Sacred Flame: His Enemy, His Mate (BL)-Chapter 33: Taking a shower

Kain Locke

"Why are you here?" I questioned instead of answering what he demanded from me.

"Can’t I say hello?" Kael arched an eyebrow, the hint of a smirk tugging at his lips.

A hello he didn’t say yesterday. Or the day before.

I crossed my arms. Come to think of it, why does this room smell faintly of blood? Is my nose acting up? As far as I know there was no reason for this place to be having a smell of blood, therefore it’s likely I must be imagining it. So I brushed the thought off and answered, "You can’t. Isn’t there supposed to be privacy here?"

"There is." He answered simply.

I scowled. "Then, why are you still here?"

He stretched his legs out, his pink fluffy flip flops falling to the floor beside the bed, getting comfortable. "I’m staying here tonight," he said.

I stared at him like he’d grown two heads. "Are you out of your damn mind?"

He hummed like he was thinking about it. "Debatable."

"Then go be insane somewhere else." I pointed at the door.

"What if I say I like it here?"

My eyes twitched. "Don’t you have your own damn room?"

"I do," he said easily. "But the window’s broken."

I narrowed my eyes. "So get it fixed."

"It’s late," he said with a sigh, as if this was my problem.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Then sleep somewhere else. There are literally a hundred rooms in this place."

Kael hummed. "Yeah, but yours is the best. Moreover, it was broken because I was out there waiting for you to come meet me at 10pm, before I returned to my room, someone had broken my window." he said.

I stared at him. "What the hell does that mean?"

He turned his head, giving me a lazy grin. "Means you have to take responsibility for your own actions."

I dragged a hand down my face. For the love of.. why my room out of the severals.

Oh, for fuck’s sake. I was too tired to even argue with him.

"Fine. Suit yourself," I muttered, walking over to the couch and sitting down. If he wanted to be a pain in the ass, whatever. I wasn’t wasting my energy on him.

But then there was the sound of rustling from the bed.

Therefore, I glanced up just in time to see Kael already stand up and was pulling his shirt over his head.

I blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a shower," he said simply, pulling it off and tossing it aside.

But my attention wasn’t on his words anymore. It was on his back.

Because now, with the shirt gone, I could see it. I meant to say them...

Lashes.

Deep, raw, angry red marks running across his back, like whip wounds. Some fresh, some old, but it all looked brutal.

It was then that realization came upon me concerning the blood I had perceived earlier, it was him all along and I failed to realize.

For a moment, I just stared, my mouth slightly open.

Kael must have noticed because he turned his head slightly, smirking like I hadn’t just seen something horrifying. "Have fun staring?"

I snapped out of it. Staring? I was only looking at those wounds. It just hurt a lot to have that on a body, "The fuck happened to you?" I couldn’t stop myself from inquiring.

He shrugged like it was nothing. "Why do you care?"

I scowled. "I don’t care." I rolled my eyes, "Just a little concerned for the bed, considering the fact that you’re bleeding and it wouldn’t be very nice to get blood on it."

"Am I?" He glanced over his shoulder, frowning slightly. "Huh. Didn’t notice."

How the hell could he not notice something as deep as that? Even with blood coming out of it. Didn’t it hurt?! What am I even thinking, it definitely must hurt.

I stared at him, then sighed, shaking my head. "You’re a goddamn mess."

He grinned. "And yet, you can’t take your eyes off me. Never knew you’ve learned to fancy me."

This little...

I immediately grabbed the closest thing to me and threw it at his face, even though it will have less impact.

He caught the couch pillow easily, laughing. "Aw, if you wanted to get physical, you could’ve just said so."

I groaned, rubbing my temples. "Psycho"

"Then aren’t you afraid I might jump on you in the middle of the night and bite your ass or your neck? Might even bite your glands." he said with a laugh, turning toward the bathroom. "Let me know if you wanna join this ’psycho’ besides, it’s not anything you’ve never seen before." he emphasized.

I threw another pillow.

He dodged and disappeared into the shower, still chuckling.

I exhaled sharply, slumping back against the couch.

What the hell had I just witnessed? Why was his back like that? What would he possibly do to warrant such a wound? And why did it feel like my peaceful night had just gone to shit?

Whatever... it’s not like I have any concern in his business. I should probably get some rest.

***

My eyes flung open, my body was aching so bad on this couch and my neck was so stiff it would break with just one snap.

Now you might be wondering why I woke up by this hour of the night after falling asleep.

I also don’t know, but I couldn’t help but wake up due to the sharp wheeze coming from the bed. It was low, but I could hear it anyway.

I curled my legs together on the couch, readjusting my neck even though my blood seemed to freeze around that area.

It feels a little better, just a little,

My eyes closed as I took in a deep breath. A second passed, ten, twenty... a minute, mind you, the longest minute of my life. Oh God! Why is it so fucking hard to fall asleep? Why is such little action as sleeping again so strenuous that I can’t no matter how hard I try?

Even though he’s wheezing, it’s none of my business, I don’t care if he’s hurting, I don’t care if he’s in pain or can’t sleep! But why am I standing up?

I took in a deep breath, telling myself to stay put, to ignore the wheezing, to pretend like it wasn’t happening. But I couldn’t. My body was moving before I even registered it, my feet taking me toward the bed.

Kael lay there, his face turned to the opposite direction, his breath coming out in short, sharp wheezes. Even in the dim lighting, I could see the way his shoulders tensed, his body curled in on itself like he was trying to suppress the pain.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I muttered, crossing my arms.

No response. He didn’t even look at me.

Fine. Be like that. It’s not my problem.

I turned back toward the couch, but the sound of another strained breath had me grinding my teeth. Damn it.

"You’re obviously in pain, stop being a stubborn ass and let me help."

Kael finally turned his head slowly, "I don’t need your help." he declared with an unreadable expression.

I scowled. "Yeah, sure, because you look perfectly fine right now."

"I’ll live."

"Of course you will," I shot back. "But if you wanna die, go die elsewhere. Just not in my room."

He let out a weak chuckle. "Noted."

This asshole.

I clenched my jaw, stepping closer. "Take your shirt off."

He raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering in his eyes despite the pain. "Didn’t know you were so eager."

And that’s it!

I had enough. Without waiting for him to cooperate, I grabbed his shirt and yanked it off, exposing his back.