Page 16 of Savage Torment

She shakes her head in disbelief, tongue running across her bottom lip as she glares daggers at me. “I want you to leave.”

I bite back a smile as I take a seat in the chair that's become my home since she's been laid up in this bed, getting comfortable as I lean back. Her stubbornness is evident, that’s for sure, but it won’t serve her here with me.

“I said, I want you to leave,” she repeats, and I nod.

“And I want you to heal,” I retort, settling further into my spot.

“Heal? I’m fine,” she insists.

“Thanks to me.”

She tilts her head to the side. “How do you figure you can take credit for that?”

It should be illegal to look this cute when you’re angry, but there’s just a way about her that makes her more attractive the madder she is.

“We're bound,” I explain, and when that doesn’t seem to make sense to her, I’m reminded of her Florentine background. “You weren’t just injured, you were poisoned. That’s beyond just normal healing and only my blood has the power to reverse all of that shit.”

“Bullshit,” she declares, and I groan, adjusting my dick beneath my pants.

“I love it when you curse, Amica Mea. It reminds me you're not the angel you look like on the outside.”

“I don't look like anything,” she insists, making my grin grow.

“Feisty, nice.”

I relax back, letting my eyelids close as she growls.

“Open your eyes. Don't you dare get comfortable. You're leaving,” she snaps, the entire thing far too amusing. Any retort I have is cut short as the door opens and I'm forced to pry my eyes open.

The irritation in my veins is cut short when I see that the unwanted guest is the nurse. I can deal with that.

“Is there an issue in here?” she asks, and Polaris nods.

“Actually, yes. I want him to leave.”

The nurse winces before offering an apologetic smile as she shakes her head. “Is there anything I can do apart from that?”

Polaris groans, flopping back against her pillows. “Why is no one helping me?” she calls out, and I nod for the nurse to leave.

“Just rest, Polaris,” I insist, and she turns to me with fresh determination burning her eyes.

“I want to see my… friends.” I don’t like the sound of that, but I nod regardless. “After you have rested some more.”

She sits taller, cheeks turning a sweet pink hue that makes the silver of her hair shine brighter, but it’s not her usual flush of embarrassment. It’s rage that’s heating her up, which only entices me more.

Her nostrils flare as she narrows her eyes at me. “I said?—”

“And I said?—”

“Listen here, buddy,” she starts, pointing her finger right in between my eyes as she shuffles to the edge of the bed. “If you think I'm just going to lie here and be compliant, then you're mistaken,” she insists, and I nod.

“I’m well aware.”

She shakes her head, the corners of her eyes crinkling with a mixture of emotions I still can’t put my finger on. “Don't talk like you know me.”

“Don't act like I don’t.”

She huffs as she turns away from me before taking a short inhale, then exhaling it slowly.