Raven faced Taggert, looked at his young face and felt a twinge of conscience, then shoved it aside for practicality. The instant he lifted, she wrapped her legs around him. And jerked, startled by the arousal she found pressed intimately against her.
When she loosened her legs, Taggert tightened his grip, avoiding her gaze. “Ignore it. That always happens around you.”
Those were the last words he spoke as he mounted the steps. Raven bit her lip and thanked God for the pain to distract her. The last thing she needed was to feel desire for him. Worse, to have him guess how he made her feel. That way led to disaster.
Jackson strode past them. She heard the door to her room open, then water splash in the shower. She burrowed her face against Taggert’s chest at the pain she knew would come.
“Phone call first.”
There was only a small hiccup in Taggert’s stride as they neared the bathroom. “After. We need to clean your wounds.”
Raven swallowed hard and admitted the truth she wanted to hide from them. “I don’t think I’ll be conscious later.”
Jackson voice rose above the beat of water. “Dominic is handling Scotts.”
No more stalling. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath...as much as her body allowed. “Lower me.”
Jackson took control and spoke. “Your legs won’t hold.”
Something in his voice let her know that her back was worse than she’d imagined. It couldn’t be a good sign it had grown numb. “Cut my clothes off.” The only sound in the room was their breathing and the shower as his claws took quick work of her clothes.
Although they tried to be gentle, blood had already sealed the material to her skin. “We’re going to have to let the water soak the material. If we pull it off, the wounds will rip open.”
Raven nodded, unable to speak above the knot in her throat. This would hurt like a son-of-a-bitch. She laid her forehead against Taggert’s chest and braced herself. She would’ve protested Taggert’s prolonged contact with her blood, but she feared the damage was already done to the both of them. He craved her touch a little too much; already saw her energy when she worked with her gift ever since that first unguarded touch at Talons. Even with her power burned away for the time being, the best thing for both of them would be to wash quickly.
The lukewarm spray hit Taggert’s back, the water inching closer, sloshing over his shoulders as he tried to protect her. He turned slowly, the agony taking forever as it burrowed into each of her wounds. Fire erupted along her back, and the blessed numbness wore off.
Raven couldn’t prevent the tears that fell and coated Taggert’s shoulder. She gritted her teeth, refusing to bend, refusing to break and howl with the pain. By the time they turned the shower off, she was exhausted and barely clinging to consciousness.
Taggert lowered her legs slowly, each movement a new torture for her. Weaving on her feet, she felt Jackson cut away her pants. Both politely turned their heads when they tucked her into bed on her stomach. The cover rested low on her back, the last thing she felt was a brush of lips against her unmarred shoulder as she succumbed to darkness.
The sound of the shower turning off woke her a little bit later. Jackson rested awkwardly in the chair next to the bed, those whiskey eyes of his slitted, watching her as he pretended to sleep.
A shadow by the bathroom drew her gaze, and she nearly choked on her breath when Taggert strolled out with a towel so small it barely clung to his waist. She couldn’t tear her gaze away, fearful that if she blinked, she’d miss seeing the towel slip.
His chest was lean and roped with muscles and so smooth she wanted to touch it to see if his skin was as hot as it looked. Though he didn’t glance at her, she’d swear he knew she was watching. His movements slowed.
And he dropped his towel. Her eyes grew dry, and she blinked once. As he put on his clothes, he managed to turn so she saw every inch of him. Then she saw his back. Healed. Each scar, each mark, healed. The heat of a blush filled her cheeks, and she jerked her head away. And met Jackson’s amused gaze. “Pack is very comfortable with each other and their own nakedness.”
What an understatement. She distantly heard a drawer open, but refused to turn and be drawn in further. Jackson stood, his gaze locked on hers, and pulled his shirt over his head. The muscles of his body flexed and moved in such a sensual way, she could feel her body warm despite the throb of pain in her back.
She felt ambushed. She closed her eyes, released a shuttering breath and vowed not to open them again until she was alone.
“I’m going to take a shower. Watch over her.”
The instant the door closed, Raven pushed herself up by her arms, dragging the blanket around to cover her nudity as she sat. “Help me dress.” She couldn’t do it on her own, and it galled her that she had to ask for help. It would be safer for everyone if she slept in the basement.