N. Walters - Alexandra's Legacy

She supposed he was right. She had no idea how hard it must be on a body to go through such a transformation, but having just witnessed it, she had a feeling it had to take something out of a person, especially if they were already injured. “Come over by the water so I can clean these.”

He followed her, his movements fluid as he settled on a flat rock that rested along the bank of the cheerful little stream. She plucked the hunting knife from the sheath and held up his shirt. He stayed her motions, his hand wrapping around her wrist. “If you cut that, I’ll only have my jeans to wear.” It was then she remembered he’d sacrificed his coat earlier to throw the hunters off their trail.

“I have to have something to wrap around your arm and you can wear the leather jacket. It’s my father’s so it should fit you.”

He shook his head. “Then you’d have nothing to wear.”

He had a point there, but she shook her head bravely. “I have my bra. It’s enough.”

His fingers stroked the back of her wrist, soothing the skin over her pounding pulse. “It’s a fairly long T-shirt. Cut a few strips off the bottom.”

Nodding, she did as he’d instructed and laid the rest of the shirt and the knife to one side. She dipped one of the strips into the water, wrung it out and began to clean his wounds. She flinched several times, but Joshua never moved a muscle.

And it had to hurt. The long gouges, obviously from the other wolves’ claws, were jagged, but thankfully, upon closer examination, not deep. They had almost stopped bleeding. She knew werewolves healed quickly, but this was incredible. Still, she wasn’t taking any chances. Cleaning each wound carefully, she made sure all the dirt had been removed from the area.

She tried her best to ignore the fact that his thick muscles rippled beneath her fingers as she stroked the thin piece of cloth over them. His flesh was deeply tanned and very appealing. She swallowed, not daring to look any lower than his waist.

Wringing out the cloth again, she focused on his shoulder. That wound was seeping blood once again. She did her best to wash it clean before making two pads out of one of the other strips of cloth. She picked up the final strip and wrapped it around the pads to hold them in place. She supposed he’d lost the original bandage when he’d shapeshifted into his wolf form.

She sat back on her heels, swiped her hand over her forehead and was immediately reminded of her own grungy state. “That will have to do until we get somewhere that has some real medical supplies.”

Joshua shrugged. “I’ve had much worse. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

“You may be fine, but I might not be.” Alex staggered to her feet and tossed the wet piece of cloth down onto a rock. “I need a bath.” Ignoring his blatant stare, she eased the leather jacket down her arms. The darn thing was heavy and her arm still stung from earlier. She sure as heck hoped she didn’t have a splinter or something sticking out of her arm.

Joshua surged to his feet, swearing pungently as he stalked toward her. The leather jacket fell to her feet, forgotten in the face of his anger.

“What’s wrong?”

He looked wild, his body practically vibrating with anger. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” he growled menacingly. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me you were shot?”

Joshua grabbed Alex just as her knees crumpled. Her face was completely white as she stared up at him in growing horror.

“I didn’t know.” She twisted her head so she could see the wound better. “I thought a piece of one of the trees had splintered or I’d bruised it on a rock or something.” Her voice got fainter with every word.

He eased them both to the ground and examined her arm. “It seems to have just grazed you,” he told her gruffly. “You were lucky.” He didn’t want to think about how close he’d come to losing her just when he’d found her. If the hunter responsible weren’t already dead, he’d find him and kill him.

“Yeah. I feel really lucky these days.” He ignored her sarcasm as he grabbed the wet rag, dipped it into the cool water and began to clean the six-inch furrow that stretched from just above her elbow to just below her shoulder. She flinched and he could hear her breath hiss out from between her clenched teeth, but she didn’t cry out.

Easing himself into a seated position behind her, he wet the cloth again and resumed cleaning. There was dried blood and bits of cloth from the lining of the jacket embedded in the wound. “Lean against me.” He pressed against her stomach with his free hand, loving the way the soft skin felt as he slid his palm over it.

She seemed to hesitate, keeping her body erect, but finally she slumped against him. He concentrated on cleaning the dirt and blood from her arm, but he was very aware of the warm weight of her pressed against him.

Her head was tucked beneath his chin and he could still smell the slight scent of the soap she’d used in the shower this morning. He moved his head back and forth, brushing the top of her head with his chin.

She was still wearing a bra, but the thin pink cotton didn’t leave much to the imagination. Besides which, the firm, silky texture of her breasts was burned into his brain. He knew exactly what they looked like. Felt like. And how they tasted.

His body stirred and his cock lengthened and thickened in response to her presence. She definitely brought out the elemental side of his nature. He shifted so that he was closer, his erection pressing against the small of her back. He swallowed a groan of pure pleasure as he touched his hard flesh against her softer skin.

“Joshua?” Her voice was shaky and he could feel her trembling. He was an idiot. Here she was injured and he was busy copping a feel.

He inspected her arm and, satisfied he’d cleaned it as best he could, he tossed the cloth to one side. “I don’t think we should cover your wound. It’s probably better to let the air get to it.”

She tilted her head back to look at him. “Okay.” He could tell he was confusing her. Hell, he was confusing himself.

“Do you want to get a quick bath before we go back to the cave?” He stood, leaned down and lifted her easily.

A light rosy flush covered her cheeks as she glanced at him and then away. “Yes.”

He settled her on a rock and went down on one knee in front of her and unlaced her boots.

“I can get that,” she protested.

He pushed her hand away. “You need to take it easy.” He slipped one boot off and swore when he saw the blood on her sock. “Why didn’t you tell me your feet were hurting?”

“We couldn’t stop.” She shrugged as if it were no big deal. Technically, he knew it was just some blisters that would heal, but it still hit him like a punch in the gut. He removed her other boot and sock very carefully, lifting and examining her other abused foot.

He sat back on his haunches and stared at her. A bluish-purple bruise covered part of her face, a blatant reminder of the truck accident earlier in the day. She also had a long bruise across her chest and he knew it was from where her seatbelt had kept her from going through the windshield when the truck had rolled. Circles could be seen beneath her tired gray eyes, making them appear almost sunken in her face. Her lips were pursed and he could tell she was in pain.

Her arm had a six-inch gash from where a bullet had grazed her and her hands were covered in dirt and blood from her forced trek through the woods. Her feet were bloody and raw in places and he knew she wouldn’t have an easy time walking tomorrow, but he had no doubt she’d march along beside him without a word of complaint. He almost didn’t want to remove her jeans, afraid to find more bruises.