Creatus Series Boxed Set

by Carmen DeSousa

  “Hey… you’re awake,” she whispered.

  “I was hoping I was dead,” Michael groaned.

  She sat on the edge of his bed, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead, obviously checking if he had a temperature. “Why would you hope that you were dead?” She lifted up the pitcher from the bedside table, poured him a cup of water, and held it out to him. “You need to drink more; your temperature is still hovering above a hundred.” She glanced up at the antibiotics in his IV drip. His father must be concerned with the bullet causing an infection.

  Michael accepted the Styrofoam cup, grazing her hand with his fingers in the process. It wasn’t his stomach wrenching, he realized, it was his heart. “Because I’m pretty sure if the bullet wound doesn’t kill me, I’m going to die of embarrassment.”

  The edges of Victoria’s lips turned up and she playfully wiggled her eyebrows at him. She always liked it if she thought she’d beaten him in anything. Only she didn’t know that he let her beat him in sports and running, just because it made her happy.

  “You mean when everyone finds out I kicked your butt?” she teased.

  He choked out a laugh, but then winced at the pain. “No…” He took a sip of water to gather his thoughts and then narrowed his eyes at her. He couldn’t let her think she’d won this match, though. He had to assure her he’d never hurt her purposely. “I wasn’t fighting you, Vic, so it doesn’t count.”

  He attempted to reposition himself on the pillow, which had fallen too low when he took a sip of water, but he grimaced in pain again. What the hell did the bullet do, play pinball inside of him? he wondered. It felt as if every internal organ hurt.

  “Here, let me do that.” Victoria moved the pillow so it was directly beneath his head and then propped her hand up against the mattress on the other side of his body and leaned into it, staring at him. “Why are you embarrassed then?”

  He pursed his lips and huffed out a breath. “You heard me. You heard what I said when I thought I was dying.”

  “So,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It didn’t mean anything. Of course you love me. We’ve been best friends since we were toddlers, for heaven’s sake.”

  With every ounce of effort he could muster, Michael reached for her hand. Thankfully, she didn’t fight him. “I didn’t want to be lying on the ground gushing blood when I told you, and I certainly don’t want to discuss any of this while I’m an invalid on a hospital gurney, but I have to beg one thing of you.”

  She gave him a gentle nod, but didn’t respond.

  “Please don’t leave with Jonas, Victoria.” He squeezed her hand in his and pulled it to his chest. “Give me a chance before you go away.” He paused, letting his words sink in, hoping that she understood this wasn’t a friend request. “I’ve waited too long for you—”

  “Shh,” she hushed him, placing their linked hands against his lips. “I’m not going anywhere, Michael. And I’m definitely not going anywhere with Jonas. He and I would never work. He’s too much of a hothead. One hothead in a relationship is enough, don’t you think?”

  Michael forced a smile. “You’re not a hothead. You’re opinionated and tough; there’s a difference.”

  Vic pulled back her hand and folded her arms over her chest. “Yes I am, but see that’s the difference. You know me, and we’re comfortable together.”

  He pressed his lips in a straight line, holding back his words. He didn’t want to be comfortable with her. He was so far past wanting to be comfortable with Victoria, his arms ached to pull her against him right here on the tiny hospital bed.

  Out of nowhere, the realization that he’d known her his entire life and had never once been able to feel her lips on his drove him mad. He’d never longed for anything this much in his life. But, as long as she wasn’t going anywhere, they could have this conversation later. Preferably over dinner… with candlelight, red wine, and a bubbling Jacuzzi in the background.

  All these years he’d just been filling his needs elsewhere, waiting for her to notice when he should have just demanded her attention.

  “When can I get out of here?” he blurted out.

  Vic patted his hand in a very platonic way, causing his heart to wrench again. “That’s up to Dr. Ashton. I’m not your doctor.”

  He smiled, thinking that could be fun. He pulled her closer, but she hovered over top of him, moving both her hands beside his head to support her upper body. “Will you go out with me then, as soon as they let me go? Alone. Just the two of us.”

  “Sure, Michael,” she agreed offhandedly. “But right now, why don’t you concentrate on getting better? I’m not going anywhere at the moment.”

  “That doesn’t sound too promising. You’re going to give me one pity date to let me know you’re taking off with Jonas?”

  She leaned lower and pressed her lips to his forehead. “I won’t go anywhere until we talk. That’s all I can promise right now.”

  Well, that was something anyway, he thought, feeling his body drift off.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Reece opened his eyes and glanced around at what looked like a hospital room. Unlike most rooms, though, it was empty. Other than the bed he was lying on, there was only one chair.

  The black vinyl chair held a woman. The same stunning woman who had kicked the hell out of the man who’d kicked the hell out of him. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that, but she was breathtakingly beautiful.

  Of course that angel with long onyx hair had then kicked the crap out of him. One second he’d been so taken with her beauty that he was asking what she was, certain she had to be a goddess or an angel, and then the last thing he’d seen was her fist coming down against his face.

  She was just staring out the window, so he watched her instead of letting her know he was awake. Her hair fell over the back of the chair and it took every ounce of strength he had not to reach out and touch it. It looked like black silk.

  Her features were strong, but attractive. She was tall, close to six feet, he remembered. And her eyes… they were a dark sable, the richest and deepest eyes he’d ever seen. Her skin was smooth with a light olive complexion. To say the woman was exotic looking would be an understatement; she was the most unique woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

  As she’d glared down at him in the alley, ensuring him she’d kill him if the other man died, all he could do was gaze into the depths of her lustrously dark eyes. Never had any woman caught his attention completely, and yet, he wondered if she was actually a woman or some type of cyborg.

  In his thirty years in the military and police, he’d never seen a woman fight like she had. And he’d seen some bad mammas in the military and when he’d work UC in Miami and South America.

  He attempted to remain quiet as he cleared his dry throat, but she whipped her head toward him and glared at him, those mysterious eyes gazing into his.

  “Finally!” she spouted. “I wondered if you were ever going to wake up.”

  Reece couldn’t help but smile at her venomous attitude. “Is that man okay?” he asked, knowing that was why she’d been so upset with him. But he’d thought that the man was going to hurt her. He saw the man that had fought him for his briefcase lift his hand to her, so he assumed he had a knife or a gun.

  She huffed out a breath. “That’s none of your business. Whom do you work for?”

  “That’s none of your business,” he retorted, smiling at her perfect grammar. Who said whom anymore? “Whom do you work for?”

  She sighed, exasperated. “Well, we obviously aren’t going to get anywhere.”

  He tried to sit up, but she held up her hand. Beautiful, long fingers attached to deadly hands. “Move, and I’ll kill you right here. I unlatched you from the bed only because my boss told me to. But I’ll lock you right back up.”

  Reece grinned at her, watching as it only caused her scowl to crease her lovely skin even more. “I need to go to the bathroom. So unless you’re willing to help me with that or are wi
lling to clean up a mess, I’d suggest you let me up, Ms…”

  The woman rolled her eyes, stepping back and leaning against the only exit. She motioned her hand as though it were okay for him to proceed to the only other door in the room, which must be the bathroom.

  Reece moved his legs to the side of the bed closest to the exit, not the bathroom, and she crossed her arms defiantly. “You sure you want to take me on, Reece?” she sneered.

  He smiled again, standing up, unable to resist admiring her boldness. “I managed okay with your friend.”

  She raised one eyebrow. “When I found you, you were on the ground.”

  Reece stopped within a few feet of the amazon-looking woman. He’d been right; she was just about five inches shorter than his six-four. He glanced at her throat, making sure she didn’t have an Adam’s apple. That’d be embarrassing, considering the way she was waking up long-dormant parts of his body. He decided he’d better take a bathroom break before challenging her.

  He edged alongside the bed, pulling the sheer cotton robe around his body. Would they ever stop using these stupid things that left your backside hanging out for the world to view? But then again, maybe it would distract her.

  It wasn’t as if he had a bad build either. The man who attacked him on the street was a couple inches taller and had a larger build than he did. But Reece had spent years doing cross fit, which not only gave him a muscular build, he was fast and nimble and could outrun anyone in the military academy or on the street. When he was a cop in Miami, he was the first officer other cops wanted for back up. This woman was serious, though. Just her stance told Reece she was ready for a fight, so he’d have to wait until her guard was down. He kept his distance as he turned toward the bathroom door.

  “Smart move,” she said mockingly.

  Reece relieved himself, taking extra time to formulate a plan. He’d already noticed that the window was solid and high off the ground. Even if he threw a chair through it, he wouldn’t want to climb down. He searched the bathroom for a weapon, and found nothing usable. Shampoo was his only option, but how could he get it in her eyes. He decided to reserve that feeble option for later. Right now, the chair was his best weapon.

  After a few minutes, he opened the door to see her in the same position. He stepped to the opposite side of the bed this time, leaning as if he planned to get back onto the mattress.

  He didn’t.

  Instead, he snatched up the chair and hurled it at the woman, surging toward her immediately.

  She deflected the chair with one hand and then grabbed him by the shoulders as he lunged, throwing him on the twin-size mattress as if he weighed no more than a sack of flour.

  His breath whooshed out of him as he hit the bed perfectly. Even her aim was spot-on.

  “Okay, then.” She stepped toward the bed, grabbing his wrist and latching him to the railing. “I’ll be sure to let your doctor know that you can’t be trusted.”

  The door opened, and an older man of about fifty stepped inside, eyes darting from him to the woman. “What’s going on, Vic?”

  Vic, Reece repeated to himself. Probably Victoria, but she was too tough to go by that lovely name.

  “I warned him,” she growled, crossing her arms over her chest, which only accentuated how well built she was—everywhere.

  The man shook his head and stepped toward the bed. “I’m very sorry we have to keep you here like this, but there’s no sense fighting, Mr. Buckley. You’re in a completely sealed off ward. Even if you got out of the room, every door is secured, and as you can see, you won’t be able to overpower my staff.”

  “What are you people?”

  The doctor sighed. “Just a peaceful group you won’t leave alone.” With that, the man turned and left him with Vic.

  Reece looked back up at the woman and flashed his best smile, the one the women always loved, knowing it would tick her off. “So, Victoria, since we’re going to be here a while, do you play cards?”

  She narrowed her eyes and moved her head slowly from side to side. “Don’t ever call me Victoria again.” She opened the door, following the doctor out, and slammed it behind her.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Ugh! Men! Vic grumbled inwardly. She couldn’t complain aloud of course, because even the creatus on the first floor could hear her. They were all so damn infuriating. And arrogant. And pompous. And… Ugh! She needed to go away to some deserted island where she wouldn’t have to ever see another man in her life—creatus or human.

  What really enraged her was that she was attracted to that stupid weakling of a human. What was wrong with her? First Jonas, then Michael, and now Reece Buckley. Was her biological clock ticking? In human years, she’d only be about twenty-three. Much too young to be thinking about settling down, and yet, she craved it with a passion. Although she hadn’t really been interested in Jonas, even though he’d begged her to go away with him. He’d wanted to start a new family, he’d said. With like-minded creatus. She had just wanted to make Derrick jealous, but that had backfired, and she’d ended up spending the night with Jonas. No wonder she couldn’t fall. She’d have to make up her mind whom she wanted before she could fall.

  Stupid human, she thought again. She’d planned to head directly to Michael’s room after someone swapped watch with her and tell him she understood what he was implying and that she was open to a relationship with him.

  But that stupid human had gazed at her with such wonder in his eyes. It had been what she’d wanted to see, what she thought she could force with Jonas. What she’d wanted from Derrick all these years. Reece didn’t even know her, but he had regarded her as if she were a prize to behold, as if he’d wanted her.

  So she threw him across the room. Served him right.

  Secretly, she had hoped he’d try to escape. She’d been looking forward to putting him in his place, and still, he had ogled her as if there was no other woman in the world.

  Maybe he was into whips and chains. The thought repulsed her. Though she’d thrown him across the room, she’d much rather hold a man than fight him.

  Vic stood in the middle of the corridor, battling with her feelings, wondering how she’d ever get her life in order if her hormones kept raging as if she were in high school.

  At the last second, she turned in the opposite direction of Michael’s room. As Michael had suggested, she’d wait until he was healed and back home, and then they could go out as a couple and attempt to make a relationship.

  In the meanwhile, she’d stay as far away from Reece Buckley as she could. Unfortunately, since she hadn’t been wearing her ski mask, he had seen her face, so now the responsibility of silencing the human would fall into her hands.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Kris felt her mother’s warm hand check her head for fever. She’d always loved when she’d come into the room in the middle of the night when she was sick and just check on her.

  Even if Kris wasn’t sleeping, sometimes she’d pretend to be asleep so she could just enjoy her hands as they caressed her head and hair. Though on occasion, she’d open her eyes and her mother would question why she was still awake, and then she would sing to her until she fell back asleep.

  The knife flashed in front of Kris again, then everything in the room turned blood red, and she remembered that her mother was dead. The rogue had killed her mother. No… the rogue had killed Kris, not her mother. She had stood on the tiny ledge, listening as Derrick and the rogue had fought, and then she’d heard the crack of the ledge below her feet and seconds later had felt the shelf beneath her fingertips bend as she’d tried to grab onto the wall, but she’d clawed nothing but air as she fell.

  “Derrick!” she screamed.

  “It’s okay, Kristina. You’re safe.” A woman’s voice.

  Kris tried to open her eyes, but they were heavy, and an annoying beep filled her head, which throbbed. That voice. She recognized that voice. Victoria? Was she the rogue? No. The rogue had a male voice, she remembered.


  “Where’s Derrick?” she tried to push out, but she wasn’t sure if she’d spoken audibly. Had the rogue killed him? No… Derrick had told her to hang on to him, and then she’d passed out again.

  “I just rang for him when I heard you waking up,” the woman said. “But I’m sure he’s running after he heard you scream.”

  Kris attempted to turn her head to the voice, but every muscle in her body ached. “Vic?” she tried.

  “No, sweetheart. It’s Sabrina.” The woman touched her face again, and Kris forced her eyes open, knowing she was safe. “Don’t cry,” her mother-in-law said, kissing her forehead. “Derrick will be here in a moment. You’re safe, honey.”

  Kris hadn’t realized that a tear had escaped. She wasn’t sad, however, she was happy. Her mother-in-law was here, and she’d said that Derrick would be here soon, and that was all that mattered. Her body felt so sore though, and she was thirsty. She licked her lips, attempting to get moisture.

  “Here, sweetheart.” Sabrina held up a spoon of ice chips for her, and Kris accepted gratefully. They tasted so good. Kris opened her mouth and she offered her another.

  “Kristina,” Derrick said on an exhale, appearing in her line of sight. “Thank God.”

  Kris attempted to smile, but even that hurt. Why did her body hurt so much? “What… happened?”

  Derrick ran his hands through her hair and kissed her forehead. “Honestly, woman. You’ve been through more stuff, and still, you greet me with a smile. We’ll talk later. You’re okay, and that’s all that matters. Just extremely dehydrated, and your body took quite a shock. Humans aren’t meant to drop thirty stories.”

  “No… I guess we’re not.” She closed her eyes, just wanting to sleep, but she didn’t want Derrick to leave either. “Please don’t leave me.”

  A soft chuckle escaped her husband’s throat. “Baby, I will never leave you. It’s you who needs to promise that.”