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Three tie to shift, and the heat had again struck her Three times, Ryan had made love to her, and to her aht out of her If she’d known that hot sex would keep the shift froed hiht she’d seen hiuest bedrooht, and the heat once again infiltrated her muscles and joints--and even her bones She hadn’t had a fever in two days, so she knew the heat wasn’t due to that This went deeper When she tugged at the covers in a frantic way and then tried to pull off her long T-shirt, Ryan noticed her distress He left the chair he’d been sitting in while he watched over her and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand caressing her shoulder

"Did I tell you about the time my partner drove after an armed robber on foot, and the robber dove over a fence into someone’s backyard?"

She shook her head She loved how he could lessen her co her tales of his exploits as a police officer first and then as a PI But she was afraid the effect wouldn’t last forever, and she feared that the antidote wouldn’t kick in soon enough

"My partner didn’t apply the brakes in ti not only the robber but also an attractive nuisance"

"A swi

"Yep I was in foot pursuit Instead of trying to catch the robber, I ended up having to rescuepool as his car pluave her an elusive set away?"

"He was so stunned that he was still gawking at the rescue as I pulled ht to make a hasty retreat, I’d tackled hi wet, too"

She chuckled, loving to hear about hercloser to him every day She hoped and prayed and wished she’d be back to normal soon Then he’d take her ho her job behind Yet until she could get her shifting under control, she doubted she could handle work

The urge to shift gone, she tugged down her T-shirt, and Ryan covered her back up with the blanket

"Sleep, ale" He ran the back of his hand across her cheek in a gentle caress "Sleep, and we’ll talk later"

When she woke again, she feltHer throat was no longer scratchy, and her energy was back, but Ryan wasn’t in the bedroo on the hour?

For once, she felt falanced at the clock One in the afternoon She closed her eyes, uncertain what day it was Had the phase of the new arous be back to norhtgown, and wondered when she’d put that on She pulled it off, du, hot shohile speculating how everyone else was faring Had the vaccine worked and kept the last of their kind froineered virus? Had the cure taken effect for everyone? Were Doc Mitchell and Jake back to their noroing on

She towel dried herself, wrapped the towel around her hair, walked out of the bathroom--and froze

Ryan stood in the room with a bouquet of cheery pink roses in one hand and her cat cradled in his other ar, Puss looked like he had a new pal

Her heart did a little flip Ryan had brought her flowers She didn’t realize how much that would mean to her But it meant the world

And Puss She wanted to take hihtly at Carol "I like what you’ve done with your hair, and"--he waved the flowers at her nude body--"the rest of you"

She’d forgotten all about that Knowing just what he had into bed after I’ve been in it for days now, you’ve got another think coe her et to work doing so back to bed She stalked toward the dresser, hoping she had soht her with his free arainst his body The tea-scented, velvet rose petals tickled as they brushed her shoulder, and Puss licked her arue

"While you were in the shower, I changed the sheets Just in case"

He was a dream come true And how could she deny she wanted to ainst Ryan, and reached up and stroked Puss’s head His ht?"

"Yep Because of all the strain you’ve been under, you’ve taken the longest to recover"

"How long?" she asked, frowning