Bo and the Beast (Book #1) (Completed)

44. A Mother's Gift

The Beast slipped in and out of consciousness as Bo ordered around the Service-Matons. She had some fetch hot water, light the fire in the hearth, fetch a needle and thread, and find any medicine they might have in the mansion. She received the water, fire, and sewing kit, but no medicine. Seemed the old prison wasn't as well stocked as she'd originally thought. At any rate, the Service-Matons seemed to have all returned by now, which meant the wolf problem must have been taken care of.

Cleaning the Beast's wounds took virtually forever. After sewing the fifth wolf bite mark, she began to wonder if she'd ever get them all closed. His skin was a patchwork, and she had her own painful wound making it particularly hard to concentrate on neat stitches. It didn't help matters that he was already covered in tough scars, making it hard for her needle to puncture the skin.

She leaned over his torso, trying to finish up a row that ran across his ribs on the opposite side to her, when she felt him stir. In her awkward position, she had to glance under her arm to see his face. His eyes followed her movements.

Snipping the string, Bo sat back and cleared her throat. "You're, uh, pretty much patched up now," she said. "Haven't gotten the ones on your back. But you were laying down, so..."

Without her having to ask, he sat up and slowly turned himself around so that she could get at the expanse of his back. He winced the whole way, and his breath caught more than once. The wolves were powerful hunters. He'd probably have a few bruised or broken ribs to add to his flesh wounds.

"Not so many on this side. I think most tried to get at your neck." She prodded the worst of the lot, a bite mark that looked as if the wolf had been torn from the Beast's back without letting go of its chunk of skin. A gaping gash still leaked blood in rivulets down the hollow of his back and into the top of his pants. Bo quickly stuffed a wad of cloth against it while she prepared the needle.

"Here," she said, taking his hand and pushing it up against the fabric to keep it in place. "Hold this."

Dipping the needle into the hot water still boiling on the fireplace, Bo rethreaded and then began her work once more. She was glad the Beast wasn't being talkative. And that he faced away from her. Somehow she felt awkward and uncomfortable, as if her heart was beating too hard. She cleared her throat and tried to remember how she'd felt about him just a few weeks before.

The Beast propped himself up with his arms, his eyes squeezed shut as she pulled his skin back together. Bo pressed against one side of the wound, coming into constant contact with that slight electric charge that ran through the Beast's skin. It felt almost comforting now, to be able to feel that energy pass from his blood to hers. But as soon as she thought it, she shook her head to dislodge any more such thoughts.

She was drawing the needle through his skin when he spoke.

"You came back." His voice rumbled through his back and up Bo's arm. She bit her lip and shifted her position once again.

"I thought you were gone forever," he continued.

"I wasn't," Bo said, but couldn't think of anything else to say as she hastily filled the wound with messy stitches. She leaned in and bit off the thread, and then tapped his shoulder to let her know she was done.

"Thank you," the Beast said, the skin around his eyes going tight as he shifted on the sofa until he found a comfortable position to sit in. His chest rose and fell with a little difficulty, and Bo noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead. Though he was now conscious, he was still fighting against a major loss of blood and the after effects of an exhausting fight. If Bo felt like she'd been crushed by an airship, then she didn't even want to know how much pain the Beast was powering through.