Lover Unbound(135)

"Shh."

" 'Cause I think I'm out of cash—"

"Shh."

It was awkward being treated like a patient, and keeping her mouth shut made it worse. Man, there was something to be said for hiding awkwardness behind words—

A dark room. A man in a bed. Her talking… talking about… Hannah's funeral.

Another sharp shooter nailed her in the head and she sucked some air in. "Shit."

Manello let her wrist go and laid his palm on her forehead. "You don't feel hot." He put his hands on the sides of her neck, right under her jaw.

While he frowned and prodded, she said, "I don't have a sore throat."

"Well, you don't have any swollen glands." His fingers went down the column of her neck until she winced, and he tilted her head to the side. "Shit… what the hell?"

"What?"

"There's a bruise here. Or something. Goddamn, what bit you?"

She put her hand up. "Oh, yeah, I don't know what that is. Or when I got it."

"Seems to be healing up okay." He palpated the base of her neck, right over her collarbones. "Yeah, no swelling here, either. Jane, I hate to break it to you, but you do not have the flu."

"Sure I do."

"No, you don't."

"You're an ortho guy, not an infectious-disease czar."

"You're not having an immune response here, Whitcomb."

She felt her own throat. Thought about the fact that she wasn't sneezing, coughing, or throwing up. But, hell, where did that leave her?

"I want to have a CAT scan on your head."

"Bet you say that to all the girls."

"The ones who present with your symptoms? Absolutely."

"And here I thought I was special." She shot him a weak smile and closed her eyes. "I'll be okay, Manello. Just need to get back to work."

There was a long silence, during which she realized that his hands were on her knees. And he was still up close, leaning over her.

She lifted her lids. Manuel Manello was looking at her not as a doctor would, but as a man who cared about her would. Shit, he was attractive, especially like this… except something was off. Not with him—with her.

Well, duh. She had a headache.#p#分页标题#e#

He leaned forward and stroked her hair back. "Jane…"

"What?"

"Will you let me set up a CAT scan for you?" As she started to shut him down, he interjected, "Consider it a favor to me. I couldn't forgive myself if there was something wrong and I didn't push on this."

Shit. "Yeah. Okay. Fine. But I don't need—"

"Thank you." There was a moment's pause. And then he leaned in and kissed her on the mouth.



* * *





Chapter Thirty-six





On the Other Side, Vishous stared down at Cormia and wanted to shoot himself in the foot. Following her wobbly revelation that she'd never seen a male before, he felt god-awful. It had never dawned on him that she'd known only females, but if she'd been born just after the last Primale died, how could she have ever met the opposite sex?

Of course she'd be terrified of him.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered, drawing hard on his hand-rolled, then tapping on it. He was ashing on the amphitheater's marble stage, but he didn't give a fuck. "I totally underestimated how hard this would be for you. I assumed…"

He'd assumed she'd be hot to trot for him or some shit. Instead, she was no better off than he was.

"Yeah, I'm damn sorry."

As her lids peeled back in surprise, the jade color of her eyes gleamed.

In what he hoped passed for a gentler tone, he said, "Do you want this… ?" He moved the hand that held the cigarette back and forth between them. "This mating?" When she stayed quiet, he shook his head. "Look, I can see it in your eyes. You want to run from me, and not just because you're scared. You want to run from what we're going to have to do, right?"

She brought her hands to her face, the heavy folds of the robe riding down her thin arms and choking the crooks of her elbows. In a small voice she said, "I couldn't bear to let down the Chosen. I… I will do what I must for the good of the whole."

Well, wasn't that the theme song for the both of them.

"As will I," he murmured.

Neither of them said another word and he didn't know what to do. He was no good with females to begin with, and he was even worse now that he was damaged goods from letting Jane go.

Abruptly he whipped his head around, aware that they were not alone. "You, behind the column. Come out. Now."

A Chosen stepped into view, head bowed, body tense beneath her traditional white wrap. "Sire."

"What are you doing here?"