Chapter 22: Chapter 22

Angel clenched his jaw as the doctor removed the last silver bullet in his shoulder with the tenaculum and cleaned the wound poking deep inside his cut. Angel grunted, watching everything the other man did: from the solution he used to clean the wound, to the way he stitched up the deep gash by his side. An idea slowly formed in his head as he cooked up a plan to get Alexander’s man, Aaron, to safely get a message across to the legendary white wolf on their behalf. When he picked up a syringe Angel tensed.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to sedate you, Mr. Antonio Rufus wants you alert – whatever that means," the older man said in his thick Russian accent.

Angel didn't bother to speak. The man was a sadistic bastard with no soul. He had always treated his kind like lab rats and he had learnt when he speaks, he talks more to himself – anyone unlucky to be on his examination table just subjects.

"Tight-lipped as always … I see," he said and chuckled. Removing his bloodied gloves, he threw them in the side bin and turned away, not bothering to cover his wounds. "I will see you in the morning. Goodnight," he said and left. Angel let out a sigh and lowered his head to the mattress, taking steady breaths. He shut his eyes, trying not to dwell on the excruciating pain he was in. His eyes settled on the surgical instruments on a silver tray about twelve feet away from the bed. He noted the bastard didn’t bother to clean it. It was a good thing their kind wasn’t as susceptible to diseases and infections as humans.

Shortly after, the door slowly came open, and Angel tensed. He knew Daniel would make sure he suffered for his actions earlier. And he thought the position he was in—chained to the bed and in solitary—was the worst the bastard could catch him in. His breathing quickened. But then Nadia's scent whizzed through the opened door, and into the room. He had been distracted with his thoughts and wasn't paying much attention to catch her approaching footsteps and perceiving her scent. He thought it must be because her scent still lingered in the room from her previous visit and because he knew she wasn’t a threat — at least, he wished she would not turn out to be.

And besides, he honestly had not expected her to return. He knew she had not done anything for him to continue to mistrust and second guess her motives, he just thought it would be prudent to be on his guard.

He watched as she walked in and locked the door. She wore a long flowing gown that reached her ankles. Black bunny slippers adorned her feet. And when she turned, he found himself trailing his eyes down her front, remembering what she wore earlier on. And just like then, there was no outline of a bra. Her nipples strained against the fabric, covering them, and the full outline of her breast was quite evident.

Angel felt anger bubble up inside him and at the same time, his body came to live with a vengeance. His beast grew alert as if waking from a slumber. Blood rushed to his loins and he raised his eyes to meet hers as she hurried to his side.

Leaning over him, she cupped the side of his jaw. He was acutely aware that her nipples were touching his skin and it didn't help that the fabric covering her breast dipped, exposing the delicious swell. His breathing was quite loud in the room.

“Do you always dress like this? Go about literally naked?!” he growled. Nadia recoiled with surprise. She searched his gaze, noting how his eyes had gone dark with a mix of intense emotions she couldn’t quite identify. It seemed as if he was green with jealousy, sounded possessive and his eyes were smouldering with desire. She was a tad fascinated at the turmoil of emotions.

“You don’t approve of the way I dress?” she asked hesitantly.

“No!” he snapped. Normally she would have bristled at his audacity instead her heart grew warm with feelings and her lovely eyes shone with it

“Okay, I will um …dress more conservatively then,” she replied. He glared at her. The act warmed her heart. Angel perceived the emotion and it befuddled him; a frown furrowed his eyebrows. Nadia’s eyes darted in their sockets, wandering all over his handsome but scarred face and settled on the open wound on his shoulder. Anger surged inside her and then pain.

"My God! What kind of doctor treats a patient without covering up the wound?! They didn't even allow you to wash up!" she said with gritted teeth, noting the caked blood and dirt on his skin.

"Nadia…" Angel called.

"Yes?" she answered, reverting her gaze to meet his. She swallowed, thinking of how she loved his eyes.

"Climb the bed, and straddle me…” Angel rasped. Nadia blinked, thinking she must have heard wrong. But then she noted his eyes had gone even darker and they were skimming over her face with evident longing.

"Angel, baby, you are wounded…" she said in a breathless whisper. Instantly affected by the naked hunger in his eyes. She pressed her soft chest against his hard one, brushing them gently against his as she edged closer to his lips. Angel groaned deep in his throat.

"I'm a Were, my kind heals faster than yours. Besides, the good doctor was kind enough to fasten my healing with his experimental drugs … I will be good in a bit," Angel told her a half lie. He wanted an excuse ahead of time for when she noticed later that he had healed.

"Experimental drugs?! Do you mean they inject you with dangerous substances on top of everything else? When you said being used for an experiment I thought you meant the blood transfusion they make you give my … " Nadia stopped, holding his gaze with widened ones; realizing she may have said too much.

"Finish that statement Nadia," Angel growled.