Waking the Beast(51)

“There are so many things I’ll share with you,” Abby promised. “Once he’s awake.”

“I’d appreciate it. Especially if others show up.”

“Others?” Logan asked.

“I’ll explain it all later,” Jess answered. “Nothing is certain right now. And there’ll be plenty of time to go over it all later, once your mate is better.”

Abby nodded. “Why don’t you stay in here with me? I think maybe it will help Tah if he hears everything you have to say.”

Jess looked at Cody, and Abby found herself doing the same.

He shrugged his shoulders. “It wouldn’t hurt.” He turned to the rest of the room. “I need one of you to take guard outside, since Derrick and I will be trying to reach your friend.”

“I’ll go,” Logan said.

“I’ll go with him,” Derrick offered. “You’ll have a better chance of reaching him on your own, one-to-one. He felt challenged by me yesterday. I’m not sure he’d let me in again. I’ll take Logan and show him around, show him the things to watch for. Adrian and Michael should arrive today with Jess’s dad.”

“We’ve got some people coming in as well,” Reno said, and Logan turned to look at him. “I made some calls. People we can trust. They’ll be trickling in.”

Logan grinned. “Be good to see the gang together again.”

Reno nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like we’re going to have a cabin full,” Jess said with a smile. “I’ll make sure there’s something good for dinner. And plenty of it.”

Derrick turned to Jess before he left the room with Logan. His fingers brushed her hair as he leaned in to softly kiss her on the lips. “I’ll be back. Call if you need me.”

“I will,” she whispered.

Diane was still checking Tah’s vitals and taking more blood.

“At least it shouldn’t be uncomfortable now,” Abby whispered.

“Uncomfortable?” Jess asked.

“Before this morning, it was uncomfortable to have someone else touch me. He felt the same. It took a lot to let you get the blood from us last night.”

“And the hug?”#p#分页标题#e#

“Uncomfortable.”

“You should have said something, Abby.”

“I missed you. I wanted to hug you.”

“And now it’s okay?”

Abby nodded.

“Probably has to do with the ovulation and the fact she’s conceived,” Cody offered.

Abby shuddered. “I’m a little freaked out about that.”

“Being pregnant?” Jess asked.

“No. The fact Cody knows I’m pregnant. I feel like that’s something Tah and I should have known first, discovered together. I don’t even know if he wants kids.”

“I’m sorry,” Cody said.

“Tah will be a great dad,” Reno stated. “He’ll love any child you give him and count himself the luckiest man alive.”

Abby looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “You really think so?” It meant a lot to her to hear what Reno thought. She knew how close the two men were, like brothers.

“I know so,” he assured her before turning to Diane. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll head to the lab with you, Doc.”

Diane nodded, but her concentration was completely on Tah. She patted Tah’s arm as she stood. “I’m going to save you,” she muttered, as she grabbed her bag and turned to leave. And in that moment, she made a friend for life in Abby.

“Let’s go. I want to check a few things. A lion’s body temperature runs higher, between 100.5 to 102.5. But his temperature is over that, about 104. His heart rate is fifty beats a minute, but that’s okay. A lion’s is only forty beats normally, while a human’s is closer to seventy. So I’m going to guess he’s within a normal range there.” She shook her head in frustration. “There’s just so much I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Abby assured her. “I’m glad we have you.”

Diane focused on her and Abby saw the other woman’s eyes drop briefly to her stomach.

“There’s a lot I need to learn, and quickly,” Diane told her before turning and leaving the room with Reno following.

Abby wasn’t sure why Reno was going with the doctor. She had no idea what he did outside of the bar. She just hadn’t paid very close attention to him. She hoped it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Diane.

“I’m going to our room to undress and shift. I’ll stay outside the door, so I don’t spook him,” Cody told Jess as he hugged her close. His lips met hers, and Abby hoped she wasn’t gaping as badly as she thought she was when he turned and left her and Jess alone with Tah. Jess obviously had some pretty big secrets of her own to share.