Ruin, The Turning (9 page)

“Only…only to help.” She finally managed the words but they came on a broken squeak as he continued to come even closer, sending her in a slow blind retreat.

“To help who?”

His demanded question came the moment the wall hit her back. She struggled to think. Think beyond what his closeness did to her body and mind, her instincts vying for the stage. Run, stay, run, stay. He put both hands on the wall, caging her. “H-help…just help, that’s all.”

He leaned slowly in until she had to turn her face. “You know what I think?” Sam closed her eyes at the hot breath on her ear, his words soft and silky. “I think… your body is betraying you.” Her nails dug into the wall with the sudden push of his leg between hers. The strange tingling sensation in her stomach and virgin parts brought sounds from her she’d never made.

“I think,” he whispered, pressing his leg harder until she whimpered at the terrifying pleasure, “that you…” his hot tone shot heat up and down her spine as he moved his leg in slow circles against her privates, “are really…a lying…slut.”

The final words hissed with a hatred that burned, and he pushed off the wall, opened the door, and left Sam to slide down to the floor in a heap. She sat there with eyes closed and every nerve in her body vibrating. Both hands pressed to her chest, she struggled to breathe around the dense pain.

The need to vomit sent her running to the bathroom. Then came the yelling accompanied with her every heave. Scriber yelling at Ruin, “What did you do to her! See me outside!”

The sound of Luke crying sent Sam blasting out of the bathroom into the chaos. “Stop it!” she yelled at the men who stood toe to toe, eye to eye in the center of the kitchen with Luke holding his ears at the table, crying. “What the hell!” Sam gasped, shoving them apart, stumbling in those stupid boots as she did. “There is a kid here!” She slammed her fist into Ruin’s arm, jolting him then looked at Scriber and pointed a trembling finger at him. “I will not do this!” The words shook out. “I won’t hurt him, I’m done! You need to find somebody else. I can’t. I won’t be a cruel person!” she gasped.

Scriber looked down briefly, nodded, and then walked out, making Sam feel worse.

“What do you want from me!” she yelled after him. “I can’t do this!”

She regarded Ruin now who held a look of hatred on her and she brought up her hands, fighting to make them stop shaking. “I’m done, no more. You keep your memories, I don’t want to touch them.” And she really didn’t. Ever. Then she remembered what he’d just done and stormed up to him, grabbed a fistful of t-shirt and jerked him down to her face. “But you ever touch me like that again,” she whispered, “I will knee your balls so far into your gut, new stars will form in your little psycho universe.” She shoved him away, daring him with her glare to test her. Please do, please try it.

She turned to Luke then who still rocked back and forth with his eyes closed and she was suddenly a four year old girl finding her older brother hiding in the basement trying not to hear mom and dad fight. The same need to protect and comfort hurried her to him. “Okay, hey, look at me.” She pulled his hands down. “I’m here, you see me? Look at me, Luke. Tell me you see me.”

He nodded looking at her. “I see you.”

“Okay good.” Her boot heel twisted and she stopped long enough to yank them off and throw them aside with disgust then knelt before him. “You listen to me,” she said, making her voice strong. “Are you listening?”

“I see you,” he nodded.

“Well guess what,” she whispered excited. “I have a surprise for you.” She wiped the tears from his cheeks. “All around the woods, I have traps.”

He blinked a few times and sniffed. “What kind?”

“The kind that traps animals, like rabbits and raccoons, and possums.”

“Rabbits?”

“You like rabbits? Would you like to catch a rabbit?”

“To keep?”

Sam widened her eyes, not considering he’d want it as a pet. “I don’t see why not! But we have to go and set the traps with food so we can catch one. Can you help me?”

His eyes brightened a little. “Can I?”

“Are you strong enough to carry a back pack? We may as well make a camping trip of it, would you like that?”

“A camping trip? Can Mr. Ruin come?”

Pain hit Sam’s chest just at the name. Why did the boy always care about Mr. Ruin, anyway? It wasn’t like he was the least bit kind. “I don’t think he feels like camping,” she whispered.

“I’ll go,” Ruin barked from behind. “For safety.”

Sam swallowed her pain and pride at knowing it was those protective urges Scriber told her about. They were more than he could deny. He was a prisoner to protecting her now, and he hated it as much as Sam did. But Sam wouldn’t make it worse by pointing it out again. Once was enough. Too much.

Chapter Eleven

“You can set a trap near here, no camping. Scriber said it’s too dangerous.”

Ruin watched Sam’s bright green eyes seek out whether or not he was being honest. He reminded himself that she didn’t know that he wouldn’t lie. Not since he was no longer under the curse of the devil for...

“If you insist. I have what it takes to make traps here.” She chewed on her lower lip, thinking. “I can teach him how to make one, it can be a great learning experience.”

Ruin fought the need to study her and fury took him at recalling that same need with Isadore. Had the entire thing been part of his genetic make-up? Judging by the way he was behaving with Sam, yes, it must’ve been.

“What? No?”

Ruin realized he was shaking his head. “Nothing. That’s fine.” He didn’t want to do anything but think. And figure out a way to not link so damn hard to Sam, the way he did with Isadore. There had to be a way to control it. If he just paid attention to what he was feeling. Reign it in. Control it. How fucking hard could that be?

In no time at all, he found that out. With all his attempts at self-control, Ruin found himself circling Sam like a prey while she obliviously instructed the fascinated Sam on the importance of animal safety with this particular trap.

“Hey, I did it,” the boy whispered. “I did it Mr. Ruin,” he said louder.

“I heard.” The barked words made him cringe. He really needed to try and work on his relationship with the kid, none of this was his fault and he’d suffered a lot already. “You’re doing…great. Good job.”

Sam glanced back at him and smiled, knocking Ruin right on his ass in the control department.

“Miss Sam, a snake!” the boy cried.

“Move,” Sam yelled, sending Ruin running to her. “God damn I think it got me!” Sam gasped, moving Luke back. Ruin made it to her side and turned her. She pulled up her pant leg and two red marks lit up her ankle, already swelling. “Ahhh, Jesus, it hurts!” she whispered.

Ruin couldn’t believe it. “You’re a fucking survivalist!” he exclaimed. “How could you let that happen?” Ruin lifted her and hurried back to the safe house. “What kind of snake was it?” he demanded.

“Put me down,” she ordered, “I can walk!” She fought to glance back. “Luke.”

“Luke, you behind me?” Ruin called.

“I’m here Mr. Ruin,” he gasped. “What do I do?”

“Just stay close. What kind of snake was it?”

“It…was a water moccasin…I think it was a dry bite.”

“Dry?”

“Meaning no venom, shit it hurts!”

“You’re cursing,” Ruin said, “that’s not good. Tell me about the snake. What do I do?”

“I just need to get where I can look at it, if you put me down, I could!”

“I’m not putting you down. What has to be done? Tell me.”

“I just need to look at it.”

“And then what?” Ruin half ran with her, going through the knowledge he had with reptiles. About zero, really, there were too many species.

“If it isn’t dry, I may need anti-venom.”

“Where do we get that?”

“I have some,” she said.

“You have anti-venom. Of course you do.”

“God it hurts like a beeotch.”

Ruin felt her pain in his body. He needed to get her where he could focus and figure out what to do.

At the safe house, he made his way to the bathroom and sat her on the edge of the tub. She swatted his hand away while she raised her pant leg. “Ah damn,” she whispered.

“What? Is it dry? What are the symptoms we need to worry about?”

“Uh, breathing difficulty, um, low blood pressure.” She grabbed her leg above her ankle. “Nausea and vomiting, numbness and tingling, fucking pain!” she gasped.

Ruin scooped her up.

“What are you doing? Stop carrying me like an invalid.”

He took her to her room and kicked the door shut, laying her on her bed. “Be still,” he said, sitting and holding her leg.

“What are you doing?”

“Let me try to do something, but I need to focus.”

She sat up, watching as he held her leg in his lap. He shut his eyes and focused on her body and she gasped, gripping his shoulder, her finger nails digging into his muscle.

Ruin groaned in response to the sensation. “Don’t touch me,” he whispered.

“What? Does it hurt you too?” she whispered back.

“Yes. But not like you think.”

“Oh God it fucking hurts!” she gasped. “I get it, I repulse you. No touching.”

Ruin bit his tongue on the need to correct her, console the pain the words caused in her. “I guess crying is a part of the symptoms?” Ruin muttered, closing his eyes again, trying to get her to think of something else.

She punched him hard in the back, jolting him. “It fucking hurts okay? Besides, real men cry and aren’t ashamed of it.”

Ruin found himself actually biting back a smile. “Of course they do. Now be still.” Ruin focused his fire to a precise heat and cut her pant leg up to over her knee.

“Wow,” she whimpered. “That’s a cool trick.”

“Yeah,” he stroked the swollen area around the bite. “What does the anti-venom do?”

“It…it combines with the venom in my body and immobilizes it. Breaks it down.” Her whispered words shook and the need to heal her was getting urgent.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Try to hold still.”

“I can’t. The venom is affecting my muscles.”

Ruin placed his other hand on her stomach. “Be still.”

Her muscles slowly relaxed then.

“I…I think I’m experiencing…lowered heart rate,” she mumbled.

“You are,” Ruin said. “I just lowered it.”

“Oh wow,” the words wisped weakly, “cool trick.”

“I have a few.” Ruin again located the poison in her body, finding it just about everywhere. Ruin stood next to the bed. “I’m going to touch you, so don’t hit me. I don’t mean anything by it.” She rolled a gaze at him with furrowed brows then nodded.

Beginning at her head, he slowly passed his fingers over her body. When he got to her chest, he closed his eyes, refusing to give thought to the nagging puzzle of what the hell she wore there to hide her so well. But when he got to her hips, he paused and pulled away at discovering an extra something in her womanhood that shocked him and disturbed him to his core, forcing him to reevaluate everything about her.

She was a virgin?

“What,” she whispered.

Ruin met her gaze beneath her nearly closed eye lids. “Nothing. But I’m going to aid your body in forming its own anti-venom. You’ll be sick for a short bit, maybe a fever.”

“Wow, you can do that? Yeah, good idea. I like it. I’m thirsty.”

“I’ll get you something to drink as soon as I’m done.”

“Water. Please.”

Ruin placed a hand barely on her stomach and linked his mind to the blood’s reaction to the venom then multiplied it by a thousand.

He left the room then and stood at the bedroom door for a few moments, contemplating the feelings that came with his revelation about her. She’d said she was a man but maybe what she’d meant was a celibate.

Ruin checked on the kid and let him know Sam was fine and needed to rest. Then he touched him with the command to not worry and relax before bringing a few bottles of water back to her.

He opened one and she sat up and downed it then gasped. “Thank you. God, I don’t normally…”

“What?”

“Can you…maybe get something for pain?”

Ruin felt like an idiot for forgetting about that. He slid her to the center of the bed and sat on the edge near the foot, facing her. He took her leg and held her foot in his lap. For the first time, a comparison didn’t occur when he looked at a part of her. The idea stabbed him through his heart even as he stroked the calf in his hands, needing to remove the pain. Sam winced and Ruin hovered his fingers over the bite and emitted a laser of cold to the area until the flesh was numb.

“Oh God, yes,” she gasped. “Wow, thank you.” She flopped back on the bed where she’s fixed several pillows. “I’m hot.” She looked around. “There’s a fan.”

Ruin eyed the canvas black jacket she wore. “Let’s get you out of that jacket.”

She sat up and Ruin helped her remove it and she laid back down. “Wow, I’m cold now.” She shivered.

Ruin looked around and spotted a folded blanket. Shaking the light quilt loose, he laid it over her, noting the tremble in her jaw. Ruin felt her cheek. “The fever won’t last long,” he whispered. When she leaned into his touch, he didn’t move.

“Thank you,” she looked up at him, her green gaze heavy from her body fighting the venom.

“For what?” He flexed his fingers barely, feeling the soft skin.

“For…” her jaw trembled, “I don’t know.” She rolled her eyes shut, her brows furrowing. “Can you…stay…in case I get…thirsty?”

Ruin didn’t know what affected him more. Her need for comfort, her need to hide that need, or that delicate softness in her voice that he’d not heard before. All three at once was a combination that brought him to her side, sitting next to her.

“I mean…you don’t have to…”

“I have nothing else to do.” Ruin resisted the need to learn by touch. But the urge to learn something about her, more, all even, was greater than he could stand. “Tell me about your family. The one before your adopted one.”

She lolled her head, putting her face away from him, presenting the column of her neck. He studied the steady strong pulse. “Nothing to tell really.”

“You had any brothers? Sisters?”

“An older brother.” She shivered and Ruin tucked the covers closer to her. “Lester.”

“A sister?”

“Nah. Just me and Lester.”

Ruin readjusted the covers, pressing them close again, needing to touch her. He stroked along her side, fitting the material firmly to her body, his mind assessing the shape. “You were close to him?”

“Yeah, I mean sure. I was four when…the accident happened. He was around ten. Standard…annoying older brother.”

“Your parents?”

She nodded a few times, looking forward. “Great guys, yeah. Fought a lot but decent people for being burdened with…a gifted freak,” she laughed lightly. “But…we had good times.”

“Did you? Tell me.” Ruin very much needed to hear something about her that didn’t involve how they met and what resulted.

She was quiet a while and chuckled. “I remember that time…we had a really bad lice infestation and… I had this long blond hair, right? Not a good thing to have with a lice infestation, it’s nearly impossible to get rid of with long hair.” She faced him now with a slight smile. “And oh my God we kept getting the lice over and over and my mom was so sick of wasting money, it was expensive. You had to get the shampoo, the spray, you had to wash everything at the laundry mat because you couldn’t do it all at home, had to be done all at the same time. And then oh my God, the shampoo started to irritate my scalp and I got these sores from scratching ‘cause the shampoo made you itch. And you couldn’t use the shampoo with sores, it’s a pesticide.” She snickered lightly, “But dad was old school,” she raised her brows, “he used gasoline to treat himself and he fought with mom about making me wash my hair. And so Lester…” she smiled, angling her sparkly gaze at him “he was terrified dad would make me wash my head in gas and I’d get cancer from the gas getting in my sores or maybe brain damage. And my dad’s all, ‘She’s probably already got cancer, probably what’s wrong with her, maybe this’ll help her!’ But dad wasn’t playing, he was serious. And so Lester begged me to cut my hair. And I’m like, ‘how will I let down my hair so that my prince can climb up?” She laughed at that. “Yes, I was once a girl at heart and thought I was a princess. I was growing my hair and thought it had special power. And you know what Lester said to me?”

Ruin absently stroked his thumb along the covers at her side. “What?”

“He said, ‘Your hair does have special powers, that’s why the lice won’t die, they live in it and it makes them into super lice. And soon they’ll grow into giant rats and dig a hole into your head and eat your brain!’ Oh my God,” Sam gasped, laughing quietly. “I so believed that little shite and begged him to cut it. I believed him for a long time.” Her smile lingered. “I finally realized he’d only said that to get me to cut my hair because he was so worried I’d get brain cancer.” She smiled happily and Ruin’s chest constricted at the pathetic sentiment. “I got brave enough to let it grow again and then the accident happened and well, my new family preferred I looked like a boy.” She shrugged and hit him with those clear green eyes. “Honestly? I couldn’t be happier. I use a dime size amount of shampoo. It’s a real money saver and water saver. No hair products, just dry it with a towel and I’m good to go. One of the things I don’t miss about the whole feminine fiasco.”

Ruin looked down, astonished with her bravery. Or oblivion. “If it’s any consolation…you make…a very beautiful man.”

Silence brought his gaze to hers and her laughter shot out. “Well if it’s any consolation, I can’t tell you how many women hit on me. And men,” she said with wide eyes.