by Bianca D'Arc
While most of his old unit had basic first-aid training, and a few had more advanced skills, Sven was the only credentialed M.D. who could handle the really tough cases. He’d reattached fingers and even a limb or two in his time in the desert with his unit. He could handle major surgery and the few illnesses that sometimes plagued shifters. It took a helluva contagion to bring down a shifter, but Sven knew how to deal with such things where the other guys might not.
Sven heard the click of the doorknob and spun to watch it turn. Then, the door opened, and a waft of steam hit his nose, engulfing him in momentary warmth and the scent of herbal shampoo and woman. Mmm. The bear liked the combination. So did the man.
Sirena smiled at him, and his heart nearly stopped for a moment. She looked so happy. And fit. And the dark circles that had been under her pretty eyes from almost the moment he’d first encountered her were no more.
“You look really good,” he said, not realizing the thoughts in his brain were spilling out of his mouth until he heard himself speak.
“I feel really good,” she agreed, thankfully not thinking him weird. “The water felt so good, and my energy is starting to return a lot quicker. I think you’d probably better take these stitches out, though, before they get stuck.”
She lifted the side of her baggy sweatshirt as she moved toward him and showed him a stretch of creamy skin that made his mouth go dry. Then, he saw his handiwork, and all the lascivious thoughts that had fogged his brain fled. He’d put in quite a few stitches on that particularly nasty wound on her side, and she was right. She was starting to heal like the shifter she was, and those little bits of thread would have to go sooner rather than later.
“I’ll get the tray with my tools.” He headed out of the room, his mind already on the task in front of him.
When he returned, he found her waiting for him, sitting on the side of the bed, her bare feet dangling over the side. He should have at least found a pair of socks for her.
“I’ll get you something to put on your feet as soon as we have those stitches out, all right?” He approached, all business as he tried to work out the best way to approach her now that she was mobile. “Would you lie down on your side for me?”
She complied, moving much easier now that she was on the mend. It did his heart good to see her responding the way any of his shifter comrades would have from such wounds. The lack of progress before Mrs. Legine’s intervention was now glaringly obvious. He could only send his thanks heavenward to the Mother of All that Mrs. Legine had arrived when she had.
Come to think of it, since Drew’s mother was a priestess, it very well could have been divine intervention that sent her here at the exact moment she was needed. Sven had seen stranger things in his time. He wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Goddess hadn’t been watching over Her servants just the tiniest bit.
Sirena got in position, and Sven dragged a chair over to her bedside. He laid his tools out on the edge of the bed next to her hip. He’d brought scissors, tweezers, topical disinfectant and gauze with him in a metal dish. He emptied the dish of the supplies and would use it to catch the used sutures as they came out of her skin.
Sirena raised her shirt to just under her breasts and tugged the loose waistband of the sweatpants down over her hipbone. The bite marks had been deep gouges around her middle. Sven had sutured the worst of the gashes, but they were coming along nicely at this point.
So different than from just a few hours ago, when there had been very slow improvement, hindered by the magical energy drain. Now that the connection had been cut, Sirena was doing a lot better. Sven set to work, tugging gently on each stitch, cutting and pulling, doing his best not to hurt her.
Sirena didn’t complain. She was a good patient, only stiffening once or twice when Sven moved too quickly and inadvertently caused her discomfort. He mentally kicked himself when that happened and redoubled his efforts to be gentle, but she never said a word of complaint. She was a trooper.
After he pulled the last stitch out of her creamy skin, Sven dropped the remnants of thread into the dish, then put his tools with the discarded threads for later sterilization, after he disposed of the waste. He used the gauze to swab the area with a topical disinfectant, examining her closely to be sure the skin was sealing itself. He was happy to see she was healing at a much quicker rate than before.
“I don’t think you need a bandage on this at all anymore.” He put the rest of the trash into the metal dish and looked up to meet her gaze.
“That was the worst of the wounds. The other spots are already knitting nicely, see?” She lifted her foot and tugged the hem of her sweatpants up to reveal what had been a nasty gash on her leg, then showed him her other foot, which had been in bad shape just a day or two ago. “The water did wonders. As did you.” She lowered her feet back to the bed and reached for his hand.
It was the first time she’d touched him. Oh, he’d touched her a lot in the course of her treatment, but this was the first time she’d reached out and initiated contact between them. For some reason, that meant a lot to him. She held his hand and squeezed it as she looked into his eyes.
“Thank you for taking care of me when I was so weak. I’m not used to having anyone look out for me,” she said, blushing a bit as she made the admission. “You saved my life.”
The mood between them became intimate suddenly, as if they were the only two people left in the entire universe. All other sounds faded into the background. The only thing he could hear was the sound of her voice and the beat of their hearts.
“I’m glad I was there to help you, but I’m only sorry I didn’t realize what was going on with your energy sooner.” He would be kicking himself for a long time to come because he hadn’t figured that out earlier.
“You couldn’t have known. You even brought Gus in to check, and he didn’t see it,” she reminded him gently. “You did everything you could, and for that, I’m really grateful.” She leaned closer and kissed his cheek.
His breath caught, and time slowed. Her lips were so soft against his cheek, like a butterfly caress. A thing of beauty and delicacy. What would she do if he turned his head and brushed her lips with his own? The bear inside prodded him to find out. Without giving it too much thought, he moved slowly enough for her to escape if that’s what she wanted…but she didn’t. She lingered, her lush lips near to his.
And then, they were kissing. A gentle touch at first. A touch of seeking permission and cautious discovery, very unlike his usual experiences with the opposite sex. No, with Sirena, everything was bright and new. Different in the best possible way.
It was a tender kiss that morphed slowly into something hotter and even more mysterious as she allowed him to kiss her, and even joined in. Before his mind really registered what was going on, she’d thrown her arms around his neck and drawn him closer.
The chair was teetering on its front legs beneath him, but he followed where she led, fusing their torsos together, mirroring their lips. And then, he took it farther, his tongue licking out to taste her.
She moaned, and his blood caught fire. She leaned into him as he took her in his arms, trying to be as gentle as he could under the circumstances. The bear inside him wanted to pet her and comfort her. To show her how careful he could be, how much he cared for her.
Wait. The bear cared for her? Sven had thought it was his human side—the doctor part of him that wanted to help people—that had brought out his protective streak, but no. The bear was involved in this as deeply as his human half, which was a first.
Never before had the bear cared about anything other than immediate pleasure that could be gained from a female. It cared about dominance and sex for sex’s sake. It hadn’t ever urged him to be so careful with a particular woman, or cared for one so deeply.
It should have scared him shitless, but the truth was, it just felt right. Everything about finally having Sirena in his arms in passion felt good and pure and…like fate.
That thought
rocked him even as her tongue licked out to duel with his. Oh, she was into this kiss as much as he was. He’d kick himself if she regretted it later, but for now, he couldn’t deny himself the pleasure of her taste, the feel of her body under his hands and the softness of her in his arms.
A rustling sound from the doorway intruded, and for a moment, Sven wanted to just ignore it and hope it would go away, but the sound continued, breaking the spell that had nearly stopped time around them. He drew back, loving the well-kissed look on Sirena’s beautiful face, the dilation of her mysterious eyes, the pleasure scent wafting from her soft skin. His bear wanted to rub himself all over her and bask in her delicate fragrance.
The rustling sounded again, and he looked up, over Sirena’s shoulder. John Marshall, Alpha of Grizzly Cove, stood just outside the doorway, waving a paper in a fanning motion. The Alpha’s expression was a mixture of surprise, concern and approval as he raised one eyebrow at Sven.
The bastard had seen everything, and Sven supposed he should be thankful for the Alpha’s discretion. That waving paper had been designed to catch Sven’s attention gently, without alarming Sirena. Sven would thank John later, after his inner bear got over the annoyance of being interrupted when he had a soft female in his arms.
John stepped backward a few feet, as Sven let Sirena go. Neither of them had spoken yet, but he knew he had only moments to set the scene John was providing, hoping to spare Sirena any embarrassment of being caught in the very improper act of necking with her doctor. Sven put a respectable distance between them.
She opened her mouth but didn’t speak when John deliberately made noise out in the clinic. Her gaze shot to the doorway as she sat on the bed. John came into view, walking heavily so he could be heard as Sven sat back on his chair.
“Glad to see you looking so much better, ma’am,” John said with a quiet, friendly smile before turning his attention to Sven. “Got a minute, doc?”
Sven steadied his breathing and stood. “Sure thing, Alpha. What can I do for you?”
He paused only to send a last glance back at Sirena before leaving the room. Her face was attractively flushed, her eyes still holding a bit of the dazed look that had filled them just after he broke off kissing her. He wanted to see that look on her face again. Many times. Maybe for the rest of their lives.
Chapter Eight
Sven needed a minute to regroup after that life-altering kiss, but he didn’t really have the time. John led the way into Sven’s office and nodded for Sven to shut the door behind them, sealing them in the privacy of the small room.
Sven went to the small refrigerator he kept in one corner and grabbed a cold beverage. He needed to cool down. When he offered one to John, the Alpha shook his head, opting instead to take a seat in one of the chairs facing Sven’s desk that he kept for visitors.
Good. That meant Sven could dive behind the illusory safety of his desk. He sat in his rolling office chair and tried to calm his raging arousal. Just a kiss from Sirena and he’d been all set to go off like a firework on the Fourth of July.
“What can I do for you, John?” Sven asked, sipping his icy cold drink.
“I set up the town council meeting as requested and managed a quick phone conversation with Drew’s mom. She wouldn’t say much about the discovery she made here earlier, but I take it, now that the connection to the leviathan, through its minion, has been cut, your patient is getting better?”
Sven nodded. “Much. I just took out the last of her stitches, and she’s healing at the rate I would expect from a shifter now.”
John hit Sven with that appraising raised-eyebrow look once again. “And the clinch I interrupted?”
“A new development,” Sven admitted, not wanting to say much more. He wasn’t sure what would come of the attraction he could no longer deny for Sirena. He’d have to sort a few things out with her first before he was ready to reveal anything to someone else, even the Alpha.
“Are you serious about her?”
He should’ve known John wouldn’t just leave it alone. Sven shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“I’m not sure what’s going on yet, and even if I did, you wouldn’t be the first to know. Sorry.” Sven finished his drink and crushed the can in one hand, tossing it into the recycling bin he kept against the wall for just that purpose.
John laughed. “I wouldn’t expect to be the first to know. That honor should go to your lady. But I hope you’d put me on the list somewhere.”
Sven relented. “Yeah, you’re on the list, but I’m not even sure what’s happening yet, so give me some time to figure things out. It may be nothing.”
“That didn’t look like nothing,” John observed.
It hadn’t felt like nothing either, Sven admitted in the privacy of his own mind. A rather noncommittal “yeah,” was all he said in reply to the Alpha’s observation.
“So the meeting,” John redirected them back onto the topic he’d come to discuss. “I’ve set it for four o’clock over at the town hall, in the conference room. If your patient is well enough, she deserves to be there. Mrs. L is going to be discussing what she’s learned about the leviathan from intervening with your lady friend. I’m not sure why she’s being so mysterious, but priestesses have their ways, and I respect that.” John stood from the visitor chair. “Will Sirena be well enough to make the meeting?”
“Probably. She’s improving much more quickly now that the constant drain on her energy has been halted. I’ll bring her over.”
“Good. I’ll see you both then.” John walked out without further comment, and Sven was grateful for the Alpha’s discretion. Sven had to get his own head screwed on straight first before he would feel at all comfortable in discussing his unprecedented reaction to Sirena.
*
Sirena was feeling a lot better as Sven escorted her out of the clinic for the first time since she’d arrived in Grizzly Cove. He wasn’t letting her walk the short distance to the town hall. Instead, he led her at a slow pace, his hand solicitously under her elbow, to his car. It was a dark sedan, and that’s about all she knew about cars. It had big doors and was easy to get into, even with her still somewhat stiff midsection. The open wounds from the sea monster’s bite might be healing, but it would still take a bit of time for the tissue and muscle to recover fully.
She just thanked the benevolent Goddess that she was finally healing. Between Sven’s medical interventions that had kept her alive to this point and the magical healing performed by the shaman and, most recently, by Drew’s mother, the people of this town had really gone above and beyond for her. If she hadn’t been disposed to like them before, Sirena had to admit that Grizzly Cove was a good place, filled with intrinsically good people who had been willing to go the extra mile in Sirena’s time of need. She wouldn’t forget that. Not ever.
And she would always remember the gentle care of the big polar bear shifter at her side. He’d been so concerned about her, and so bad at hiding his worry. It was almost funny now, but she couldn’t yet laugh at the terrible danger she’d been in, even after she’d been brought here, to the comparative safety of the town. Sven had saved her life, of that she had no doubt.
And now, he acted the perfect gentleman, helping her to his car and making sure she was all right at every step. It could have been annoying, but he was so sweet about it, she couldn’t really take offense. Still, by the time he pulled up at the side door to the nearby town hall building, she was ready to show him that she wasn’t as feeble as she had been just the day before.
She didn’t wait for him to come around and open her door. Instead, she got out of the car on her own and did her best to march up the few steps to the door without wobbling. She was very pleased to find she felt much steadier on her feet than she had even an hour before. The fresh air seemed to be helping clear the last of the cobwebs out of her mind, and her body was following right along.
Sven caught up with her and gallantly opened the door for her. She entered the structure fee
ling a bit like a queen, with her manservant providing escort. It was a silly notion that made her smile as she got her first look at the town hall.
He’d brought them to the side of the building, very close to the meeting room. She could hear voices beyond an open doorway, through which cheerful light was spilling into the darkened hall. The sun was on its daily trip downward in the sky, and clouds had moved in, obscuring what little light was left. Sirena had noticed that the lights were on in every business they had passed on their short journey down Main Street.
She paused beside the open doorway, and Sven touched her arm.
“You okay?” he asked, his handsome face showing concern when she turned to look at him.
“Fine. I’m just not used to crowds anymore,” she whispered.
“I’m right here,” Sven reminded her, rubbing her arm in a show of support. “I’ll be with you the whole time, and we can leave anytime you want. Just say the word.”
She gave him a tight smile. He really was the most considerate male she had ever encountered. These bear shifters were proving to be nothing like she had expected.
She gave him a nod of thanks and took one of his hands for moral support as they entered the room together. The conversation in the room ceased and then started up again as two women rushed over, practically tackling Sirena where she stood. Her hunting party sisters, Grace and Jetty, were both there, smiling and hugging her in turn.
Sirena felt much more comfortable with them there. Between her mer sisters and Sven’s presence, she didn’t feel so out of place. The girls ushered her toward the large conference table, and before too much longer, they were all settled in seats around the massive wooden table.