“You’ve got to be kidding me. I…” Echo started to protest, but the look Ryan gave her to cut her off completely.
“Hurry up,” Ryan snapped when he saw Echo still standing there, frozen. His tone was sharp.
Echo noticed the slight flicker of impatience in his eyes, so she clenched her fists and reluctantly moved toward him. She began to strip away his clothes, revealing his bronzed skin and solid muscles, all of which radiated a raw, imposing strength.
The large tub was already filled to the brim with water. Echo watched as Ryan leaned back against the steps, closing his eyes, his body fully exposed in front of her, and her cheeks flushed.
Even though she had seen Ryan naked before and had even helped him get dressed once, they hadn’t spent much time together, so this was still unfamiliar territory. This was the first time she’d been tasked with actually bathing him. She knew Ryan wasn’t interested in women, but it didn’t make the situation any less awkward for her.
Using a washcloth, she carefully wiped the blood from around his wound. Echo knew Ryan had come to bathe because he felt uncomfortable seeing his legs covered in blood. That part was her fault, so she had to deal with it.
As the warm water flowed over Ryan’s chest, it highlighted his bronzed skin and chiseled muscles. His physique was perfect-an imposing combination of strength, wildness, and a sort of uninhibited sensuality that was undeniable.
Echo’s face reddened again.
Was she really finding Ryan attractive?
That feeling was bizarre, to say the least.
Echo gently lifted Ryan’s injured leg onto the step to keep the water from soaking the wound. Luckily, the blood hadn’t dried, so it washed away easily with just a little water. The glistening droplets ran down his leg and merged with the water beneath them, leaving Echo’s face as red as ever as she dealt with his fully naked body.
“Turn around,” Ryan suddenly ordered, his voice cold, just as Echo was in the middle of cleaning him.
Echo froze for a moment at the command.
How was she supposed to keep washing him if she turned around?
She raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue, turning around without understanding what he was up to.
Rip!
The sound of fabric tearing echoed through the room.
Echo felt a sudden chill on her back as her clothes were ripped apart, floating in the water around her.
Instinctively, she raised her arms to cover her breasts and turned her head, furious.
“What the hell are you-oh!” she cried out before she could finish, as a sharp pain shot through her back, cutting her words short.
Ryan had wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest and restraining her as her body arched upward in pain. His eyes focused on the dark bruising across her back.
When he had held her the night before while they slept, he noticed that her body trembled violently whenever she lay flat. Now he realized that the injury on her back was far worse than he had initially thought. As he gripped her wrists, leaving bruises of his own, he remembered how her back had been slammed by water pressure in the submarine. The memory of that moment flashed in his mind.
“Hurts,” Echo gasped as a wave of sharp pain shot through her back. She twisted her body, trying to escape Ryan’s touch.
“Don’t move,” Ryan ordered, tightening his grip around her waist.
Some of the skin on her back had already broken open, and pus had started to ooze out. If he didn’t take care of it, the infection would only get worse. Ignoring her writhing, Ryan pressed harder, squeezing the pus out of the wounds bit by bit.
Echo’s hands clenched onto Ryan’s arms that held her tightly. She was drenched in cold sweat, her body trembling from the excruciating pain. Her back had been numb, but now, under Ryan’s pressure, the pain was unbearable.
She shook her head frantically, gasping, “No, stop, please.”
Ryan, realizing he couldn’t restrain her well enough with just one hand, frowned slightly. With a swift motion, he lifted her and turned her around so she was now facing him.
He held her head firmly against his shoulder and ordered, “Hold onto me. Your back needs to be treated.”
With her head pressed into Ryan’s shoulder and his words in her ear, Echo instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist, biting down on the pain that shot through her back.
“It hurts… it hurts so much,” Echo moaned as the pain from her back intensified. Ryan’s hands were firm, working quickly and decisively to press out the infection.
Each movement sent a stabbing pain through her, making it feel like her heart was being crushed.
Ryan watched as the black pus drained from Echo’s back, slowly replaced by fresh blood.
Holding her head securely against him, he whispered, “Just hang on. It’s going to hurt.”
Then, he grabbed a nearby pitcher of cold water and poured it over the inflamed wounds on her back.
“Ouch, Ryan, it burns!” Echo cried out as the cold water hit her searing flesh.
She couldn’t even feel the cold-only the burning sensation that seemed to consume her. Desperate, she clung tightly to Ryan, sinking her teeth into the muscle of his shoulder as the pain overwhelmed her.
Ryan, watching the last of the pus wash away, set the pitcher aside. He looked at her battered back, now raw with fresh blood, and his gaze moved to her pale body, covered in bruises. The sight was both distressing and oddly moving. His brow furrowed. This was what she had become since she started following him.
As he gently ran his hand over her scarred skin, the memory of the bullet she took for him flashed in his mind.
He touched her head softly and murmured, “It won’t happen again.”
Lost in her pain, Echo didn’t register his words or the meaning behind them. She just held onto him tightly, as if clinging to him would somehow ease her suffering.
Ryan wrapped his arms around Echo, pulling her close, and let her continue biting him. He lowered his head, gently grazing her neck with his teeth, as if savoring his prey. There was tenderness in his touch, but beneath it was a sense of absolute possession.
“Ugh,” Echo groaned as the pain in her back began to dull slightly.
She tasted blood in her mouth and instinctively lifted her head. Just as she did, Ryan, who had been nibbling at her neck, suddenly bit down hard.
Echo’s body jerked in response to the sharp pain.
“What are you doing? Let go, let go!” Echo shouted, slapping Ryan’s back as he bit down hard on her neck.
After being with Ryan for so long, her tolerance for pain had increased. The initial sharp sting faded into a numb sensation, but the position and feeling were extremely uncomfortable.
As Ryan bit down, Echo suddenly felt like she was prey, caught in the jaws of a lion. She was that sweet, tempting prey, and the fierce lion had her in its grasp-unable to move, unable to cry out, with only two choices: death or eternal submission.
Ryan finally lifted his head after what felt like an eternity. His eyes burned with a fiery intensity as he looked at the deep bite mark he had left, where blood mixed with the impression of his teeth. His gaze was so powerful and aggressive that Echo couldn’t meet it.
Without a word, Ryan pulled her closer, kissing the bite mark and licking away the blood.