Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93727 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 469(@200wpm)___ 375(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Like a fucking superpower,” I confessed.
Rosemary laughed and pinched my earlobe teasingly. “Not a bad thing to have in a pinch,” she said. “But I’m still going to hope you don’t need it again.”
“Me too, baby.”
“Do I look as bad as you?” she asked, picking something out of my hair. “You’re filthy.”
“You’re gorgeous.”
“I’m covered in gore.”
“We cleaned most of you off last night,” I told her.
“Well, no one did you the same favor, clearly. Where’s the bathroom?”
Taking her by the hand, I walked her slowly to the shower before I realized she couldn’t get in.
“Your bandages,” I reminded her with a grimace. “You can’t shower yet.”
“Shit,” she grumbled, looking down at the sheet she’d wrapped around her like a toga.
“Sit down on the toilet,” I ordered gently. “I’ll take a quick shower and then help you clean up.”
“Oh, so you get a shower,” she complained good-naturedly. “Nice.”
“I’m not going to help you bathe while I’m like this,” I countered, pulling off my shirt. “Give me five minutes.”
Rosemary hummed in appreciation as I stripped off the scrub pants Alice had given me after she stitched up my leg. “Take your time.”
Chapter 15
Rosemary
Iwatched as red water sluiced down Daniel’s body and swirled down the drain at his feet. His shower was massive, and only half of it was blocked off, so I had an excellent and unobstructed view of my mate as he cleaned off the night before. My heart fluttered as the muscles beneath his skin flexed and moved.
I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at him.
“Does anyone else know about the berserker thing?” I asked as he shampooed his long hair and beard.
“Just my parents and my brothers,” he replied, his eyes closed. “Why?”
“It seems like a good weapon to have in our back pocket,” I mused. “But not if everyone knows about it.”
“Oh, so now I’m a weapon?” he asked, his eyes popping open to look at me.
“I mean, you’re not not a weapon,” I teased. “But that makes us a good pair, because no one thinks I’m a weapon either.”
He huffed a small laugh as he rinsed his hair.
“Dalton’s family knows now too,” he said. “They saw me in action last night. I doubt they know any details, though.”
“That’s fine.” I waved him off, even though he wasn’t looking at me. “Family should know anyway.”
My nails were broken and jagged. Blood had caked dark brown and flaky around the edges of my nail beds. God, I really wished I could shower. Rising to my feet, I shuffled over to the sink and carefully tugged my arm out of the sling so I could wash my hands.
The shower cut off just as I’d turned on the faucet.
“You really don’t give a shit, do you?” Daniel asked, stepping in behind me as our eyes met in the mirror.
“That you have a superpower?” I replied, smiling at him. “No. If you couldn’t control it, that would be different.”
“I couldn’t control it last night,” he reminded me, tipping his face down to kiss my bare shoulder.
“Danny,” I breathed, leaning back against him. “Look at me.”
He raised his gaze to mine.
“Don’t fucking spiral, all right?”
He stiffened.
Reaching up, I cupped his cheek in my palm and held his face next to mine, our gazes locked.
“If you hadn’t gotten there when you did, we were toast,” I told him, the memory of all those humans rising from the forest like ants making me shudder. “We were surrounded, and there were too many of them. If we hadn’t had the boys and Aunt Halle, it might’ve been different, but we couldn’t go on the offensive because we were too busy playing defense for them.”
He turned his head slowly and kissed the center of my palm.
“Don’t expect me to judge you for the ability that got us all home alive last night.”
“I had some help,” he reminded me ruefully.
“Secondary characters,” I joked, wrinkling my nose. “You’re the main character, babe.”
Daniel laughed. “Come on, mate,” he ordered, leaning back. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
We were quiet as Daniel helped me lose the sheet and sling, then soaped up a washcloth and began to clean me off. The bathroom fan was the only noise in the room as he started with the unwounded half of my face, then my ears and neck. Using a clean washcloth, he rinsed the soap away. Then he grabbed two new cloths and started the process on my chest, arms, armpits, and back. As he worked his way down my body, I let my eyes drift shut.
My body was sore, especially my face. All the talking we’d done had pulled at the stitches in my cheek, and I was actually a little surprised that he was able to understand me because the words that came out of my mouth were consistently slurred and garbled.