Page 28 of The Night Prince

“No.” My jaw clenches. “He shouldn’t have.”

He touches my throat. “DidIhurt you?”

“I’m alright.”

“Can I see?” he asks.

I nod. He unties my cloak and drops it to the floor. I turn and move my hair aside so he can undo the fastenings of my dress. I flinch, knowing he can see the scars that brand my back, but when I face him, his eyes are on the bloodstained fabric on my shoulder.

Gently, he pushes my sleeves down my arms, until my dress bunches at my waist. Cold air brushes my bare skin. I feel exposed, but he’s not looking at my breasts.

Blood is smeared across my shoulder, oozing from the teeth marks that puncture the skin. The wound glistens in the low light. The blood makes it look worse than it is. It should heal quickly, but Callum swallows. Hard. He squeezes his eyes shut as he presses his forehead against mine. “Fuck. I want to kill him.”

“You can’t. Not yet.” I touch his chest, curling my fingers into his shirt. “I’m okay.”

“He claimed you—”

“I don’t care what anyone says.” My tone sharpens. “I don’t belong to anyone. Least of all Blake.” His chest is rock hard beneath my knuckles, his muscles strained.

He stalks away, into our bathing chambers. It’s as if he can’t bear to look at me.

“Callum?”

The air is cold against my bare chest, and I cover myself with my arms. I feel vulnerable, even more so than when Blake bit me. My skin pebbles, and I’m starting to pull my dress back up when the floorboard creaks.

I release a breath, and my grip on the fabric. Callum holds a washcloth and a small bowl of water. He has not abandoned me like I feared. He takes my upper arms, and steers me into the armchair by the fire. He kneels before me and places the bowl between my legs.

Dampening the cloth, he brings it to my shoulder. Gently, he wipes away the blood. I feel the warmth of his palm through the cloth.

The look on his face... I feel as if I need to comfort him, reassure him, even though I’m the one who has been bitten. When the blood is gone, the circular mark is barely visible on my skin.

“It’s not deep,” I say. “It will heal soon.”

Callum wrings out the cloth in the bowl, and my blood dances across the water. “There is power in an alpha’s bite. IfGhealachaccepts the claim, it will scar. This may well brand your skin forever.”

My pulse kicks up. “What?” For the first time since we arrived here, the fever rises within me, again. Sweat beads on myskin, and my insides feel like they’re burning. I try to pull it all back, to cage my emotions, but all I can think of is how much I want to sink my teeth into Blake and tear him apart, limb from limb. “He bit me, knowing I didn’t want it, knowing it would scar me forever?”

“Aye.”

Blake has seen the scars that mar my back, given to me by the priest to suppress the wolf inside me. He was there when James’s teeth sank through my flesh and almost killed me, branding my waist and torso. He knew this, and decided to leave his mark on me, too.

Amid the anger, something primal stirs. My stomach clenches and my teeth ache. Callum’s face is close to mine, and I let that strong face, those bright green eyes, push out any thoughts of Blake and what I would like to do to him.

Now the lunar eclipse is over, the half-moon shines through the window and casts light onto the side of his face. His palm grips the side of my neck, gentle but firm. He pushes his forehead against mine and his skin is burning. “Fuck. I can’t... I can’t handle this, Rory. I said I would wait until after the full moon. I told myself I’d wait. But I need you.”

I need him too. I need him to be rough with me, strong with me. I need him to rattle my uneasy soul, and give me something to focus my rage onto. I need to release this storm that’s building inside me before I march back up the mountain to find Blake, and throttle the despicable bastard. I need him to push away all thoughts of that snake’s glinting devious eyes, and his mouth at my throat, and my blood on his teeth.

I put my palm on his cheek. “Take me, then.”

A low groan sounds in his throat. He captures my mouth with his, and kisses me deeply, tenderly. I pull him closer to me,and wrap my legs around his waist. “My control is thin tonight. My wolf presses against my skin as if you are the moon, and it does not like that another male bit you. I fear I will lose myself and bite you, too.”

“You won’t do that.”

“You don’t know that.” He swallows, hard. “We need to do things my way, tonight, or not at all. Can you agree to that, for me?”

“I can handle it. I can handle you.”

“Rory, please.” His voice is strained. I stroke his cheek and nod.

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