Chapter 24 : Intimate Moments 1

Xavier

Their eyes met for a moment before his attention was drawn to her tangled hair. His left hand was smoothing her hair before she saw and sensed that he was using the brush to follow the same path that his hand had taken. Unlike his hand, the brush did not go smoothly, it got stuck and made her wince in pain.

"Uh, Xavier? Maybe it would be easier if you started at the bottom and combed it out," she told him, finally looking away from him shyly.

"Yes," he replied, but she could feel him following her instructions as he combed through her tangled hair.

He learned quickly as he moved to the middle of her hair before finally starting at the top of her head and working his way down to the ends of her hair, which reached down to her waist. Two years ago, Karen had decided not to cut her hair because Rylan seemed to prefer her long hair. She knew her longer hair would make her look even more like Carolina, but Carolina's hair was straight while hers was wavy.

She soon found that brushing her hair felt soothing and relaxing, just like in the shower. She knew that the lack of kinks in the bristles she encountered meant that Xavier didn't have to continue, but he didn't seem to want to stop, and neither did she. She moaned in bliss, forgetting for a moment who was holding the brush as pleasant sensations coursed through her.

While Xavier was happy that he could give the girl such pleasure, he wasn't aware of the softening of his face at the sound of her voice expressing her pleasure at being under his care. As he entered Karen's room and watched her maid begin to comb her long dark brown hair, he felt a strong need to take care of his mate and initiate some physical contact with her as was his rightful due.

After dismissing the maid, he noticed Karen's wet bandage. How it clung to her skin. The indentations of her nipples were clearly visible. When his eyes fell on the medical kit not far from her, still facing the mirror, he realized that the bandage had not been changed for the night. Then his eyes returned to the girl and noticed the growing and familiar blush on her cheeks.

Now he was busy running his fingers through Karen's long hair again, and it was with great pleasure that he ran his fingers through her dark brown hair, which was still wet from her shower. It smelled clean and fresh, and he loved to smell her. Looking in the mirror to see her eyes already closed, Xavier came closer to sniff the area where her neck and shoulder met unharmed - the place where he would place his mating mark. The thought of mating with her, buried deep in the warm, wet center of her body, made him shiver with excitement.

Looking at her through the mirror, he felt his deep desire to distance himself from the primal urges that were rising within him. He had to control himself and did not want to make her feel uncomfortable. Quickly straightening up, trying to clear his mind of his growing lust for the hybrid girl in his grasp, Xavier ran the brush through her hair a few more times before setting it aside.

She opened her eyes with a dreamy look, satisfied, though there was a faint hint of disappointment. She smiled at him through the mirror and said, "Thank you, Xavier. I always enjoy having my hair brushed."

He nodded in response, and once again their eyes met, creating a deep bond, before he said, "I'll help you change your bandages, too."

Hearing these words, her eyes widened in shock and she quickly shook her head in firm refusal, "No, it's okay, Xavier. Helga can help me."

However, he did not take the refusal lying down and he replied firmly, "But I need to see your wound with my own eyes."

"B-but - that means I'm going to be naked in front of you!" she squealed before she turned her face away from his piercing gaze, feeling uncomfortable all over again.

He knew it was too early to know the extent of his attraction to her, so he sneered and said, "Don't be afraid, Karenina. I won't attack you." It was not a lie. He was indeed not going to attack her. Not yet.

She scolded herself. Of course he wouldn't lust after her or even notice that she was completely naked in front of him. She was a hybrid and only half human. Besides, Xavier was probably already very familiar with the shape of a woman's body and would not be affected by it. Especially a hybrid. She tried not to stare or feel insulted. She should be happy that he wasn't interested in her or her looks, right? Well, tell that to her ego.

Then she glanced over to look at him and blushed when she realized that she hadn't answered him because she had been too busy with her own thoughts. "Alright," she whispered, still a little embarrassed by the whole situation. First Helga, now Xavier? Who else can see me naked, Nathan? she almost muttered in annoyance.

At least the annoyance was better than the embarrassment until she felt him take her clothes off her shoulders and drape them around her elbows. Yes, she was blushing again. She couldn't help but feel a shiver run through her body as the material of her nightgown brushed against her arm on its way down. She thought about the whole situation too much. She was sure that Xavier would give her his famous death stare if he knew that she found this moment a little intimate. Come on, she knew he was just trying to help her.

With that in mind, she did her best to think of Xavier as her doctor and herself as his patient as he loosened the bandage on her shoulder and began to remove the white cloth. With her eyes closed, the image of doctor to patient seemed to help her and she was able to feel a little calmer.

Meanwhile, Xavier was pleased with her compliance as he slowly removed the bandage from her shoulder. In his mind, this was an important moment to make sure that her wound would heal properly.

His arms were longer than the maid's, so he didn't have to pin her down like Helga did. Still, his hand brushed against her shoulder and the side of her chest, making her shiver again. She was embarrassed by her reaction to him and prayed that he wouldn't notice.

As the last bandage came off, revealing the wound on her shoulder, Karen could only stare in the mirror, shocked at what she saw. The wound had looked much better in the past week. There was no more blood, and the skin around it was no longer red from bruising.

Though it still hurt when she moved incorrectly, it had been less than a day since Xavier had increased the power of his aura within her, strengthening the little bit of wolf essence that remained in her along with the energy from the sacred moonstone. She was curious to see how these changes would affect the wound on her back.

He seemed to have the same question as well, as his hands began to remove the last of the restraints and bandages from her body. The more of her body that was exposed, the redder the blush on her face became. Karen was struggling to keep control of her own thoughts and feelings. Her eyes remained tightly closed, trying to keep her mind focused on the fact that this was a medically necessary treatment.

At the sight of her exposed body parts, Xavier felt an urge of lust rise within him, but he quickly suppressed it.

Although she was only 18 years old, her body had never been touched and she was not used to these new feelings that arose because of what this man was doing in her medical treatment. Yet her mind refused to attribute her body's reaction to him, who was Rylan's older brother. She refused to make the connection between her natural body reaction and a cold-blooded Alpha like Xavier.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as the last bandage covering her breasts came off, leaving her naked. She refused to open her eyes as she unconsciously leaned forward slightly, wrapping her arms around her chest in embarrassment. Although she knew for sure that Xavier, a ruthless and cold-blooded Alpha, would not give her a second glance, she could not control her feelings of shame. She felt the need to protect herself, even in a situation like this.

While Xavier could see how the girl was trying to hide from his gaze as fast as she could, he decided to ignore this reaction as he concentrated on his main task - to take care of her injuries. Though still badly injured, her shoulder wound looked better than before. Unfortunately, the wound on her back showed no signs of improvement.

When he had first brought her to his packhouse and before leaving her in the hands of professional healers, he had seen her wounds through her damaged clothing. He was very concerned about the severity of her injuries, especially considering that she was only a hybrid and had weaker physical strength than a full-blooded wolf. He knew how easily a hybrid could be seriously injured or even killed. He wanted to keep her safe, especially since there were still many unanswered questions about her identity and abilities. He was even willing to use his relic weapon if necessary to protect this girl.

His chest tightened at the thought of her dying and seeing her eyes glazed over with death and her spirit lost to this world forever. It was a feeling that was unfamiliar to him and he tried to ignore it as best he could.

He sat up now and stared at her slightly bent back with a feeling of confusion. If the more serious injuries on her body had improved, why hadn't the smaller ones? Then he realized something important he had missed when he left her this afternoon. He no longer smelled his scent on her. A feeling of unease crept into his mind, and he frowned with a displeased expression when he realized it.