Caspian
Bright light drenched the bedroom. A breeze fluttered into the room through the open balcony doors, throwing the curtains into a billowing wave. The bathroom door stood open too.
But my sights landed on the red-haired woman... She had her back to me, halfway through tugging a shirt down her head, her back and thin waist exposed. She was so petite, and I spied the wounds on her back.
Burn marks covered her milky white skin, and unease tightened in my gut. What the fuck had happened to her?
Hurriedly covering herself, she jerked around, her eyebrows pulled together with clear anger. She studied me, her gaze zipping up and down my body. But I didn’t miss the embarrassment on her blushing cheeks.
“I’m not going to suck your cock, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she snapped.
Moon Goddess, have mercy on me.
I couldn’t help myself as I burst out laughing. “Don’t worry, that's not my intention, although it's always welcome. I just came to inspect the girl who caught my brother’s attention and made him break his cardinal rule of not stealing women. I’m Caspian, by the way. Hendrix is my brother.”
She blinked at me, seeming lost.
I was feeling a little lost too. I couldn’t get the images of her scars out of my head. It tightened my heart, and my wolf whined at me. He unleashed a low growl in my chest at the thought of any harm coming to her. I considered grabbing her into my arms possessively, to brush away her fears, to find out who hurt her so I could kill them in the most horrendous way possible. Something about her made me desperate to protect her… and I’d never felt this way about any other woman.
It seemed my wolf was in protective mode over this delicate creature. That was new.
The more I kept picturing her injuries, the more my memories sank into their own battle. As if on cue, a lacerating, burning pain whipped across my left knee, and I winced on the inside.
I’d lost the bottom half of my leg in a brutal pack fight, and the agony still lingered all these years later.
They called it phantom limb syndrome, but whenever I thought about the past, I swore I still felt my toes and that I could wriggle them. The pain that shouldn’t exist, returned.
I had a synthetic half-leg that could easily be mistaken for a real leg by anyone looking. It was amazing what money could buy… but no surgery in the world could eradicate the memories staining my thoughts.
The chaotic battle flashed in my mind like images in a movie reel.
Bloody massacres.
Screams and people running in every direction.
So many gruesome bodies.
The stench of smoke from homes burning, choking on the stench.
And me ending up cornered by our rivals...
My stomach trembled and then hardened as I shoved the thoughts aside.
I hated reliving them, hated remembering how our enemy had attacked in the dead of night, hated being overpowered. I might have been only fourteen when it happened, but it didn’t seem to make a difference to the pain that never left me. I accepted long ago that I would live with this hurt for life. Not that it made it easier.
I shook off the sensation rattling me and found the stunning girl watching me curiously...and concerned. My breath was coming out in gasps, and a drop of perspiration rolled down my spine.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly.
For a moment, I had to consider her question, my head still trapped in the past. I frowned, mentally pushing the images away, but I couldn’t stop the screams in my ears, the pain of losing half my leg to an axe. It vibrated through every inch of my being, and even my wolf winced.
The problem with surviving such a wound was that it left you broken. A growl keened from my throat, but I’d taught myself to not let that depressing shit consume me ever again. After the attack, I’d fallen into a hole I never thought I’d escape from. But Hendrix and River saved me; they were by my side every day, so failing and returning to that wasn’t an option.
I straightened myself, clearing the haze from my eyes, hating to show weakness, and feeling uneasy that it had happened in front of our new guest.
She stood in front of me, watching with soft eyes, and she had her hand stretched out to touch me, to check on me. That small gesture of affection made me realize just how special she was. In this world, strangers didn’t care about others…
Her touch quickly moved past giving me comfort though, rousing thoughts of what I wanted to do to her, how I wanted to run my tongue over her body.
She quickly pulled back and wrapped her arms around her middle like she couldn’t believe she’d just touched me.
“Emersyn—” I began.
“Call me Syn,” she corrected me in a velvety smooth voice. “I don’t mind if you call me that.”
Tension melted from my body at the sweetness of her voice. The earnest feelings behind her words brought me more comfort than she’d ever know.
To be honest with myself, her reaction surprised me. Maybe my wolf was onto something when he grew protective of her instantly.
She hastily unraveled her arms and patted down her deep blue shirt, staring past the open French doors leading to the balcony. “The view up here is ridiculous.”
I licked my lips as she stepped outside, and I followed, pushing the fluttering curtains aside as I watched the sway of her hips. I stayed closer to her back, the breeze throwing locks of her hair into my face. Silky soft, her hair smelled like flowers, and my fingers twitched at the need to take her, my cock pulsing.
She stretched on the large balcony, arms in the air, her shirt riding up, revealing her midriff.
Standing that close to her, she was even more beautiful than I initially thought. The sun blinked against her riveting green eyes, her full lips partially open as she drew in a shuddered breath while taking in the stunning sights from up here.
“It’s breathtaking from up here,” she murmured.
“It sure is,” I said, staring at her rather than the sprawling mansion grounds. I knew it like the back of my hand... the pool down below, palm trees lining white beaches, and even the outdoor dining terrace. Woodland spread out on either side of us, and over the tops of the lofty walls, our yachts bobbed in the crystal blue water of the shoreline. Not a cloud in the sky, nothing but paradise.