Page 77 of Brody
The mate bond flared between us, a tangible force that made the water around us shimmer with golden light where it met the blue.Something was happening, the two energies, mate bond and COL water, combining to fight the venom.
“That’s it,” I murmured, hope flickering to life.“Fight it, Brody.”
For nearly an hour, I held him in the healing waters, watching the battle wage across his skin.The glowing veins of venom would recede in one area, only to intensify in another.His temperature fluctuated wildly, burning hot one moment, teeth-chatteringly cold the next.
During a moment of lucidity, his eyes found mine, startlingly clear despite the fever.“If I don’t make it?—”
“Don’t,” I cut him off, pressing my fingers against his lips.“You’re not going anywhere.”
His hand weakly caught mine, holding it against his face.“Need you to know something.”
My throat constricted.“I’m listening.”
“These past few days with you…” he managed, each word a battle against the venom’s paralytic effects.“Worth years of waiting.”
Something cracked inside my chest.“Save your strength.”
“No,” he insisted, a flash of the alpha showing through his pain.“I need to say it.Should have found you sooner.”
“We found each other now,” I whispered, pressing my forehead to his.“That’s what matters.”
A ghost of his smile touched his lips.“Still bossy as ever, Doctor.”
“Someone has to be,” I replied, my voice catching.“Just stay with me.”
“Trying,” he murmured, his eyes fluttering closed again.“For you.”
His body convulsed suddenly, another wave of venom surging toward his central nervous system.He lost consciousness completely, the second time for so long I feared I’d lost him.
My voice grew hoarse from talking to him constantly, reminding him of who he was, anchoring him to his human side as the venom tried to sever the connection to his wolf.I told him about my research, about the plants we’d seen near the COL, about anything and everything I could think of to keep him present.
When the water’s effects began to plateau, I knew we needed to change tactics.The venom was still present, though its glow had dimmed, the tendrils retreating from his extremities but concentrating around his heart and spine.His body shivered violently despite the warm water.
“We need to get you warm,” I decided, propping him against the edge of the pool.“Stay here.Don’t you dare sink under.”
I climbed out, not caring about my nakedness, and rushed to the fireplace.My hands shook as I arranged kindling and struck a match, relief flooding me as flames caught and began to grow.Moving to the bed, I stripped it of blankets and pillows, dragging everything to the floor before the growing fire.
“Brody,” I called, returning to the pool.“I need you to help me.Just a little.”
His eyes flickered open, unfocused but aware.“Trying,” he managed, his voice barely audible.
“I know you are,” I said, sliding my arms around him.“Just a few steps.”
It took all my strength to help him from the pool, his larger frame dwarfing mine as he leaned heavily against me.Water sluiced down our naked bodies, leaving puddles on the stone floor as I half carried, half dragged him to the nest of blankets before the fire.
I eased him down, arranging pillows beneath his head before sliding in behind him.His skin, slick from the pool, cooled rapidly in the air despite the nearby fire.Spooning his larger body with mine felt like a reversal of natural order yet somehow right, the protector becoming protected, the alpha accepting care.He needed me now, as I’d needed him last night.
I pulled blankets over us both, tucking them around his shivering form with meticulous attention, creating a cocoon of warmth.The fire’s light danced across his features, highlighting the sharp angle of his jaw, the hollow at his throat where his heartbeat thrummed too rapidly beneath the skin.Damp tendrils of his hair curled against his neck, and without thinking, I brushed them aside, my fingers lingering on the fever-hot skin beneath.
“C-c-cold,” he stuttered, his body trembling violently against mine, muscles spasming in painful contortions.
“I know,” I said soothingly, pressing myself against him, molding my curves to the hard planes of his back and thighs.I wrapped my arm around his waist, palm splayed across his abdomen, where I could feel each labored breath.“The poison is making you shiver.You’re going to be okay.”
I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself.
“You’re warm,” he murmured, his hand finding mine beneath the blankets, fingers interlacing with surprising strength given his condition.“I always thought that was funny.”
“What’s funny?”I asked, desperate to keep him talking, present.
