Page 10 of Raven

The stitch went in smoothly. She tightened her grip on my side, her fingers digging into my skin. After tying it off, I applied some balm to the wound. It was blue like toothpaste but smelled of lavender and honey. The scent mingled with her own, creating an intoxicating blend.

"There. That should do it," I said softly, my hands lingering for a moment longer than necessary. I traced the line of her jaw with my fingertips, ostensibly checking for any missed cuts.

I released her chin, allowing her to lower her face, but she didn't, and I made the mistake of not stepping back. Our eyes locked, and for a moment, the world seemed to shrink to just the two of us. The air crackled, our panthers prowling just beneath the surface of our skin—the heat of her body, the quickeningof her breath—my gaze dropped to her lips for a fraction of a second before I forced it back to her eyes.

One moment, we were merely looking at each other; the next, our lips were locked. There was no warning, no words—nothing but her hands on my sides and me still pressed between her thighs. My panther, and evidently hers, leapt at the contact.

Her hands slid around my back, and I cupped her face, angling not for better access to the wound this time, but to her mouth. I breathed her in, and she pressed against me. Our panthers danced together.

A sensation of lightness enveloped me, making it feel as though we were floating. My skin buzzed with electricity that originated from our kiss and spread through both of us.

I had to break away, to pull back. It wasn't right to take advantage of the situation. She'd just been ... I couldn't fully articulate the thought but bringing her to my place wasn't for this reason.

"I'm sorry. I ..." My lips throbbed from the kiss, and my panther was pushing me to return to her. "I don't know what just happened." It sounded like a feeble excuse, but it was the only explanation I had.

Breathless, she shook her head. "No. It was my fault."

Was it? I couldn't tell. My panther wasn't the only thing in turmoil; my thoughts and feelings were a jumbled mess, too, making it hard to discern whether they originated from me or her. I moved to step back, allowing her space to dismount from the counter, to give myself some distance, but she placed her hand on my chest.

"How about we don't apologise for the kiss?" I suggested. "Because I'm not sorry, and if I thought you wouldn't push me away, I'd do it all over again."

"I wouldn't push you away."

A smile played at the corners of her mouth, and perhaps it was she who drew me back into that intimate space. It was hard to say. I touched her chin gently with my fingers, not to inspect the wound this time, but because I wanted to see her. She allowed me to tilt her head back, granting me access to her mouth.

I kissed her deeper this time, with more intensity and meaning. I enveloped her in my embrace, letting my hands slide around her back to pull her closer, in a way that felt as though even our panthers were embracing.

When I finally broke away and rested my forehead against hers, she licked her lips.

"I didn't bring you here to make moves on you."

"You're not. It's okay."

Looking into her eyes, they weren't fully overtaken by her panther's green, but they were bright enough. This wasn't right. I had brought her home to help her. She had just been attacked. "I should probably walk you home," I said, echoing my initial intention, not this diversion.

Disappointment washed over me. Was it mine, or hers? "Are you busy tomorrow?" she asked.

"I have classes. That's all. No work."

"I have classes too. I was planning on doing some exploring afterward. Get the lay of the land, find some places to shift. I haven't so far, and there aren't many near where I live."

That proposition felt better to me—not like I was taking advantage of a woman who had almost gone through something more awful than a few bumps and bruises. "There's the Fell. Have you been?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"It's my favourite spot. Actually, it's most shifters' favourite spot. I could take you if you like. Show you around some places."

"I'd like that," she said.

I stepped back and extended my hand to help her down from the counter. "My last class finishes at half-past five. Wait for me at the clock tower, and I'll pick you up." This way, if tomorrow, once her panther was less intertwined with mine, she realised this was all just some adrenaline-fueled thing, she wouldn't have to show up.

I was giving her an out if she needed it.

Inside, my panther was furious with me for it.

FIVE

I crashed out on my bed, not intentionally—it was supposed to be the night I burnt the midnight oil, like I’d told Tia, though I might not have been entirely truthful about the console part. I rarely had time for that. Mostly, I just waged war with my textbooks because the college drove us hard. They even made us take classes on Saturdays, which was just part of the Human control. We didn't have access to the facilities during the week, so we had to cram as much in over the weekend as possible, which, when you work in a bar, means weekends equal little sleep.

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