by Ophelia Bell
Footsteps crunched across the ground outside and she stepped into the shadows. When Bruce’s tall frame appeared, he paused, his attention fixed on where she stood. He tilted his nose into the air and sniffed. “You didn’t head into town, did you?”
Astra sighed and stepped into the light. “I’m really off my game if you spotted me,” she said.
He chuckled. “Nah. I’m a former champion myself. Those talents never really fade.” He touched his nose and his eyes flickered with yellow light. He was some kind of cat shifter, but she hadn’t picked up on it earlier.
“Not unless you get hit with this fucking toxin,” she said. “Thanks for the escape. Sorry I burned up all the gas, and the battery may be dying too, but I needed that.”
He pressed his lips together and nodded. “Not a problem. Glad I could help. And I’ll offer you one more bit of advice.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Take care when you head in. Your men are beside themselves over you running off like that. The dark one in particular. I explained that you just needed a little break but he doesn’t seem inclined to listen to reason. Something about a treatment you need to get on time or something.”
Astra winced. Her injection, which she was probably late for. Well, Javin could wait a little longer.
“Thanks for the warning,” she said, giving him a nod before sauntering toward the house.
12
Simon
“She’s doing this to test me,” Javin said, taking another circuit across the wide living room, fists clenched at his sides.
“She’s doing it because she needs a fucking break from you. You’re a controlling ass. You do realize this, right?” Simon said.
Javin glared at him. “She’s risking worse damage than she already has if she doesn’t let me administer treatment on time. You know this as well as I do.” He halted and narrowed his eyes at Simon. “Actually, scratch that. You’re just as willfully ignorant as she is sometimes. Promise me you didn’t bring a stash of the drug with you on this trip.”
Simon rolled his eyes and slouched back into the comfortable armchair. “I didn’t because I knew you would be here. Besides, I’ve got a lot riding on our success. Even if I can never compete again, I want to start over. I can’t do that if I need you sneaking me serum every week to keep me sane.”
Javin turned away and pushed the curtains aside, peeking out the window for the hundredth time in an hour. His shoulders went rigid and Simon sat up straighter when the other man darted to the front door and flung it open.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Javin called.
Simon remained in his seat, preferring not to get in between the pair of them, but he didn’t hear Astra respond.
He did hear her stomp up the porch steps though. He leaned forward in his chair to peek past the curtains. Astra stopped at the front door, her jaw set and her eyes a piercing stare.
“Get the fuck out of my way, Javin,” she said after a few beats.
“Not until you agree to stop being so fucking stubborn. I’m trying to help you.”
“No. You’re trying to control me. It needs to stop.”
Javin let out an exasperated sigh. “Just come inside and let me give you your shots, and I’ll leave you alone.”
Simon grimaced and shook his head. The idiot didn’t even see what was staring him in the face. Astra’s brief flash of pain was obvious enough to him though. She didn’t want to be left alone. She wanted Javin’s attention, but not the kind he was giving her.
She seemed to deflate when she nodded and he let her pass. Simon offered her a friendly wave from his seat when she passed through the room and she stopped short, turning and pressing a hand to Javin’s chest to stop his progress toward the stairs.
“Wait,” she said, a glint of mischief in her eyes. “On second thought, I want Simon to do it.”
Simon straightened. “Do what exactly?”
Javin scowled. “Simon isn’t medically trained, Astra. It should be me.”
“Seriously?” Astra said. “The champion who was caught doping isn’t qualified to give me a shot? Simon, how many times did you give yourself injections of that vile shit before you were caught?”
He cleared his throat, not wanting to correct her. He’d kept giving himself injections well past being found out. “Enough to know how to give one to someone else.” He stood slowly, gaze flitting between the two of them in their little standoff. This was interesting as hell.
“See?” Astra said. “I want him to do it. I’m heading up to my room. Send Simon up with the treatment in a few minutes.”
Simon lifted his hand, not wanting to destroy this rare opportunity to be closer to her but needing to ask the question anyway. “Ah, why can’t you just do it yourself?”
Astra’s jaw clenched and she stared at the floor. Javin finally answered for her. “It’s incredibly painful and needs to be injected several times around the site of the wound. It’s simply safer if someone else administers the treatment in case she passes out.”
Simon nodded. So this wasn’t anything like the single-shot serum Javin gave him once a week. He walked over and gave Astra a gentle squeeze on her upper arm. “Go on up. I’ll meet you in your room in a few minutes. I’ll take care of you.”
She shot him a grateful look that was tinged with something more. Something he must have imagined because he didn’t dare hope she wanted anything more from him than to serve as a barrier between her and Javin.
Astra headed up the stairs, a slight hitch in her gait that reminded him how well she had handled this injury so far. He’d hate to see her fall into the same chasm of self-hatred that he’d let himself sink into. She was far too good a champion.
“Tell me what I need to do,” he said.
“You need to let me do this,” Javin said, trudging up the stairs and down the hall to his room.
“Fuck that. You heard her as well as I did. She doesn’t need your overbearing attitude up her ass every minute of every day. Give her a break for a change and let me help her.”
Javin went to his bags and pulled out a shiny silver box. Inside was a cartridge similar to the one Simon had kept the drug in for easy dosing. Then Javin pulled out a sealed injector that had a tiny retractable needle at one end and a plunger at the other end of a smooth cylinder.
“There are eight doses. They need to be distributed evenly around her wound. Give her a few seconds to breathe between each dose so she’s in no danger of passing out. The pain fades quickly, but built up, it can overwhelm her. If she were in sync with her dragon, it would be easy, but she isn’t. And if she does faint, just stay with her until she comes to.”
Simon accepted the sealed injector and the cartridge. “Got it.” As he turned to go, his skin prickled under Javin’s bitter stare. He paused at the door and turned back. “Listen, man, she asked for this so you’d better not fucking take it out on me. Maybe if you’d been less of an ass and actually, I don’t know, started being honest with yourself, she wouldn’t be pushing you away.”
With that, he turned to go, gratified by the stricken expression on Javin’s face as he shut the door behind him.
Heart pounding, he headed up the stairs to the third-floor landing and knocked on the door. Astra called for him to enter and he pushed the door open. He poked his head in and froze.
She lay on the big bed beneath an open window, clad in nothing but a skimpy bra and panties made of skinny straps and tiny triangles of black lace that barely concealed anything. And she had a distinctly hungry look in her eyes.
Simon blinked in confusion and glanced back toward the stairs. “Ah, are you sure you don’t want him after all?”
“No, Simon, I don’t. Get in here now.”
His eyebrows shot up at the command in her voice and he entered, a hesitant smile tugging at his lips. She wanted him? And holy hell, as he drew close, she flexed her gorgeous body, lifting a knee and arching her back. This beautiful creature in front of him did not look damaged in the least. Had th
is all been some crazy ruse to make his wildest dreams come true?
But when he reached the foot of the bed, he spied the nearly invisible bandage on the inside of her upper thigh, along with the discolored tendrils extending along her skin beyond the edges of it. Right. This was what he was here for, not the delectable woman who was probably just torturing him for her own entertainment.
He took a deep breath to calm himself but her scent washed over him and sent his pulse rising higher.
“This is not fucking fair,” he said, lifting his gaze from her wound up to her face. “Are you fucking with me or something? Because if you are, I really don’t appreciate it.”
Astra’s throat rippled as she swallowed and she spread her thighs, letting her knees fall wide. Her scent grew stronger and Simon groaned, realizing she wasn’t just teasing. She was turned on. But this still might not be an invitation.
“It depends,” she said. “Do you want to fuck with Javin?”
Simon’s gaze was fixed on the barely-there scrap of lace that obscured her pussy from his sight. He licked his lips and forced his eyes up. Her expectant look made everything click. He grinned. “You want to use me to make him jealous, is that it?”
She frowned and started to shake her head. “I wouldn’t put it that way.”
He climbed onto the bed and crawled between her legs. “No, it’s all right. Use me. Use me all fucking night if you want. But try not to tease me too much before I take care of this.” He held the cartridge up.
Astra cringed. “Ugh, I hate that stuff. Make it quick, all right?”
“He said you might pass out if I went too fast. It’ll be pretty hard to use me if you’re unconscious.”
He touched her knee and glided his palm up her inner thigh, heart thumping at the softness of her skin. Fucking hell, his dreams really had come true. He had a shot at sex with the woman of his dreams and could take a jab at that ass Javin in the process.
“No hands,” Astra snapped and Simon jerked his hand away, staring at her wide-eyed.
“What? I kind of need my hands to do this.”
“I mean, just touch me as little as possible,” she said.
“Okay,” he drawled. “So, you plan to use me, yet I can’t touch you. I have a feeling there’s a bit of a conflict there.”
“I just don’t want to risk you marking me, that’s all.”
Simon grinned as understanding dawned. “Well then you’ve got nothing to worry about,” he said, returning his hand to her thigh. “Hyenas are like wolves. We don’t mark by touch. We’re biters. Which is a shame really, since I imagine that means you’ll want me to keep my mouth away from you.”
He set the injector on the bed beside her hip along with the fresh bandage he’d apply when he was done. Then he scooted closer between her legs and ran his hands up both her thighs, circling them around to the backs of her legs and sliding back down again. Astra’s breathing hitched and she frowned, her mistake apparently sinking in.
“Shit,” she whispered, falling back against the pillows. “You’re right. Marking by touch is a dragon thing. Um . . .”
“Why don’t I give you your shots and get that over with, then we can talk about what you want after,” he said, taking pity on her.
She nodded, avoiding meeting his gaze again. Simon watched her for a second, nearly overwhelmed by how beautiful she was, half naked and bared to him. She was the supplicant at the moment, which made his heart stutter in his chest, but also made him sad. The powerful, commanding woman who’d turned him on with a word when he walked in was racked with uncertainty now. She covered her face with her hands and sighed. “Just do it already and go. I’m sorry for teasing you. This was stupid.”
He plucked at the edge of the bandage and peeled it off. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of making Javin jealous. He needs a fucking wake-up call about you.”
“You know how he feels?” she asked, then said, “Never mind. Of course you do. That can’t have felt good though, to have him saying someone else’s name while he fucked you. Why did you keep seeing him?”
He shrugged and prepped the injector, sliding the cartridge in and snapping it into place, then replacing the cap and testing the button at the end. Then he took the disinfectant wipe and began to clean the area around her half-healed wound. The wound itself was only a series of dark punctures fading to a deep red the same color as the tendrils snaking out around them. But he could see a series of tiny dots surrounding the wound, showing him where Javin had given her the treatment before.
“I needed treatment too. The difference is, my shots go into my arm. I can’t imagine how the fuck he managed to be this close to a pussy that smells so fucking sweet and not lose himself. I would die to taste you, Astra.”
He pressed the tip of the injector to the first spot, glanced at her with a raised brow, then pressed the plunger button when she nodded.
Astra hissed and clenched her eyes shut. “I hate it. Hate how fucking hot I get when he’s down there, his hands on my leg. But I’m just a patient, or just Talon’s little sister. He doesn’t see me as a woman.”
“I guarantee that’s not true, but you may be onto something. He was the Ebon Claw’s best friend. He probably considers it a betrayal if he follows through on his feelings. Ready for another?”
She nodded and he shot her again, wincing himself at her soft grunt.
“Touch me,” she whispered. “Before you do the next one. Please. Just to take the edge off.”
“You sure? What happened to ‘never mind, this was a bad idea’?”
“I’m sure,” she said, smirking at him.
He traced the fingers of his free hand along the underside of her thigh, up to the soft crease of her ass and around, grazing them across the very edge of her panties. Slick wetness coated his fingertips and he hummed with interest. “Do I turn you on just being here or are you thinking about him?”
“It’s you, I promise.” She offered him a sweet smile. “Will you take off your shirt so I can look at you?”
He set the injector aside to oblige her. Once his shirt was gone, she sat up, placing her hands against his pecs.
“Wow, you don’t look like you’ve been out of the arena as long as you have.” She glided her palms down his chest. Simon’s cock swelled to full hardness in his pants and a rumble of interest filtered up through his chest, the spark of his animal waking up for the first time in ages.
What a fucking amazing feeling, but it didn’t last. The animal slinked back into hiding as if it lacked the energy to participate. He was a little grateful after Astra’s no-touching request. He was in no danger of accidentally marking her, but couldn’t bring himself to say so. Admitting that weakness was too difficult.
But something she’d said floated back to his mind and he grabbed her hands. “Hey now, you’re the one who should refrain from touching, don’t you think? We don’t want you accidentally marking me.”
She pouted for a second and Simon’s nostrils flared, the urge to kiss her nearly overwhelming him. Then a glint flashed in her eyes and she lay back, stretching her arms over her head. “I don’t know if I can resist a body like that. You probably ought to restrain me to be on the safe side.”
He couldn’t quite believe his ears, or his eyes for that matter. Here was the Midnight Star herself, lying on a bed in nothing but skimpy lingerie, begging him to tie her up. His brain might have short-circuited for a second because it took a moment for him to realize she’d just pointed at the wardrobe across the room.
“What?” he asked, feeling like an idiot.
“There are scarves in there I think.”
“You’re serious.”
She gave a slight shrug and a teasing smile. “Don’t want to take any chances.”
He climbed off the bed and hobbled to the wardrobe, his erection making it difficult to walk. “This kind of defeats the purpose of letting you use me, you know.”
“Oh, I’m still using
you. You’ll notice you are obeying my every command so far.”
He shot her an appraising glance, then opened the wardrobe and found a selection of silk scarves inside that would serve perfectly.
When he returned, she lifted her arms above her head again and he surveyed the scene. The big bed had carved posts at each corner, but he didn’t have enough scarves to reach both sides. However, the headboard also had a series of carved points arcing up along the top, with one larger flower-shaped finial at the peak. That one would do perfectly. He tied three of the scarves together and knotted them around the finial.
“What is it?” she asked when he paused to glance down her body before securing the scarves to her wrists.
“I don’t want this in the way,” he said, plucking at the strap of her bra. “Can you take it off?”
“You take it off me,” she said.
Simon chuckled. “You’re good at this. Javin isn’t as game as I am about being told what to do in bed, you know.”
“Oh? Do tell.” She sat up and glanced over her shoulder at him. He deftly unfastened the clasp of her bra and slid the straps off her shoulders. Then she lay back down with an inquisitive look.
“He doesn’t exactly spend a lot of time on small talk before we fuck. I assume the position and we get to business.” He pulled the bra off her arms and tossed it aside, his gaze remaining on the perfect round orbs of her small breasts, even more exquisite than he’d ever imagined.
“Why am I not surprised,” she said. “But you seem to like games.” She tilted her head back when he returned to her wrists, securing the scarves in a series of snug loops that he made sure weren’t too constricting but tight enough that she wouldn’t easily slip out of them.
“I like sex. Full stop. And I didn’t exactly have the luxury of being picky. He was there for me when no one else was. Of course never in a million years did I believe I’d be where I am in this moment.”
Astra licked her lips, watching him as he moved back down between her thighs. He gave her another quick shot of her treatment, then grinned at her.
