The Hollow Moon (Downworlder Series, #2)

Chapter Thirteen: Stitches

I gently touched the wound on my stomach with a faint wince. It pulsed with pain and looked a bit swollen. I was questioning if I had rubbed it wrong during the night but I didn't move much, if at all. The only other explanation was that perhaps I had pulled or stretched it a bit too much during our kitchen table escapades. My body shivered at the reminder and I shoved the thoughts away as I once again prodded the wound, letting the pain push them away completely.

It didn't look good but I couldn't be certain because the bruising and the burned flesh obscured it too much. It was a horrible looking mess. I couldn't remember the last time I had a wound look that bad but other than the whipping wounds I had received, there were none. I honestly didn't count the whipping I had received. That had been quantity more so than general horribleness.

I picked up the wet cloth I had grabbed when I had noticed the poorness of the wound and gently wiped at it. I let out a low hiss as I pressed against the tender and hot wound. It seemed a bit more sensitive than it should have been. I scowled at it darkly as I gently pressed the cloth to it and held it there. I had been getting dressed before the stupid thing had caught my attention and I decided to tend to it.

The shower shut off and I wanted to let out a small sigh. I was not looking forward to his verbal barrage towards me. It wasn't that I was getting attached and it would hurt my feelings. It was more of an I was fucking exhausted and sore and I didn't have the energy to deal with his elitist rhetoric. I rubbed at my forehead with my free hand before I lifted the cloth up from the wound. I stared at the blood on the cloth with a faint feeling of irritation.

"Fucking thing." I looked down and I could see the wound had opened slightly, leaking blood in a small trail down my stomach towards the top of my sweatpants I had thrown on. I quickly wiped it up so it wouldn't soak into the band of my pants. "Stupid..." I gently patted at the wound once again, "Just had to open up, didn't you?"

"What are you doing?" At the voice I turned slightly, my back turned to him.

"Nothing." I didn't need him to start mocking me. He hadn't yesterday and I was fairly positive that it was going to be in his schedule for the day. Written darkly in his schedule book would be five words, 'Piss off the rat today'. He would have circled it too, with some stars. I mean I couldn't entirely say anything about irritating people because I loved doing it but there was a viciousness, a cruelty, to when Revan did it that mine lacked.

"Don't start that attitude with me." His tone held a hard warning that I rolled my eyes at. "I thought my lesson would have lingered a bit longer than that. I can almost guarantee your ass is still sore." My cheeks flushed as a wave of heat rolled through me. I remembered the faint ache that my ass did indeed have when I had woken up. I had never thought I could damn near get off on spanking but it was becoming a distinct possibility.

I didn't know what to truly make of me being so submissive with him but he got me off so well that I was hesitant to complain about it. A girl needed to get while the gettin' was good and not get offended over a bit of submissive tendencies towards a rather irresistibly, sexually dominant male that was honestly wickedly attractive. I might not have liked his elitism or his rather aggravating personality but I wasn't blind. He was highly sexually attractive to me.

Faint footsteps came closer and I stifled a sigh. "What are you doing?" I ignored him as I tried to get the small bit of bleeding to stop. Hands grabbed me and I was turned around. "I asked you a question and I expect it to be answered." At the statement I rolled my eyes. He wasn't entirely the most observant person.

"I did answer. I said nothing. My answer remains as it was." He didn't need to start nitpicking everything I did. He had seemed to grow... needy after our bouts of sex. I wasn't sure about it. Then again my own mind was in such a fucking mess about it that I had no clue what I wanted to do or feel half the time. This entire situation was completely fucking messed up to me. Revan wanted to eradicate mongrels and those he deemed were of lesser blood but he sought me out, no longer looked at me like I was something he wanted to destroy.