I turned and slowly pulled up the bottom of the blanket, looking at her splinted ankle. The swelling was almost completely gone, the bruising already fading. I expected her to be almost fully healed by nightfall.
This was good. But also bad, because I knew she would try to run, despite the fact that I told her not to.
How could she not? My mate was a fierce, strong female.
“How long do you plan on keeping me?”
The last thing she asked me before sleep finally took hold of her played through my mind over and over again like a broken record. Things would be so much easier if she felt the same kind of intensity as I did. But I was a patient male. I was created to wait for her and her alone. And now that she was in my life, I was going to make sure Darragh knew she could set the pace for all of this.
I might be an alpha, but she was the one in control.
I covered her feet back up, my entire body filling with this unexpected and unusual warmth. I finally had a purpose in life. And that was to take care of my mate, to ensure she was always happy and never worried about anything.
I was born to be her protector.
I shouldn’t have done what I did next, which was to climb into bed beside her. I was careful not to touch her, but gods, I wanted to. We were face-to-face, and knowing she was here with me allowed my body to sink into the mattress as relaxation submerged me into a sense of serenity I’d never experienced before.
When was the last time I’d slept? When was the last time I’d felt fully rested? Even lying beside Darragh made me think never on the latter.
After taking down that deer hours before to provide meat for my female, I’d eaten only after she had her fill. And with my hunger sated and Darragh safe with me and healing nicely, I felt my eyes grow heavy. I felt sleep start to take over.
I didn’t want to go under though. I’d much prefer to just watch her rest, to stare at her dark, perfectly arched eyebrows before staring at the pink fullness of her bow-like lips. She had a natural red tint to her cheeks, and I wanted desperately to reach out and stroke my finger over her face to see if her skin was as soft as it looked. Her dark hair was still a tangled mess, and although I could scent the dirt that covered parts of her from when I chased her in the woods, and even though I could smell the twigs and the flora debris that littered parts of her long strands, her natural aroma called me more powerfully than anything else.
As I exhaled and my eyes grew even heavier, I knew that for the first time in my life, I’d sleep like the dead.
Because I finally had my mate right beside me and was complete.
22
Darragh
I wasn’t sure what had woken me, but everything slowly filtered back into my mind. All the events of the past… however long it had been since Caelan had kidnapped me to this place slowly filled me until I was blinking open my eyes.
At first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but then my consciousness came back online fully, and I stared into Caelan’s sleeping, still, utterly beautiful, and masculine face. His breathing was deep and even, his expression totally at rest.
I was surprised he’d let his guard down around me. I knew he was aware I’d escape. How could he think I wouldn’t try?
For a moment I didn’t move as I took in his features. His eyes were closed, the thick, heavy fall of his long lashes a crescent shape on his golden skin. His short, dark hair was a little mussed, as if he’d been running his fingers through the strands nonstop. His body was massive, his shoulders so broad that even lying down, he blocked out everything behind him.
Without moving, I tried to look around the room as best as I could. My back was to the window, my vision trained at the fireplace. Although the flames were all but banked by now, I could still see the intermittent glow trying to come out from the ashes, as if trying to rise back to life.
I took inventory of my wounds, the discomfort and pain in my ankle all but gone. Slowly looking over my shoulder, I could see the sun was setting. How long had I slept this time?
Looking at my wrists, I saw those too were almost healed, the redness and swelling gone as if it’d never happened. I’d always been a fast healer, quicker than normal, and now I knew why.
I went back to looking at Caelan’s face, expecting him to wake up, but he stayed deep in sleep. I recapped what he’d told me, all the fantastical things he’d revealed.