybe then it wouldn’t harass me so much. It would learn, eventually, that I could not have Ness.
She stood and lingered, swaying on her feet. I reached to steady her. The touch brought her gaze up. Unable to deny those lost eyes, I stepped toward her. The pain ebbed while I looked down at her. The beast held its breath in wild anticipation.
“Go to sleep,” I whispered.
Ness grabbed the front of my shirt. She didn’t pull, but simply held onto me. Her lips parted like she might say something, yet nothing came out. Were her words tangled on her tongue? I could untangle them for her. All she had to do was let me in.
Her hand fell away. “Good night, Ryder.”
Ness stepped around me and disappeared down the hall that led to the master bedroom. I listened and waited for the door to close behind her before I collapsed onto the couch. When the sun rose, I would go out and find someplace secluded to shift.
The beast needed to stretch its wings.