Bad Moon Rising

Bad Moon Rising

By

Eva Rayne

I couldn't help but cry out as Korbin ran the alcohol covered gauze over the bleeding gash on my side.

“Fucking wolf,” I swore, taking a swig of the whiskey Liam had left on the night stand.

“I'm sorry, Rikky,” Korbin apologized as he cleaned the last of the blood from my side. By the amount of blood on the rags and gauze on the bed the cut between my ribs was deeper than I had originally thought. “This is going to need stitches, hold this here while I grab the other first aid kit out of the other room.”

I held the fresh piece of gauze against my side with one hand while taking another shot of the whiskey with the other. The alcohol was starting to take the edge off the stinging pain when Korbin came back in from the room Aaron and Liam were sharing next door.

“Where did the guys go?” I asked through gritted teeth as Korbin sat on the edge of the bed carefully peeling the blood soaked gauze away and letting out a low whistle.

“They said they were gonna go to the bar up the street and get something to eat,” he rummaged through our make shift first aid kit and pulled out the curved needle and a spool of black embroidery thread.

“Yeah, and drink off a shitty hunt,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, that too,” Korbin chuckled as I took another long swig of the Jack Daniels. “Here, let me see that,” he held his hand out for the bottle and I reluctantly handed it over.

I immediately regretted it as he poured a large amount over my wound. “God fucking damn it Korbin!” I swore, biting my fist to keep from screaming.

“I'm sorry Rikky, I had to though, it had to be cleaned somehow,” he explained, wiping away the excess whiskey and blood.

“Warn a girl next time, will you?” I bit my lip until I could taste blood, trying to keep my tears in check.

“Only if you promise there isn't going to be a next time,” he tossed back, handing me the bottle and putting my hand over a clean rag against my side to keep it in place as he threaded the needle. “I mean come on, Rikky. Pissing off a werewolf on the fucking full moon? What in hell's name were you thinking?” His voice was full of anger, but it was the large amount of concern there as well that surprised me.

“Bitch had it coming,” I muttered, remembering how she had looked at him earlier that day, how she kept making excuses to touch him. I pressed the rag a little harder against my side, focusing on the pain and not his fingers against my hip as he turned me slightly so he could get a better look at my savaged skin.

“You're gonna get yourself killed one of these days,” he snapped, his fingers digging into my skin momentarily causing me to gasp. “Sorry, here come lay on your side so I can sew you up.”

I moved over to the bed without saying anything, slightly taken aback by his sudden mood shift. I stretched out on my side as Korbin stood up, the soft comforter felt good against my sore, feverish skin.

“I'm sorry, Erika,” Korbin said softly, pulling the now red rag away from my side and sitting next to me. “You just really scared me back there, and this could have been so much worse,” he explained as he punctured my skin to make the first stitch.

I pressed a hand against my mouth trying to hold in a strangled cry. “I know, it was stupid. I mean, telling a cornered werewolf to bite me? Yeah, not my smartest move ever,” I tried chuckling to cover my heavy breathing.

“You're lucky she didn't bite you, that all you got was a side full of claws.” Korbin's fingers were gently against my torn ribs and his stitches were slow and careful as he tried not to tug excessively on my skin.

“I know,” I admitted through gritted teeth, trying not to think about what was going on with my side.

The next several minutes went by in a long, almost stressful silence. I tried to ignore the tears that were building up, and then running down my cheeks. Finally, I could fell Korbin knotting the thread and cutting it with the pocket knife he pulled out of my back pocket.

I watched Korbin run the needle through a lighter flame to clean it after cleaning the blood off on his jeans. I didn't move as he finished packing up the first aid kit and threw away all of the blood stained cloth. When he sat back down, Korbin carefully taped a clean piece of gauze that he had left out over his careful stitches.

Once he finished he left his hand resting softly on my hip just above my jeans. “Erika, come here,” he said softly.

I sat up slowly, rolling my shoulder, trying to stretch the stiff muscles and wincing slightly as my blood stained bra pulled away from my skin. Korbin held out his hand, offering my two white Tylenol. “Here, this will take the edge off.”

“Thank you,” I said quietly, swallowing them with a shot of whiskey before leaving it on the night stand and leaning into Korbin. Korbin wrapped his arm around my waist and I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder, exhaustion washing over me like a wave.

“I'm sorry about earlier,” Korbin said into my hair after a minute. “You scared the shit out of me this afternoon, you know,” his hold on my waist tightened.

“I know, I was stupid,” I said studying the carpet.

“You were, and I swear to God, you ever go into a situation like that again and I'll start locking your ass in a hotel room while we go on hunts,” he threatened, his voice a low growl.

“But it wasn't just that,” he took a deep breath, “Seeing you fly across the room like that, crumpled on the floor and not moving. With all that blood, I thought you were dead.” I felt him shudder and I snuggled closer to him.

“I'm okay, a little beat up and sore, but I'll live,” I reassured him, resting my hand lightly on his and he intertwined our fingers, his other arm still wrapped securely around me.

“I don't even know what to say Erika, I didn't think twice about shooting that girl, I just had to make sure you were still alive, to know that you were okay. I don't think I was convinced that you were going to be alright until we got back here and you started demanding booze.” I chuckled and he finally relaxed enough to let out a little laugh of his own.

“I promise I'll be more careful,” I whispered, looking up at him.

“You better be,” he let go of my hand and brought his hand up to my face, gently cupping my cheek, carefully wiping away tear streaked eyeliner with the pad of his thumb.

Before I could say anything else Korbin leaned down and kissed me gently. It was soft, the complete opposite of the way our lives together had been up until this point – hard and fast and dark. Instead, this kiss was soft and sweet, full of the promise of more, and of happier times.

When he pulled away, his fingers running through my hair, I noticed a sparkle in his eyes that I had never seen before. “Korbin,” I whispered, resting my hand lightly on his chest.

“Yes, Rikky?” his voice was a husky whisper as he rested his forehead against mine.

“Hi,” I slid my hand up his chest, resting on the back of his neck, pulling him back in, finding his lips with mine. Korbin's hands were warm against my bare sides, leaving tingling sparks over my skin as he pulled me in closer.

We stayed like that for several minutes, holding each other close. When we finally separated, I clutched Korbin's t-shirt, my vision swimming. Korbin steadied me, carefully moving me into his lap as I swayed.

“Erika? Are you okay?” The concern in his voice touched me in a way I hadn't expected as he carefully brushed my hair behind my ear.

“I'm okay, just a little dizzy,” I admitted, resting my head on his shoulder, cuddling into him and trying to avoid the pain in my side.

“Is your side okay? Are you bleeding again?” I smiled at his concern.

“I'm okay, I promise,” I assured him, running my fingers around the bandage to prove that they would come back blood free. Only they didn't.

“You were saying?” Korbin asked, raising an eyebrow. Confused I looked down.

“It's my bra,” I said after a short investigation, “The stitches are fine, it's my clothes that are still bloody.”

“Come here,” he said, helping me to my feet. “Do you want a shirt?” he asked, gesturing to his duffel bag that had been tossed in the corner when we had come back from putting down the wolf.

“Yes, please,” I said with a small smile. I couldn't help but smile as Korbin crossed the room, rummaging through his bag to find something for me to wear.

“Do you need help?” Korbin asked as I reached around to try and unhook my bra without pulling at my stitches.

“Thank you,” I said turning around, giving him access to the clasp. His fingers were warm against my skin, leaving a tingling trail down my arms as he slowly slid the straps off my shoulders.

When I heard the fabric land in the small pile of torn dirty clothes I turned around, looking up at Korbin through my thick eyelashes. I couldn't help but notice as his gaze flickered over my body before he helped me into his large t-shirt which fell down to mid thigh.

“You should probably rest,” he said finally, breaking the easy silence that filled the room as he held my hips, my hands resting on his chest.

“Whatever you say, doctor,” I joked, standing on tip toe in order to brush a light kiss against his lips. “Will you stay with me?” I asked, suddenly worried that he would leave and meet up with the guys at the bar.

“Whatever you want, Rikky,” he promised, pulling me a little closer and kissing my forehead. “Lay down, I'll get the light.” With a smile he let me go.

Yawning I took the few steps back over to the large hotel bed as I unbuttoned my blood splattered jeans, kicking them off before climbing into bed.

Once I was curled up under the blanket Korbin flipped the light off, joining me in bed under the blanket. The second he was laying down I snuggled up next to him, laying on my good side, resting my head on his chest as he wrapped his arms securely around me.

“Thank you for taking care of me tonight,” I whispered, loving the feeling of his fingers drawing absentminded circles on my hip.

“Of course, Erika. I'm just glad you're okay,” he kissed the top of my head lightly. “Go to sleep, hun.”

I nodded against him, whispering, “Good night, Korbin.”