Read Online ChoosingHisChristmasMiracle by Charlie Richards - Free Book Online

registered was the pain shooting up his neck. He was leaning forward in his chair, his head cradled on one arm on the bed and his other hand was stretched out to the side, where, at one time, he’d been holding Raul’s hand.
    Blinking, he wanted to purr at the feel of Raul’s fingers running softly through his hair, almost petting him. Oh! Sean shifted a bit and peered up at his mate. “Raul,” he mumbled, upon seeing unfocused, murky green eyes staring back at him.
    Raul didn’t respond, but that was okay. He’d actually woken!
    Sean really didn’t want to dislodge Raul’s touch, but the pain in his neck wouldn’t be ignored. Carefully, he lifted a hand and entwined Raul’s petting fingers with his own as he slowly straightened, trying to hide his grimace of pain.
    After popping his neck, Sean leaned forward and murmured softly, “Hey, mate.” He tilted close and pressed a soft kiss to Raul’s pale forehead. “I’ve been worried about you,” he admitted. “A lot of people have been.” He forced a smile. “There’s been quite the parade of people in and out of here. Drives the nurses nuts.”
    That finally had a slight smile curving the corners of Raul’s mouth. “Sean,” Raul whispered as he squeezed Sean’s hand lightly, his voice scratchy and hoarse.
    That his mate remembered him sent relieved pleasure flooding through Sean’s system. He’d been so worried that Raul would have lost his memory of him. Irrational, maybe, but fear didn’t always make sense.
    “I’m going to press the call button,” Sean said. “We need to let everyone know you’ve woken.”
    Raul grunted and he pulled weakly on his hand.
    Sean leaned closer. “What is it, sexy?”
    Suddenly, Raul let go of Sean’s hand.
    Sean immediately felt rejection spike through him, but then the human gripped Sean’s hair and tugged lightly. Confused, Sean went with the movement until their faces were only an inch apart.
    “Kiss,” Raul breathed the word against Sean’s lips.
    Sean whimpered and obeyed. No way he could deny his mate, even if there were so many other things that should have happened first now that Raul had woken. Raul had wanted to kiss him first. Nothing could be sweeter than that knowledge.
    He closed the distance between them and brushed their lips together once, twice, keeping it light and gentle. After a third brush of lips, Sean eased back. Raul’s grip tightened just a bit, then loosened, letting him go.
    “I’ll be right back,” Sean promised.
    * * * *
    So asking for a kiss before painkillers from the doctor probably wasn’t his smartest move, but this hadn’t been the first time Raul had been awake. Consciousness had been flitting around the edges of his mind for a while, but he just hadn’t been able to open his eyes. Still, Raul had known Sean had been there every time awareness danced around his head. He’d been able to smell him.
    Now, he wanted meds because all he could feel was wave after wave of pulsing pain. Then he planned to go back to sleep. He’d care about how he’d ended up in the hospital with Sean by his side later, much later.
    Raul had just started to drift off when footsteps caught his attention so he forced his eyelids back open. “Ailean,” he croaked, the word coming out so hoarse he wasn’t certain how the man understood him.
    “Raul, it’s good to see you finally aware. You’ve gone and given us quite a scare with your heroics,” Ailean said.
    The light teasing from the surly cat shifter told Raul exactly how worried everyone must have been. “How long?” he rasped.
    Ailean handed Sean a cup and pointed toward the bathroom, silently telling the wolf shifter to fill it. Then he crossed to the bed and started checking monitors. Raul stayed quiet, not having the energy to attempt to pry information out of the man, but Ailean didn’t make him wait long.
    “You were brought in three days ago, Raul, and I understand you were stabilized at a place in Illinois, so maybe