Page 39 of Falling for Ash
His heart squeezed at the sound of Gabriella’s voice. Laced with pain and breathy with her pants, it hurt him to hear her this way. He wanted to take away all her hurt, to make her feel good, but he understood, perhaps better than she, that sometimes you had to experience pain to get to what was really good. Still, he’d take it all away if he could. For now, though, he would have to content himself with doing as she bade him.
“I got you, love. It will all be over soon,” he said, lifting her into the safety of his arms.
She sighed, resting her overly warm forehead on his chin, and he felt a tremor rack his entire frame. Fuck, he loved her trust in him. Would do all he could to ensure he was worthy of that one thing that meant more than any other, starting with this.
“Hold on,” he growled, ducking back behind the tree line as a group of dogwalkers neared them.
The dogs were barking like mad, some whimpering and whining as they came closer to where they’d been a moment before. The beasts were probably scenting her Wolf. Thankfully, Gabriella was too focused on herself to pay them any mind. Her unsteady breathing another sign that she was fighting too hard.
Fuck.
He had to do something. Go somewhere to make sure she was safe.
But where would a Demon take a new Wolf to Change and run for the first time?
“Ash,” she said his name through gritted as the pain gripped her harder than before.
“Hold on.”
His only thought of her, Ash used the shadows to travel like lightning to the nearest portal. The Underworld might not be what some would call a vacation spot. But it was home.
And he wanted her there, in his keep, in his house, with him more than anything.
Possessive?
Fuck yes. Unapologetically so. He was a Demon, after all. Not an exceptionally generous being. But he would give everything he had for and to Gabriella. She was it for him.
Mine.
Mine.
MINE.
Chapter
Twelve
Hot. So hot.
For a woman who always felt chilly, even in LA’s desert like heat, Gabby was on fire. She felt the warmth all the way down to her bones. It wasn’t cozy or comfortable. Not at all. The burning pain was enough to sear the flesh right off her.
And did she mention the cramps in her muscles?
Holy cow!
Not cursing was an active lifestyle choice, but for once in her life, she didn’t think she’d make it without uttering one obscene word.
Was this normal?
Something had to be wrong.
She opened her eyes to find Ash bent over her, concern and patience in his black orbs. He’d brought her here, back to his home, placed her on the center of his bed. She’d asked him not to, afraid she’d damage the thing, but he wouldn’t hear of laying her anywhere else.
“You must let your Wolf in, little one,” he pleaded. “It will hurt far less if you accept her.”
“Burns,” she growled and grunted, rolling to her side as pain racked her frame.
“Please, Gabriella, I cannot bear to see you like this. What can I do to help?”
