thought, they must have taken her away. The next thing he noticed was that he was warm, incredibly warm, and his head felt like it was on a nice, soft pillow. He concentrated and that was when his brain came fully awake. Tess was curled up behind him, her breasts pressing into his back as she slept, and her arm was under his head…with her wrist just inches from his mouth. He tried to push himself up with his one good arm, but his broken leg buckled underneath him. He crawled, using one arm and dragging his useless leg behind him down the wall, away from her. “Damn it Tess. I told you to stay away from me,” he sputtered as he tried to get himself under control and get his damn fangs to retract.
“You were shivering in your sleep, Colton,” she whispered as she sat up.
“What part of ‘no matter what happens’ did you not get? I’m dangerous to you right now, Tess. Deadly. If my fangs sink into any part of you right now I will not stop. There’s no ‘I might be able to stop’ here. There is only ‘I will not stop.’ Do you get it now? I will kill you, I can’t help it. My body’s instinct to heal is more powerful than anything else, including my feelings for you.”
Tess opened her mouth to apologize when there was a loud crash from somewhere in the house, followed by female screams, males yelling and wolves growling. Colton’s head whipped towards the door. “Shit,” he muttered, “Tess, get over here quickly.”
“I, I, I thought you told me to stay away from you,” she whispered.
“I did. But now I have to protect you.”
“From what?” she said as the fighting grew closer to their door.
“Hansen.”
“Hansen? He knows me. He won’t hurt me.”
“Hansen doesn’t know anybody when he’s in kill mode. Even me. Besides, he saw you betray me. In his mind you’re the enemy.”
Tess took a few tentative steps towards Colton. She watched as he struggled to control himself. She could tell by the bulge in his mouth that his fangs were down, she knew by the way that he squeezed his eyes shut that they were black. “I trust you, Colton,” she said as she took the final step to reach him, holding her hand out as she did. His eyes were still squeezed shut, so she gently touched his cheek. He reached up and grabbed onto her hand, pulling it away from his nose. “Help me up,” he mumbled. She moved one foot behind her to brace herself and then she pulled. He hissed in a breath as he pushed himself up on one leg. “Get us over to the corner. I want your back pressed into the corner as tightly as you can.”
Tess put his arm over her shoulder, wrapped one arm around his waist and began to move them slowly Colton groaned and hissed with each hop that he had to make. A loud crash somewhere down the hall made Colton’s head whip around. “Hurry, Tess,” he whispered. They increased their pace and finally reached the corner. Tess pressed her back into it as Colton moved his body in front of hers. He was able to use the wall next to him to slightly compensate for his broken leg. Tess watched, fascinated, as, despite the incredible amount of pain he must be in, every muscle in his body tensed as he prepared to do battle to protect her. “Wrap your arms around me and pull me in tight,” he said.
“But your ribs, they’re broken.”
“Don’t care. Just do it, Tess. Now.”
She did, trying to ignore the grunts of pain that Colton tried to hide. Their naked flesh was fused tightly, her breasts smashed against his back, his butt pressed into her belly, as the noises from the hall grew louder. Tess squeezed her eyes shut as she pressed her forehead into the back of his neck. “Whatever you do, don’t move and don’t make a sound,” he whispered. A moment later there was a loud crash as the door to their room flew off of its hinges.
Chapter 6
Tess inhaled a deep breath and squeezed her eyes tighter as she felt, yes, felt, the evil presence enter the room. What she felt from this thing (Hansen, she had to remind herself) was more frightening than anything that she’d ever felt in her entire life. A loud growl erupted from the front of the room.
“State your duties, Hansen,”