Chapter 79 What Is Wrong With Me?

Chapter 79 What Is Wrong With Me?
Sable POV

Sometimes later, after what seemed like hours, my eyes opened and the first thing I did was pushed myself up, although my joints were stiff and aching.

It was still so dark and I had slept naked, in order to find my clothes, I felt around for a while until I found them. I dragged my pants on, fumbling with the zipper with numb finger then found my jacket and pulled it tightly around my shoulders.

Beside me, Drazen shifted. The sound of fabric rustling told me he was grabbing his torn shirt.

I clicked on my diagnostic penlight. The beam hit his torso. The fatal stab wound was gone, replaced by a thick, raised scar. He touched the healed skin, processing the reality of how he survived. Without offering a grand speech, he
just finished pulling his shirt over his broad shoulders.

"Carvek will send someone down the chute to confirm our bodies," he said, as if reading my mind. "So we have to move."

Because I barely had any strength left, I didn't argue. What happened before was the very first of it's kind so my body was still very sore and aching.

We walked for what felt like miles through a narrow, sloping tunnel. With his body repaired, he navigated the dark easily. I followed the sound of his boots, keeping the penlight pointed at the ground so I wouldn't trip over the
jagged rocks.

Eventually, the tunnel widened into a dry, hollow alcove. Drazen stopped and sat against the rock wall. I dropped the bag and sat across from him.

My stomach gave a loud growl. I unzipped the bag and dug past the gauze and medical tape. At the very bottom, I found a single, squashed peanut butter protein bar and a bag of chips.

I ripped the wrapper open, broke it in half, and handed him a piece.

We ate in silence. The food was dry and since it had been hours since my last good meal, it didn't make a dent in my hunger. In fact, eating just woke up a completely different appetite.

I shifted on the hard ground. My skin felt unnaturally hot. The freezing cave air didn't bother me anymore. Every time my shirt rubbed against my shoulders, my nerve endings flared so bad to the point I couldn't sit still.

I looked at Drazen. In the dim spill of the penlight resting on the dirt, I watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. It felt like I could smell even more sharply, inhaling the scent of sweat, dirt, and that dark, woody scent that was uniquely his. It made my mouth water even as another ache throbbed low in my pelvis, wet and demanding.

My body wasn't just recovering. It was searching. The Hearthblood was pushing me into overdrive, demanding a second round.

I didn't try to suppress it so I crawled across the small gap between us.

I slid into the space between his knees and pressed my front directly against him. I swung a leg over his thigh, straddling his lap, and reached for the buckle of his belt.

Drazen’s hands clamped over my wrists instantly.

"Sable," he warned. His chest hitched under my hands.

"Just let me," I whispered. "Please, I want you." I leaned forward, pressing my open mouth against the side of his neck. I tasted salt and skin, biting down gently on his pulse point. I rocked my hips down, chasing the friction.

He let out a harsh groan, his grip on my wrists tightening painfully. For a second, his hips jerked upward, meeting my movement on pure instinct.

Then, he stopped.

He pulled my hands away from his belt and pushed me back and he didn't do it gently.

"No," he said, his breathing heavy.

"Why not?" I pushed forward again, restless and desperate, my hands grabbing his shirt. "You're healed. We're alone. I want you."

"I said no." He caught my hands again, forcing them down to my sides. He held me
there, his jaw clenched so hard the muscle twitched. "Look around you, Sable."

I blinked, the haze of lust cracking just enough to register the dark, cramped cave and the dirt coating my jeans.

"You just brought me back from the dead," he said, his voice flat and hard. "You gave me everything. I am not going to throw you on your back in the mud and treat you like a quick fix."

"I don't care about the mud."

"Well, I do." He shifted backward, putting a definitive foot of space between us. "I told you I wouldn't claim you in exile. What happened hours ago was just..." he took a sharp breath. "Please Sable, I am not taking you again until I have at least a proper bed to put you in."

I stared at him, frustrated to the point of tears. My body was practically vibrating with unmet need. I wanted to scream at him to stop being so damn honorable.

Instead, I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around my legs, trapped in the freezing dark with a burning ache I wasn't allowed to soothe.