by Susan Bliler
“Hey!” A hand on her arm spun her around.
When she faced Stoney, she forced a smile. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?”
She fidgeted as Stoney studied her face. She knew she was flushed and sweating way too much, but tried to cover it up. “Um, heading home. I’m feeling much better.”
Stoney’s eyes narrowed at her, and the nurse’s nostrils flared as she inhaled.
Oh crap! “Gotta go. Hey, thanks for everything.” She threw a wave over her shoulder and made it one step before Stoney’s hand clamped on her arm.
“You’re not okay! You’re back in heat, Thea.”
Oh, God! She let her head fall back as she pinched her eyes closed and tried, “I’m fine. Really.” But her voice sounded brittle even to her own ears.
“Hey! What’s going on? Where in the hell is she trying to go?”
Thea actually groaned at the sound of Jenny approaching.
“She’s trying to leave,” Stoney informed, but it sounded like an admonishment. “She’s back in heat, Jen. Smell her.”
Thea whirled around and whisper yelled. “Do not smell me! I am not in heat. I’m going home!”
To her credit, Jenny’s expression morphed into one of understanding as she grabbed Thea’s other arm and steered her back toward her room. “Look, let’s talk. There are things you need to know about what’s happening to you and clearly,” she eyed the hall, “you aren’t going to be comfortable having this discussion out here. Come on,” she tugged a little harder when Thea locked her legs. “Let’s talk privately, shall we?”
Reluctantly, Thea let the nurse and doctor lead her back to her room. Jenny guided her back to the bed, and once there, Stoney made quick work of stripping Thea of her coat and boots.
“I didn’t say I was staying,” Thea snapped.
“Look,” Jenny stood over Thea and reattached the IV and monitors. “You were injected with a tranq dart that held a designer drug. It’s a form of one we know has been used on wolf-shifters, but,” Jenny stalled long enough to pull the stethoscope from around her neck and check Thea’s vitals. “But, I believe this drug is different even from that one. Eleanor, the female shifter it was used on went into one heat. And from everything I’m gauging right now, it looks like you’re about to go into your second.”
“Heat? Wh-what do you mean heat?”
“Physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females.”
Thea closed her eyes and lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose begging, “English! Please!”
“Estrous,” Jenny answered simply. “Your body has gone into a cycle that is receptive to mating.”
Thea kept her eyes closed and dropped her hand. “Jesus! Can you stop it? Turn it off?” She looked at Jenny, hoping to see an affirmation, but her belly clenched when Jenny frowned and shook her head once.
“Not yet. I’ve got your blood work being looked at by the lab and a small sample of what they used on you, but until I know what I’m dealing with, I can’t defend against it. That means all we can do right now is monitor you for changes and keep you comfortable. I’ve got Marko on-call in case…”
“In case what?” Thea snapped as color suffused her cheeks. “In case I need a good rutting?” Turning, she gave Jenny and Stoney her back.
“This isn’t your fault,” Stoney cut in. “You can’t control what’s happening to you. And no one blames you or Marko for what you two had to do to...”
“Stop,” Thea breathed and then more loudly, “Just stop!” Turning she shot Jenny and Stoney her most lethal glare. “No one. I repeat, No. One. Is going to contact Marko for anything. He is not my on-call fuck friend!” She settled back on the bed and jabbed a finger at Jenny. “If I agree to stay here, then you both agree that under no circumstance are you going to contact Marko. I can get through this without any man needing to make me comfortable!”
When Stoney shot Jenny a look, Thea sat up and grabbed the IV Jenny had reinserted.
“I mean it! And you both need to agree to it now. I stay and no one calls Marko, or I walk.”
“Thea,” Jenny began in her most authoritative tone. “You need medical attention right now and you can’t…”
“I’m a grown ass woman,” Thea snapped. “I can and I will if you both don’t agree to my terms right now. You administer whatever medical attention you think it is I need, but no more Marko. No more sex!”
Jenny sucked in a breath and looked at Stoney. “Fine. We agree.”
Thea slid her eyes from Jenny to Stoney. “Say it.”
Stoney looked pissed, but eventually heaved, “Agreed.”
Chapter 9
Marko tried to stay focused as he prowled along the boundary of StoneCrow’s acreage. It was really late…or way too early. The sun was just about to crest the horizon, and he’d spent most of the night patrolling in bear form in an effort to withstand the arctic front that had dropped down from Canada. He’d shifted back to his skin only an hour earlier to talk with one of the other Sentries out on patrol. Since the attack, the patrols had been doubled, and he knew he should be paying closer attention, but his head kept wandering back to thoughts of Thea. He hadn’t received an update yet on her condition, and he felt guilty for not being in the infirmary waiting for her to wake up. Something told him he should be there, and that same feeling kept tugging at his attention and making it hard to do his job. It was almost as if the longer he was out on patrol, the worse it got.
A mental nudge indicated an attempted communication, and he permitted it.
“Marko!”
The urgency in Stoney’s voice had fear skittering up his spine.
“What? What is it?”
“The infirmary. Get to the infirmary. Right! Now!”
The connection was severed, but he was already moving. Two steps and he’d shifted into the form of a white hawk that had just a hint of grey on his wing tips. He was on the furthest outskirts of the estate property, and he had a lot of land to cover.
As his wings beat at the frigid air, his heart thundered in his chest. His mind reeled with worry as he wondered what could be wrong. Thea could be hurt or dying. There could be an attack on the main estate house. Honestly, he prayed it was the latter because he didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself if something had happened to Thea and he hadn’t been there.
As the warm glow of lights from the estate house came into view, he tucked his wings and dove. The chill wind whipped against him and his beady eyes blinked rapidly. With expert precision, he stretched his wings at the last second, catching an updraft that slowed him just far enough from the ground that he could shift and drop, back in human form, onto the snow-covered hill just outside the estate’s main doors.
He was inside in a blink and racing toward the infirmary doors. Before he even got to them, he heard a sound that chilled him to his core. A scream. An agonized, pain-filled scream wrenched from a throat that sounded hoarse from the prolonged activity. And not just any scream. It was a scream that begged for him.
“MARKOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Thea!
He didn’t think he could move any faster. He was wrong.
The door leading the infirmary crashed open so hard that it banked off the wall, one of its hinges ripping from the top so that it hung awkwardly.
Stoney was sprinting toward him, face flushed, eyes filled with tears. “Marko! Thea needs you!”
He rushed past her with a snarled, “How long has she been like this?”
Another scream filled the hall and ripped at his insides. His animals were lunging for the surface now, shredding his insides and inciting him to move faster.
“All night! She didn’t want to have to be taken care of that way. She made us swear we wouldn’t contact you, but she’s getting worse, and Jenny’s afraid she might not make it. The pain meds stopped working two hours in, and she’s been going on will-power alone, but her vitals are dropping fast now…”
The rest of Stoney’s words died off as Marko shoved into Thea’s room. Jenny was there barking orders loudly to three other nurses who all looked just as frazzled as Stoney. Marko’s eyes landed on Thea and rage filled him.
She was curled up in a tight little ball, arms wrapped around her legs. Her gown and hair were drenched with sweat, but she was shaking so damn hard that Jenny was having a hard time reinserting the IV which appeared to have been ripped out gauging from the blood on the sheets and Thea’s arm.
“Out,” he snarled.
No one moved or even seemed to notice he was in the room or had spoken.
“OUT!” he roared, and the nurses gasped and jerked their heads up. His eyes were glued to Thea, and when she peeked open a weary eye to look at him, the relief that flashed across her face made his heart constrict painfully. He could have fixed this. Stoney said Thea had been in agony all night and it didn’t have to be that way.
Without looking at her, Marko growled, “Jenny, take your nurses and get the fuck out, now!”
Whether she knew better than to challenge him right now or simply agreed with his plan, Jenny ushered the nurses out before dropping the blinds over the window and sliding a blackout curtain into place.
Marko heard Jenny click the lock on the door before she left and alone with Thea, Marko started stripping.
The entire time he undressed, his eyes were locked on her. She looked exhausted, and the scent of her sweat, blood, tears, and agony was ripping him to shreds. He had to touch her.
Crossing the room to her, he settled a hand on her arm. The second he touched her, her body went lax, and she whimpered a satisfied sound as if just his mere touch was a great relief. Bending, he lifted her enough to scoot her body over before he climbed onto the bed beside her. The second he was flat, Thea’s eyes struggled to open as she crawled as best she could up onto his body. He knew what she needed though and right now he sure as hell wasn’t going to make her work for it.
Rolling, he pinned her beneath him. Stripping off her hospital gown was easy.
Both of her arms had wounds that told him she’d ripped needles them, and aside from the fact that she’d been suffering all night, the wounds in her arms appeared to her only outward injuries.
Thea tried to lift a hand to touch him, but it flopped lifelessly back to the bed. She was exhausted, but the scent of her need was like a sledgehammer between the eyes. The scent was much thicker than mere sexual hunger. She was sexually starved, and he was going to gut Jenny for letting Thea get this bad. Hell, Delain had told him that she-wolves had died from not being taken care of after being injected, and they were shifters, which meant they were naturally stronger than humans.
Bending, Marko pressed his lips tenderly to Thea’s. She’d suffered all night and for no damn reason.
Thea whimpered against his lips, and he didn’t wait any longer. He couldn’t. Still not sure how or why sex worked, he simply eased her legs apart and slowly pushed into her. Shaking hands lifted and clawed at his back, pulling him closer.
“Shhhhh,” he crooned at her ear as Thea’s body shook with sobs. “It’s alright, honey. I’m here. I’ve got you. I’m not leaving.”
She tried to say something, but her throat was so raw that only a rasp came out. She gave up the effort and simply nodded as he tunneled into her.
The sex was raw, visceral, but something about it felt so damn romantic. He was the one who could save her. He was the one who could bring her back from the brink, and while she’d tried to fight against it, in the end, she’d sent for him. He wanted to feel pride, but concern weighed too heavily on him. Beneath him, Thea’s body shuddered, and he knew she was close. He also knew that one coupling wouldn’t be enough. The night they’d spent together in the cabin after she’d been shot had been a marathon. Thank God he was a Skin Walker. It meant he was up to the task of giving Thea everything she needed for as long as she needed.
Arching her back, Thea moaned as orgasm seized her. Marko didn’t even slow. He just kept right on pumping, his lips dipping to capture one petal pink nipple. He was a breast man, always had been, and Thea’s breasts were everything he dreamed of. Too much for his hands, tipped with berry ripe nipples in creamy skin, Thea’s breasts drew his attention every single time she was near. Now, capturing one stiff peak between his lips, he drove into her one last time before his cock erupted and shot his seed deep.
Chapter 10
Marko rubbed circles on Thea’s back. She was plastered to his chest and finally sleeping peacefully. Her breathing had evened out, her fever had ebbed, and her tears had stopped flowing. Thank fuck! Now, still lying in the hospital bed, covered with one thin blanket, he wondered what happened next. He didn’t have to wonder long. A mental nudge interrupted his thoughts, and he allowed the contact. It was Jenny.
“How’s our girl?”
His tone was clipped, but right now he figured Jenny deserved it. “Sleeping.”
“I need to come in and check her vitals, take another blood sample.”
“She just fucking fell asleep, Jenny. Let her rest.”
“I’d like to, but I need to make sure she’s sleeping and not in a damn coma.”
That had Marko’s hand stilling as he lifted his chin from where it rested on top of Thea’s head to look down at her. She looked like she was simply sleeping, but what in the hell did he know? He was an assassin, not a doctor.
“Fine.” He snapped. “You’ve got five minutes.”
As if waiting for his cue, a key slid into the door, and it was unlocked before it quietly eased open. Jenny poked her head in and entered, followed by Stoney. The two women communicated with each other via the mist and allowed Marko access. He listened as Jenny relayed information to Stoney. The nurse put the info into her e-pad, and to Marko’s great relief, Jenny indicated that Thea was in fact just sleeping and that her vitals were back on par. Stoney took the blood sample Jenny gave her and exited, and Jenny spoke to Marko telepathically.
“We’re gonna move you two up to a suite. We need her close, but what she needs only you can give. It’d make more sense to put you two someplace more private. I’ll send up a nurse periodically to check on things and to take more samples.”
Marko frowned, “About that, is it normal that she didn’t wake when you jabbed her with that needle?”
“She’s exhausted, Marko. She’s been fighting all night.”
His eyes thinned to cruel slits. “You should have sent for me.”
“She made us promise…”
“I don’t give a fuck! You’re a doctor, not her fucking friend. You took an oath, and tonight you let her down.”
To her credit, Jenny hung her head a moment before lifting a hand to rub the back of her neck. “You’re right. I was trying to give her what she wanted, not what she needed. Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to prove that we women are just as strong as you men that my ambition blinds me. I apologize to you both. It won’t happen again.”
“No,” Marko agreed. “It won’t and don’t apologize to me. Apologize to her.”
***
An hour later, Marko had Thea tucked into bed in one of the suites on the second floor of the main estate house. Just a floor up from the infirmary and in a suite across from the elevator, Thea wasn’t too far if medical attention was needed. Stepping out into the sitting room, he frowned at Jenny, still pissed.
“So from what I can tell,” Jenny ignored his look. “Her…ailment is coming back in flashes. It’s the damnedest thing. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. The longer it’s in her system, the more the drug should dissipate, but that’s not happening.”
Marko’s mouth fell open. “This…this can’t be permanent?”
“Let’s hope not.” Jenny blew out a breath. “In the meantime, we’ll monitor her. You stay close. I’m confident that this has got to come to an end. No tranq lasts forever, I don’t care how designer it is.”
Marko noted the worry in her tone though, an
d it had him wondering if the doctor doubted her own words.
“Alright,” Jenny clapped her hands together, folding her fingers together and eyed the room before she pointed at the phone. “Dial zero, one on the house phone to be connected directly to the infirmary, or contact me through the mist immediately if she goes back into heat.”
Marko snorted, “Heat?”
Jenny dropped her hands and arched an eyebrow mockingly. “Well, what would you call it?”
Well, shit. Heat was just as accurate a description as any he could come up with.
“That’s what I thought,” Jenny mocked. “Anything else, before I leave.”
“Yeah. I need to go to my place, grab some gear.” He glanced over his shoulder at the room. “Can you stay here until I get back? I don’t want her waking alone.”
Jenny shrugged. “Sure, but make it quick, I’ve got other patients to attend.”
Marko hurried to the door. “Back in five.”
Jenny waved and eyed the suite. When she was alone, she paced to the window and looked out at the snow-covered landscape. Even the view at the back of the estate revealed the devastation from the recent attack. Several buildings had been damaged, and too many residents had been wounded. Hell, even now they had Walkers, Keepers, and human staff unaccounted for. She shook her head sadly. What a cluster fu….
She felt a mental nudge, and then Stoney was in her head. “Jen, we need you back down here.”
Jenny didn’t bother asking why. Stoney was an excellent nurse and really knew her shit, and if she said Jenny was needed back at the infirmary, then Jenny was needed back at the infirmary. As she made for the door, she demanded, “You’ll need to come up and take my place. I’m watching Thea for Marko. He had to run home and grab some things.”
“Not a prob.”
Chapter 11
Thea woke in new surroundings. Pushing up, she eyed the room. The place was nice. It looked like a fancy motel room. On a table beside the bed was a phone. She picked it up and on a hunch dialed zero, six. The phone beeped, and then a voice answered, “Crow’s Nest. This is Cindy.”