Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (10 page)

He
knew damn good and well that Max had been talking to Rayne, who was getting all
his information from Royce and Devon. They were the elite Dragon Guard and the
powerful
Werepanther
Pride, but at this moment, they
were acting like a bunch of gossipy girls. Usually he enjoyed talking shit and
causing trouble, but this was the first time he was on the receiving end, and
that
shit sucked
.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sound of her alarm
blaring across the room roused Sam from the hottest dream she’d ever had. It
had started so innocently, all smiles and crystal blue eyes, but had quickly
evolved into hot, sweaty passion that left her with the urge to run naked
through the woods. Well, running was so
not
happening. God knows she
only did that when there was an emergency at the hospital and before that, when
Miss Sizemore, her high school PE teacher, had demanded it. Tired of listening
to the alarm, she decided it was time to get the day started. Charlie would be
picking her up in a little over an hour, and she definitely needed a shower
followed by a very strong cup of coffee to clear the erotic cobwebs.

Walking
past the windows that almost covered one entire wall of her
bedroom,
she stopped to admire the sun as it started its ascent. The oranges, reds, and
yellows against the deep blue of the early morning sky reminded her of all the
beauty in the world that she was often too busy to appreciate. As the golden
glow grew, she suddenly had a flash of déjà vu. She felt herself looking
through the windows, in the not so distant past, watching a huge glistening
figure fly through the sky. The creature’s impressive wings exuded power as
they propelled him gracefully across the skyline. She was absolutely captivated
by the picture that continued to unfurl in her mind. It was as though this
beast performed an intricate ballet with tricky body rolls and fanciful dips
for her alone. As what she now knew to be a dragon came within a breath of her
window, she saw a large crystal blue orb gazing directly at her. The emotions
she saw reflected within seemed to settle inside her very soul, filling the
little dark places that had been forged by all the loss. There was a
familiarity, a sense of like recognizing like, on a core level that begged to
be explored.

The
sounds of her phone vibrating against the wood of her bedside table shook her
from her daydream. Making her way across the room, the reflection in the mirror
over her dresser caught her attention, and she was forced to take a closer
look. There, looking back was the same face she remembered from every day for
almost twenty-nine years, with one huge difference. She looked
happy
.
The corners of her mouth were upturned, her dark, brown eyes were sparkling,
and the warmth she felt inside was emanating outward, making her almost glow.
She chuckled, thinking she may have actually gotten
too
much sleep. Her
phone sounded again, and she resumed her trek across the room. A quick look at
the clock as she grabbed her phone told her she’d spent may too much time
inside her own head. If she didn’t get a move on, Charlie was going to be in
her driveway honking her horn before she had her scrubs on.

Flipping
open the phone as she headed to the bathroom, she almost tripped over her own
big feet when the nine little words displayed on the screen made her pulse
jump.
“Have a great day, Doc. See you soon.”
She smiled and continued to
the shower. While drying off, she could not shake the feeling of strong,
muscular arms wrapped around her body while soft, full lips kissed and tasted
her neck and shoulders. Laughing at her own silliness with the hopes of
bringing her temperature down a few degrees, she finished getting ready and
headed down the stairs, following the mouth-watering aroma of fresh brewed
coffee. Thank God for coffee makers with timers.

Supersize
travel mug in hand and messenger bag over her shoulder, she was stepping out
the door when she heard the telltale sounds of gravel crunching in her
driveway, signaling Charlie’s arrival. She locked the door with the key she had
found on the floor inside her door, hurried to the car, and got ready for what
she hoped was an uneventful day.

Almost
ten hours later and she knew the
true
meaning of ‘dumb luck’. To say her
day had been a total disaster was an understatement. Patients that should have
been easy had required extra meds or procedures. Two surgeries were cancelled
because patients’ vitals were unstable.
Hell
, even technology was
against them. The computers crashed not once but twice, and to top it off, the
cafeteria was out of Diet Coke. She’d just been paged for what she was sure was
the hundredth time when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Running for the
elevator as she heard “Dr. Malone to Orthopedics” over the PA, she wondered how
she was going to be on two different floors at the same time. “Rough day, Dr.
Malone?” asked a tall, scruffy looking man with sunglasses covering his eyes.
He was perched against the railing at the very back of the elevator, and she
hadn’t realized he was there until he’d spoken. Her phone shook the coins in
her pockets just as she was about to answer the stranger’s question. The
message that appeared relieved some of the pressure tightening the muscles in
her neck.
“Hey, Doc. Bonnie Blue is good as new. Where can I bring the
keys?”
She didn’t stop the smile that crossed her lips and chuckled as she
returned the message,
“Come to the fourth floor nurses’ station. See you
there.”
As the elevator doors opened, a cold chill swept down her spine as
the jacket of the man that had spoken to her brushed past her elbow as he made
his way into the hall. Something about him was off. The air around him seemed
heavier than anywhere else. The words
dark and creepy
floated through
her mind.

Shaking
off the negative feelings the stranger had stirred, she made her way towards
the room they continued to page her about. It dawned on her that he had called
her by name and her badge was well hidden under her lab coat. Once again chills
skated down her back, but before she could think about it any further, Charlie
yelled from the room down the hall, and she was on her way to the next
emergency with all thoughts of weird men in elevators and sexy blue-eyed
rescuers forgotten for the moment.

Almost
an hour later, Mrs. Robinson’s stitches were replaced and her arm immobilized
to avoid them being ripped out again. Sam was throwing away her gloves when a
low rumbling voice drifted from the hallway, causing her skin to tingle and her
nipples to harden. She’d never been so glad to have a lab coat on in her life.
Even knowing Lance waited for her in the hallway didn’t prepare her for the
jolt of pure adrenaline that shot through her at the sight of the man. With his
back to her, leaning against the wall with a cell phone to his ear and his
right ankle thrown haphazardly over the left, her eyes hungrily traced the line
his faded jeans made from his cocked hip to his incredibly well-proportioned
behind, and ate up the powerful muscles that simply refused to be contained by
the well-worn denim. She worked her way back up the other leg, helpless to
doing anything but admire his incredible ass once again. Her mouth went dry as
he moved his shoulder, and his faded baby blue T-shirt pulled even tighter
across his incredibly impressive back that
needed
to be explored.
Hundreds of hours spent studying musculature hadn’t ever come close to the
education her eyes were receiving with this man.
He
was a study in dichotomy, all hard muscles and lines of a well-honed body
against the tenderness and willingness to help others that she had already
witnessed.

A
throat clearing behind her caused her to stumble as she spun around, only to be
confronted with a man that looked like he’d walked right off the pages of GQ.
Good
Lord
, he was incredibly attractive, nothing like the man she could still hear
talking on the phone behind her, but a damn fine specimen of manliness in his
own right. Where Lance was rough and raw, this man was suave and refined. He
was at least six foot two, with striking green eyes set in light olive skin
surrounded by thick, dark lashes, and his super dark, wavy hair that parted on
the side in that devil may care way that the male stars in old movies seemed to
favor, was done by a ‘stylist’, not a barber. His thick full lips that at the
moment were curled in a one-sided grin had, without a doubt, made many women
swoon. The suit he wore had obviously been tailored for him because
nothing
off the rack fit that well. Not that she knew from personal experience of
anything but Wal-Mart and thrift stores, but her years of being surrounded by
male doctors had taught her a thing or two about the designer things in life.
She knew if she looked down at his feet there would be a pair of designer
loafers. Unlike others that she associated with this type of attire, this man
seemed friendly, almost approachable.
Almost?
Yes, she would definitely say, almost. There was a contained aggression just
under the surface that she hoped she never witnessed.

His
grin morphed into a full blown smile, and then he spoke. She wasn’t surprised
to hear a slight South American accent. “Dr. Malone, I presume,” he asked with
an outstretched hand.

“I
am, and you would be?” she asked while shaking his hand, surprised to feel
calluses across his palm and the tips of each finger.

“Max
Prentice, a friend of Lance,” he motioned behind her as he spoke.

“Oh,
I see,” she answered, not sure what to say next, and was thankfully saved from
further thought when a very large, warm hand engulfed her shoulder, sending
electric shocks through her system and making rational thought damn near
impossible. Immediate recognition allowed her to relax into his touch while
trying to hide her reaction from the man facing her.

“Are
you bothering the good doctor, Max, my man?” His voice was even deeper and more
powerful when spoken so closely to her ear.

Max’s
smile grew mischievous, “Not at all. I was merely keeping her company while you
were otherwise engaged.”

Lance
began massaging her shoulder as they spoke around her, and she worked hard not
to sigh. “I’ll take it from here. Why don’t you grab a cup of coffee? I’ll meet
ya
in the cafeteria in a few. Cool?”

With
a wink she figured was for Lance’s benefit, Max turned on his heels and headed
towards the bank of elevators at the end of the hall. The heat at her back
increased as she felt Lance so close their bodies should have been touching.
“So Doc, how’s your day been so far?” 

It
was barely a whisper, but right against her ear, the low rumble of every
syllable stirred her need and want for this man. She felt the slightest touch
of his lips on the curve of her ear as he inhaled deeply. The next thing she
knew, she was spun around, and what she saw was a look the exact opposite of
what she had expected from his actions mere seconds before. brows furrowed, lips
in a firm thin line, eyes darkening to a stormy gray, and the grip he had on
her upper arms tightening, he looked around and began moving them towards a
room she knew was empty just a few doors down the hall. He kicked the door shut
and sat them both on the edge of the bed housekeeping had yet to make. “What
the hell
are
you doing, Lance?” She jumped up and faced him, hands on
hips, eyes narrowed, and waiting for his answer.

The
staring contest lasted all of ten seconds before he exhaled long and deep and
let his head slump forward. She waited as he composed himself, not moving a
muscle, just watching. His head came up slowly, and she was speared with a
stern, dark look rimmed with worry and a touch of fear.
Fear?
What did this big hulk that had literally rescued her from a blown up,
smoldering building have to be afraid of?
She thought. Still waiting for
him to answer, she began slowly letting out the breath she only just realized
she was holding. She was about to give up and break the silence when he spoke.
“
Dammit
, Doc, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done
that. And my explanation is probably going to make you think I need a one way
ticket to the Psych Ward, but here goes any way. I have to ask…Have you seen or
talked to anyone other than a patient or colleague
today?
”

She
could tell he thought what he was asking her was important so, instead of
fighting, she decided to go with it and see where they ended up. “Yeah, I did.
But how did you know?”

“I
promise I’ll answer that, but first, what did he look like?”

“I
don’t really know. He was in the back of the elevator I ran into after being
paged. I remember thinking it was weird he had sunglasses on indoors, but then
I got distracted by your text, and then the elevator doors were opening. He
rushed past and was gone before I got out.”

She
watched as Lance leaned forward from his perch on the bed, absorbing all she
had said. She noticed his hands, and the serious grip he had on the bed; his
knuckles were white, and the muscles in his forearms were bulging. She replayed
the incident in the elevator in her mind and then continued while he looked at
her with such intensity she had to concentrate not to fidget. “I didn’t know he
was there until he spoke. Then I realized after he was already gone that he
knew my name, but my badge was under my lab coat, so there was no way he
could’ve seen it. For a second, I thought maybe he was a former patient, but I
would’ve remembered someone as creepy as him.” She shuddered as she remembered
how eerie he’d made her feel.