#Chapter 4 Lust in the Bathroom

Helen POV

"You're bleeding!"

The smell of blood washed over me in a hot copper rush which made me feel sick to my stomach, dizzy, confused because I could almost feel the pain of Justin's wounds myself yet we weren't bonded.

"It isn't important," Justin offered, throwing my own words back at me, "My father fears the beast will overpower me completely so he works hard to tame it. The creature responds best to pain. He finds the whip effective."

"It's important to me."

I echoed Justin's words through numb lips, struggling to my feet before shaking my skirt out to make walking easier.

If he used pain to control his Lycan, then there should be first aid supplies in his rooms. I couldn't imagine the Alpha King would leave his only son without medicine to treat his wounds---but I also couldn't imagine the refined Alpha King whipping his heir bloody either. What did I know?

I stumbled around until I found a dresser, but the drawers seemed to only hold clothes. I hadn't gotten a good look at the room when I was shoved in from the hall. The lights had been off since I'd been inside.

"What are you looking for?" Justin asked, sounding much more amused than I liked.

"Bandages. Antibiotic ointment. You have to have a first aid kit, don't you? Who would beat you regularly without treating your injuries?"

I knew I sounded judgmental, but I couldn't help the way I felt.

If the Alpha King would beat his only son, what would he do to me? Was a whip in my future too? How was I supposed to seduce a male who was bleeding everywhere?

"There's a box in the bathroom. Under the sink. It is truly nothing. Worrying over it is a waste of time."

Of course there was an en suite bathroom! Why would the Alpha Prince be confined to a room without even getting his own bath? I felt stupid for not thinking to look for another door already.

As to his protest about the pointlessness of caring for his injuries, I chose to ignore him.

Feeling my way along the furniture until I bumped into the wall, I ran my hand along until I felt the edge of a door and opened it.

I found the First Aid Kit and gestured for the great beast of a male to join me so I could tend his wounds---and do my best to begin seducing him.

---

I had limited nursing experience as my family wasn't one to engage in sport fighting nor had me or my sister ever been the type to roughhouse.

My father had no son to carry on his line or make him proud during scuffles with other young wolves; my father was not even a beta, much less an Alpha. We weren't a family who knew much of violence.

Blood kept trickling down from the whip marks on my mate's back no matter how many times I swiped a wet washcloth over them. I wasn't sure if putting a bandage over a wound still bleeding would do anything at all. It seemed silly to me.

"What are you doing?" the Lycan snapped, irritation clear in his voice.

I was startled enough to drop the cloth on the floor with a wet sound. My face burned with color as I realized I'd jumped away from him when all he'd done was speak to me.

Retrieving the cloth, I winced at the blood on the floor, "I'm not a very good nurse. You're still bleeding. I can't seem to get it to stop. What do you normally do to treat an injury?"

Alpha King Juden probably had a doctor on his staff or maybe even a full healer whose magic could close nearly any wound. I imagined having to walk into the hall to ask for a healer. My ruined appearance would probably make them think the help was for me rather than Justin.

My face burned in shame as I realized I was still too aware of the Lycan's scent -richly masculine in a way which made my own wolf keen inside- while he seemed unmoved by me. Wasn't my mate supposed to desire me equal to how I desired him? Was I truly cursed to have no mate ever want me?

"You're thinking something unpleasant. What is it?"

"Just wondering why you don't want me. It doesn't matter. You're still bleeding and I don't know how to stop it."

Justin blew out a harassed breath before turning on the edge of the tub.

His huge hands swallowed the shower controls as he turned the water on. A warm cascade began to flow down from the shower and he surprised me by shoving my shoulder so I turned in place, giving him access to my back.

I was terrified I was showing weakness to the last Lycan yet all he did was unlace my dress. The wedding gown fell to my feet in a huge puddle of material, leaving me standing in only my slip.

"Get in with me. The water will stop the bleeding."

I didn't have a chance to protest or think about how he was still wearing jeans while I was in little more than underwear. Justin picked me up as if I weighed no more than a feather and my body reacted instinctively, my arms winding around his neck as my legs wound around his waist.

Justin turned until the water poured warm and soothing down on us.

"Justin!" I laughed, feeling ridiculous as he held me under the water, soaking my hair, making my slip transparent so it only just covered my full breasts, flat belly, and flared hips.

I had never felt more feminine than I did being held up in his arms.

"Diana," he murmured, eyes on my lips and I found the nerve to make a move on him to begin my seduction.

I kissed him with the kind of passion I'd only dreamed about. There was no hesitation, no fear in the way I handled him. My hands toyed with his hair where it fell too long around his shoulders; I clenched my thighs tight around his waist as I pressed my silk-covered sex against him.

"Diana," he groaned again.

He ducked his head under the shower, blocking the flow of water from hitting me. Justin nuzzled his face against my breasts. My nipples were hard buds trying to poke their way free of my slip; he sucked one into his mouth, slip and all, suckling hard before letting go to tug the strap down.

"Yes," I whispered, "Yes, yes, yes."

My voice was feverishly intense. I shrugged the straps of my slip off my shoulders, shaking my upper body so the material peeled down to expose my breasts to my mate's eyes. Men responded to the sight of naked women, right?

I had never wanted a male to see me before. I was untouched. Untouched except by this wild Lycan who seemed to want me.

His mouth on my breast was enough to have me squirming against him, desperate to get him to touch my core where my sex was a wet throb only he could soothe. I wasn't sure how well I was seducing him, but I was doing fine at seducing myself.

Just as I thought he was going to take me right against the shower wall, he leaned back.

The shower poured over him, plastered his long hair to his head, ran in streaming rivulets over his massive shoulders, down his muscular arms and over the grooves and ridges of his abdomen.

There was no possibility of a more perfect example of masculinity---and he was all mine. My second chance mate. My mate.

"What?" I asked, feeling drunk on lust and the mating bond coursing through my body.

"We can't."

"Can't?" I blinked at Justin in confusion, feeling stupid as I tried to understand why my mate was rejecting me, rejecting me again, "Why can't we? We're mates. You want me. I can tell you want me."

I couldn't survive being rejected by my second chance mate. I wasn't strong enough.

Justin cupped my face with one huge hand, looking deep into my eyes as he said, "If I make love with you, I'll lose my beast. I'll become human. Do you understand? I can't make love to you without losing my nature."

My tears started again as his words sank in and I was grateful the shower hid them from view as I struggled to get down from my mate's arms.

My mate who couldn't make love to me because I would bring him ruin.

If he had told me I would do anything other than hurt him, I'd have kept going, but hurt him? Hurt my mate? I never could.

I had enough reasons to feel bad about myself; I didn't need another one. Death would be preferable to being a betrayer or a two-times-rejected mate.

Stripping my soaked slip off, I wrapped a towel around my body and moved back into the bedroom, leaving Justin behind to take care of himself.

I sat on the edge of the bed, focused on my breathing, and realized I was getting hotter and hotter the longer I sat there waiting for my mate to rejoin me.

It was only minutes to midnight on the night of the full moon---which meant I would only have hours left to live because the Alpha King would kill me for being unable to seduce the Lycan prince.

Justin stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and the heat swept over me so completely it was as if I'd stepped into the mouth of a volcano.

And I realized---I wasn't heated. I was in heat for my Lycan mate.