The Defiant Claim (The Claim: Book 2) LGBT

Chapter 37 - Sam (Part 2)

Fire licked at his fingers. His toes. His stomach. His chest. His groin. Every stretch of flesh and deep within to his marrows burned with fire. He woke up screaming, his body burning from the inside-out.

Startled, Mik let out a roar of attack but upon realizing that it was Sam screaming in fiery agony, he threw himself on Sam, straddling his hips. He ripped open Sam's shirt and was about to yank his pants down when he tore himself away with a snarl and slammed into the dresser with a grunt.

"Fuck!" he yelled at himself as he smashed his knee into the dresser. Clutching his groin in one hand and his knee in the other, he slipped down to the floor, grunting and groaning as he bit back a stream of colorful four-letter words.

"Mik, please," Sam begged, the heat boiling in his veins. The fire within felt as though it was roasting his flesh while he dripped with sweat.

"I can't!"

Sam arched his back, the pain burning from within his core. "Please! Do something!"

He squeezed his eyes shut. Gritted his teeth. The pain was all-consuming. He couldn't make sense of anything. He heard a movement from Mik, a snarl, and water turning on.

Sam continued to cry out, calling Mik's name as he struggled to break free from the fire consuming his body, his ripped clothing, his bed, and blanket.

Finally, Mik's cold touch came and lifted him up. He was placed into a cold bath that helped ease the pain, but his lower abdomen continued to ache.

"Better?" Mik rasped.

"A little. It still burns."

"I'll get another shot ready."

"What time is it? How long has it been since the last one?"

"I don't know... five hours?"

"It's worse," Sam rasped. "It burns so bad. I need more cold water."

"It's as cold as it can get! What do you want? Snow?" Mik snarled and turned away with a grimace, gripping the doorframe tightly as a growl reverberated within him.

"Get the injection then. Hurry."

Mik left and returned. Once the needle was thrust into Sam's other thigh, the heat faded away and he was freezing cold.

"Dammit! This sucks!" Sam whined as Mik lifted him out of the cold water and started drying him off. He shivered violently from the sudden intense heat to the rapid cold-snap that followed after the shot of testosterone.

"I'm sorry, Sam, but I can't do this."

"We only have two doses left, right? What are we going to do when we run out?"

"I don't know!" Mik flashed fang. "But I want our first mating to mean something, and now it won't!"

Sam looked up at Mik with softening eyes. His mate looked flustered but also in pain. He swallowed, his mouth dry as a desert. "We still can."

"I won't take advantage of you," Mik murmured, holding him up but at a distance, his head lowered. "Not like this."

"You won't be taking advantage of me if I want it."

"You can barely stand on your own—how is this not taking advantage of you?" Mik's throat rumbled. His eyes met Sam's in a silent challenge.

"What difference does it make? Either you give me what I need now or we both suffer before you give me what I need later. I won't hold it against you. I'll be begging for it."