Page 27 of Wreaking Havoc
His skin was pale and unbelievably soft-looking, unmarked other than the wound on his arm. Kai shifted closer on his knees, brushing that spot with his fingers again—it was recent enough to still be pink and slightly puckered. Recent enough to be healed.
A visible shiver ran through Sascha’s body, as it seemed to do every time Kai put a hand on him. It pleased Kai immensely, the way this human responded to his touch.
Sascha cleared his throat. “So healing is one of your magic powers?”
“You’re my bargain,” Kai explained. “I can heal any wounds of yours related to battle. I can’t cure illness or the like.” And for the first time in his long existence, Kai found himself regretting that fact. Humans were vulnerable to too many things beyondthe weapons of their enemies. He needed to be able to protect Sascha from it all; otherwise, what use was he?
“Still, pretty nifty,” Sascha said. “I could have used you two months ago. Would’ve saved me some time and money.”
Sascha sounded glib enough on the surface, his voice light and airy, but there was tension in his frame. Kai placed both palms firmly on his little human’s shoulders. “Relax, pup. Breathe. I’m not going to hurt you.”
He kept his hands in place as Sascha began to breathe in and out more slowly, his muscles gradually loosening.
“Good boy,” Kai told him. Sascha’s head whipped around to showcase a vicious glare. Kai laughed, gesturing with his chin. “Turn back around now.”
After another moment of scowling, Sascha did, giving Kai a direct look at the back of his neck. The exact spot a mating mark might lie. Kai ran his thumb over it—another shiver ran through Sascha’s frame.
“Does healing really require so much touching?” Sascha asked, his voice snippy.
“No,” Kai answered honestly, rubbing his thumb over Sascha’s neck once more. He was met with silence. Did his mouthy bargain really have nothing to say to that? Were a few soft touches all it took to hush him up?
How enticing.
But there was business to attend to first. It wouldn’t do to continue to let Sascha walk around injured, however minor the effects might be. Just the thought of it filled Kai with rage.
He nudged even closer so the whole of Sascha’s back was brushing against his own bare chest. Sascha was slight, fitting so perfectly against Kai’s broader frame, just as his soul piece fit so perfectly inside. His skin was cool in comparison to Kai’s own body heat. It was oddly soothing.
Kai removed his hand from Sascha’s shoulder and set it over the wound, reaching inward to the piece of Sascha’s essence inside him. He could feel the internal injury, the edges of it that weren’t healed quite right, the bits that still pained Sascha. Kai sent some of his own essence into that wrongness, bathing it in his own strength.
Sascha let out a small gasp, the sound almost lost in the soft roar of the crashing waves.
“You feel me, pup?” Kai asked in a murmur.
“It feels…hot.”
Kai held steady. “Too much to bear?”
Sascha shook his head.
“Good.”
Just as Kai had thought. In the past, he’d had seasoned warriors screaming in pain at a healing, but those warriors hadn’t had an essence like Sascha’s, one that fit so well within Kai’s own. Sascha’s body didn’t fight Kai’s intrusion any more than Kai’s fought Sascha’s.
They were matched well.
He let the healing complete, the small wound requiring mere moments, then brushed his fingers once more over the site. No more scar. Not even a hint of past damage.
“Better?” he asked, his voice rough.
Sascha rolled his shoulder, then flexed and released the fingers on his right hand. “Yes.” He sounded awed.
He made as if to stand, to move himself away from Kai, but Kai held him in place with the hand on his shoulder. He asked the question that had been plaguing him since the day before.
“Why do you shy away from your desire for me? Why do you fear it?”
Maybe it was Kai’s demon nature—or the restless, yearning part that was just him—but he truly didn’t understand wantingsomething and not reaching for it. He didn’t understand how the lust emanating from Sascha paired with his avoidance.
For a moment, it seemed as if Sascha would deny it all again, claim Kai was “not his type.” But it wasn’t a denial that ultimately left his lips.
