“At some point you have to learn to trust me.”
I was trying so hard not to be owned by what I was already feeling for him, so letting him inside my personal thoughts wasn’t going to happen. That would be like handing him a piece of my heart and trusting him not to hurt it.
The throbbing in my head intensified and I rubbed my temple gently.
“It’s starting, isn’t it?” he asked softly.
There was no hiding it so I nodded.
“Come on, it’s time to take it easy,” he instructed firmly, taking my hand into his.
“But—”
“No, anything you still need done someone else can take care of,” he told me, leaving no room for arguing. I let him lead the way back to my room.
I didn’t like being bossed around but the fact that he was doing it because he cared made me go along with it. Once inside my room, I felt my body temperature begin to increase.
“You're starting to burn up,” Blake said when he put his hand to my temple. A bead of sweat trailed down my cheek.
“Lie down,” he instructed firmly, pushing me down to lie on my bed.
I swallowed hard as I watched him disappear into my bathroom. No one had looked after me like he was and it was hard to keep it from opening old wounds of feeling unloved. He reappeared into the room with a damp washcloth that he wiped my face down with.
I expected him to be worried but he was unusually calm as I felt the heat inside of me skyrocket. I gritted my teeth as the fire inside of me began to burn slowly through to the rest of my body. It seemed to suck up all the air inside of my lungs and I struggled to breathe.
“It’s okay,” Blake soothed as he pressed the wet cloth to my forehead.
All coherent thoughts disappeared from my mind as I tried to deal with the pain consuming my body.
I moaned as I tried to ride the increasing pain. Pain like I’d never felt before ripped through every single cell in my body and I felt like I was going to die. Somewhere outside my daze I heard Blake say something to me, but I couldn’t hear what he said. All I could concentrate on was the steady and soothing tone of his voice. It was like a way of holding on while my body thrashed around, trying to escape the pain that was transforming me.
As bad as the pain became, I refused to cry out or scream. To me it was a sign of weakness. Wave after wave of pain spread through me as my body temperature leveled out. I felt like my body was burning from the inside out and my breathing was labored.
I groaned and thrashed, trying to hold on to the soft tone of the voice that was murmuring soft words to me. It was like a flow of water through the blaze consuming me. It felt like it went on forever but never once through all of it did I ever give in to the darkness that offered to ease my pain. I never cried out or screamed once.
Sweat poured off my body as the pain sliced through me again and again. The voice never stopped and the soothing sound gave me hope that the ordeal would end.
My eyes began to glaze over with amber and I felt myself start to panic.
“It’s okay,” the voice soothed. “It'll be over soon.”
I trusted the voice as I looked into an amber-colored world. As the pain began to ease, I was aware of something cool on my face. It was Blake still wiping me down with cold water to soothe the heat.
“It’s nearly over,” I heard Blake’s relieved voice say hoarsely. I felt a soft kiss to the forehead and I felt the love I’d been trying to fight flood through me.
There was no more fighting the love that I felt for my mate.
I closed my eyes briefly and then opened them again. I saw Blake’s concerned face and I reached out to touch him. The pain began to disappear along with the fire inside of me.
“I love you,” he whispered to me as my fingers touched his face.
Exhausted, I smiled as I dropped off into the darkness.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Keri
My pillow moved and I groaned in protest. I was half asleep and so comfortable, enjoying the surrounding warmth. It moved again and I opened an eye to discover my pillow was Blake and he was looking down at me.
