Eternal Moon

Chapter 20: Return

Jamie felt the fingers of dawn slowly wake her. The milky sunlight was warmer than the cold stiffness that seemed to have taken over her body. A cold that reminded her of a frigid tundra.

As she opened her eyes, she groaned at the pain that streaked across her body. Everything hurt. On top of the pounding headache, her body felt as if it had taken a blow from a sledgehammer. Several times. Then there was the sharpness in her side...

Her eyes roved over the stone ceiling. She knew this place.

Moving to take a look at her battered body, her breath caught in her throat when she saw Kane's very asleep and very naked body on the floor.

Memories of the past night flooded her faster than she could process. The werewolf next to her. Sorcha's brutal assault. Kane's rescue.

After the other werewolf had attacked her, Jamie had practically collapsed. Between Sorcha's brutal torture and the slice through her side, she'd barely registered that Kane had gotten through Sorcha's magic and saved her from the dungeon. Even now, hazy images of Kane's beastly form floated to her. Vaguely, she could hear his panting breaths as he carried her, running swiftly through the woods, his fur thick and warm against her face.

She winced as she tried to sit up against the headboard and pull up her shirt. Someone had dressed her in warm nightclothes, and underneath the white cotton, a large bandage wrapped around her lower ribs. Dried blood painted it an ugly brown. No worse than the purple and blue bruises that peppered her ribs. And stomach. And legs.

Starting to wake fully now, she felt around in her mouth. A gaping hole stood where one of her back molars had been. Her tongue still carried the faint taste of copper. Chapped lips. Fingernails caked with dirt and blood. Her throat sore from screaming.

But she was alive. Jamie reminded herself of that as she took account of all of her injuries, and then looked at Kane. She had no doubt that Sorcha would have killed her, and used her for that sadistic ritual. The dungeon was full of poor souls who had pissed off the witch, and Jamie knew she would be no exception just because they were related. In fact, Jamie wondered if it would fuel Sorcha's purpose even more. The story about her sister had been horrifying, and Jamie didn't doubt it for a second.

Yet here she was. Back in Castle Murdock from the looks of it, beaten and bloodied but bandaged. And all because of Kane. The man she had up and left two weeks ago because she had been too chicken-shit to talk to him.

Seeing his naked body, she could at least remember why. Even in sleep, dirty from the night before, he was beautiful. His long muscled legs were strong and lightly dusted with hair. His back was smooth and broad. And his ass... Hard, chiseled, full. The kind you could grab ahold of while you held on for dear life.

His face was turned away from her, but she remembered the color of his eyes well enough. Cerulean, like the ocean. The feel of them on her had been scorching. When she had last looked into them, she had seen all of the promise and passion that he held for her.

That was why she had run away.

She started a bit when he gave a groan and began to slowly rise, her eyes glued to the muscles of his body as he rose like a lion from its slumber. It took him several heartbeats to realize where he was and what he was doing. And that he was naked in front of her.

Jamie tried to look away out of modesty, but couldn't stop the blush that fired her cheeks at the sight of his dick. It was even prettier than she remembered.

"Jamie," he grated out, almost in a question. Blinking a few times, he looked around and found a pair of sweatpants that he quickly donned.

Shame.