Page 116 of Blood So Brutal

My own shirt was ripped and tattered. My pants and boots thickened in blood—some mine, some not.

And we had days left of this journey.

Still, the scent of cherries wafted through the air.

And it smelled fuckinggood.

Iturned right as soon as I heard the soft stream of water running down the hill. Hours had gone by, and the blood covering our bodies was now so dry, it cracked and flaked with every torturous movement.

A fucking bath was exactly what I needed.

Huntyr too, though she didn’t seem nearly as excited as I did as we made our way to the shallow trickle of water.

I instantly dropped to my knees and scooped up a handful of the liquid, pulling it into my cotton-dry mouth and throwing it over my head.

I kicked my boots off quickly and slipped into the water. Fuck, it felt amazing, a close second to tasting Huntyr’s blood.

The water was deeper than I thought, coming just above my shoulders as I stood.

Huntyr tentatively fell to her knees too, taking a drink before sitting back and watching me.

“What?” I asked. “Get in here, Huntress. It feels fucking amazing.”

“I’m sure it does.”

She looked down at her hands and picked at her fingernails before she shifted to stick her feet in the river. “I’m fine here.”

“Like hells you are.”

I took two strides through the water before reaching her. I gripped her legs beneath her knees and pulled.Hard. She slid off the land with a squeal.

But I didn’t let her go far. I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her body to mine. She sucked in a sharp breath and clung to me, arms tightening around my neck. Her face looked pissed, but I could feel her relax as I pulled us both into the flowing water.

“Dammit, Wolf,” she muttered under her breath. “Just when I think I could get used to you.”

She looked at me, just inches away, water dripping from her thick, black lashes. Hells, she was beautiful, and the only thing separating her perfect body from mine was a very, very thin layer of soaking wet fabric.

If she knew what I was thinking, she didn’t show it. She leaned back in my grasp and dipped her head into the water, using one hand to run her fingers through her thick curls.

“I’m teaching you to swim one of these days,” I whispered, watching her. I couldn’t take my damn eyes off her if I tried.

“Maybe,” she replied. “But today is certainly not that day. I’m not even sure I have enough energy to make it all the way to Scarlata.”

Her legs wrapped around my waist while her ankles locked behind my back. I moved my hands to grip her thighs, holding her body against me effortlessly as she bathed herself in the stream.

When she pulled herself back up, her face was clean. Blood no longer covered her perfect, pale skin. I could even see the faintest signs of freckles.

She stared at me for a second before dragging a handful of water up to my face. “Here,” she said as she rubbed my rough skin gently, using her thumb to wash away the dirt, grime, blood, violence. Her eyes grew serious, her face focusing on the task at hand.

I watched her while she washed my face, closing my eyes momentarily when she demanded it. My entire body grew hot as she used her finger to wipe away the smeared blood on my bottom lip. Then, she moved to my hair. She used her torturous fucking hands to pull at the long strands.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed. It could have been ten minutes. It could have been two fucking hours.

Huntyr relaxed against me, trusting me entirely as I held her body in the flow of the river.

Eventually, we were both clean. The water no longer ran red, my hair no longer heavy with caked substances.

But still, we remained in the stream.

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