Free Chasing Dare by Mikayla Lane Page B

be experimented on, she’d be feeling pretty good right now, she thought.
    “Are you going to eat your chocolate cake?” Dare laughed at the hopeful tone of Balduen’s voice; he sounded just like her brother Risk, when he wanted her dessert.
    “Under normal circumstances I would fight you over my chocolate or coffee. But, right now I’m just tired and way too full to try to eat it. Why don’t you have it?” Dare gave him a small smile of encouragement before crawling up the bed and underneath the covers. She let out a sigh as she burrowed down into the comfortable mattress with the blankets pulled up to her neck.
    “Are you feeling well? Was there something in the food?” Balduen stared at her huddled form under the covers and began to panic that maybe they had drugged their food, and she was feeling the effects first.
    “Hey, I’m fine. Really. They wouldn’t put drugs in the food when the doc has the switch to a drug that already works just fine. There would be no point in that.” She sat up and held his hand lightly in her own; trying to assure him she was fine.
    “I was just going to take a quick nap. Are you ok? Are you feeling all right?” Dare asked, remembering how he’d stiffened when the Relian approached the bed with the food.
    Balduen looked at her for a moment, as if knowing what she was asking and trying to figure out a way to explain it. He turned away to finish putting the plates in the big bag they’d given them.  
    “Hey, come up here and lay with me. You can keep me warm until I fall asleep.” Dare figured it would not only give them privacy to talk, but she felt a lot better knowing he would be between her and the door while she napped.
    Balduen was really glad the drug had worn completely off; otherwise, there was no way he would be able to stop his beast form jumping in the bed with her. As it was, he was torn. He wanted nothing more than to lie beside her, but he was unsure if he could control his beast.
    “Baldy… please. I hate sleeping near a door.” The soft way she whispered it, and the way her head was bowed in embarrassment told him how much it really bothered her to admit it. He wouldn’t allow her to feel ashamed for telling him something that private.
    “That’s a damn good thing because there was no way in hell, I was going to allow you near the door. I was going to sleep on the floor in front of it, but I would much rather be comfortable.” He wasn’t lying to her either. He had every intention of sleeping between the door and the bed.
    As much as he wanted to be able to feel the vibration on the floor of someone coming up the stairs, he couldn’t tell her ‘no’. He couldn’t allow her to be afraid when he could ease that fear.
    He almost smiled at the grin on her face as she scooted all the way over to the other side of the bed to give him room. He slid easily under the covers, grateful that the bed was one of the larger human ones. He was able to curl his legs enough to keep his feet on the mattress without being in the way of Dare’s legs.
    Following her lead, he curled onto his side to face her while she pulled the covers up to their noses and scooted closer to him.
    “So, tell me what happened.” Dare asked as soon as she knew he could hear her whispering.
    “The loss of control happened again. Much quicker this time though; at least, I think it was.” Balduen paused while he replayed it in his mind.
    “I felt the drug before they came up the stairs. It felt just as strong as every other time. But, when the Relian came close it was like something inside of me snapped. I know I was not in control of myself when I felt my body stiffen. I know that makes no sense, I’m sorry.” Balduen felt useless.
    He had no idea what was happening to him or his beast. Usually he heard the beast in his head, this time he felt the beast’s growl vibrate through his body. That hadn’t happened since he was a child; and even then it wasn't as obvious or