Crossing Boundaries

Chapter 5 Punishment

I stayed on the bed for what felt like hours before deciding that he wasn't going to come back. I headed to the bathroom, deciding that what I needed was a shower and then to get into bed. Sure, the sun was shining outside, but I was overly tired.

I took a shower, using the products that had been left in the cupboard. When I stepped out, I smelled like vanilla. I wrapped myself in a towel and headed to the closet. There must be something smaller and more appropriate to wear.

But before I could even open the first drawer, the door clicked open once again. I tightened my grip on the towel, spinning around to face the door.

"Well, that's a pleasant view," Chase smirked, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. I could feel my cheeks heating up. I looked down, not daring to look at him. "I... I was... I wanted to get clean."

"Understandable," he said. I heard his footsteps approaching me. "I think there's a long-sleeved shirt in there you can wear," he said simply, moving towards the bed.

"Are... are you okay?" I asked, biting my lip out of pure fear.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I'm an evil, ruthless murderer, remember?"

"I never said you were that."

"Implying it is enough," he said, not even looking at me. "Get dressed."

I slowly nodded, turning back to the cupboard. I rummaged through it, finally finding a thin, long-sleeved hoodie. I grabbed it and started towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"Ba-bathroom," I stumbled over the word. Damn, I was going to start stuttering. He nodded once again, making me feel even more awkward. I went to get dressed and then headed back into the room. I walked over to him, intending to sit next to him.

"I have your punishment, by the way," he said, finally looking at me.

I sucked in a breath, looking at him wide-eyed.

"What is it?"

He turned to look at me, inspecting my scared expression. I was screwed. So badly screwed. Once again, his hands made their way to my face. They rested lightly on my cheeks, making me stop breathing. Looking into his eyes, I felt like I was drowning. They were so beautiful, as if someone had taken a picture of the moon and used it to sculpt his irises.

He slowly leaned forward, and our lips touched once again. But this time, the kiss was more forceful. His tongue lightly licked my bottom lip before his teeth nipped it. Out of surprise, I let out a gasp. Taking that as an opportunity, he slipped his tongue into my mouth. It moved as if it had a mind of its own, playing with my inexperienced tongue as if it were actually enjoyable.

My hands moved to the back of his head, letting my fingers tangle themselves in his hair. His arms wrapped around my waist, and I could feel myself being moved while our lips were still locked, our tongues playing a game of cat and mouse.

With my head resting on the pillows, I realised that his large body was above mine. His hands slowly moved upwards, making their way into untouched territory. The thing about being human was that boys in my pack didn't really want to touch you. And being werewolves, we tended to wait for our mates.

Mate...

As his hands moved over my chest, resting on my breasts, I started to fidget. My hands moved to his, trying to push them away, but he simply saw it as an invitation. His rough hands squeezed, making an unwanted but amazing sensation course through my nerves.

I needed to stop this. I had to stop this.

His kiss became even more intense, and my body wasn't listening to my brain as his tongue moved with more force. My lower half moved upwards, inching towards his as if it were what it wanted.

Stop it, Lily. Please stop.

I chided myself. I wasn't wearing any underwear, and all the sensations and movements were making my brain cloudy. Trying to take control of the moment, I moved my head to the side, breaking our kiss. My lips were tingling, and I relished the feeling. I felt his hands release my breasts, and his body moved off mine.

"Sorry," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say as I turned onto my side. I felt guilt seep into my veins, as if I had betrayed my mate. He got off the bed, and I heard his footsteps before he appeared in front of me. He knelt down, and our eyes met. There was a kind of mystery in his gaze, something sad that I desperately wanted to understand.

"Punishment over," he mumbled before sighing. He stood up, moving away from me and towards the door. With a final click, the door closed, and I knew I was alone once again.

I felt tears slip down my cheeks but didn't bother wiping them away. That's what I got for hooking up with someone who wasn't my mate.

I closed my eyes and somehow, by some miracle, I was able to fall asleep.

When I woke up, the light in my room told me that I had wasted the entire day. I slowly sat up, my body even sorer than before. Along with the physical pain, there was an emotional ache giving me a headache. It was a mixture of guilt and anger.

I looked around the room, checking to see if Chase had returned, but the place was empty. Slowly getting up, I went to the bathroom.

If it was even possible, I somehow looked worse than before. The dirt had at least covered some of the bruises and scrapes from before the fight, but now I looked like I had just come out of a fight club.

Starting with my strawberry-blonde hair, which didn't match any werewolves', it stood around my head as if I'd been electrocuted. My facial features had always annoyed me for that very reason. They just reminded everyone even more that I wasn't like them. Werewolves usually had darker features—black or brunette hair, brown or dark grey eyes, you get the idea.

I, on the other hand, had been born with bright blue eyes that resembled a clean swimming pool and a mess of stupid, curly strawberry-blonde hair that wasn't even as curly as the hair of the other werewolves in my pack. But now, since I hadn't combed it since being captured and had slept with it wet, I probably had curls like theirs.

I took the brush out of the cupboard, trying to comb my hair without making my headache worse.

After what felt like forever, I finally put the brush back in the cupboard. I inspected myself once again in the mirror. I had bruises and cuts literally everywhere. Starting with my face, there were three nice little cuts from when I had fallen out of the tree. My neck also had a bruise, though it wasn't as bad as the others.

Quickly spinning around to make sure no one had snuck into the room, I lifted my shirt, revealing a very blue-black stomach. I almost wanted to throw up. I hastily pulled my shirt down again and instead rolled up my sleeves. Where Chase had grabbed my wrist, there was a blue-black mark that looked like an armband. Moving further up, there were scratches from the trees and even more bruises.

I tried not to look at my legs, but curiosity got the better of me. They looked about the same as my arms. My feet, however, were ugly as hell, but they'd always been like that. With some of my toenails black and others missing completely, it was a miracle I didn't scare people away with them.

Maybe that was my supernatural ability. Instead of turning into a wolf, I could terrify people with my ugly feet!

I left the bathroom when I heard the main door unlock. Chase entered, and when he saw me, his eyes widened. Did I really look that bad?

He blinked and then cleared his throat. "I brought you some food," he said, holding up a plate containing what looked like a chicken burger and chips.

My stomach turned when my eyes landed on the meal. I walked over to him and took the plate.

"Thank you," I smiled, looking down at the sandwich.

"No problem," he replied. "Your hair looks nice, by the way," he added, glancing at my mane.

I lightly touched it, feeling weird.

"Thanks," I said, moving away from him. I went to sit on the bed and started eating some of the chips.

"I'll get you some cream for those marks. They might be infected."

"I'm fine. It... it happens," I said.

"Still," he replied. "Eat, and then I'll fix you up, okay?"

I nodded once again, the awkward atmosphere between us growing even thicker.