Chapter 35
When I woke up, I actually didn’t expect to see Ryker. Some part of me thought that he had only said that in order to get me to sleep but when my mind came into focus; I was shocked to see Ryker sitting up on the bed with a bunch of papers in his hands and beside him.
I knew he had to be uncomfortable as hell because I was draped all over his legs and he was seated up against the headboard and trying to do hist work without bothering me at all.
I shifted in his lap and he immediately ceased all movements. I peered up at him and he immediately pushed the papers aside in favor of giving me all of his attention. I sat up trying to ignore the pounding headache I was feeling at the back of my skull and I offered him a small smile.
“Hi,” I said sheepishly and I saw the corner of his l*ps quirk up.
“Hi back,” I smiled at him, “How are you?”
“I feel, better,” I paused before adding the last part wondering whether or not I should tell him about the headache but I stayed silent.
He ran his hand down my cheek softly, “You still have a fever.”
“It’s probably nothing,” I tried to assure him, “I’m sure it’ll go down on its own.”
He frowned deeply, “I don’t want to take that chance.”
He stood to his feet and I watched in silence as he rang the bell by his side of the bed. Shortly after ringing it, there was a knock on the door and Ryker opened it to reveal Eve holding a tray of food.
She offered me a small smile as she placed the broth and bread on the table next to me. She bowed to me and then Ryker before exiting the room and leaving us draped in complete silence.
Ryker moved over to my side of the bed and sat next to me. He placed the tray in my lap and gestured for me to eat.
“Have you eaten?” I couldn’t help but ask and I took his silence as an answer. “You should eat something.”
“I will, don’t worry about me.”
I frowned at him then handed him a piece of the garlic bread. He tried to refuse it at first but when he realized that I had no plans on eating unless he ate as well, he finally resigned and took it from me. We ate together in
silence and I could honestly rate it as one of the best experiences we have had together.
By the time we finished, my headache had gotten so much worse and I felt like someone was trying to split my head open and tear it into two. It was becoming more difficult to hide and I had to bury my head in between my thighs because the brightness seemed to be making it worse. “Are you okay?” Ryker asked and I nodded, “B ullshit, what’s wrong?” “I think it’s the lights.” I said finally.
I still wasn’t looking up but I heard him move around until I heard a soft click and I felt the room go into darkness. I still didn’t raise my head until I heard him draw the curtains shut. He had plunged the room into complete darkness and although my headache was still there, I couldn’t help but feel grateful that he was willing to do this for me.
“Thank you,” I breathed and he nodded but I could still feel the ridges. and tenseness of his skin.
“I’m calling Lucy to check on you.” I opened my mouth to complain but he cut me off, “Something is wrong with you whether you want to admit it or not and Lucy is going to tell us what it is.”
I nodded finally because I knew it was the best deal I was going to get and I allowed him mind link the doctor. A part of me wondered if he was tired of all the house calls. If I had a wolf then I wouldn’t be getting sick. and having all these issues.
As we waited for Lucy to arrive, he pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair and I suddenly remembered something.
“How is Steven?” I asked, “I haven’t seen him around in a while.”
“He’ll be here when I leave. I figured there was no need having him watching you when I was here too. Why did you ask?”
“I just never got to thank him for helping me the last time he was here. I didn’t even know I was in heat and it would have ended badly.”
“It would have if he wasn’t here.” Ryker agreed, “But I will be sure to relay your gratitude to him.”
We stayed like that in complete silence until there was a knock on the door. Ryker went to open it and before he did, he turned on the lights again. I had gotten so used to the darkness that it took me a full minute with me blinking rapidly before I got used to the light.
Lucy walked in wearing her usual doctor’s coat with a small bag in her
hands. She offered me a warm smile as she made her way over to me and pressed her hand against my forehead.
“How do you feel?” she asked and I shrugged, “Can you rate it on a scale of 1 to 5.”
“Maybe a three,” I trailed off, “Or a three and a half. I don’t feel terrible but I don’t feel good.”
She hummed to herself and took out some things from her bag. She checked my temperature and my reflexes but those seemed to be normal excluding my temperature which was a little above average. When she tried to flash her little light into my eyes, I winced because of how bright it was and how sensitive my eyes were.
“Is it okay if I take a blood sample?” she asked and I nodded.
I tried to ignore the needle as she brought it close to me. I’m not scared of needles but I would rather not have to look at them as they go into my skin and I have never been awake when someone poked a needle into me. I braced myself expecting the worst of the pain but it was barely a pr ick and she was done.
“I will take this back to the lab and run a few tests to see if I can figure out what’s wrong,” she said mostly to Ryker than to me, “In the meantime, I suggest a lot of air and sunlight. Maybe it’s just a twenty four hour virus and she will be fine soon.”
“I’m sorry we had to drag you all the way out here.” I said softly and she waved me off.
“Please, it was no problem at all.”
She bowed to both of us and exited the room leaving both Ryker and I in complete silence once more. He stared at me for a full minute before he made his way over to me and held out a hand for me to take.
I stared at him cautiously but I trusted him and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me so I took his hand and allowed him lead me out of the room. As we passed the living room, I caught Eve’s eye and she smiled at me as he pulled me out through the front doors.
I realized the path we were taking and I paused mid step as I turned to stare at him.
“I’m in my nightgown.” I reminded him, “Shouldn’t I have changed first?” “You’re at home Camilla; you can wear whatever you want.”
Dudzes was still a mystery to me in a lot of ways. I was shocked that he
didn’t demand that I was impeccably dressed at all times. Tyson always used to demand that of his friends and everyone else. I have never seen Lisa look anything short of impeccably dressed and I worked in the pack house. But here I was walking around in a nightgown and sl*ppers while Ryker wasn’t even remotely bothered by it.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m also in pajama pants,” I looked down at him and realized that he was wearing silk pajama pants.
I could only imagine what a sight we were to behold walking around the woods at the back of the house in nothing but pajamas and sl*ppers. If I had seen us a few months back, I would have said that we were crazy.
We walked over to the little lake with the waterfall and Ryker pulled off his shirt and pants. I looked away when I realized he was n*ked underneath and I heard a splash. By the time I turned back, he was in the water completely n*ked.
“You should come in,” I shook my head vehemently making him laugh; “I promise it isn’t that cold, and it might make you feel better.”
I stared at him as I bit the inside of my cheek in contemplation. He did look like he was having fun but I wasn’t sure how eager I was to get inside the water n*ked.
“I’m right here” he assured me, “Come.”
“You have to turn around first.”
I knew my request was impractical considering the fact that he had already seen me n*ked a handful of times but he obliged. He turned his back to me and even made a show of covering his eyes with his hands.
I stripped off the gown and slowly made my way towards the water. I put
my
foot in first and I realized that he had lied earlier; the water was freezing cold. I slowly made my way deeper into the water until it covered everything that needed to be covered and I swam over to where Ryker was.
“You can look now.”
He turned around and I realized how close we were. I could feel his thigh brushing mine but it was almost as if he was making a deliberate effort to not have his b*dy touch mine. I wondered why but I didn’t want to ask mainly because I didn’t want to break the spell.
“You lied,” I said finally and his brows scrunched up in confusion, “You lied about the water, it is cold.”
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a hearty laugh that had my
insides squirming and turning around as if there was a tornado in there.
“It got you to come in didn’t it?”
