14. 13

13

Serina

I thought taking a long, hot shower would help ease my tense muscles and pain, but it only made me feel more light-headed and queasy after the drive back to my motel room.

I turned off the shower head and let the water run from the big faucet into the tub. I sat down, gripping onto each side of the tub, my arms almost trembling because of the little strength I was using to guide my body down.

I didn’t know how I was going to make it to the Davorin house. Bastian did say he saved their numbers into my phone, but I didn’t want to call them. I didn’t want to need help.

It was hard for me to let my walls down enough to ask anyone for help, let alone Vampires who I didn’t trust.

Even those closest to me, I had a hard time reaching out to.

I lay in the tub for what felt like forever until the water was too cold. I breathed through the ache and stepped out of the tub, then wrapped myself in a white fluffy towel, tying it around my breasts.

I walked out of the bathroom and stilled when I looked up. A message was written on the glass in the leftover condensation.

Run, Serina.

Fuck, did they know who I truly was? Had word finally spread that Serina Velika was alive and well? Or was this Bastian, Nox, and Thorne playing a trick on me because I didn’t play house with them?

A knock sounded on the door, and I grabbed my gun, checking the mag for wooden bullets before I gently clicked it back into place.

I walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole to see Bastian standing there. I released a breath of… relief? Why would I be relieved? He was the one who probably put the message on the mirror in the first place.

I opened the door and he eyed me, waiting for an invitation I wouldn’t give before he barged into the room.

Hotels were open invitations to the public, so he could simply walk right in the entire time, but he still tried to give me the option, making it seem like I had a choice about him coming in. I didn’t.

“Is this some kind of joke to you?” he questioned, turning to face me as I closed the door.

“No, I should be able to stay wherever I want. Is this some kind of joke to you ?” I fired back. He gave me a puzzled look, and I lifted my arm pointing to the mirror.

He turned to see the message on it, going suddenly still, the type of animalistic stillness that let me know what lurked beneath his skin.

“Serina… I didn’t leave a message on your mirror,” he said, and I scoffed.

“Yeah, sure, just like you didn’t let me almost die to ensure I made a deal with you.” I moved to sit on the bed, my brow furrowed in pain.

Bastian glanced over to me before walking over to the door to ensure it was locked. He made his way over to the mini fridge and grabbed a water before kneeling in front of me. He pulled the bottle of pain meds from his pocket, giving me two of them in my palm while handing me the water.

“Take these. You should have gotten them a few hours ago,” he chided, glancing back over his shoulder to the mirror. “Is that the only time that's happened?” he asked, and I shook my head, noting the concern and confusion laced over his features…

He really wasn’t the one that had done it.

He fixed me with a determined expression. “You are coming back to the house with me, and if you fight me on it, I'll throw you over my shoulder, haul you there, and lock you in my room until we get more answers.”

I stood, masking any pain I had. “No,” I argued, crossing my arms over my chest, my breasts bulging in the towel. His eyes dipped before he met my gaze again, fire in his stare.

He moved, quicker than I anticipated, and pinned me to the wall. His knee pushed between my thighs, pinning my arms next to me.

“It wasn’t a suggestion; you will stay until you are healed,” he growled next to the shell of my ear, making tingles skate down my spine. My side pulsed in pain with the beat of my heart, but my pussy throbbed for an entirely different reason.

Fuck, Sam had been right, it had been far too long.

My head went dizzy when he backed away from me, and I almost slid down the wall from how weak I was.

“Fuck, Serina, you can barely stand.” His gaze softened as he went to the dresser to grab me some clothes. I sat down on the bed again, but when he shifted and kneeled in front of me, I pulled back.

“What are you doing?” I asked as he gently grabbed my ankle and slipped my leg through one of the holes of my lacey panties.

“Dressing you,” he replied plainly, as if it was just a normal thing to do. “Is that a problem, little monster ?” His voice was rough, his breath skimming across my upper thighs as he tugged my panties the rest of the way up my legs, and his calloused hands ran over the sides of my hips.

My breath hitched as he lingered there watching my body react to him. A grin curved his lips as he went to put my pants on. He nodded for me to remove the towel, and I scowled at him, grabbing the shirt.

I scoffed, “I think I can handle that myself.”

“Though I’m sure you have lovely breasts, I want to see your side, Serina,” he said, and I lifted the towel so he could examine it, feeling a hint of embarrassment at thinking he was wanting to watch me put my shirt on. “It looks better than it did. Come on, let’s get home.”

With that, he stood, and I gave him a twirl with my finger to turn around.

He grinned at me but did as instructed and gave me his back as I quickly threw the shirt on over my head, all of my muscles screaming from such a simple action.

“Alright, I'm ready,” I said, and he turned toward me and helped me to my feet, tugging me into his muscular body.

“Oh, and Serina, if that’s how your body responds while I’m dressing you, I can’t wait to see what happens when I strip you bare,” he teased.

My mouth fell wide open. For once in my life, I didn’t know what to say. My facade cracked. I wanted to argue with him, to tell him it would never happen, but the attraction was there, and I couldn’t deny it even if I tried.

I fell asleep in his car on the short drive back to their mansion. The pain meds had kicked in, and I wasn’t hurting as bad anymore.

In my daze I felt suddenly weightless, and then my cheek pressed against Bastian’s hard chest; I knew it was him because the scent had become familiar to me.

Pomegranates and pine.

That seems like a bad sign.

I knew I shouldn’t have found a sense of comfort in it, but I did, and the thought made me try to wrench my head away from his chest. He merely used the hand tucked under my shoulders to place my head back, and I was too tired to fight.

After the shuffle of footsteps, I felt him lay me on silky sheets, and I let myself fall completely asleep as darkness overtook me.

I woke in the middle of the night needing to relieve myself, surprised that no nightmares had come for me.

I walked out of the bedroom to a quiet house other than the sound of water running—a shower.

I took careful steps down the stairs and as I rounded the corner, I found that the bathroom door was open. The darker hair and mess of tattoos everywhere let me know it was Nox through the frosted shower curtain. I could see the curve of his ass and his back flexing as he held his head under the water, scrubbing at his hair.

Pink-tinged water fell freely from his head, and I wondered who he had killed. Was it a human? Or had he murdered someone else trying to find the answers we needed?

My mind fought with my body because the man was beautiful. Even through the frosted curtain, I could see the toned outline of his physique, and the thoughts I had running through my mind of him had no business being there, especially if he had killed someone innocent.

But was I any better anymore? I had killed that Werewolf and those Vampires in the alley without a second thought.

I still didn’t trust them, and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to. I wiped my hands over my flushed face and quickly headed back toward my room. There had to be another bathroom in this house.

In my haste to get back to my room, I moved up the stairs quickly and ran into a hard chest—Thorne’s chest. I jumped.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. What are you doing awake?” he asked, looking me over. “Nightmares?”

Why does he ask as if he already knows they plague me? Why does he have to care? Why is his heart so soft? And for fuck’s sake, why are they all so attractive?

“I was looking for the bathroom. The one downstairs is… occupied.” I fumbled over my words, and he nodded for me to follow him down the hall. It was the second door on the right, two doors down from my room. Well, Bastian’s room.

He still never told me why he didn’t just give me a room of my own. I was sure there were more rooms here.

“Thanks,” I said as he went into the room directly across from me. Thorne’s room, noted.

He offered me a kind smile before closing his door, and I did the same.