Chapter 39. Heat Between Us

Lotus’s POV

I’m still shaking.

Not just trembling like when you’re cold, but deep tremors that start in my bones and ripple outward. My skin feels like it doesn’t belong to me, and every breath rasps in my throat. Louis hasn’t let me out of his arms since dragging me from the river.

The memory of the lycans clashing together is a distant memory, and now I can only focus on the chill of my skin. No matter how many covers, I sink beneath, it can’t cure the frigid feeling of the icy water on my skin.

“You’re freezing,” Louis murmurs, dragging me closer to his body. “You’re still as cold as you were when I pulled you from the water.”

I try to speak, but my teeth chatter too hard. The new mark along my neck throbs in time with my heartbeat, or maybe it’s his. I can no longer tell.

His forehead wrinkles as he whips my hair from my face. “Let me.”

He pulls off his shirt, leaving him in only his sweats. Pulling his lips between his teeth, tug