Page 25 (1/2)

Then he released her again and turned on the hot water Once he had stripped out of everything but his boxers and when the water teoose-down jacket and lifted her in his arainst his body as he cli to set you doash the soap off, and then dry you and put you into bed Doc will be here soon"

Lelandi hurried into the bathroom "What will the other bachelors think?" Her tone was more amused than alarmed She eyed him as he stood in only his boxers with a naked Carol in his arrab Carol’s ar Carol down in the tub, not wanting Lelandi to do any heavy lifting in her condition

Lelandi handed him the handheld showerhead, and he washed Carol’s face and hair, the spray wetting hiet her to open them, Doc will have to flush the should wear off Silva will pick up soot three cases of swine flu and a hu basketball with hinant humans is in labor now, so he has to remain at the hospital Nurses Charlotte and Matthew are busy helping him"

"I should have been with her Those bastards would have never gotten near her" Ryan lifted Carol’s chin and applied a steady strearabbed a towel froree now to allow you to stay close to her"

"A little late," Ryan muttered From now on, he would do this his way

"I feel the same way, but you know Darien You’re an outsider" Lelandi handed Ryan a warm, ashcloth "He still wanted one of his bachelora real obstacle to his plans"

His own feelings hts on the matter "How do you feel about what he thinks?" When she didn’t respond, Ryan looked back at Lelandi and noted the wry amusement on her face He shook his head "Jake or Tom would make tolerable mates for her but not the beta males"

"What about you?" Lelandi asked softly

With the rush of the shower as he ran the water over Carol’s hair, he almost didn’t hear Lelandi’s words "I’uard That’s all" Yet even as he spoke the words, he didn’t feel sincere in the least

He gently washed Carol’s eyes, finished rinsing out her hair, and ran the water over her face again and down her body, where a sheen of soap still covered her skin and goose bumps raised It would take a saint not to notice her soft feminine curves, her vulnerability, and her beauty

But he was trying his dahts at bay, just as he knew she had when she’d observed him after he’d shifted and remarked, You look nice and healthy to aze, noticed she’d taken a gander twice at his size, and wasn’t fooled by her pretense Not when he heard her heart beating rapidly and saw the faint blush tinge her cheeks beautifully

Her eyes suddenly blinked, and she squinted

His heart haently If he hadn’t had an audience, he would have kissed her lips, ain

"Can you do that again, Carol? Open your eyes so I can wash the soap out?"

She tried, but she could barely lift her lids, her face gri-induced sleep

"You’re very good with her," Lelandi said

"I’h he wasn’t capable of feeling impersonal in this case Not when Carol was naked and so defenseless Crouching in front of her, he squeezed the water out of her hair with one hand, his other holding her shoulder to keep her fro

"Ah, and the kiss you shared with her earlier before the gathering?"

What could he say about that? Aalso a et closer, to possess, to quash his coree To show her he thought she wasHell, maybe she did have psychic abilities The kind that included mind control

Many of his Scottish ancestors believed in witches in the old days,arts in their unusual ways Carol was a nurse and had ancestral ties to the Highlands of Scotland, sothose healers and she had inherited their genes He shook his head at hi there

"Want to turn off the water?" He didn’t say anything in response to Lelandi’s question, figuring she had already decided he was hooked on Little Miss Nightingale Not that she wasn’t desirable as hell, but she really needed someone who could completely believe in her

Lelandi handed him an oversized fluffy white towel The cloth contrasted sharply with Carol’s skin, flushed from the heat of the shower, as he wrapped the towel around her

"Can you get sohtgown?" he asked

Lelandi’s brows shot up as she handed him a towel for Carol’s hair "How do you knohat she wears at night?"

"She was standing in the atching me in the woods Hard not to notice"