Melanie bent down in front of Wilson. “You’ve got two choices. You can either take your pants down or I can cut up the pant leg to get a better look at this.”
Every one of the Ops present made a noise indicating she’d astonished them all. Eadan was the one who voiced their concern. Since he was a blood relative, it seemed like the best choice. Melanie had proven she could take out a small army by standing in one spot, and Green didn’t want to test her patience.
Eadan, on the other hand, didn’t seem too worried about his sister snapping and removing any vital body parts. “Mel, what the hell are you going to do? Shop the wound away? Last time I checked, we hadn’t put Wilson on sale or offered a certain percentage off him, so could you please go back to wandering around, picking pretty flowers, and ‘oooing’ shiny things?”
Everyone but Eadan leaned back. Even Wilson looked a little suspicious as to whether Melanie would blow.
To Green’s surprise, Melanie ignored Eadan and opened Green’s bag of medical supplies. She pulled a bottle of distilled water from it. “Pants down. Now.”
Wilson mumbled something that Green’s supernatural hearing couldn’t even pick up. Sliding back a bit, Wilson tried and failed to get away.
“What?” Melanie asked, not letting up at all.
He sighed. “I said that I’m not wearing any underwear.”
“I’ve seen many cocks, Wilson. Unless you’ve sprouted a third testicle or a second shaft, I think I’m good.”
Green growled. The thought of Melanie being anywhere near Wilson’s dick was too much for him. It didn’t help that he knew she had indeed seen a good many cocks. His would be the only one she’d ever see again. She was his mate, his wife.
No. Not my wife yet. But she will be.
Jon laid a hand on Green’s shoulder, calming him slightly. “Easy. Attacking him won’t fix anything.”
Melanie grabbed a pair of scissors from the bag and cut Wilson’s pant leg open. She hissed when she saw the wound. It was a nasty one. Already it showed signs of a poison. “First things first. Let’s clean it out.”
She poured water over it, cleaning it slowly and thoroughly. Green was impressed. Apparently, Wilson was too because he didn’t fight her about fixing him. She tipped her head and locked gazes with Green. The blue in her eyes startled him each and every time he saw them. A bead of sweat trickled down her chest, disappearing between her breasts. His entire body tightened and the beast within wanted free. It cared little that they had an audience. All it wanted was to claim her. In truth, it was all the man in him wanted to do as well, so it seemed right.
“Do you have iodine solution?”
Green was too busy fighting back his inner beast to answer her question. Jon bent down and searched the bag. He spent about a minute rifling through the bag’s contents before snarling. “Shit, I packed this thing and forgot to put iodine in it. Sorry, Green, umm, Mel.”
“That’s fine. How about a lime? I’ve seen a good number of them around camp.” Her soft voice worked wonders at chasing the beast within Green back enough to at least breathe normally. It did little for his erection digging painfully into the zipper of his pants.
Putting his hand out, Eadan conjured a lime. “Here.”
Wilson let out a nervous laugh. “That’s a handy skill.”
“Yeah, I’m a blast at parties,” Eadan said with a wink. “If I knew where Jon left the iodine, I could probably call it forth too.”
Jon put his hand up. “I left it back in Virginia.”
Eadan chuckled. “That’s a wee bit far for me. Even I, Super-Eadan, can’t do that.”
Roi moved up next to them. “Puleez, tell me he’d didn’t give himself superhero status.”
Lukian appeared next to Roi. “We could get him a cape made. Some tights. The works. What do you think?”
Running a hand through his dark hair, Roi nodded. “Yeah, blondie would look good in tights. Super-Faerie. I’m afraid people might think he’s a girl though.”
Eadan did a rather fake yawn, patting his mouth as he went. “If only you could come up with some new potshots.”
It was Wilson’s turn to laugh. “Don’t count on it, Eadan. The rat jokes never quit coming.”
“Neither do I when I get started,” Roi said, thrusting his hips, fucking nothing but air.
“I’m not supposed to bend over or anything, am I?” Eadan asked with a smirk on his face. Goading Roi seemed to be a favorite pastime of his. Roi seemed to enjoy it, and in some warped way, it equaled bonding time for them so everyone let them go. “You’ve already confessed to thinking I’d look good in tights.” Eadan winked.
“Are you coming on to me or do you have something in your eye?” Roi folded his arms and clucked his tongue on his cheek. “You know, before I was married I had a thing for blondes.”
Eadan’s face scrunched up. “Oh, you took it too far. I’m going to be sick now.”
“Serves you right.”
Eadan laughed. “I should take you up on the offer.”
“Offer?” Roi snorted. “Please, you’re so not my type.”
Puckering his lips, Eadan made kissing noises and Wilson groaned. Melanie simply shook her head. “Boys, can we focus a moment here? I need a knife.”
Jon handed her his knife. Melanie cut the lime in half and squeezed it over Wilson’s open wound. Wilson jerked a bit and winced. It wasn’t until Melanie grabbed the suture kit from the bag that Wilson finally commented. “Mels, I think the world of you, but I don’t need stitches. I’ll, umm, I’ll heal this on my own.”
She motioned toward the area surrounding Wilson’s wound, paying extra attention to the darkened spots. “No you won’t. See the way the skin is blackening around the edges?”
“Ye-ah?” Wilson asked, the tiniest hint of a squeak in his voice.
“Afraid your ‘man-parts’ are gonna fall off?” Roi clicked his fingers for added flare before cupping himself. “I’m secure and that’s all that matters.”
“Is he always this obnoxious?” Eadan asked.
Green stared at the man he hoped to one day have as a brother-in-law. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Wilson growled as he stared at all of them. “Can we take a moment here and listen to what Mel has to say? I kind of like my ‘man-parts’ just where they are.”
Melanie cast a pensive look at Wilson, making the were-rat’s jaw drop. “Tell me nothing is gonna fall off, Mel.”
Green tried to stifle his laugh and failed.
“I won’t make any promises. If you’re not a good little patient,” she touched his knee, “things might just fall off. That or I’ll rip them off.”
Wilson gulped. So did Green. By the look of the men surrounding them cupping their groins, they all felt Wilson’s pain.
Melanie giggled, sounding so much younger than she was, before taking a deep breath and composing herself. “They used a lead-tipped arrow, Wilson. When I shared my blood with you, it strengthened you when dealing with silver, but weakened you to lead. While lead won’t kill you, it will hurt like hell and your body will react this way. Now, let me stitch it up. We’ll keep it clean and dry for a few days and you should be back to new.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Eadan and I can’t heal lead wounds magikally very easily or we’d fix this for you that way. I’m sorry. Normally, at full strength, I could at least cut the healing time in half.”
“Shh,” Wilson whispered, reaching out and stroking her cheek. “Do what you have to. I trust you.”
Green made a move to go at Wilson but found Jon and Roi pinning him in his place. He would have fought back, but it was then he noticed Melanie begin stitching Wilson’s wound closed. She was a pro and obviously knew what she was doing.
“Melanie, who taught you to do that?” Green asked.
She stiffened at the sound of his voice and that pained him greatly. “I spent my first three years of college double-majoring. I couldn’t make up my mind between being a nurse practitioner or going more t
oward the science side of medicine. I opted for science but managed to come away with a number of useful skills.”
“You told me you were studying fashion design,” Eadan said, sounding shocked. It was hard for Green to hide his own surprise. He’d sensed Melanie was intelligent; never did he imagine how much.
“No,” she let out a soft laugh, “I told you that when I graduate my degree will be in genetics and that I’m hoping to one day be a molecular geneticist. You were the one who thought I was joking and didn’t believe me. I gave up and told you what you wanted to hear.”
Jon let out a low whistle, leaning against a large tree trunk. His amber eyes lit with mischief. “She is tailor made for you, Green.”
Melanie glanced back at Green. There was no mistaking the malice in her look. He’d hurt her and he knew it. “No. I’m not.”
She went back to work, refusing to meet his gaze again. He couldn’t let things continue the way they were going. He’d tried to give her space, time to calm down before he attempted to explain himself—or beg for her forgiveness. Whatever worked. Green bent down and touched her lower back. “I’m sorry.”
“If you want me to kill him,” Wilson glared at Green as he spoke to Melanie, “say the word.”
Oh, he wants it to be that way, fine.
“I knocked you on your ass once over her, Wilson. Don’t think I won’t do it again.”
Roi let out a low whistle. “Stop bringing out the best in Green. I’m starting to think the guy’s really a badass.”
Melanie cupped Wilson’s chin. The act was innocent yet it sent pangs of jealousy through Green. “I don’t want Thad dead. I want him to be happy. He deserves as much.”
“What about you, Mel?” Eadan asked, moving to his sister’s side. He spun his hand in a circle and the air around him seemed to thicken. Melanie’s hair lifted on the breeze Eadan magikally created and twisted into a loose bun. She didn’t seem the least bit surprised, telling Green that regardless how much she and Eadan seemed to go at each other’s throats, they loved one another and were close. “What about what you deserve?”
“The irony is that I got exactly what I deserve.” She stood slowly.
Green reached for her but stopped just short of actually touching her. “No, you didn’t deserve what I did, Melanie.”
She stiffened, refusing to look in his direction and cutting him to the quick in the process. Melanie cleared her throat and nudged Wilson’s good leg with her foot. “You need to avoid doing anything stupid that might tear it open for a couple of days. Can you handle that?”
Wilson slid his hand protectively over his groin and grinned. “If it’ll keep anything from falling off, I’ll do anything you tell me to.”
“Men and their prized possessions,” she mumbled as she took her brother’s hand in hers.
Green didn’t miss the gentle, reassuring squeeze she gave Eadan before looking around at everyone but him.
“I’m going to go wash my hands. I’m not like you guys. Blood does not excite me.” Melanie laughed as she wandered down the path toward the river. All remaining eyes landed on Green.
He winced under the weight of their stares and put his hands up. “I know. I know. I was an asshole. I let the woman I love down and don’t know how to fix it. There. I said it. I don’t know how to fix this.”
Lukian stepped forward. “Sometimes, the smartest men in the world have no common sense.”
“Huh?”
“He’s trying to tell you to pull your oversized intelligence out of your ass and do what your heart tells you to,” Roi mused, picking up the bag. “Go find your future wife and don’t leave her side until she knows how you feel about her. If that doesn’t work, use that brain of yours to devise a way to hold her hostage until she—”
Lukian slapped Roi upside the back of his head and groaned.
Roi shrugged. “What?”
Chapter Nineteen
Melanie rinsed her hands at the edge of the river and froze when she sensed someone watching her. As she turned and found a set of emerald eyes staring back at her, she did her best to hide her smile.
“You’re happy to see me, I can sense it,” Green said, his voice even.
She finished cleaning her hands and shook her head. “I’m not upset, if that’s what you’re asking. I’ll be fine. Not that it matters.”
“Not that it matters?” he echoed.
She gave him a pointed stare. “Our night together was fun. Nothing more. I think that with as sick as I’ve been and with all that’s come to light recently, I was desperate to latch on to something—or in our case, someone. I realize what I was doing and am disgusted with my behavior.”
“Melanie, don’t sweep this under the rug because I hurt you.” Green made a move to go to her but she backed away. “I have to admit that I was overwhelmed as well. That’s no excuse for my behavior. I want to—”
Putting her hand up, she silenced him. “Really, Thad, uh, Green. It was what it was and it was fun. I’ll give you one thing—you I-Op boys really can show a girl a good time.” It was a low blow and she knew it. Watching Green stiffen and his jaw set should have made her feel vindicated. He’d hurt her more than she would ever admit by lying to her, and she wanted him to understand how that felt. Throwing the fact that she’d fucked Lance too into the mix was the easiest way she could think to sweep his legs out from under him. It worked.
“Is that how you really feel?”
She snorted. “You tell me. I heard all about how you can sense truths.”
Something she couldn’t read moved over his face. He tipped his head. “I can’t seem to read you the same way anymore, Melanie.”
It was then that being out and about the majority of the day began to take its toll on her. Her hands cramped and her vision blurred slightly as pain tore through her. It felt as if someone had cracked her in the upper back with a sledgehammer. Melanie staggered and reached out to steady herself. The second her fingers skimmed over something warm, she looked up to find Green standing there. He wrapped his large arms around her and held her close. She tried to push away from him but didn’t have the strength.
“Shhh.” He kissed the top of her head. “Let me love you, Melanie.”
Let me love you?
Her chest tightened. “I want to go home, Green. I don’t belong here.”
“You belong with me.” He caressed her back gently as he continued to hold her.
“No. I don’t.”
His lips brushed her neck and he purred ever so slightly, sending need shooting throughout Melanie’s body. She was tired and sore. No part of her should have craved sex, yet she did. Not just sex, but a primitive, hard fucking from Green to be exact. He swayed their bodies to a beat she didn’t hear so much as feel. The feel of his clothed erection pressing against her lower abdomen left Melanie panting and staring up into his eyes.
“Don’t,” she whispered, unsure what exactly she wanted him to avoid doing.
His warm breath skated over her cheek, making her knees weak and her resolve crumble. Pushing on his chest, Melanie bit her lower lip. “Please, Thad, just go.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you.”
If shocking her to the point she was speechless was his goal, he’d succeeded nicely. Her brow knitted as she tried and failed to soak in the magnitude of it all. The idea that a man as wonderful as Green could love her was too much for Melanie.
Push him away.
It can never work.
He’ll break your heart.
Hurt you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.
He can’t love you for you, Melanie.
Her inner voice was relentless.
Green drew in a deep breath, seeming to savor her scent as he continued to rock their bodies. The moment he began to hum, Melanie melted in his arms. He chuckled as he kissed her cheek gently. “I want to touch you.”
“You are touching me,” she said, knowing full well
what he meant.
He ran his hand down her arm, making her shiver with anticipation. The slow, sexy curve of Green’s full lips left Melanie on the verge of moaning. “That I am.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “That you are.”
“Forgive me.” Green dipped her slightly and planted tiny kisses on her neck. “Please.”
As much as she wanted to say no, that wasn’t what came out. “I’ll think about it.”
“Green!”
The sound of Jon’s voice snapped Melanie out of her sexual stupor. Green stood tall, taking Melanie with him, and kept her close to him. Jon glanced at her and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt but Captain needs both of you immediately.”
“Jon?” Green kissed the top of her head. “What’s wrong? Is it Wilson?”
“Negative. I don’t know the details yet. All I know is that he wants you both, now. And I’m supposed to grab your medical supplies.”
Green took her hand in his and she didn’t protest. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty
Green entered Melanie’s hut, exhausted but needing to see her. They’d spent almost twenty-four hours treating native tribesmen suffering from symptoms of poisoning. In the end, it had been Melanie who suggested they dig deeper. When they did, everyone was shocked to find connections to Krauss’s compound and the natives’ sickness. They knew he was ruthless and would stop at nothing for the sake of science, but attempting to wipe out a group of people for the simple fact that they were in the area was too much. Krauss’s men had been so arrogant as to leave behind evidence in the form of containers of poison. Roi and Jon had found them near the natives’ food supply and had discovered it coated the majority of their cooking and drinking utensils.
The tribespeople were reluctant to allow them to treat them at first, but Melanie and Eadan used their magik to calm them. They would live and that was all that mattered. Wilson had even managed to stop bitching about them being there long enough to find himself providing the entertainment for the children among them. Green still couldn’t shake the visions of Wilson doing a sock puppet routine from his head. Thankfully, the children didn’t speak English, because Wilson wasn’t exactly known for curbing his words. When Peren happened upon him having one puppet “kick the living shit” out of the other, she slapped him in the back of the head and the children roared with laughter.
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