Chapter 163

Nolan swooped me back up into his arms and carried me into the shower. The hot water poured down over both of us, sending rivers of blood off our bodies and down into the drain. It felt wonderful, even healing, but it did make me even sleepier too.

He set me down on a white marble bench and set about rinsing off his own face and hands first. Then he brought over a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo and carefully knelt on the stone floor in front of me.

“Can I wash you?” he asked politely. It seemed like a funny thing to be so courteous about, after the way he’d just thrown me around and broken furniture underneath me, but that was Nolan. A beast sometimes, and a perfect, charming gentleman the rest of the while.

I smiled and nodded. Nolan wiped the blood away from my face first, planting sweet kisses on my skin after it was clean. Then he shampooed my hair, his long fingers massaging my scalp in a way that started putting me into a trance. He soaped up my body next, and then picked me up, brought me under the water, and rinsed me clean.

He washed his own body next. I leaned against the wall and watched.

Yes, I was exhausted. But I also wanted him again. I let him finish cleaning himself, then circled my arms around his neck, stood on my toes and said, “Kiss me.”

Nolan smiled and obeyed. The kiss started out slow and sweet. Then his tongue slipped inside my mouth and began moving across my own in a familiar rhythm. I tilted my head back, suddenly breathless.

His hand moved up between my thighs, stroking lightly with one finger. I pressed it harder against me.

“You sure?” Nolan whispered into my ear. The vibration of his breath made me shiver. “You seem worn out.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” I looked him in the eye, and that was all the permission he needed.

He knelt before me again, sliding a finger up inside of me while kissing my legs, moving his mouth inward on my thighs until it found the place that made my knees buckle when he licked it.

He was right—I couldn’t handle a whole lot more. But Nolan worked his mouth and fingers on me until I got to another climax, my body lighting up with an all-consuming wave of pleasure. Then he traced his lips up my body, covering my stomach, my breasts, my chest and throat with kisses until we were eye to eye again.

NOLAN

“I missed you,” Yena said. She looked absolutely destroyed, like she might black out any second.

“I missed you too, Princess,” he whispered into her ear. He pressed his mouth and nose to her neck, breathing in her scent, until she giggled and told him he was tickling her.

Nolan’s mind, getting sharper now, was starting to try to piece together what had just happened. The last thing he could remember before Yena woke him up was fighting for consciousness in the ambulance. He thought it over while wrapping her up in a towel and then looping one around his own hips as well, and carrying her back out into the hospital room.

They were in the palace. Yes, he knew that much. In the hospital wing. In a room that was now a big, bloody mess of broken equipment scatted all over the floor. He reached the door and unlocked it, took a cautious step outside. There weren’t a hundred people out there like Yena thought. Just one.

His mother was pacing the length of the hall. She turned when she heard the door open and rushed back in Nolan’s direction.

She covered her mouth. “Nolan. You’re alive. You’re… completely recovered.” She eyed him up and down, looking like she didn’t believe her eyes. “Amazing.”

“It’s good to see you, Mother.” Yena’s weight felt slack, and Nolan knew she’d fallen asleep. He looked down at her. “She needs to rest. I need to take her to our room.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yes. She just fell asleep. I drank a lot of her blood, though. She needs rest and food.”

Now, Nolan heard the chattering voices of dozens, maybe more people in the distance. It sounded like they were getting closer.

“Can you hold everyone off for a little longer?” he asked his mother. “Give me some time alone with Yena?”

“Of course.” The queen’s voice was soft with amazement still. Her eyes went back and forth from her son to the unconscious woman in his arms and back again. “Go, Nolan. I’ll have food sent to your room. I’m just…” her voice caught in her throat. “I’m so glad to have you back, son.” She started pacing backward slowly. “Go. I’ll take care of things out here.”

Yena was asleep in bed, cuddled up under a blanket and snoozing with a smile on her face.

The food his mother ordered for them amounted to a true feast. Nolan started eating while Yena slept, and he ate like he’d never eaten before. Once he’d gotten several thousand calories down he was able to slow his pace. Chew his food a bit more. And get back to wrapping his mind around their current situation.

He’d checked the time, and with that had pieced together a vague sequence of events. He had been shot at the orphanage. And what had the emergency responder told him – there was something on the bullet? So he’d been poisoned. That explained the vision problems, the loss of consciousness, the unstoppable bleeding.

And then Yena was there. From that point on, the story made sense. He drank her blood, made love to her, and just like the first night they met, she brought him back to life.

What he couldn’t figure out was how she got there. By the time Nolan had been shot, Yena should have been up in the air on her way to the human world.

That had to mean she didn’t get on the plane on time. For whatever reason.

Nolan had no idea where his phone was. He could turn the TV on and learn about his own situation by way of a news report, but he didn’t want to wake his sleeping princess.

He had eaten, dressed in some casual clothes, and was standing at Yena’s bedside watching her sleep, debating whether to wake her up to make her eat something, when a very soft knock sounded twice on the bedroom door.

It was his mother. Nolan stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind him.

“I just wanted to check on you,” she said. “And bring you this.” She opened her palm, revealing Nolan’s cell phone.

“Thank you.” He pocketed it. “And we’re alright here.”

“Yena is still sleeping?”

Nolan nodded. “I was just thinking to wake her up. Get some food and water in her.”

Luna lowered her head, agreeing. “You take good care of that woman, Nolan. What she did for you today was… remarkable.”

Nolan glanced back at the bedroom door. “What happened after I was shot?” he asked.

The queen sighed. She motioned for Nolan to follow and moved down the hall, walked into Yena’s studio. It was bright and clean, with yellow daylight pouring in through the big window behind the desk. Luna took a seat in a tufted armchair. “Sit with me for a minute,” she said, “and I’ll tell you what I know.”

“I take it Adan is in the wind.” Nolan sat on the edge of a nearby couch. “You would’ve told me earlier if he had been captured.”

She nodded gravely. “The shooter was killed on sight. One other accomplice they captured trying to flee the scene. They searched the area around the orphanage, but it did not appear that Adan was anywhere near when the attack occurred. Your men are out searching for him still. If he is anywhere in the city, anywhere near the palace or the university, they will find him.”

“Call it off,” Nolan said decisively.

Luna arched an eyebrow.

“He’s too smart to be caught in a search.” Nolan shook his head. “He was probably already hidden away before the shooting. Just in case he didn’t succeed. He’s not going to be anywhere obvious.”

“Call off the search completely?”

“Yes. I don’t want the troops exhausted. We need to be smart. We’re just wasting resources and letting Adan run us ragged if we go casting a net across the whole country looking for him.”

Luna nodded. “That’s wise. I’ll convey your message. You stay here with Yena tonight. The both of you deserve to rest, after what you’ve been through.”

“How did she get here?”

“Yena?” The Queen smiled. “She ran. As wolf. From the airport.”

Nolan reeled. “She ran here from the airport? How long was I out?”

“I would estimate… thirty minutes? The ambulance took almost twenty minutes to get here. They had only just gotten the bullet out when Yena arrived. I heard she kicked the doctors out of the room pretty aggressively.” Luna’s mouth twitched into an amused smile.

Nolan pondered a moment. The rest of his questions would be best directed to Yena herself.

“Thank you, Mother. Will you please call me if there are any updates?”

“Of course. Go take care of your wife. She performed a miracle for you today, Nolan. She deserves your time and attention.”