If he were me, he would have gone off into the woods, shifted and licked his wounds until he was healed, which would have taken a few short hours.
Me? Yeah, I was in fucking trouble here.
As softly as I could, I rolled off the hospital bed to crouch on the floor. A hospital gown had been draped over my privates and fell to the floor. I had to assume they hadn’t put me in it so they could keep my chest exposed, so they could treat it. I was bare ass naked. Picking the gown up, I shoved my arms through the sleeves. My ass was hanging out, and I was too weak and groggy to reach back and tie the tabs closed, probably more from the morphine than from the wound. I gave my head a shake to clear it.
I looked down and touched the place on my chest the bull had punctured. I couldn’t see it through the scratchy fabric, but I could feel that the flesh had closed. It was well on its way to healing, thank fuck. Even an injury as grave as a fucking bull horn through my chest knitted and fused fast. Quickly, before the nurse returned, I slipped out the door, the back of my gown flapping open in the back. I didn’t give a shit if someone saw my bare ass. I just wanted out.
I opened the cabinets outside my room until I found the plastic bag with my bloodied clothing and personal items and ducked into a bathroom to pull on the crusty clothing. They weren’t ideal, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. My hat sat on top, and I set it upon my head. I didn’t like being without it. I felt more naked with my head bare than in the hospital gown with my butt hanging out.
I dipped my head as I slipped out, but I snapped it up the moment I stepped into the hall and caught her scent. I sniffed. Peaches and vanilla. Yeah, I’d recognize her anywhere. But where was—
I turned to search for her, and she barreled into my arms. Well, my chest, really. That hurt like a bitch, but I caught her elbows to steady her as we collided, my wolf celebrating her nearness.Mine!
I smiled down at her, so caught off guard by the intense pleasure of touching her, I forgot my dilemma. I forgot that I was supposed to have a huge hole in my side.
She gasped, then frowned, looked me over. Since she was a full head shorter, her gaze was right at chest level and my bloody, torn shirt. “Boyd! How are you—”
She pulled back to look at my wound, and I dropped my arm from touching her to cover it, hunching a bit like it pained me. I was a bull rider, not an actor, and I was fucking this up more and more by the second.
“Listen, Doc,” I began. “I appreciate your help, but I’m more of a heal-at-home kind of guy. Nothing a little time on the couch can’t fix. I’m going to check myself out now.”
Horror flickered over her face. “You can’t!” She reached for the hem of my untucked shirt.
I shrank back. At least, I meant to shrink back. In actuality, something different happened. Her fingertips brushed the skin of my lower belly and every cell in my body reacted. My dick thickened in my jeans.
Shock flashed over her face when I kept her hand from drifting higher to the wound, her pupils narrowing to tiny points, then blowing wide. “But you… I mean—no way. You shouldn’t be standing, let alone leaving.”
Fuck.
My brain caught up with my dick as soon as it happened, but by then it was too late. I’d wanted to feel her touch, skin to skin. Wanted to feel her heat, to have her scent on me, permeating into me.
Dumb move.Anotherone.
I pushed her hand out from under my shirt and stumbled backward. Running into her was pretty much letting her in on a big fucking secret. A bigshiftersecret.
“I’m ah… not as hurt as you thought. Lots of blood for a little wound. I’m feeling better, but I’ll rest up. I promise.” I backed up. My wolf howled to stay near her. It didn’t understand why I was walking away. “I’m gonna head to my family’s ranch. You know, heal.”
I had her stunned surprise on my side. It took her seconds to process the unbelievable. At least unbelievable for humans.
“I’ll take good care of myself. As long as you promise me you won’t go out with Abe. He’s not the man for you.”
“Wait!” she called, but I’d already turned and started jogging as swiftly as I could down the hallway. As soon as I turned the corner, I broke into a run and got the fuck out of there as quickly as possible.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
What had I been thinking? Yeah, I wanted the hot little doc, but I couldn’t have her now. There was no fucking way I could even see her again. The secret would be out. I couldn’t expose what I was or the pack. Rob would be pissed.
All I could hope was that she didn’t realize the extent of healing that had taken place, that I was somehow just a hard-headed bull rider who hated hospitals and that she’d let me go without further inquiry. That I wanted just that. Except… that was a goddamn lie.
She knew who I was. Knew about Wolf Ranch. I’d mentioned where I was from earlier in the arena. I was far from anonymous. If she was as smart as I figured, there was no way she’d take what she’d seen as the end.
No fucking way. She’d come after me. My wolf howled at that. Perhaps that was the only reason why I wasn’t running back inside, finding the nearest empty hospital room and fucking her until she had no doubt she was mine and mine alone.
That was the stupidest thing of all. If she showed up at the ranch, I was going to have to explain to Rob—hell, not just Rob but the entire fucking pack—exactly how badly I fucked this up because my wolf was saying Dr. Audrey Ames was my mate.
Yeah, total fucking mess.
As usual.