Read Online Dark Side Of The Moon (BBW Paranormal Were-Bear Shifter Sci-Fi Romance) by Catherine Vale - Free Book Online Page B

more masculine.
But every time, every single damn time, she still wanted them to look at her
differently. Every single time .
    She
fumbled the cap off the water container. As soon as the cover was off, her
thirst came raging back. Lifting the container, she let the water fill her
mouth. It was warm and tasted like metal and something completely foreign, but
it was the best water she’d ever had in her life. For a minute, Taso and the
wreck faded away and she drank greedily. Then her stomach clenched in a
sickening way, and she put the container down. Wiping her mouth with the back
of her hand, she waited for her stomach to settle. It finally did, and she
decided she’d had enough water for the time being.
    Shrugging
out of her shirt, she got the corner of it wet. Behind her, she heard Taso’s
soft footsteps and his shadow fell over her shoulder. Turning around, she
looked up at him. Her eyes flickered over his chest, then lower, trying to
figure out if any of the cuts had damaged anything vital. For the amount of
blood, they all seemed superficial. Even so, there was so much damn blood.
    “I
think the worst are on your back. Turn around.”
    He
pivoted and she gasped. His back looked horrible, scratches and cuts
crisscrossing his skin, pieces of flesh actually missing.
    “This
might hurt.”
    She
dabbed at the biggest of the cuts, wincing at the pain she imagined he was
feeling. But Taso never moved, standing like a rock.
    “Do
you think there are more out there? That they’ll come back?”
    “Yes,
and yes.” He seemed less worried than she thought he should be.
    “But
what if they come back?”
    “Then
we will fight them again. And again. Until we no longer have a need to fight
them.”
    Maybe
in his world it was that simple, but it wasn’t that way in hers.
    She
wet the shirt again, over and over, cleaning the sand and bits of fur away from
his injuries. Already they were looking better, some looking more like superficial
scratches than she’d originally thought. She was relieved; obviously she’d
over-reacted.
    “Turn
around. Let me clean the front.”
    She
turned away, found a clean corner of her shirt and got it wet. When she turned
back Taso was facing her. She stepped closer, focusing on his chest. Or tried
to focus on his chest. 
    “Oh…”
    He
was bloody and dirty and sweaty. Beneath all the debris of battle, he was
smooth skinned and muscular, but she already knew that. Before, she’d wanted to
avoid looking, avoid touching any part of him that would have…given him
the wrong idea, made him think she was interested in the same thing he wanted.
Now…she didn’t want to avoid looking. And she had a legitimate reason to
touch him.
    She
started with the big cut on his right shoulder. It was deep, the edges ragged,
and she started working patiently to clean away sand and blood.
    “This
should really have stitches.” She glanced up at him. He’d been staring
stoically ahead, but now he looked down at her.
    “I
don’t know what those are.”
    “Um…it’s
when we sew the edges of the wounds together with needle and thread. Like your
clothes are made, you know?”
    He
shook his head, so she went back to cleaning his wound. Most of the dirt was
gone and she looked closer. Now that it was clean, it looked much better. Maybe
it would be okay after all.
    The
shirt was pretty trashed, wet, covered in blood and sand. She stepped away,
turned toward the water container. Taso reached out, his hand on her wrist. She
turned back, looked up at him.
    “Enough.”
    “But…”
    The
pressure on her wrist was gentle, and she could have easily pulled away, but
she didn’t want to. The shirt fell to the ground and she took a step toward
him. He still held her wrist, raising her hand so it rested flat against his
chest. Against her palm, she could feel his heart, beating in a steady rhythm.
In contrast to her heart, which was hammering away like a jackhammer beneath
her tank top.
    He
looked down at her, his