Slade Read online

  Trisha shrugged. “I understand.” She smiled. “It made me mad at first but I calmed down. It’s your specialty.”

  “I left your name with security.” He smiled back. “I figured I owed you and thought you might want to look in on him. I know you always do that with your patients.”

  She sipped her drink. “Why would you have to leave my name? My hospital badge will be enough to get me into ICU to check on him.”

  “The guy is a medical freak.” Jose sighed. “We’re having a problem with everyone on staff wanting to gawk at him. They are worried someone will take pictures of him to sell to the media too. Someone spread it around that he’s got vampire teeth.”

  “Canine. There’s a difference.”

  “Whatever. He’s a freak and the hospital is terrified of breaking confidentiality. We’ve got a great rep for protecting our patients. We’ve had to restrict access to him but you are authorized to check on him.” The doctor stood. “I have to get home to my wife. We were on our way to dinner when they paged me and she didn’t take it well. It’s her birthday.”

  “Hit the gift shop to buy her chocolate on your way out.” Trisha winked. “I’d forgive anything for a few pounds of that.”

  Jose laughed. “My wife isn’t so magnanimous. I think I need to call a jeweler. Please check on him for me so I can get some sleep. They’ll page me if needed.” He saluted her as he left.

  * * * * *

  Trisha yawned. She’d been on shift for far too long and it was time to head home. She thought about her soft bed and she couldn’t wait to throw herself onto it. She flashed her badge at the security officer.

  “I’m Dr. Trisha Norbit. Dr. Jose Roldio asked me to check in on a patient of his.”

  The guard read his clipboard. “Go on in, Dr. Norbit. You’re cleared.”

  Trisha walked into the ICU and nodded at a nurse monitoring from the station, someone Trisha had spoken to a few times. She didn’t know many people who worked the day shift and there had just been a shift change. She glanced at the ICU board and knew which room he’d been assigned immediately. The numbers 215 were written on the board. She turned, going to room three.

  Trisha eased the door open slowly. The man sprawled on the bed had been cleaned up and his hair washed. It flowed down over his shoulders and she couldn’t help but notice the way it looked, as though streaks of golden sand were running through lines of wet, darker sand. He looked a lot different without dirt and mud clumps smeared over him. He was handsome. He had a very masculine, strong face with beautiful bone structure.

  She reached for his chart to study it. Her gaze lifted to him again, her attention going to his bare, broad chest where taped-on leads that connected him to the monitors marred his skin. She gawked a little at his thick, toned arms. Guns. She hadn’t heard that term before but he was extremely muscular. Maybe he is a bodybuilder. Her gaze lowered to his drug screen panel as she thumbed through his chart. She looked for any known drugs that bodybuilders used but he’d tested negative for them. He was only positive for a well-known sedative.

  Trisha returned his chart to the holder and walked closer. She stopped at the side of his bed and put her hands on the raised bedrail bar that prevented him from rolling out of bed. She studied his face closely, fascinated. His cheekbones were more pronounced than a typical human and his nose wider and shaped…different. She bit her lip as she leaned closer to get a better look at the generous lips that hid his canine teeth well, until they were pulled back. She only hesitated for a second before digging into her pocket to slip on a glove before she reached for his mouth, intent on getting a second look at those teeth while she had the opportunity.

  His full lips were soft, perfectly formed, and warm. She hadn’t noticed that last night but she’d been too busy assessing injuries, not facial traits. She gently used her gloved fingers to pull down on his lower lip. His bottom teeth appeared normal except his side teeth were sharp, canine style. She used her thumb to gently lift his top lip as she bent forward to get a closer look and gently cupped his face in her ungloved palm. She opened his jaw wider and held his mouth open. She had to stretch over his chest to get a better look, studying what she saw.

  She visually examined the extended teeth, the sharp points, and wished she knew more about dentistry. She leaned lower, realized her hair fell on his bare chest but wasn’t concerned about waking him. He’d been heavily sedated during surgery and it would be hours before he woke. Her face hovered mere inches from his mouth while she examined his back teeth, and took mental notes. The upper and lower molars were definitely canine, sharper than human teeth. His abnormal teeth were there for tearing and chewing.

  Trisha pulled her finger and thumb out of his mouth to allow it to close, still cradling his chin on her palm. She looked at his face again to study his flatter, wider nose but instead she found herself staring into a pair of wide-open, amazing blue eyes that peered right back into her startled ones.

  “Hi,” he rasped softly in a gruff rumble.

  Trisha jumped. It startled her that the patient was awake when he shouldn’t be. She tried to pull away from him but two hands grabbed her arms. Her hip banged the side of the bed when he yanked on her hard, pulling her down on top of him. Pain shot through her hip from the impact with the metal rail when he flipped her into the narrow space next to him. His weight crushed her body into the mattress when he rolled on top of her, pinning her under him.

  Trisha began to struggle after a few seconds when she realized what had happened. The patient’s hands slid along her arms to grasp her wrists, yanked them above her head, and a loud growl tore from his throat. The sound was surprising, so scary and vicious that it froze Trisha with instant terror. She stared up at the very masculine face hovering inches above hers. His strangely hypnotic eyes seemed to look right into her soul as he studied her intently until his eyes narrowed. His tongue slid from between his generous lips to swipe across his lower one.

  “You’re new. Didn’t they warn you to never cross the kill-zone line?” His gaze lowered to her throat but returned to her face. “And it was really stupid not to chain me down. Didn’t they give you the rundown on how to handle us, Doc? You never remove the restraints.”

  She found her voice finally. “You’re in a hospital. You’re going to be fine.”

  He frowned. Trisha was pinned under him, his body pressed tightly against hers from breast to feet. She also couldn’t ignore his heavy weight or the fact that his body totally blanketed hers.

  “I don’t know if I should mount or kill you,” he growled softly. He shifted his body over hers suddenly, causing Trisha to gasp when something hard pressed against her. There was no mistaking the fact he had an erection when he settled on her again, pressing his hardened cock right against the seam of her thighs. “My vote is mounting you since I’d hate to kill something so beautiful.” He grinned at her. It frightened Trisha when she saw his sharp teeth. “Ever wanted to be fucked by an animal, beauty?”

  “I’m Doc―”

  “I don’t care,” he growled softly, cutting her off. “Kiss me, beauty. Then I’ll show you what you’ve been missing. I’ve decided to mount you. I just can’t resist.” His nostrils flared as he inhaled and a deep groan rumbled from his parted lips. “I’m so hard for you and you smell so good.”

  Panic seized Trisha. She screamed. “Help!”

  215 stared down at her and smiled. “No one would be stupid enough to come inside this room to try to save you, beauty. You took the restraints off and now you’re mine.”

  He adjusted her, putting both her wrists in one hand by holding them together with his spread fingers, freeing his other hand to trail down her body. His hand hesitated on the curve of her breast long enough to make her gasp before it flattened over her ribs, then inched lower to her hip. He shifted over her enough to slide his roaming hand between her and the bed, took a firm hold on her ass cheek and squeezed.

  “Your ass is mine, sweet thing. Don’t worry though. I’