Becoming Luna

10 - Broken Beyond Repair part 1

Siena stares at him in frustration. “You’re going to help me? I thought you said—”

“I know what I said. But if you’re so determined to march down the road to ruin anyway, I might as well make sure you won’t end up in the news the next day, raped and brutally murdered by a psychopath you were too drunk to recognize,” he tells her sternly. “There are many predators in this world, Siena. And not all humans are vulnerable just because they can’t shift. You might have an advantage as a shifter but it will not stop your attacker if you’ve been drugged.”

“I don’t even know your name!” She narrows her eyes at him. “How do I know you’re not a psychopath yourself?”

He gives her a wolfish grin. “You don’t, but between the devil you know and the devil you don’t, wouldn’t you rather be with someone who already refused to take advantage of you? We’re practically strangers, true, but we’ve been talking for a bit now, and you know I can and I will stop if ever you decide you don’t want to do it anymore.” He extends his hand for a handshake. “By the way, since you asked, you can call me Xander.”

“Oh…” She stares at his hand before warily accepting it. “Umm…okay…”

He grins and leans closer to her, making her instinctively step back as he invades her personal space. Not really because she’s scared of him but because the way he’s looking at her is giving her a serious case of flutters. He’s just so intense, staring at her as if she’s the only person he’s interested in. He’s reading every bit of her body movements, hearing every hitch of hesitation in her breath—something Andrew never did or was always completely oblivious to. His icy blue eyes are unnaturally dark as he completely focuses on her, and it sparks something in her, something foreign but thrilling.

Her reaction seems to draw out the hunter side of him and instead of backing off, he steps forward and follows her when she steps away again, until her back hits the wall of the building next to them.

Xander doesn’t say anything but it’s fine because her mind has gone blank and his words probably won’t even register. Fortunately, he doesn’t rush her, but simply closes the space between them with the calm confidence of someone who is already certain of his next move. And it will be a checkmate.

Siena gasps when he leans in, just enough to make her chest pound in reluctant excitement, and lifts his arm. His forearm presses against the wall beside her head, his muscles flexing ever so slightly as he shifts his weight.

His scent wraps around her like smoke, warm and heady. It’s not really something she can name, but she loves it. It makes her want to bury her nose in his chest just to get a better whiff. It’s not like cologne or spice or smoke. It’s mysterious—like the first night of autumn or the edge of a storm you feel before it arrives. But somehow, impossibly, it’s familiar too. Like a dream she’s forgotten as soon as she opens her eyes, but still yearns to remember.

His scent’s imaginary fingers curl into her lungs, almost drugging her with its potency and stealing the will from her limbs. Just like that, moving feels impossible. Her body recognizes something extraordinary…a taste she’ll always crave from now on.

Her human side is screaming at her that this is dangerous, and she’s playing with fire that will not just burn her fingers but her whole body, but her wolf watches him, unafraid, even excited. What Xander provokes in her at the moment is wildfire desire—things she’s been trying to convince herself only belong in books and fairytales.

His other hand comes to rest lightly on her side, thumb brushing the edge of her ribcage. She freezes, caught between the cold wall behind her and the heat radiating off him. He’s not touching her, not fully. And yet he’s everywhere.

“Tell me you don’t like this,” he murmurs, his voice a husky drawl against the space between them. “...and I’ll stop.”

She doesn’t, of course. She says nothing because if she’s going to be honest, she can’t.

He watches her with that maddening half-smile, eyes dipping to her lips and back again, deliberately slow. His body doesn’t press into hers but his closeness is making her burn up. So close she can feel his breath over her cheek. Her knees threaten to buckle, but the wall keeps her upright. That, and the thrill of how intently he’s watching her fall slowly apart.

“W-What are you doing to me?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Last time I checked, it’s called seduction. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?”

Siena finds it hard to swallow, feeling as if her throat has dried up. Uncomfortable is not exactly the word that comes to mind…

“I…” She clears her throat. “Why did you change your mind? I thought you were trying to do the honorable thing?”

He grins. “I’m a gentleman, not a saint. And since I can’t change your mind about your destination, I’ve decided to simply join you on the ride.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

Her heart is pounding so loud it’s almost deafening, at least to her own ears.

“So…” He c***s his head to the right, leaning closer to her ear. “Your place or mine?”

Goddess, it’s really happening. Is she really going to go through this? Betray the fated bond that her parents had taught her was the most beautiful and absolute sacred thing in the world?

She meets his eyes, and she can see that Xander knows exactly what is going on inside her head, the tug of war currently being waged between her sensible self and the side that got burned too many times. Both want to win, but the latter is desperate to escape her current situation and here he is…offering the key to freedom.

Siena raises her chin in silent defiance of her fate. All is fair in love and war, right? Now she can only hope Xander knows how to give a girl a good time, at least. Make it worth it.

“Mine.”

That smirk of his deepens. “Well then,” His fingers graze her waist. “...lead the way.”

The hotel room she’s staying in doesn’t even compare to his, but it is clean and has the essentials so that ought to be enough.

“Please make yourself comfortable, I’ll just be a minute…” she tells him as she heads to the bathroom.

The woman she sees in front of the mirror feels more like a stranger. Same face, same everything, but there’s something in her eyes that has changed. Or maybe it’s all in her head, and it’s just guilt for what she’s about to commit.

“Guilt..?” she scoffs, her eyes hardening.

Why should she feel guilty? Andrew made his bed, and made it uncomfortable—no, impossible for her to sleep in it. She’s only paying him back in kind. This time, she’s not the one at fault. They are broken beyond repair.

Siena looks away from her reflection and undresses quickly, stepping into the shower to freshen up. When she comes out of the bathroom, wearing only a bathrobe, she finds Xander standing near the window, looking outside. He has taken off his jacket and loosened up his tie, but he is still very much all covered up, as if he’s still giving her a chance to say no.

He turns to look when he hears her come out, his icy blue eyes scanning her, from her bare toes to her still dripping hair. She hesitates a little before taking a deep breath and letting the bathrobe slowly slide off from her shoulders, down to her waist…before finally falling on the floor, to pool around her feet. Well, her foot and her prosthetic.

Before showering she had removed her prosthetic leg and had put it back on before coming out, not really sure how he’s going to react to seeing her bare residual limb for the first time.

He straightens up and shoves his hands inside his pockets. “Beautiful…”

His voice sounds sincere so he must really think that. That’s a good start.

To her surprise, he doesn’t remove his clothes right away. Instead, he walks to her and lifts her in his arms before gently sitting her on the edge of the bed and kneeling before her.

“May I?” he asks quietly.

She then watches in amazed silence as he kneels in front of her, his fingers moving with quiet precision, carefully detaching her prosthetic leg. There’s no hesitation. No flinch. He handles it with the same ease and familiarity as someone unbuckling a favorite pair of shoes—not clinical, not detached, but natural. As if he’s done this a hundred times before.

“How do you know how to do it?” she asks, curiosity softening the breathless edge in her voice.

Xander takes his time answering, and when he does, the answer is very vague. “I know someone who has one too,” he says finally, and there’s something almost fragile in the way he says it. “I help whenever I can.”

He sets the prosthetic aside with gentle care. Then he reaches for her leg again and begins to massage her where it ends. His thumbs press carefully into her muscles, finding tension she didn’t even know was there. The touch is respectful, tender.

Intimate.

His hands trace the edges of her scars with a reverence that takes her breath away. He is touching her leg like it’s something almost sacred. Not broken. Not lacking. Just different.

Something stirs in her, heat spreading low in her belly.

She’s never felt like this before. Andrew has never quite made her feel beautiful in this moment, in this way. Often her mate would look away, as if he could not bear to stare too long and she thought it was because he was hurting for her or feeling guilty for being unable to protect her, but now she realizes it might just be because he doesn’t like it seeing that she is no longer physically perfect.

But the way Xander is touching her... it’s as if he sees all of her and still sees perfection. His hands slow, resting lightly on her thigh. His eyes flick up to meet hers, dark and full of things that make her pulse stutter.

“You’re exquisite,” he murmurs. “But I’m sure you already know that…”

Siena says nothing. Instead, she leans in and pulls him closer for a kiss.