Rune (21 page)

“Thanks.” Rune clicked the phone. “No, so what is it you’re prescribing?”

“It’s Cephalexin and effective on more serious infections; hopefully, this will prevent the onset of septicaemia.”

“You think she’s at risk from that?”

Mac gave a short nod. “Sometimes a small cut is all it takes, and look at that mess.”

Rune turned to Jess and flinched at the state of her back.

“If we can get on top of the infection, control it, she stands a chance.” He blew a long snort. “If she gets septicaemia and it turns to sepsis, I wouldn’t like to be a betting man but…”

Rune’s golden eyes burned with worry.

“Keep it to the minimum of people close to her, reduces the infection risk. Also, before injecting, clean the skin with alcohol.”

“I know,” said Rune. Already, his distraction evident, his thoughts centred on Jess.

Mac clicked his bag closed. “Any changes for the worse and you get that ambulance you hear me, Rune?”

“I hear,” his voice gruff. He didn’t turn to the door closing.

Chapter Eighteen

Rune hesitated; the raw lacerated wounds glared harsh, and gently, he smeared the cream across her back. His fingers feathered butterfly soft, yet her groans tore at him; she whimpered through her closed eyes. He knew the pain reaching the unconscious planes meant she had to be in agony.

Her breathing blew out in wisps, and touching her cheek with the back of his knuckles, he drew in a shaky breath. Rune washed his hands and, taking the syringe, filled it with the antibiotic. As Mac had told him, he cleaned her buttock with a swab of alcohol, and then waited for it to dry. Without hesitation, he pushed the needle in and pulled it out, checking for blood. Finding none, he continued and pressed the plunger down slowly, releasing the fluid. At last empty, he slipped it back out.

Rune checked the time and made a mental note to ready the next one. Again, he rang LeBron.

At once, he answered. “How is she?”

“Sleeping, but restless; listen, LeBron, I need you to run the club until Jess is well.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“Good, because I won’t be leaving her side until she is.”

LeBron grinned and flashed Kitty an I-told-you-so smile as the call died.

Rune sat in the chair he’d pulled up beside the bed and studied Jess; she lay silent for the moment. He touched her forehead, yet still she burned hot.
Fuck!
Rune knew if she didn’t turn the corner, if her body didn’t start to respond, he’d make her vampire. Because he wouldn’t allow her to die.

Rune rose and fetched a bowl of cool water; placing it close, he wrung the flannel out and dabbed it gently over her face and throat.

“Come on, little one, heal for me.” He homed in at the soft flutter of her lips, how they moved softly.

The seconds ticked by into minutes, the minutes passing to an hour.

She began to toss her head.

“No, please stop…” Her voice whimpered, breaking. “Please, Dad, Mum, no more I can’t stand it.” A sob broke free.

Rune frowned and touched her face, the tears soaked over his fingers. “Jess?”

“Mum, no, no that’s horrible—” She began to thrash and cry.

“Easy, Jess, take it easy.”

She suddenly stilled, and Rune shivered; at once, he felt for a pulse. It flickered beneath his fingertips. Relief slammed over him.

“Rune,” she mumbled.

“I’m here.”

“I called to you. I needed you.”

“And I came.”

“You came.” She released a whisper of a sigh.

“Always, Jess.”

§§§

Rune remained seated alongside the bed; Jess lay in a deep sleep. For the last week, he’d methodically given her the antibiotics. She’d woken intermittently in agony, screaming in pain, and he’d had to watch, helpless to take it away. Instead, he had soothed her tears, his stomach churning with an intensity he’d never experienced before.

Each time he’d rubbed the cream on, she’d clutched at the sheets, her sobs tearing him to shreds. Rune wished he could kill those bastards again and again, to torture them for the legacy they’d consigned Jess to. Even the injections into her muscle were causing her excruciating anguish. The only thing that Rune could do was help her sleep without the constant assault of pain.

Mac called in every day to check on her, and Rune was relieved when he gave his patient the thumbs up. Although she wasn’t over the worse, at least it looked like she’d live, but Rune had no intention of relaxing his vigil. She still slept most of the time, her body healing, and in between Rune tried to feed her soup, dripping it down her throat.

“Come on, little one, you have to get your strength back.”

She’d choked and tried to swallow; bit by bit, she managed to take some nourishment before her lids again drooped and she fell into a dreamless sleep.

He sat up when she stirred restless, another whimper breaking free. “Jess?”

§§§

She turned her head towards his voice. Her back burned, a searing agony blistered over her, and she settled her pained gaze on Rune. He took her hand, rolling her fingers through his.

“Where am I?” Her throat croaked harsh, the question came out on a hushed whisper.

“In my bed.”

She struggled to focus. “I feel terrible.”

“You look it.”

“Thanks, Rune, love your bedside manner.” She so wished she could summon the energy to raise her voice. Images blurred through her mind, filled with creatures and a terrifying Rune.

He grinned back. “You’ve been out for over week; it’s nice to see you lucid.”

She blinked. “A week?”

“Yep.”

“Who’s been looking after me?” Why she asked, she didn’t know, because, by his smug face, knew it had to be him.

“Why, me, of course, I’m your Dom, I do everything for you.”

“Everything?” A red hot flush stained her face, at the thought of some of the more personal needs.

“Everything.”

Just great, that was her dignity out of the window.
There was more she wanted to ask, but it weighed too heavily on her. An image of him killing crawled into her thoughts. Her vision fuzzy and she sighed into the pain that bled through her body, her lids dropped and again she slept.

§§§

Rune brushed her hair back, it felt strange not filtering his fingers through the long length. So far, she hadn’t realised what he’d done, and he wondered how she’d react. With a fury, knowing Jess, and a smile teased his lips. Leaning forward, he pressed a soft kiss against her cheek; a warm glow fed over him at the curl of her lips.

His mobile chimed and he checked out the name. “Hi, Kitty.” She rang every day asking about Jess, at times it irritated him. Times when he was scared for her, worried and fretful, but he was glad she had a good friend.

“How is she?”

They were the same words she always asked. “We had the first lucid conversation today, short, but it’s a start.”

“Oh God, Rune, that’s that’s so—”

He heard her snuffling, and LeBrons deep voice soothing her.

LeBron came on. “She’s a bit emotional.”

“Yeah, I can hear. Anyway, got to go, the club going okay?”

“Yep, not that you’re bothered.”

“Not in the slightest.” Rune knew where his priority lay, and it was with the woman in the bed that made his heart do crazy things. She stirred so many sensations in him. Never in his life had he experienced the feral need to protect, the possessiveness he experienced was beyond anything he’d felt before in his life. It was as if their souls were connected; from the first moment he’d seen her, unconscious, she’d reached out with a devastating effect.

He continued to watch her sleep, and then rang Wolfe.

“Hi, mate, how are you getting on with your spoilt brat?”

“We’ve come to a compromise.”

Rune hitched a brow; he knew what sort of compromise Wolfe would want. “And?”

“And it’s none of your business. It’s also damn complicated.”

“Come on, buddy, spill it out.”

His laugh sounded deep. “Okay, I’ve got an invitation to lay her, but I’m not sure I want to.”

Rune cricked a brow in surprise. Wolfe was a randy fuck-them-and-leave-them type. Morals didn’t come into sex with him, he was a hard bastard.

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t know; fuck, I can’t explain it myself, and Taylor is a looker.” He hesitated. “And then there’s the—”

Jess groaned and whimpered out loud.

“Catch you later, Wolfe.” Rune cut him off, any interest in his friend’s sex life shelved. “Honey, take it easy.” He stroked a hand over her head that still felt odd; the cropped hair flicked out from between his fingers. It was so different from the long locks that had curled around his hand.

“It hurts, Rune.” The translucent drops trickled down her face. “So much.”

“I’m sorry, little one, but it will ease soon, I promise.”

Her fingers dug into the pillow, her knuckles white, she screwed the material tight. “Make it go away, Rune, help me?”

Rune crouched beside her, his hand stroked over her hair, his lips filtered across her face, towards her mouth. “Sssh, Jess, sleep.” His hypnotic golden gaze showered her with a glitter of light, and she closed her eyes.

§§§

“For fuck’s sake, Rune, you’re not throwing a dart, take it easy,” muttered Jess. She was sure he enjoyed giving her the shots. And was also certain she should have finished them by now. For the first two weeks, she’d had it stuck in her ass twice a day, alternating between cheeks. For the third week, it had dropped to one, yet she was sure he took a perverse pleasure out of it.

Her back was healing, and so far for the last few days, she’d been more awake than asleep. It still bugged her that he’d seen to
everything
since Storm’s attack. And then she recalled how she’d felt light headed and the guilt that had crossed Rune’s face.

“What have you done?”

“I, er, cut your hair.”

She closed her eyes; he was lying, he had to be. She’d spent years growing it long; it was her pride and joy. Wincing at the movement, she’d dragged her hand out, searching for it, and touched the short uneven ends. Her scream splintered through the room. “Rune!”

“I had to do it; it was interfering with your back.”

“So, why didn’t you tie it up or plait it or something?”

He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Didn’t think of that; anyway, you can always grow it again.”

“For pities sake, it’s taken thirty years to grow it that long.” If her back hadn’t still been hurting, she’d have struggled out of bed and smacked him one, but her time would come.

“Just be glad you didn’t come down with septicaemia, and it’s these jabs that’s stopped that.”

“So, why am I still having them? Surely they should have stopped by now?” she pointed out.

“A precaution.”

Yeah, whatever.
“Has Kitty phoned?”

“Every day.”

The silence rung out.

“Are you going to ask me?” His voice rippled soft, yet it held a thread of command.

“What?”

“Jessalyn, you know what, don’t play games.”

She clicked her teeth in annoyance, he was a stubborn bastard.

“Yes, I am a stubborn bastard and I want an answer,” said Rune.

“You can read my mind, can’t you.”
She’d bloody known it.

“Yep, as clear as if you spoke to me.”

She flushed, thinking of some of the things that had floated through her mind, the sexy thoughts that had appeared. “You’re a vampire?” A wariness crept over her face.

“Yes, and, Jess, there’s no need to fear me, not all vampires are killers.”

She gave a snort. “That’s coming from someone that took out three wolves, dogs or whatever?”

“They hurt you, they deserved to die, and incidentally, they were werewolves.”

“Aw, I don’t believe I’m having this conversation.” Her lids drooped, exhaustion claiming her and Jess gave in to it. Because sleeping was a lot easier than facing up to vampires, werewolves, Lycans, and the fact George wasn’t her father. Then recalled her mother’s words, how she needed to be warned, oh God, what other surprise was she about to face? What the frigging hell was her father going to turn out to be?

Rune stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “Rest, Jess, we’ll discuss this again, when you’re stronger.”

“Mmmm,” agreed Jess, lulled by his voice, yet every time she listened to him, a bloody week passed.

§§§

The surf washed onto the beach, the waves crashed over her body, and she wrapped her arms around Rune. He stood over her, holding her hips, and rocked into her with his awesome erection. Jess groaned, this was so good, an ache fuelled deep in the pit of her stomach. The heat of the sun scorched over her, the water cool it splashed across her body. She shuddered at his lips wandering over hers, tasting him, and she released a whimper. God, but she needed him, thrusting deep inside her.

“Rune?” she muttered.

“What is it, Jess, are you in pain?” His breath blistered over her throat.

“Oh God yes, it hurts so much.”

“Fuck, I’ll ring Mac.”

What? That wasn’t supposed to be in her dream.
And she flicked her eyes open to a very worried Rune holding his mobile to his ear. He paced back and forth, shooting splinters of glances at her. Shit, it was a dream, but the ache developing between her legs wasn’t.

“Rune?”

At once, he was beside her. “I’ve phoned the doctor, he’ll be here soon, Jess, don’t worry.”

“Rune, cancel that call.”

He frowned. “But you said you were in pain?”

“I am, but of the, er sexual kind?”

Relief crossed his face, a wicked glint glittered in his eyes and Rune dialled. “Forget it, Mac, everything is fine. Nope, you don’t need to check, she’s just horny.”

Jess closed her eyes. “Please, you didn’t just say that?”

“Yep, so you’re feeling frisky are you?” Rune hunkered beside her.

“No, it was a wet dream I had. Mentally, I want it; physically, I don’t think I can.”

“You’re healing, Jess, that’s the main thing.”

She dreaded asking but had to. “What week are we on now?”