“Goddamn it, Sonia –” he started but she interrupted him.
“You want me to show you? Then give me the boxes so I can gosh darn show you!” she snapped.
He scowled at her a moment before he handed her the boxes.
Then with extreme ill-grace, Sonia showed him how to load the needle and with even more extreme embarrassment, she turned, undid her belt and cords and pulled her pants down to expose her upper right buttock.
“Just jab it in and press,” she bit out angrily. “The faster the bet –”
She stopped talking when she felt the heat of his fingers grazing her bare skin. She jerked up and whirled.
“Callum, just jab –” she started but he set the injection aside, grasped her h*ps and turned her. “Callum,” she said, twisting her head to look at him then snapped, “Callum!” when his thumb hooked in her pants and pulled them a few inches down over her hip while his other hand held her firm.
“Baby doll,” he murmured as his thumb slid along her skin.
“What are you doing?” she tried to snap but it came out breathy.
His thumb stroked back, softly, even tenderly.
Then his eyes came to hers. “You look like a f**king pin cushion.”
Her body grew tight and she looked away.
“That happens when you have to take an injection every night,” she informed him. “Now if you’d just –”
His hands at her h*ps became arms around her belly and he pulled her into his big, hard body.
“I don’t like this,” he said into the hair on top of her head.
He didn’t like it? He should try being her.
“I don’t like it either,” she replied. “It’s not fun. That’s why it’s better just to do it fast and get it over with.”
For a moment, he was silent. Then he sighed.
Then, without letting her go, he reached out with one hand to nab the injection.
“Pull down your cords for me,” he ordered gently.
She did as she was told and without delay, she felt the jab.
Then she felt the burn.
Her arm flew out and her fingers curled around the basin while she sucked in breath, closed her eyes and fought the pain.
When it burned out, she found herself wrapped tight in his arms, tucked in his body with his face buried in her neck.
His warm embrace unsettled her.
Because it felt good.
She’d always battled the pain alone. It only lasted a minute or two but it still hurt.
She’d never had anyone, not anyone, help her battle the pain. Not since her Momma and Papa, who held her close after giving her the injection. Gregor was not a “holding close” type of guy.
It also surprised her.
Callum was a pretty domineering man though he’d also shown moments of tenderness.
But nothing like this.
Her fingers curled around his forearms, “Callum.”
“It hurts.” It was a statement.
“Yes.”
“It looked bad.”
“It’s excruciating.”
His arms tightened further.
“Callum, it’s okay. I’m used to it.”
“There’s no other way?”
She shook her head.
His face shoved deeper into her neck before he whispered, “Baby doll.”
Before she could say anything else, he’d done up her cords and belt then she was cradled in his arms and they were out of the bathroom, Callum striding to the living room.
He laid her on the couch and didn’t hesitate in joining her, stretching out and pinning her between his big body and the back of the couch.
She looked at him and announced, “I’d like some tea.”
“I’ll get you some in a minute. Tell me about your thing.”
“What thing?”
“Your blood thing.”
She pulled in breath.
He was being way too nice. And way too concerned. And way too sweet.
And it was messing with her head.
Then she thought it best to give him what he wanted. It’d be over sooner that way.
“I don’t know much about it, no one does. It’s that rare. I’ve lived with it my whole life. There’s one treatment, the injection. I know that because I’ve talked to my doctor about alternatives but there are none.”
“Are they researching it?” Callum asked.
“No, like I said, it’s rare. I’m lucky there’s even a treatment.”
His voice was soft when he said, “Honey, what I saw in there, that isn’t luck.”
There it was.
Too nice. Too concerned.
Way too sweet.
She tried to be nonchalant about it. “Trust me, Callum, if I don’t take the treatment, it’s that times about ten thousand,” she informed him. “I tried it once, went off the meds for two days, I thought I was boiling alive.”
“Jesus,” he muttered on a wince.
She stared.
He was feeling this.
Deeply.
Which made Sonia feel something deeply too.
Something insane.
A strong pull toward him to soothe and comfort.
Before she could stop herself, she pressed closer and assured, “Callum, it’s okay. I’m used to it.” She gave him a teasing grin. “I think it was probably good I had my teenage rebellion against the injection. I learned, quickly, it’s better than the alternative.”
His eyes bored into hers and he replied, “I’m not finding this amusing.”
Yes, he was feeling this.
And yes, it was deeply.
She didn’t know what to do with that. It made her forget he was a madman and think he might be her dream man.
Her handsome wolf.
Which had to be why she couldn’t fight that odd pull.
And this had to be why her grin faded, she pressed even closer and her voice went soft when she said, “That’s because it’s not amusing. But it’s two minutes of pain every day. At least there’s something that helps, even if it’s an awful something. It could be far worse.”
His arms around her got tight and one hand drifted up her back into her hair to tuck her face in his neck.
Then he said, “I’m giving you the injection every night.”
Sonia’s body jolted and her head jerked back. “What?”
He tipped his chin down to look at her. “You heard me.”
“Okay then, why?”
“You shouldn’t do that alone.”
“I’ve been doing it alone for twenty-six years,” she pointed out.
“Yes, and that stops now.”