Page 58 of Red and Her Dragons (Dirty Paranormal Fairytale Haremlan 4)

I stood up with him and walked him to the door. “Please be careful.”

He smiled. “Psshh, I got this.”

I smiled too, but the humor at the moment was short-lived. And once Bret was gone, I was alone, and the silence was overbearing. I didn’t have anything to keep me busy. I was too sore to train, too tired to clean, and I didn’t have the energy to take a bath or shower.

So, instead, I headed to the infirmary. Well, what worked as a makeshift one anyway. I took a seat on the floor and clutched my head in my hands. Of all the people to lose in the fight, it looked like it had to be him.

Though I knew Marcus was doing everything he could to save Jax, and then some, it brought little comfort. He was in bad shape when I found him. Too much blood had covered him and the ground. The humans were celebrating Jax’s demise as though he was already dead.

Tears burned my eyes as I waited, and waited, and waited. What seemed like hours later, Marcus finally came out of the room. He sighed, wiping his hands dry with a paper towel. His eyes fell to mine and there was enormous sadness in them.

“I’ve done everything I could,” Marcus said. “It’s up to him now.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“You can go in and sit with him. He’ll be out for at least a couple more hours… and that’s if he even wakes up.”

I swatted at a couple of tears that fell down my cheek. Marcus cupped my cheek and brushed away the trail left behind with his thumb. “Whatever happens, I’ll be here for you.”

I nodded. “Thank you again.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “Thank me when this is all over.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

He removed his hand and shuffled his feet down the hallway toward his room. The door’s mechanism clicked open. Seconds later, the door shut, leaving an unsettling silence.

With a sigh, I poked my head into the room. Jax laid on the bed, as still as could be. Tears flooded my eyes as I slowly crossed the room to his bedside. He was pale from the loss of blood. And his breathing was too shallow for comfort.

I never wanted to be as close to him as I did watching him cling to life by a thread. The last thing I wanted was for him to leave the world without me by his side.

So, I carefully climbed into bed next to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and listened to his breathing. I was too terrified to sleep and clung to every second I could with him. And as the minutes ticked by, his breathing slowly deepened, bringing with it a rush of relief.

He was going to be okay.

Minutes later, his arm moved and wrapped around me. He sucked in a deep breath and then winced.

“Don’t do that, it hurts,” I said softly.

He snorted. “I’ve been through worse.”

We lay in silence. This time it wasn’t uncomfortable. Without warning, Jax rolled over me, looked me deep in the eyes, and said, “I should have done this a long time ago.”

He kissed me. But not like he did in the kitchen. In the way that said so much more than his words ever could. His hands started to remove my clothing. I grabbed his hand to stop him.

He leaned up and stared at me with a confused expression.

“You almost died, and now you want to have sex?” I asked.

He smiled. “Babe, it would take a whole lot more to take me out.”

I tried to argue but he placed a finger over my lips and shushed me.

I glared at him.

“Just go with it,” he whispered.

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t deny my heightened arousal even if I tried. I knew better than to think he didn’t already sense it. That was probably part of what had egged him on.

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