Lightning Dragon (The Bride Hunt Book 4)

by Charlene Hartnady

  Wetting one of the pieces of cotton, she used it to clean Thunder’s wounds. It looked like they had finally stopped bleeding. He moaned softly as she ran the cotton directly over one of the wounds. It was the first reaction he’d given since passing out. Hopefully it was a good sign. There was no way to wrap the bandages around his chest so she ended up folding them into squares and placing them on top of the cuts. At least this would offer some protection. She wished, not for the first time, that she had some sort of disinfectant, but this was the best she could do.

  Once done, she noticed that the woolen blanket had slipped down while she worked. The edge lay half-way across his ass. She swallowed thickly, allowing her eyes to trace the wide expanse of his back and shoulders.

  She’d never seen a guy that was this well-built or this good-looking. Even his eyelashes were long, thick and dark. Tamara felt her cheeks heat. The fire was doing its job. She was feeling seriously hot, and all over. She quickly pulled the blanket up, carefully allowing the fabric to settle over his back. She yawned, suddenly feeling tired.

  She looked about the space. There was no other furniture aside from the bed and the chest. The bed looked to be an extra-length king-size, which seemed pretty small considering a huge, dragon shifter guy was sprawled out, smack bang in the middle of it.

  Tamara shrugged, what the hell, she’d kissed him already. Not that she wanted to be reminded of it. The guy was a first-class kisser. Of course he was. All she had to do was look at him to know he got plenty of action. A hunk like him would have women throwing themselves at him. He had tons of practice. That much was clear. She need not feel bad about reacting to the kiss. It was normal and didn’t mean anything.

  The kiss didn’t matter right now, she reminded herself. It was exhaustion making her mind wander to unimportant things. She needed sleep. The floor was hard and damp and really not an option. Tamara lay down next to the shifter, on the tiny bit of bed left beside him. Since there wasn’t much space to begin with, even though she faced away from him, her back still ended up touching his side. His warmth seeped into her. His breathing deep and rhythmic. The fire crackled every so often. Within minutes she was fast asleep.

  Minutes, hours, days, she’d no idea of the time that passed when she finally opened her eyes and arched her back, stopping herself mid-stretch, she realized that her belly was flush against him. Thunder. She had wrapped one of her legs around his body, somewhere in the vicinity of that magnificent ass.

  “Shit!” she muttered, under her breath, as she peeled herself away from him. A girl couldn’t help it if she was a snuggler now could she? It was something that Chris had hated. He said it made him feel claustrophobic and sweaty. Bastard. Never trust a man who can’t express his emotions or enjoy a good cuddle. Why was she even thinking about him? Maybe because he was the reason she was in this predicament to begin with. Stop! Moaning, even internally, wasn’t going to solve the situation.

  She looked around. The cave was dark, the fire reduced to glowing embers. She’d definitely got a couple of hours of sleep in then. Tamara rekindled the dying fire.

  Thunder moaned, drawing her attention back to the bed. He was moving one of his arms, it looked like he was trying to get up.

  Tammy rushed over to him. “Thunder.”

  His eyes were open. They were wide and had a glassy look about them that she didn’t like. There was sweat on his brow and his cheeks were flushed. He grit his teeth, moaning as he tried to push himself up.

  “No, don’t!” she said, not wanting him to hurt himself anymore. “Stay still.”

  He moaned again, this time the sound came out like more of a word.

  “What is it?” She leaned in a bit closer, trying hard to understand him.

  He made the same noise only this time it came out sounding more like ‘help’ and then ‘out’. She couldn’t be sure though, he was half out of it.

  Then again, maybe he was trying to tell her something. She couldn’t dismiss it. Maybe it was important. “Out where? You can’t go anywhere.” She was beginning to sound panicked. Beginning to feel panicked.

  “No,” he groaned the word, his breathing labored.

  “No?” She sounded bewildered. “I don’t understand.” Tammy wasn’t sure what he was trying to tell her.

  He looked agitated and tried to get up again. “Help …” He was definitely saying the word. Did he think that she still needed help? Did he feel that they were both still in danger, maybe? Or, was he asking her to help him? The latter seemed the most likely but she couldn’t be sure.

  “Help how? There is no first aid kit. We’re out in the middle of nowhere,” her voice was shrill.

  “Out,” he growled.

  “Out?” she repeated, feeling frustration welling. Tamara frowned, rubbing her chin, her mind racing a mile a minute. She still had no idea what he needed or wanted. Maybe he was delirious.

  She soothed the damp hair from his forehead. Thunder felt like he was burning up. He was definitely hotter than before. “Shhhhhh. Lie still.” She rubbed the top of his shoulder that was closest to her. “I’m going to fetch you something to drink. You need to stay hydrated.”

  “Out!” he half yelled, half growled. “Get out. “

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to help you,” her voice was shrill. “We’ll get through this.” He was clearly not thinking straight. Tamara retrieved the water bottle and headed back to the bed but by the time she got there, which was less than a few seconds, he was already asleep.

  She spent the next couple of minutes trying to rouse him, but to no avail. His face looked really flushed and he was sweating profusely, so, she did the next best thing she could think of and grabbed one of the cotton pieces of material. Tammy poured water over the fabric and wiped his brow. Thunder was running a fever. There was no doubt of that. Worry churned in her gut. He seemed to be getting worse. Then again, maybe this was part of the healing process.

  Tamara carefully lifted the blanket, pulling it down and looking under the makeshift bandages. She gasped when she saw his wounds. They were both red and raised. They looked like they were becoming infected. What now? They were in the middle of nowhere with no supplies, no means to contact the outside world. Thunder was delirious. Think, Tammy, think!

  Wait a minute. There was something in the toiletry bag that might help. She rushed back to the chest. Her hand shook as she opened the zipper. Mouthwash, there was a bottle of the stuff inside. Good thing these shifters were meticulous about hygiene. She turned the bottle around and true as nuts, most of the contents of the peppermint-flavored liquid was alcohol. She could use it to disinfect his wounds. It was a long shot and one that most probably wouldn’t work, but there were no other options available. They were in the cave in the top of a mountain just off of a sheer cliff.

  Her hand shook as she grabbed the bottle. Tammy didn’t want anything to happen to Thunder. Couldn’t bear the thought of him dying. Her eyes stung. No! She needed to stay positive and to stay calm. He was not going to die. Tammy swallowed the lump in her throat and chewed on her lower lip. This had to work. Please, let this work.

  Tamara spent the next while painstakingly cleaning his wounds. He moaned and thrashed every time she tried to pull the wounds open in order to pour the mouthwash into them. She used one of the cotton swabs to catch the liquid. What Thunder really needed was an IV bag full of antibiotics, a trauma specialist and a hospital. He needed professional care. This was not going to cut it.

  “Please work. Please work,” she muttered a couple of times. “Don’t you dare die on me. You’re supposed to be a strong dragon shifter. A high and mighty king.” Her voice cracked a little when she thought about how this could end. “Prove it. Get better dammit.”

  Once she’d done all she could, she redressed his wounds with clean, newly cut bandages and forced herself to eat and to drink, taking just a little water. Hopefully it wasn’t contaminated in any way. She was going to find out soon enough.

  This
time she would be ready when he woke up, she had the water bottle and he was going to drink whether he liked it or not. Tamara needed to keep his temperature down so, for the next couple of hours, she kept reapplying wet cotton wipes to his forehead and replenishing the water.

  She must have fallen asleep, because she awoke a bit later, still in her half sitting position slumped against the headboard. Her hand rested against his cheek and it fell from his face as he moaned and thrashed, trying in vain to get up.

  His moans grew more insistent and again began to sound like words. “Help!” He repeated this several times while clawing at his back. His eyes were wide and glassy. His face was no longer flushed. It had a pale, grey tinge that she didn’t like. The sweat poured off of him. One of the makeshift cotton bandages fell off and again, she couldn’t help the gasp that was pulled from her. The wound was raised and red, so angry looking. So much worse than before. Only a few hours had passed. A few measly hours. Why was he getting so sick? She didn’t understand it. He was supposed to have super-human strength, wasn’t he? Shit!

  Panic coursed through her. “I don’t know what to do. What’s wrong with you?”

  “Out!” he yelled.

  “I don’t understand!” she shrieked back at him. “Say something else. Tell me how to help you.”

  By some miracle, Thunder managed to push himself up. His eyes locked with hers, they had a wild look like he wasn’t quite there anymore. “Dying,” he groaned.

  No, she’d heard him wrong. Had to have misunderstood, surely? Yet, deep down inside she knew it was true. He was dying and if she didn’t do something soon, it would be too late. Thunder would be gone.

  “You need water.” She felt like an absolute idiot for saying it. Water was not going to help him. The problem was that she didn’t know what would. Panic welled. She had to stop herself from shaking him, from begging him for answers.

  He grimaced, looking angry. “No. Help! Get out!” His eyes rolled back in his skull and he slammed back down onto the mattress, the last of his reserves leaving him. “Get … it … out,” he whispered, his left hand clawing at his lower back one last time before he passed out.

  Tamara was breathing heavily. She could feel that her eyes were wide. Her heart raced and adrenaline coursed through her. Everything in her told her to act, to do something to save him and to do it now. But what?

  Then it dawned on her. She was an idiot. There had to be something in the wounds. That’s what the whole ‘get out’ thing had been about.

  She was right earlier, Cloud had never approached them, which meant that the two bleeding holes had to have been made by something. Bullets or … No! She hadn’t heard an explosion or gunshot. If she dug around in his already infected wounds, she might just make things worse. She might end up finishing him off if she was wrong.

  What if she was right though? What if some foreign objects were lodged in his back causing this infection? He should’ve healed by now or at the very least been well on his way to recovery. She had to do it. It wasn’t like she had anything to lose. Thunder kept clawing at his back, as if trying to reach something. His last three words were ‘get it out’. It. She had to try. He would die if she did nothing. She pulled the knife from her jeans and unsheathed it. It suddenly looked really big, felt so heavy in her hands, which now felt incredibly clumsy. Could she do this? Did she have a choice?

  Chapter 8

  No.

  There was no other choice but to act and her gut told her that she was onto something. Right, first things first. Light. She put the knife away, rekindled the fire and got it burning as fiercely as possible. Tamara unsheathed the knife again and poured some of the mouthwash over the blade. Then she took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing,” she breathed as she positioned the knife over the first wound. Her hands shook, so she forced herself to loosen her hold on the handle ever so slightly. It helped, but not by much.

  “You can do this,” she muttered to herself. “You can.” She’d given this some thought. Granted, not a whole lot. Time wasn’t on her side. She wished she could Google how to perform a procedure like this. Did she stick the knife in and dig around? Or, did she make the wound wider and open it up so that she could take a look inside? On the one hand she might push the object further into him if she wasn’t careful and on the other, she might make things worse by making his wound bigger.

  She stuck the tip of the knife into the wound and then removed it. Then she stuck it back in again. She sighed. This didn’t feel right. The knife felt huge. Her grip clumsy. If there was something in there she was sure to push it in further. If only she had a scalpel and a long set of tweezers. At the very least, a set of kitchen knives. A hunting knife was not the best tool for the job. It was all she had though, so best she get busy.

  She chewed down on her lower lip, feeling sweat drip between her breasts. Damn! That left option two which meant cutting him open. Just the thought left her feeling queasy and light-headed. She had to do it. If she didn’t, he was going to die. Bottom line.

  She swallowed hard, trying to get her nerves under control. “Here goes nothing.” And everything …

  Tammy put the knife back into the wound and pushed sideways. His flesh parted easily against the sharp blade. Fresh blood welled and began to run from the wound. She grabbed some of the makeshift bandages and used them to mop up the flow. Now for the fun part. With the help of the knife, she pried open the wound.

  Thunder groaned. An agonized noise.

  “Sorry!” Tammy whispered, trying to see into the wound. Her stomach did a flip flop. There! Something glinted. Something shiny. Something made of metal. What the hell was that thing? Not for the first time, she wished she had a set of tweezers. Anything, even eyebrow pluckers might work. Suck it up. All she had was this huge ass knife, but she would make it work.

  Tammy would need to stick her finger into the wound. There was no other option. She was breathing hard. Using her sleeve, she wiped at her brow and sucked in another deep breath. “Come on! Don’t be a chicken,” she chided herself. “You can do this dammit!”

  She pushed her index finger into the wound and pushed down, moving slowly and carefully. Thunder moaned again. Softer this time.

  “Aaah!” she cried out as pain lanced through her. She yanked out her finger, which was bleeding. Something had sliced it open. Just a small nick.

  “Knife,” Thunder growled, his words barely recognizable. “Cut,” he groaned. “Out.”

  “Okay. Okay.” She wiped her finger on the bed linen which was beyond salvaging anyway, and picked up the knife. “This is going to hurt.”

  She bit down on her lip and dug her way into the wound using the blade. Aside from a couple of short, sharp breaths, Thunder didn’t make a sound. Tammy sliced the wound open some more, digging around until the tip of the blade touched against the object.

  “There!” she said, feeling excited. It wasn’t easy but she somehow managed to pry the thing out with the tip of the knife. One thing was for sure, she was no surgeon.

  “A ninja star thingy,” she muttered. It wasn’t very big, or very deep. She couldn’t understand how it had caused him to deteriorate so quickly.

  Thunder gave a sigh. “Other one,” he said, his words ground out through clenched teeth, but he sounded stronger this time.

  “I’m on it.” She leaned over his back. “I’m so sorry. This is going to hurt.”

  Thunder grunted in response. Tamara went through the same motions of slicing the wound open to give her more room to work and then slowly pried the star out. They were small and razor sharp.

  Thunder sighed as the second one came out. Tammy was careful how she handled the ninja stars. “Asshole, got you in the back.” Talk about a cowardly move.

  She shook her head. The second wound was still bleeding. The first had stopped already. It was probably her imagination but the wound looked less inflamed than it had been. Nah! Had to be her imagination. It was too soon.

  She reached for the mout
hwash and poured some liberally over the wounds.

  Thunder moaned and arched his back.

  “Really? You don’t make so much as a sound while I’m digging around in your back with a knife but you can’t take a bit of disinfectant?” She had to smile. His coloring looked more normal and he had stopped perspiring. He looked so much better already. Relief washed over her.

  As expected, Thunder didn’t answer. He was fast asleep. His broad shoulders rising and falling with each deep breath. “I sure hope you don’t scar.” She let her hands trail along the hard ridges of his muscled back. “That would be a shame.”

  Tamara stopped mid … feel. She was copping a feel on an unconscious guy! Since when had she sunk so low? To take advantage of someone who was out cold. One who wasn’t even her type, even if he was seriously yummy.

  She grabbed the one remaining clean cotton wipe and used it to finish cleaning the dried blood. Then she got to work making more bandages, this time on the other side of the bed, before redressing his wounds.

  Something warm wriggled beside him … and on top of him. It clutched him around the neck. Not an it. A she. The human. The female had both a leg and an arm wrapped around him. Her plump breasts were squashed up against his side.

  The last thing he wanted to do was startle her but he had to see her … had to … he turned his head so that he was facing her. Her face was right there, inches away.

  Even in the throes of sleep she was a beauty. Her mouth was slightly parted. She made soft snoring sounds. Her hair hung loose around her shoulders. There was a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheek bones. Not easy to spot in passing but up this close, impossible to ignore. Mmmmm, melted chocolate. His stomach growled.