by Niles, Abby
“Liam!” she repeated.
She saw a flicker in his eyes, a quick shadow that passed right across the iris. Then the tense shoulder beneath her palm relaxed and he blinked.
Jaylin sighed. Thank God. She’d had patients in Bahrraj before, but never this deep. His gaze focused on hers and her stomach dropped at the lost look of a Dserted shifter. She smiled at him, trying to keep the pity from her face. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
He frowned and moved back in his seat. “Who the hell are you?”
Jaylin straightened as Mr. O’Connell walked into the room with three pork chops on a plate in one hand, while rubbing his chest with the other, a look of confusion on his face.
Yep, he’d felt it.
“What the hell was that red—hey there, buddy, you scared the hell out of me.”
Liam glanced around the room, his frown deepening. “What happened?”
Jaylin sat on the coffee table across from him. “Liam, I’m Dr. Avgar. Mr. O’Connell called me for help. Do you remember anything?’
His jaw turned to granite. “No.”
He was lying. They all did in the beginning, until it got so bad they could no longer lie. “You felt her, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You need therapy. A way to learn to cope. It’s only going to get worse.”
He finally looked at her. The sadness in his eyes reminded her why she’d never mate a shifter, never want to even garner the interest of a shifter. The man standing behind her burned into her awareness.
“I can refer you to someone who can help.”
Mr. O’Connell walked into her line of vision. “No. We need you.”
She glanced up at him. Big mistake. She had the hardest time looking away. “I’ve already told you I no longer take shifters as patients. I work strictly with humans.”
“Can you cure me?”
The soft words came from Liam. When she looked at him, she wanted to cry at the hope in his eyes. She was going to cave. It was why she’d gone strictly human. One look at an emotionally wounded shifter, and she was a goner. “I can help you cope. There is no cure.”
“I’d like for you to help me.”
She stood and grabbed a card from her wallet and handed it to him, unable to believe she was actually going to do it. “Call my office in the morning and we’ll set up a time for you to come in.”
He shook his head sharply. “No. You’ll come here.”
“I don’t make house calls.”
Mr. O’Connell stepped forward. “I’ll pay triple your hourly wage plus gas.”
She swallowed. “You have no idea what I even charge.”
He shrugged. “Money’s no object if Liam can get the help he needs. I’ve been told you are the best…so we need you.”
“But—”
He held up his hand. “Three hundred and fifty an hour, two hour-long sessions a week, and I’ll even pay you the hourly rate for your drive. It took you forty-five minutes to get here, so that’s an extra three hours a week.”
Her eyes almost bulged from their sockets. Seventeen hundred fifty dollars a week? Was he kidding? From his outfit to his cabin, he didn’t look like he had that kind of money just sitting around. She narrowed her eyes. Maybe he was all talk. She’d had it happen before, where the patient was desperate enough to offer anything to get help, but couldn’t follow through.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll need half of the first week’s fee up front.”
Let’s see him get out of that.
He simply left the room.
She blinked. What did that mean? Did he or didn’t he have the money?
She shook her head and busied herself putting her supplies away. A few minutes later, a white envelope was thrust under her nose. She shot a glance up at Mr. O’Connell, irritated by the triumphant smirk on his lips.
“Do we have an arrangement?” he asked.
She took the envelope and opened the flap to find nine crisp hundred-dollar bills.
“Consider the extra payment for the gas you used on the way up here.”
For once in her life, she was at a loss for words. She’d been certain he was bluffing, that she didn’t have to worry about being around him anymore, that she’d leave here tonight never to see Mr. O’Connell again.
But money talked, and right now she needed it. Badly.
Since she’d cut her patient list by more than half, she was barely making enough to feed herself, much less keep the practice open. This kind of money would help with the loss of income and hopefully give her some time to grow her human patient list.
“Well?”
The one word grated on her nerves. He grated on her nerves. Yeah, she needed this money, but not if it meant dealing with this man twice a week. Then she noticed Liam rubbing his palms on his jeans. Cagey. Juiced. She grabbed the stethoscope from her briefcase. As she bent toward his chest, he jerked away from her.
“Hold still.”
He froze. She placed the scope back over his heart. The buzz of the Fewshon was still audible, although not as loud. The shock should’ve knocked the connection into submission and she shouldn’t be able to hear it. She listened under his rib cage. His beast made the mournful sounds of a wounded animal. Frowning, she straightened. The poor man was on the brink of another Bahrraj episode. But when would it hit? It could be an hour, a day, maybe two. But it was going to happen. Soon. Money or not, he needed her help and she couldn’t in good conscience walk away from him. “I have a few hours free in the morning.”
Mr. O’Connell stepped forward. “Perfect.”
She tilted her chin in the air. “My appointment is with Liam. I’m willing to come, but only if he’s alone.”
He lifted one brow. “I live here.”
“Don’t you have a job?”
“I work from home.”
Damn. “Then stay in your office.”
“I can do that.”
She frowned in suspicion at his easy acceptance, but forced herself to look back at Liam. “I’ll see you around ten.”
He nodded.
“Now if you gentlemen will excuse me. I need to get home.” She grabbed her briefcase and ignored Mr. O’Connell as she walked by him to the front door, but it was hard to ignore his scent, which attacked her nose with its mouthwatering appeal. No cologne. All shifter and woods. The image of Mr. O’Connell shirtless, skin glistening with sweat, as he used an ax to chop wood teased her mind. That would be a sight to behold.
Wait. What?
She shook her head. Get your mind out of the gutter, woman. He’s a shifter.
That fact alone should’ve tempered her awareness of him, but it was there in full force, knowledge of his species and all. Not good.
She reached for the doorknob just as a strong arm shot past her. His hand slid across hers and sent a thrilling shock up her arm that shot to straight between her legs. She snatched her hand back.
“Allow me.” The deep masculine drawl breathed into her ear, causing another wave of liquid heat to wash over her.
She stumbled back as he opened the door, then rushed past him and down the path. His footsteps followed at a leisurely pace. When she reached the trunk of her car, she turned. “You can go back inside, Mr. O’Connell.”
He stopped in front of her, his chest mere inches from her face, the word “kiss” once again holding her captivated. She wanted to trace each letter, feel the muscles twitch under her finger with each light caress. Hear his beast growl in approval.
Instead, she tilted her head back to look at him, then had to crank it back some more. It was like looking up at the Jolly Green Giant. Part of her wished she’d worn higher heels. The four-inch ones perhaps, so he didn’t make her feel so small and vulnerable—but she had a feeling that even if she could look him in the eyes, he’d still have that ability, and that annoyed her.
She cocked an eyebrow. “Mr. O’Connell, I suggest you take a lesson in pers
onal space.”
Damned if he didn’t move closer, forcing her to tilt her head even farther back. She wanted to step back, step away from the overwhelming awareness, but she held her ground. She’d shown a moment of weakness by stumbling away from his touch at the door. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing it again.
“Call me Aidan.”
“You’re the roommate of my patient. You’ll always be Mr. O’Connell.” But, boy, was she tempted to say his name. Just once. To see what it felt like on her tongue. “Good day, Mr. O’Connell.”
She turned away to head for the other side of the car, relieved to finally have some space between them.
“I accept your challenge.”
She clenched her hands. Okay. Enough was enough. Time to nip this in the bud now. She rounded on him, poking him once in the middle of the chest with her finger. “Do you truly believe I don’t have a clue what’s going on here? I’m not an ignorant human. I’m half shifter. I know what you are. I specialize in what you are. Don’t waste your time trying to use your shifter prowess to lure me in. I’m not fooled. ”
He wasn’t ruffled by her comments. He just leaned his hip against the trunk and crossed his arms again. “You’ve only made the challenge sweeter. I look forward to proving you wrong…Jaylin.”
She shivered at the way he said her name—a verbal caress that physically warmed her all over and lit a roaring fire low in her belly. She stared at him for a moment trying to come up with a retort. Words failed her.
“Oh!” She whirled around, rounded the back of the car, wrenched open her door, jumped inside, and slammed it closed. His chuckle followed her, causing weird zingies to ricochet inside her chest. Damn him.
“’Til tomorrow.”
He lazily strolled back to the cabin. She couldn’t take her eyes off him in the rearview mirror until he entered and closed the door behind him. Then she stared straight ahead, biting her bottom lip. What would it be like to say his name? She couldn’t ignore the part of her that wanted to hear it fall from her lips, and here would be a much better place than slipping in front of him. She breathed deep.
“Aidan,” she said to the quiet confines of her car’s interior.
His name flowed from her tongue. Even whispered, the word dominated the silence as if she’d screamed it at the top of her lungs. Saying his name held so much power. How would it feel to have him looking at her when she spoke it aloud? Would his beast show itself in his eyes? What bestial color would dominate those green irises as the beast rose? And, God, why did she want to see it directed at her?
She hung her head. What had she done?
…
Aidan waited until Jaylin’s taillights faded into the trees before turning away from the window, wishing he could express his feelings for the doctor to his friend. Six months ago he would’ve without hesitation, but now he wasn’t sure how Liam would react.
He watched his friend suck the grease from the tips of his fingers. He’d devoured two of the pork chops while Aidan had been outside, and finished the third while he’d stood at the window. “Hungry much?”
“Starving.”
The one-word answer made Aidan run his hand over his head. It never used to be this hard to talk to Liam. Out of his two close buddies, Britton was the one he went to when he wanted to drown his sorrows, and Liam was the one he went to when he wanted to talk about his sorrows. Man, times had changed.
Aidan walked around the couch and sat down. “Liam.”
He hated the guarded expression that closed over his friend’s face.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to talk?”
“No.”
Sighing, Aidan leaned forward and clasped his hands between his knees. “I think Dr. Avgar will be good for you.”
“You’re hot for the doc.”
He blinked at the switch in conversation. Not sure how to respond to his comment, Aidan said, “She’s a very attractive woman.”
Liam snorted and shook his head. “It’s more than attraction. I saw the look on your face. You had the need, didn’t you?”
A pang hit Aidan in the chest. For just this moment it felt as if he had Liam back. His friend. “Yeah.”
The need had started the moment he’d opened the door to find her standing there. Knock to the gut was putting it lightly—it was more like the earth had shifted under his feet. His beast had sniffed the air, then howled, and it had taken everything in him not to kiss her right there and then.
“Do yourself a favor. Don’t give in to it.” Liam slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “If you do, you’ll be fucked up for the rest of your life. Look at me.”
The bittersweet moment shattered as the stranger who was now Liam left the room. He’d never been negative before, had always been the glass-half-full sort of person. Then Ava had shown up and ruined him.
He knew Liam wished he’d never given in to the need and kissed Ava, which was the gateway to the Fewshon. Finally, Aidan understood why his friend hadn’t been able to resist the instinct. It was so powerful and consuming that he’d been able to completely overlook the fact that Jaylin represented everything he’d left behind.
With her dark hair twisted up into an immaculate French twist, the gray suit wrinkle-free and expensive, she’d been the epitome of business-world class. Despite her aloof, detached air, he’d never found another woman so alluring, so tempting.
He’d wanted to peel the suit off her, strip her of all her armor, and leave her vulnerable, freeing the real her—just as he’d freed the real him.
And she’d let him, even if she refused to admit it.
As she pretended to be unaffected by him, her body had betrayed her. After he’d intentionally slid his hand across hers at the door, the honeyed scent of her lust had teased his nose. He’d gotten another mouthwatering whiff when he’d said her name.
She might not like it, but Dr. Jaylin Avgar wanted him.
Liam walked back into the room, breaking into Aidan’s thoughts. He stalked the cabin: living room, kitchen, living room, hallway, living room, kitchen. Agitation made his movements jerky. Tension pulsed in his clenched jaw.
“Would you sit down? You’re making me tired just watching you.” He forced a laugh, hoping Liam found the humor in his words and calmed down.
“Go to your fucking room then.”
Aidan bit down hard, keeping his retort to himself. It would only put Liam in a fouler mood, and given what had just transpired this afternoon, it was best to leave well enough alone.
Liam growled—not his beast, but Liam. “I can’t fucking do this. Tell that woman to forget it. I don’t want her help.”
Aidan stood. “She can help you, man. Give her a chance.”
The look of fury Liam shot him shut him up.
“Yeah, sure she can. That’s what women are put on this planet to do. Help the shifters.” He gave a nasty laugh. “You’re in for such a rude awakening, my friend. You need to open your eyes before a woman helps you.”
With that, he slammed out the front door.
Aidan didn’t go after him. He’d seen Liam in this mind frame before, and there would be no talking him out of it. He could only hope that his friend would reconsider before Jaylin showed up tomorrow.
Because there was no way in hell he was calling her to cancel.
Chapter Two
Aidan paced around the living room, straightening cushions, stacking magazines, and wiping dust away with the palms of his hands. Why couldn’t he stay still? Ever since Jaylin had left last night, he’d had this excessive energy he couldn’t explain. If Liam had been here, he could see himself talking a mile a minute to his friend.
But Liam wasn’t here.
Aidan glanced at the clock on the cable box. Ten to ten.
Jaylin was going to be pissed.
Part of him couldn’t wait to see that anger directed at him, to watch her petite frame vibrate with indignation and those deep brown eyes spark with fury—watch that
icy facade slip, revealing the hot-blooded woman he sensed beneath.
The other part cursed Liam for his stupidity.
Aidan had given his friend until midnight last night to return before calling his cell phone. Of course in his current frame of mind, the ass had refused to answer until the tenth consecutive call. Then Aidan had been greeted with a welcoming, “What?”
A quick inquiry to his whereabouts had revealed that Liam was at Britton’s and he wouldn’t be coming home until after his scheduled appointment with Dr. Avgar. It’d seemed his friend didn’t trust Aidan to cancel the appointment. The lack of faith hadn’t been terribly wounding since Aidan hadn’t canceled the appointment—for two very good reasons.
One, he’d hoped Liam would come to his senses and, two, he needed to see Jaylin. Liam was the only connection he had to her right now, and he wasn’t above using his friend’s needs to help with his own.
Three sharp knocks on the door made him pause in fluffing the couch cushions for the fifth time. The precise, in-control raps let him know that Dr. Avgar was here. How long would it take for him to get her hot-blooded side to show? If yesterday proved anything, it wouldn’t take long…just one wrong word from his mouth.
He opened the door, his heart thumping as she came into view. Need hit him square in the chest. He tightened his hand around the doorknob, keeping himself planted when all he wanted to do was haul her to his chest and kiss her. “Dr. Avgar.”
He congratulated himself on saying her last name in a normal voice when he felt so coiled inside, especially when it wasn’t the name he wanted to utter. But using Jaylin right now would be a stupid move. He needed to at least get her inside first.
“Mr. O’Connell.” Abrupt. Professional. He hated it.
His beast shifted, rumbled. He understood why. Her aloof attitude did nothing to hide the woman standing before him, even with her hair still tightly twisted at the back of her head. The starched off-white pinstripe suit didn’t hide her figure, either. One button cinched the suit jacket tight at her waist, accentuating her hourglass figure. An enticing hint of cleavage peeked from between the lapels of a pastel blue blouse. The tight, straight skirt hit right above the knees.