Creatures ok anthology, p.57
Creatures of the Dark Anthology, page 57
“I’ll be okay.” His voice came out low and raspy. He cleared his throat. “I’m serious; I’ll be fine.” Please stop touching me before I lose control again.
“I’m going to get you some medicine.”
Knox opened his mouth to argue, but he realized that he couldn’t tell her the fever was actually a good thing. It was his werewolf biology working hard to heal his wound. Plus, if she went to get medicine, it meant she’d leave the room, so he could compose himself before she returned.
“That would be great. Thank you.” Human drugs barely affected him at all, so taking some ibuprofen or acetaminophen wouldn’t kill him.
“I’ll be right back.”
Hannah left the room, and Knox breathed a sigh of relief. He took the pillow out from underneath the covers and put it under his head. He grabbed his phone and called Blake back, hoping he wouldn’t hear the guilt in his voice. The call went to voice mail, and while Knox was slightly grateful, he needed Blake to pick him up—pronto. Before he ruined his sister.
He set the phone down with a sigh. Why did it seem like, when you missed a phone call and tried to return it, the person wouldn’t answer? Never failed. Bastard hadn’t even left a voice mail.
Hannah walked back into the room with one hand cupped and the other holding a glass of water. Her long blonde hair was up in a ponytail, but pieces were falling out. Either from sleeping or from his earlier actions.
Her tight white T-shirt hugged her perky breasts, and her nipples poked out. He remembered how the one had felt against his palm, and his deflating erection rose again. Her shirt didn’t quite meet her shorts, and the creamy skin of her belly teased him. He wanted to lick her there.
And lower.
He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned.
“Are you okay?” Hannah asked as she sat next to him on the bed. “Here’s the medicine.”
He opened his eyes, took the pills and glass, and quickly swallowed the tablets. He wanted to dump the rest of the water over his head.
She adjusted herself next to him and put her knee on the bed to face him better. All he could see was the opening in her shorts and the fact that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. Plus, her smell. He could smell her arousal. She was going to kill him.
“I think we need to talk about what happened,” she said at the same time he said, “I need Blake to pick me up as soon as possible.”
She cocked her head to the side.
“Look, Hannah, I’m sorry. I’m not myself right now. I didn’t mean to assault you like that.”
“I’m the one who accidentally fell asleep next to you.” She drew her eyebrows together and narrowed her amber eyes. “But, Knox—”
“Please, can we just drop it?”
She pursed her lips together. “Okay, because you’re my patient and you’re sick and injured, I’ll let it go. For now.” Her face relaxed. “How do you feel?”
Horny. “Okay. Better than last night. Thank you.”
She smiled. “Is there anything you need?”
For you to leave. “Um, no. I would like to rest some more, if that’s okay.”
“Sure.” She stood up and straightened his covers. “I have some charts I need to catch up on. Yell if you need anything.”
He gave her a tight smile. “Of course.”
She walked toward the door, and he pretended to relax into sleep. Once she shut the door, he opened his eyes and cautiously sat up. He grabbed his phone and got Blake’s voice mail again.
“Blake, man, pick up. You’ve gotta get me out of here.”
Hannah gently shut the door behind her. She forced herself to walk away because what she really wanted to do was go back inside and ask Knox why he felt the need to apologize for what had happened when all she wanted was for him to continue.
She walked into her kitchen and started the morning coffee. While she waited, she pulled out her charts to work on them. It was Saturday, but she felt like her work was never finished. This was fine with her because she loved being a veterinarian.
Her coffee finished brewing, and she grabbed a cup before sitting down. She opened the first folder and simply stared at it. She didn’t feel like working. She sank down in her chair, tipped her head back, and closed her eyes.
Hannah had met Knox five years ago. Blake and Knox had been partners for a few months and instantly clicked. Knox didn’t have much family in the Twin Cities area, so when Thanksgiving rolled around, Blake invited Knox to their big family dinner. The moment she saw Knox, she knew she wanted him. She was sure he wanted to her, too. But, five years later, he still hadn’t asked her out.
Blake and Hannah were the only children in their family, but their mother had come from a large family. Hannah and Blake had five aunts and uncles and twenty-one cousins. She’d lost count of how many children her cousins had produced. Last time she’d checked, Blake and she were the only ones who hadn’t had children. Except for their cousin Vince. But Vince was a partier and a womanizer. He probably had ten kids by ten different women that none of them knew about, including Vince.
Then, there was Teresa. She was the female version of Vince. Every holiday dinner that Knox attended, she’d be all over him. Knox never took her up on any of her offers, but he’d still hug her and give her a kiss on her cheek before he said good-bye. As he did with all of Hannah’s female family members. With the exception of her. She always got a handshake and a pat on the back.
If she didn’t get along with Knox so well and knew that he liked her as a person, she would be insulted. Yet the two of them always clicked, and he always treated her with respect.
So, what the hell had happened in the bedroom?
After finally convincing herself that he had no romantic interest in her, she’d woken up to him on top of her. Kissing her. Touching her.
And there had been no mistaking his thick arousal rubbing between her legs.
After taking care of Knox’s wound last night, she’d put on her regular pajamas—T-shirt and shorts, sans bra and underwear. She’d hated sleeping with either since junior high. She only meant to check on Knox for a minute or two before bed. But he was restless in his sleep, and she was afraid he would injure himself further. She sat on the bed to rest her feet, never imagining she would fall asleep.
So, this morning, when she’d woken to Knox over her, the only thing that had separated them was her shorts. She cursed herself for not sleeping in the nude. Of course, it would have been highly inappropriate of a doctor to sleep naked next to her patient.
She went back to her question of what had happened to Knox. He’d been almost like a man possessed. The way he’d wrapped himself around her and consumed her mouth. She squirmed in her seat, thinking about it. It reminded her that she hadn’t been with anyone for sixteen months, and even then, the sex had been blah. She always knew sex with Knox would be wild. Animalistic. Getting a glimpse of it had only made her sexual drought feel worse. If he hadn’t thrown himself off her and apologized so profusely, Hannah would be enjoying every second of being intimate with Knox.
But the reality was, after his phone had rung, he had thrown himself off her and apologized.
She rubbed the area between her eyes. Why had Knox apologized? Did he think she didn’t want to be with him? She thought she’d made her attraction to him pretty clear over the past few years, but maybe he needed a reminder.
She sat up in her chair and opened her eyes. She bit her lip. He had been pretty adamant in his refusal to talk about what had happened. He had been half-asleep when he kissed her. Maybe he didn’t want to be with her, and that was why he’d apologized. He simply didn’t want to let her down. But, instead of being let down, she was a little angry. She was a big girl. She could handle rejection.
It was probably better this way. The man was recovering from a bullet wound.
Before she could contemplate further on what had transpired between the two of them, her doorbell rang. She frowned. She had no idea who would be at her house at ten o’clock on a Saturday morning besides her brother or her mother. Both of whom never knocked before entering, so it couldn’t be either of them.
She got up to go throw on a bra at least, but then she remembered Knox was sleeping in her bedroom. She didn’t want to wake him in her haste to get dressed. So, instead, she crossed her arms over her breasts and answered the door.
“Hey, Mark.”
Mark was her colleague and friend. This morning, he held a Jack Russell terrier in his hands.
“What are you doing with Maggie?”
Maggie technically belonged to the practice, but she lived with Mark. Hannah only took Maggie when she had to. While she loved dogs, she had a special place in her heart for cats. Unfortunately, two of the three cats she owned hated when Maggie stayed with her.
“I’m sorry to spring her on you like this, Hannah,” Mark said, “but my mom was in an accident. I have to fly to Denver at the last minute. Can you take Maggie?”
“Of course. Come in.”
Mark stepped inside and set Maggie down. Maggie made a beeline for the spot in her kitchen where her food and water sat whenever she stayed.
“Are the cats going to be okay with this?” He looked around. “Where are they anyway?”
Hannah shrugged. Her cats, who were normally friendly toward humans, always hid when Knox was in her home. She didn’t get it. He was always nice to them if he ever saw one. They still made themselves scarce whenever he was around.
“Is your mother going to be okay?”
“They think so, but they are keeping her in the hospital overnight. I want to be there.”
“I understand. You go. I’ll have Sandy reschedule all your appointments on Monday. Don’t worry about anything here. We’ll be fine.”
Mark let out a big sigh of relief. “Thank you. You’re the best.” He hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before stepping back, but he kept hold of her hands. “We’ll reschedule our date for next week, okay?”
She smiled and said, “Okay. Keep me updated on your mom.”
Mark turned and said, “Will do,” and walked out the door.
She watched him get in his car and drive off.
She closed the door and heard, “What fucking date is that?” from right behind her.
Hannah jumped a foot in the air.
He’d scared her.
He almost felt bad, except he was too pissed to think about anything other than the fact that she had a date with the dorky doctor she worked with.
She turned around, leaned back against the door, and rested her hand between her almost bare breasts. He felt his eyes widen. Her nipples poked out from the cool morning air, and that loser had to have seen them.
What the hell is she doing, answering the door without a bra?
“Knox, you scared me.” She straightened and moved past him. “What are you doing up anyway? You are supposed to be in bed.”
He wanted to punch something, and all she seemed to notice was the fact that he was standing. And she’d ignored his question. He opened his mouth to ask her about the date again when a series of barks filled the house, and a small dog raced up to him. He braced himself for her attack, but she stopped right beside him and wagged her tail a hundred miles an hour. When he didn’t pet her, she sat on her haunches and pawed at his leg.
Hannah knelt down next to the dog and petted her. “Knox, this is Maggie. Maggie, this is Knox.” Maggie whimpered up at him, and Hannah laughed. “Someone’s got a crush.”
Knox grunted. The dog wasn’t the only one with a crush.
Hannah stood and walked into the kitchen. “Since you’re up, would you like something to eat?” She stopped and turned when Knox didn’t follow. “What’s wrong?”
What was wrong? Is she serious?
He’d been lying in bed, trying to fall back asleep when he heard her doorbell ring. He already had heightened senses, but they were even more acute around the full moon. He slowly crept out of bed and opened the door. From his vantage point, he heard the entire conversation. While he felt bad for Mark when he heard about his mother, all his compassion had flown out the window when he heard about a date they were forced to reschedule.
Hannah on a date. With that nerd. And she was asking him what was wrong.
She rushed forward. “Knox, you’re turning red.”
She reached out to touch him, and he took a step back.
“I’m fine. You already gave me medicine, remember?”
She pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. He didn’t really care at the moment. Part of him wanted her as pissed as he was.
“Fine. Be a big baby. Will you at least eat something before you pass out again?” She didn’t wait for him to answer and simply went into the kitchen.
“I didn’t pass out,” he grumbled to himself more than to her as he followed her into the kitchen, Maggie trailing at his heels.
“What would you like to eat?” Hannah asked, facing the counter as he took a seat at her table.
“Coffee.”
“No.”
“No? What the hell, Hannah?”
Now, she wantsto punish me?
She turned around. “Sorry. You were just shot last night. I’m the doctor, you’re the patient, and I say, no caffeine. How about some juice?”
He curled his lip.
“You need to drink fluids. It’s juice or water. Take your pick.”
“Juice then.”
Knox watched her go to the cupboard and grab a glass. Then, she went to the fridge and pulled out orange juice. He felt a paw on his leg and looked down. Maggie looked at him with classic puppy eyes. He sighed, picked her up, and set her on his lap.
He pointed a finger at her. “No licking.”
Hannah walked over and set down his juice and plate with two slices of toast on it. He looked at her with his eyebrows raised. She knew how much he ate. Two pieces of toast was a tenth of what he normally put in his stomach.
“Apparently, I have to remind you again. You were shot. Last night. You need to start out slow. No rushing. That includes a big meal.”
“Can I at least have some bacon?”
She laughed, and he scowled at her.
She leaned over, getting close to his face. “No.”
She thought this was funny.
He didn’t.
She stood back up, and her chest was right in his face. Her nipples were still hard. He groaned. He wanted to pull her forward and suck one of them in his mouth, T-shirt and all.
Aware of where his gaze lay, she didn’t bother covering herself, and her breathing grew heavy.
Hannah was already attracted to him. With his pheromones out of control around this time, he knew all he had to do was slide his hand up the inside of her leg, push her barely there shorts out of the way, and slip his fingers inside her where she would be wet for him.
Impossibly, his erection got harder under the blanket draped around him. He was never going to survive the day. He was about to wrap his arm around her waist and pull her close when Maggie jumped from his lap and into Hannah’s arms, breaking the sexual tension between them.
Hannah made an oomph sound as she caught the dog while Knox was mad yet grateful at the stupid mutt for ruining the moment.
“Your brother called me this morning, and now, he won’t answer his phone. Have you talked to him?”
“No.” She set Maggie down. The dog immediately went back to sitting next to him on the floor. “Hold on.” Hannah grabbed her phone off the counter. “Missed call. It was from him.” She frowned. “No voice mail.”
“Yeah, he didn’t leave me one either. I need to get ahold of him. He promised to pick me up, and the sooner, the better.”
She looked up. “I’m that bad of a doctor, huh?”
He huffed out a breath of air. “Hannah, this has nothing to do with you. I need to leave for personal reasons.”
“Okay. What personal reasons?”
“I can’t tell you.”
She tilted her head. “I thought we were friends.”
“We are. It’s just …” I turn into a horny werewolf, wasn’t something he could tell her. “Look, we are friends, but this isn’t something I can share with you.”
“Does Blake know?”
He contemplated lying but opted for the truth. “Yes.”
She stared at him for a minute and then nodded. “I’ll try to get ahold of him.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. However, you know you can trust me. If it’s a secret or something, you can tell me.”
“You mean, like you told me about your date.”
Hannah slowly set her phone on the kitchen counter. What’s his problem?
He’s hiding something obviously big from me, and he’s mad about me going out to eat with a friend? If only he knew that her date was anything but. Mark was gay and would never be interested in her. The only reason he’d called it a date was because it was an ongoing joke with the two of them.
When they’d met in grad school, they had gotten along so well that people assumed they were dating. Even though they told all their classmates that they were just friends, people thought that, when it was the two of them out somewhere together, they were on a date. It wasn’t until Mark started dating a guy that they finally believed the two of them. But by then, Hannah and Mark had started calling their get-togethers dates as well. And it had stuck.
Hannah opened her mouth to tell Knox just that, surprised he didn’t already know, when she realized she could use this to her advantage. It might be juvenile of her, but he had no right to grill her. And, after the way he’d stared at her breasts and the tone of his voice, she knew he was jealous.
It took all she had to hide her smile.
“Why do you care?” she asked nonchalantly.
“Because he’s not the kind of guy for you,” Knox said with tight lips.
She laughed. “And you know what kind of guy is right for me?” She leaned back against the counter. “You have no idea what does it for me.”
Knox’s eyes narrowed.
She kept going, “Maybe I like the studious types.” She bit her lip. “Or maybe I like the bad boy. You know, the kind that knows what he’s doing in bed—”
