Page 113 of Blood So Brutal

“Drink,” I whispered, pressing my bloodied wrist to his mouth. “Drink, Wolf. You need blood to heal.”

For a few painful, terrifying moments, I thought he wouldn’t drink. I thought that, maybe, I said my last words to him. That we shared our last moment, our last victory. I thought that maybe, after everything—after falling as an angel, after losing his wings, after all of it—he was finally done fighting.

But then, ever so slowly, his eyes fluttered open.

His tongue slipped out of his mouth, tenderly licking across my skin.

“It’s yours, Wolf,” I whispered. “Take it.”

My entire chest ached as I watched him push himself up, pulling my arm to his mouth. His teeth brushed against me, gently at first, before piercing my skin.

Heat pulsed through my body, but I was too terrified to give into it.Drink, Wolf. Don’t you dare fucking die right here.

And he did. He pulled a mouthful of my blood into his mouth and swallowed.

And then he stopped.

He jerked his mouth away from my arm. “I can’t do this, Huntyr.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t drink your blood, not after what I did to you.”

I gripped the back of his head and practically pulled him back down to my arm. “If you die right now because you refuse to drink this blood I’m offering, I’ll never fucking forgive you, okay?”

He resisted at first, still hesitant.

So I did the only other thing I could think of. With the walls of our bond down, I pushed as much emotion through as I could. I sent him the absolute horror and fear and love I felt for him in that moment. He could not fucking die. I would never be okay again, and he had to know that.

“Drink,” I said again, breath hitching. “Please.”

Something flashed across his features before he returned his attention to my wrist, sliding his teeth into the same puncture wounds and drinking deep.

He didn’t hold back this time. He needed blood and we both knew it; I could feel the hunger deep within him through our bond. No, it was beyond hunger now. It was survival.

“That’s it.” I relaxed against him and let him take whatever he needed. Wolf always had so much control, so much restraint.

Even now, seconds away from bleeding out entirely, his thirst did not scare me. I was not afraid that he would take too much, that he would drain my veins of every drop. The truth was, I never feared that with Wolf.

Even if he wanted to take every drop, I wouldn’t stop him. My blood was his, every damn ounce.

Not a minute later, he pulled away. The blood at his side slowed as the healing effects began to kick in.

Thank the fucking goddess.

I wasn’t sure how much more panic I could have taken in that moment. If that didn’t work…

“Thank you,” he whispered softly, voice sounding like he just woke up from a ten-year slumber. “You didn’t have to do that, Huntyr.”

I met his gaze as I answered, “Yes, I did. We both know it.”

He smiled and dropped his head. Was he blushing?

“It worked,” I said. “It fucking worked, Wolf. Asmodeus was hit.” I used my hand to lift his chin up. His tired eyes searched mine, finally showing me the lightning that came out every so often.

Beautiful. He was fucking beautiful.

“Good,” he said. “Because I don’t think my aim is good enough to do that all again.”