06. I DON'T BITE

TEMPEST

Instinct made me shove the bucket and lunge at the housekeeper.

“Tempest, what do you think you’re doing?!” Her shout mixed with the screech of wood hitting the tiles.

We both soaked the hems of our dresses and chunks of ice went skittering.

“If you bathe him with ice, it’ll hurt more!” My voice climbed, and I turned my head to look at him… then I froze harder than the ice.

The General was in the huge tub.

Wet black hair fell, framing his lowered face.

He was naked, shivering… hunched over, skin flushed with fever.

Tense, thick muscles, his legs stretched out.

He took up almost the whole tub, and the clear water didn’t do much to hide his nakedness.

My nosy eyes went to his groin, where a thick shape rested on one thigh.

For the Goddess, what the hell was I thinking?

I averted my gaze, embarrassed. Then he lifted his gaze and almost caught me looking.

His blue eyes shone with fever, tormented.

The shadows under them said he’d barely slept, and his brow was tight like a beast raging with pain.

My heart skipped a beat, maybe out of pity, maybe because the poison in his body called to my strange ability.

"Cold will make it hurt more..." I murmured to Mrs. Lydia and took a step back.

I knew it from my own experience when I drew Knox’s toxins.

Even with a high fever, it worked like a body’s way to keep the infection at bay.

Heat eased it... cold stirred it back up.

"You can’t come in like that and make a scene. Look at the mess you’ve made!" the housekeeper started scolding me.

Truth is, I was pretty ashamed.

"I’m sorry, I just... I’m sorry, I’ll go right now..." I turned to leave.

"Wait, don’t go..." The male’s rough, magnetic voice stopped me on the threshold.

I kept my eyes on the floor, I admit a little nervous.

My first day and I’d already messed up.

"Lydia, follow... her instructions..."

"But sir, the doctor gave orders to bring the fever down with ice water," she argued, disbelieving.

"It doesn’t work!" the General’s bad-tempered roar followed a painful growl.

"Lydia... it’s not working... it’s worse," his voice dropped with frustration. "Do what Tempest tells you."

He’s going to listen to me?

I lifted my eyes to the housekeeper, stabbing me with that critical look.

"Let’s step out so you can give me the instructions." It wasn’t a request, more of an order.

I went out with her and the door closed softly. Before we moved farther, she turned brusque.

"I hope you’re very sure of what you’re doing," she warned me, low and not pleasant.

"I’ve got nothing against you, Tempest, but the General is very dear to us. If you harm him..."

"I gain nothing by hurting him. I don’t want to go over the doctor’s prescriptions either... I’m just telling you what works for me."

I answered without taking offense. You could tell she cared about her master and I was just a stranger.

She took a second, weighing my words, then nodded with a sigh.

"Tell me what to do," she asked, and I thought about the best way to help him.

I was his caregiver, and I’d take my role seriously this month.

"Hot water in the tub, fast..." I asked, and she hurried off toward the kitchen.

Taking a long breath, I looked at the bathroom door.

Come on, Tempest, he’s just a naked man almost two meters tall, but he’s sick, and he’s your “patient”...

I talked myself into it, got into the role for real when I’d never studied anything about healing in my life.

When I stepped into the wide, elegant bathroom, I found him struggling to stand and get out of the tub.

He’d wrapped a wrinkled towel around his waist.

But he’d barely taken a few steps when he staggered.

"Wait!" Without thinking, I went to steady him before he slipped.

His sick legs barely held him, and the ice scattered on the floor was a death trap.

I ducked under his heavy, solid arm; I barely reached his chest, all fine white scars.

This man had the look of a fighter who’d always been on the front line, fighting to defend the werewolves’ world... and now he was dying in terrible pain.

"I’m... heavy..." he said through his teeth, trying to pull away, but I held on tighter.

Feeling the weight on my shoulders, I slid my hand to his waist.

He was tense and taking short steps.

"It’s fine, I’m not that weak," I lied, because I was already sweating and barely holding on.

Drops from his long hair fell on my pale face. We were both a mess, almost dragging our feet toward the door.

"Let go, Tempest. You’re shaking more than I am, wait..." His voice sounded near my ear, bossy and deep.

I lifted my gaze to argue and found his furrowed brow and those intense eyes so close I got a little nervous.

"I’m... I’m strong..." I stammered that nonsense.

"I don’t doubt it... but... I dropped the towel a few steps back... and I’m naked."

"What?!" I asked just in time to look down and see him as his mother brought him into the world.

He wasn’t joking!

At least I was sure the infection hadn’t reached a certain part of his body that looked very healthy.

I knew as a caregiver I had to get used to it, but damn it, I was still embarrassed.

"I... I’m sorry, I’ll find something to cover you... right now, give me a second... aahh!" I yelled when I stepped on a half-melted chunk of ice.

"Careful!"

My body pitched, but a firm hand caught my arm, steadying me. It cost his legs, though.

With a growl between his teeth, I saw him lose his balance.

The green under the skin of his legs grew brighter, almost glowing, and I knew a wave of pain hit.

"Sir Whitlock!" I shouted, trying to hold him, even though I knew I couldn’t take his weight.

His knees buckled, and he threw his hands out to break the fall.

Before the disaster hit, the door was kicked open and a man rushed in, catching him by the arms.

A blond man, with short hair and brown eyes, helped him to the bed.

"Oh, by the Goddess, I leave you alone for one moment and you make a mess, Tempest!" The housekeeper came in behind and faced me with a severe look.

"I only tried to help," I defended myself, though I admitted I’d made a mess in half a morning of work.

"She didn’t do anything. It was me..." the General’s tired voice came from the bedroom.

"Fine, step out then while I fill the tub again. The hot-water boiler is ready," she ordered me, still angry.

This woman had quite a temper.

To top off the surprises, as I left the bath I ran right into the unknown man.

But his rigid posture and serious face gave him away as a warrior.

"Is the Gen... the sir okay?" I asked, trying to steal a glance at the bed.

"He’s fine. And you... have you recovered?" His question caught me off guard.

"Excuse me? Do we know each other?" I studied his face.

He was handsome too, with a split chin and sharp features.

"My team rescued you from the Brood buzzers' attack," he said, and my eyes went wide.

Now that I thought about it, his voice did ring a bell.

Someone comforted me sometimes when the nightmares made me scream and cry without control in the middle of fever shakes.

"It was you..." I murmured, looking into those light brown eyes. "You gave me comfort when I was sick."

"Well, that..." He scratched his short hair and mussed it a bit, looking a little uncomfortable at being recognized.

"You seemed to be in a lot of pain. You called out the name Nath..."

My chest tightened at my little one’s name, and his severe expression softened with pity.

"Thank you. Thank you for the comfort," I said low, with a knot in my throat.

"Don’t mention it…"

"Corvin, is the bath ready?" the General’s hoarse voice cut in on us.

He had to be impatient, in pain, and we were chatting like two ladies at the market.

"I’ll go check, sir..."

"No need, it’s ready and the bathroom is clean" Mrs. Lydia announced.

In a blink, things were moving again.

With Mr. Corvin’s help the General made it back to the bath.

You could tell he was a very proud man. He stood and walked on those legs in a horrible state.

Anyone else would be screaming in pain, laid up, but he sweated and endured, moved without help out of stubborn pride.

"Only Tempest comes in," I tensed when I heard him order from inside the bathroom.

What did he want me for if it was just getting into hot water?

"Go in, and this time take better care of the sir," the housekeeper practically pushed me in.

Mr. Corvin stayed in the room.

As I moved toward the big man sunk in the tub again, I wondered what the hell I was supposed to do now.

Was it my duty to run the sponge over the General’s body?

Over all of his body?!

I was hired just for the legs!

"Come closer... You’ve already seen everything I had to show," his voice full of authority and those wild blue eyes on me like a beast gave me no peace.

What exactly had I gotten myself into when I agreed to be caregiver to this fallen General?

"Close the door, Tempest," he added. “I don’t bite…”