Page 13 of The Guardian (Dark-Hunter 20)
She'd never felt more lost.
An eerie chill went down her spine as she saw her future and it wasn't pretty.
For now, it was better to tolerate the demon she knew than the others who waited outside this room.
* * *
Seth came awake slowly to find himself lying facedown on the hard stone floor. He stared at his gloomy bedroom wall, dreading the moment when the pain would kick in and he'd ache anew. But as he waited for it, he realized that his head was on a soft pillow and the weight on his body wasn't his armor.
Someone had covered him with his blankets?
What the hell?
Frowning, he started to move only to hear a warm, sweet voice chirp at him.
"Careful! You'll reopen your back."
From the shadows, he saw an angel appear. Yeah, one with sharp teeth, he reminded himself. But the current throbbing in his lips wasn't from her nip, it was from Noir's vicious backhands.
His head swam as the pain found him and kicked his teeth in. Yeah, this was what he was used to. Utter fucking misery. For a moment, he feared he'd pass out again.
"Here."
She picked his head up from the pillow with the gentlest touch he'd ever known and helped him drink water from the goblet he'd left with her dinner.
He swallowed carefully, his throat burning from internal injuries, until she pulled the cup away. Then he scowled at her. He'd ask her why she was helping him, but the answer was obvious and undeniable. He was the only way she could get out of here and she knew it.
There was no emotion behind any of her actions. They were solely self-serving.
Like everyone else's.
But at least she hadn't taken advantage of his condition to hurt him more. That, in and of itself, was a novelty.
Even stranger was the fact that she'd bothered to tend him at all. His scowl deepened as he focused on the bandage she'd wrapped around his hand and knotted over his knuckles. "I told you, I couldn't die."
"Yeah, but you're not exactly a speed healer, either. I had to do something. You were bleeding all over the floor and the smell of blood was nauseating me."
Seth ignored that as he pushed himself up so that he could stand on unsteady feet. Dizzy from the blood loss and pain, he felt so weak ...
Suddenly, Lydia was beside him. She pulled his arm around her shoulders and wrapped one slender arm around his waist to steady him. The warm scent of her filled his head, making his heartbeat race. Better still was the soft curves of her body against his. Curves that made his mouth water and his cock so hard, he could probably use it as a hammer.
"C'mon, let's get you to bed before you fall down again."
Those words brought images to his mind of him deep inside her while she arched against him. Of her lips teasing every inch of his body until he was made drunk by it.
Oh yeah, he could already feel her there.
Warm. Wet.
Supple ...
Don't be stupid. It wasn't an invitation, and she most certainly didn't give a shit about him.
But it was nice to have someone who pretended to care. If only for a minute.
How pathetic am I that something so fake and trivial means so much?
And he was pathetic. Craving a woman who'd rather gut him than bed him.
Don't let this soften you. There would be hell to pay if he allowed anyone to weaken him.
And that would be different from normal, how?
Disgusted with himself, he moved away from her. "I don't need your help."
She held her hands up in surrender. "Fine. Bleed wherever you want to."
Seth crept to the bed and sat down before he passed out again. He brushed a hand through his hair, then froze as he felt those detested curls he never wore in front of anyone.
Shit.
That was followed by a fear so foul, it nauseated him more than his wounds. He brushed his hand against the whiskers on his cheek. "Did you wash-"
"Yes."
He winced as he realized she was looking at the real him. The part he never wanted anyone to see. "Why?" He had to struggle to keep the venom out of his voice.
"You had a nasty head injury and a bad bruise on your left cheek. I wanted to make sure no bones were broken."
So what if they had been? "Would it have mattered?"
She let out a tired breath before she answered. "No, Captain Bad-Ass, it wouldn't. Sorry I tried to help."
