Island Stripe Pride - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Because of the crack in the windshield and being exposed to the elements, she was frozen to the touch. Fear reared its ugly head and the Tiger inside of him roared. He was not letting her die! He removed as much of her soaking wet clothing as he could, cursing the snow for chilling her delicate skin. More worrisome was the blood still seeping from her wound.
Head injuries were dangerous and Dean swallowed down another wave of fear. Unused to such emotions, he exhaled deeply to get his cat under control, hissing as he examined the deep gash on her scalp.
He knew the basics of emergency care and checked her pupils to see if they were dilated. He did not like his findings, and his worry grew as she remained unresponsive to his gentle probing. She was breathing evenly, but she was so, so pale.
He needed to stop the bleeding. That was the first thing he should see to. Decided now on what to do first, Dean ran to the bathroom and grabbed his first aid kit.
Shifters didn’t have much use for things like that, as they tended to heal rapidly from injury. Panic began to set in as he cleaned the deep gash. Blood continued to ooze and her pulse began to slow down.
Fuck no! Dean could not afford to lose her. Not when he’d only just found her. Already his heart squeezed with an unnamable emotion for this stranger.
“No, no, no. Come on. Stay with me,” he murmured and pressed his ear to her chest, listening to her heart beat.
Dean roared aloud, frowning harder as she seemed to be worse off now than before. Her heart rate was dropping dangerously slow even for a normal.
No. No. NO! He paced and shook his head. What the fuck had he been thinking no phones this trip? Not that it would matter. No one could get there in time.
Dean dropped to his knees as tears threatened to spill. Why did this have to happen? How could he save her?
Then suddenly he knew. His Tiger pushed the answer into his mind. It was unheard of, unthinkable, and yet, it might work. Fuck it, he had to try.
There was no way Dean could explain this to a normal without the possibility of her hating him in the end, but he had no choice. There was only one way he could save her. One thing he could do that might make all the difference.
He had to give her his mating bite.
“I am so sorry to do this to you without your consent, little one, but I have no choice. If I don’t give you my bite, you will die, and I will not allow that to happen,” he spoke softly as he lifted her in his arms and tilted her face.
The beautiful, sweet smelling stranger blinked up at him and he stilled. Warm, brown eyes met his before drifting shut once more. She looked pale beneath her naturally bronzed skin, and for the first time in his life Dean understood true fear.
He didn’t know anything about her. Not her name or her age. Not her favorite color or what kind of TV shows she watched. But he knew one thing with every fiber of his being. She was his mate.
The human woman belonged to him, and he was going to save her. Emotions he’d never thought to feel swelled within him as he moved her soft curls back from her face and neck. Her sugar cookie scent invaded his nostrils and the beast within him growled in appreciation.
“I am sorry, this will hurt, but it is the only thing I can do to heal you,” he whispered and kissed her lips briefly before his fangs descended.
Dean lifted her close, holding her gently while he tilted her head to give him better access. Next, he did the only thing he could to save his mate’s life.
He bit her.
Mine!
His Tiger’s roar thundered in his head as he swallowed down his mate’s sugar cookie tinged life’s force. Her heated blood slid down his throat even as he injected his own Shifter DNA into her bloodstream through the mating mark.
His heart hammered and his cock hardened to the point of pain, but he ignored the appendage. Sex was not the issue at this moment, but it was simply a large part of Shifter biology.
The mating bite was typically given during sex. His body’s natural response was in anticipation of that. Easily ignored in deference to her condition and unique situation. He could only hope his bite was going to heal her for the time being.
Everything else could wait until the moment she opened those gorgeous brown eyes of hers.
“Come back to me, little one, wake up,” he whispered and knelt by her side.
Minutes turned into hours, but he did not budge. He kept his vigil in silence, holding her hand and praying to the gods, Fates, and anyone else listening that she would wake.
It would take a miracle, but it was Christmas and what better time for miracles, he thought and his Tiger roared inside of his mind’s eye echoing the sentiment.
“Please,” he begged, “wake up.”
“What the?” Violet screamed in silence as pain unlike any she’d ever felt exploded from her neck and pulsed throughout her body.
She heard the strange man whispering and telling her each step of what he was doing, but she couldn’t speak, couldn’t move.
She felt bruised and damaged and different all at once. And yet, she felt safe too. As if being there, with him, was exactly where she should be.
Slowly, as the pain receded, Violet blinked her eyes until they opened. When they did, she came face to face with the most handsome man she had ever seen.
“Who are you?” she whispered and her voice sounded unbearably hoarse to her own ears.
Wincing, she tried to sit up, but big, warm, strong hands held her still.
“You’re awake. Thank the gods! Easy now, slowly,” he said and helped her to sit up.
The deep, gravelly voice was comforting and something inside of her warmed at the tone. She tried to focus on the gorgeous stranger, but it was difficult.
His dark head bent and she felt him take her hand, dropping a hard, quick kiss on it before bending his head to the crux of her neck as he helped her sit up. She was too weak, not to mention stunned, to move on her own.
But still, Violet had to admit she probably should have said something. After all she didn’t go around hugging strange men. Then again, truth be told, she didn’t exactly mind his gentle embrace as he pulled her into the warmth of his body.
His very naked body, she realized as his arms contracted around her. She patted him with her hands, not sure of how to respond. A yelp sounded from her lips as his nose pressed against her earlobe.
Wait. What was he doing? Was he licking her? She shivered as his mouth closed around her neck in a kiss she hadn’t been expecting, and if she were being honest, she didn’t exactly mind. Tiny little electrical impulses seemed to dance along her skin from the brief touch of his mouth on her neck. It sizzled through her veins and headed straight to her core.
“Um. Who are you?” she asked and pushed against his enormous, and holy cow, completely ripped chest, needing distance to regain her composure and figure out what the heck she was doing with this stranger.
“It’s been over two hours. I was so worried,” he said and she could practically feel his relief as if it were her own.
Strange, but even stranger was her desire to soothe and comfort him. Violet shook her head and tucked her hair behind her ear, trying to make sense of everything she was feeling. He must have felt her confusion because he moved back and gave her some space which she should’ve appreciated but much to her consternation, Violet found herself missing his nearness.
She moved to stand too quickly and sat back down heavily on the sofa.
“Whoa, easy, little one,” he said and she could almost see his frown despite her closed eyes.
She felt as if the whole room was spinning around her and yet, and yet, she felt surprisingly good. Like better-than-ever good.
“Here, hold on to me,” he murmured with that same concern lacing his hypnotic voice, “that’s it give yourself a moment.”
She felt herself gripping his forearms and for some reason the contact steadied her. His deep voice penetrated the haze that was clouding her mind, and slowly, ever so slowly she felt herself relaxing. Blinking deliberately, she looked up to find herself pinned by his compelling teal colored gaze.
They were not quite green and not quite blue, more like caught somewhere in between. Like pictures of the Mediterranean Sea that she’d seen once upon a time on the internet. Even more fascinating was the way his strange seafoam eyes seemed to glow in the dimness of the room.
Like magic, she thought and had to stop herself from reaching out a hand to trace a line from his thick, perfectly arched eyebrows down his chiseled face to the hint of shadow that graced his chin. Violet shook off the impulse and looked down at her disheveled clothing.
“There was an accident,” she said, suddenly recalling the wreck even if what happened afterwards was still a bit fuzzy.
Oh no! She must’ve totaled her poor car. Violet expelled a breath and touched her forehead gingerly. She recalled hitting her head against the dashboard and the enormous pine tree her car had smashed into.
“Do you remember what happened?”
“I think I swerved to avoid hitting an animal. It was small and dark, a bear cub, I think, I am not sure,” she answered.
“I see.”
“I must have hit my head harder than I thought because I swear I saw a tiger afterwards in my rearview mirror. Crazy right?” she laughed, but he didn’t seem to think it was funny.
No duh. Probably thought she was nuts. She cleared her throat, but he interrupted her before she could speak.
“You are okay now. That is all that matters,” he said and for some reason it seemed more like a command than a statement, as if he could will her to health with just his words.
Violet frowned at the level of intensity she felt radiating off him. She looked down, covering her eyes with her hands as her gaze fell right to that part of him that was currently resting against his thigh in what she could only refer to as a semi-flaccid state.
It was long and thick, perfectly veined and the longer she looked, the harder he got. He growled and she jumped, her cheeks burning in her embarrassment.
“Um, sorry, were you bathing, or, uh, that is, why are you naked?”
“No,” he growled, “I was not bathing,” he finished the statement and licked his lips, eyes riveted to her face.
She could only imagine how she looked. Caught staring at his nudity, Violet tried to explain but it came out a sputtering snort, and her face burned even brighter with her next faux pas.
Sigh.
“Look, I am so sorry, that is none of my business. What are you a naturist or something?” she asked, and tried to pretend it was totally normal that Mr. Sexy-Naked-Buff-Man-With-Teal-Eyes-That-Glow was actually growling at her.
Did she mention he was like totally butt ass naked?
“Um, where are your clothes?” she asked trying her hardest to keep her eyes on level with his.
“What?” he asked, and she was shocked to see he seemed almost unwilling to break eye contact, but then, he looked down at his body and finally, it seemed to dawn on him that he should be clothed.
“My apologies, little one,” he grinned and leaned over to grab a throw blanket from a basket underneath the coffee table, “you see, I was indisposed when I heard the crash and came running without thinking. Afterwards, you were bleeding and I was tending your wounds,” he explained.
“Really? Thank you so much. I’m so sorry to be a bother-”
“Are you seriously apologizing for being in an accident?” he laughed and draped the crocheted afghan over his lap with a knowing smile on his face, as if he could tell she was very interested in his sublime physique, “You must be the nicest person in the world.”
“Hardly,” she returned and felt her cheeks heat up at the compliment.
Okay, you caught me, she thought to herself, I’m injured, not dead.
Violet was still a bit embarrassed, but she was only human. He probably had women throwing themselves at him by the boatload. Never before had she seen such a superb specimen of man.
“Anyway, I am sorry to have inconvenienced you and on, oh no, I mean it’s Christmas Eve and, uh, your family-” she said remembering her manners, and licked her lips, wincing as she did.
“I am here alone. I don’t have a wife or girlfriend in case you were wondering.”
“Oh, I, um, that is none of my business.”
“On the contrary,” he murmured.
Violet felt her body heat at the way he said that and a little voice inside her told her it was very much her business. Why should she feel all proprietary about the man? It was a mystery to her. Maybe she’d hit her head harder than she’d thought.
“The car?”
“I’m afraid there was no saving the car. After you hit the tree it began to burn and then, after I pulled you out, the tree gave way. It is stuck in the creek for now, but when the roads clear I’ll send someone out,” he said.
“I can’t believe it,” she whispered and covered her mouth with her hands.
Violet figured the car was totaled, but she hadn’t realized just how bad the accident was until her rescuer explained it.
“It’s a miracle I’m even alive,” she whispered, meeting his concerned stare, “thank you.”
“I would never let anything bad happen to you,” he said and for some reason she believed the statement even as he broke eye contact, closing his eyes for a moment.
While he seemed to need a second, she took the time to do a personal inventory. Her entire body felt sore and tired. She knew she must be bruised and maybe even badly hurt, but for some reason she just felt achy and out of sorts.
All she wanted was to sleep, but that probably wasn’t a good idea. She had hit her head after all.
Ooh and eat, whispered her inner voice. What was up with that thing anyway, she wondered? When had she become so vocal? Oh great, maybe she hit her head and now she was nuts. Perfect. Either way, crazy-inner-voice Violet was correct, she was hungry, but figured she should start small.
“Do you think I could have some water?”
“Sure, of course,” he jumped up flashing his very fine gluteus maximus her way before securing the blanket around his hips in kilt-like fashion.