wrist as she continued to assess her pulse, informed her that the doctor would be in momentarily.
Once her duties were completed, and after a brief nod in Nick’s direction and taking a moment to assure Shannon’s comfort, she too left the room. As the exam room door soundlessly swished shut, Nick and Shannon were alone again in a bubble of swirling energy marked by an umbrella of silence.
All Nick could do now was wait for the doctor to arrive, for ready or not, they would have to face the past and the present in due course.
CHAPTER FOUR
Still shocked at having been so unceremoniously scooped up out of the wheelchair and marched off down the hallway as if the whole world was coming to an end if he didn’t get her help in the next ten seconds, Shannon was overwhelmed and frankly a bit bemused. When her painful grimace had split the air, she couldn’t help but see how that had affected him.
He’d looked like someone had just shot his dog, and if she hadn’t known better, because after all he was a heartless bastard, she would’ve thought he actually cared. That each time he cuddled her close she wanted to surrender to her baser instincts and simply melt against him instead of demanding he step away and leave her alone shook her to the bitter core of eight years of pain.
Shannon’s mind told her she should be telling him off instead of seeking his comfort. She cringed realizing that her instincts were ignoring the painful past. Surely the fact that she was injured accounted for this uncharacteristic vulnerability. If not, well, she would have to think about that later.
After the flurry of talk when Jules and Ned had come upon them in those initial moments after the shocking collision of her soft, woman’s body into his hard-as-steel form, Shannon had retreated in confusion, partially due to the excruciating pain she was experiencing but certainly more due to the fact that she was in deep shock at having the object of a life’s worth of regret suddenly and unexpectedly in her face. With no time to prepare or chance to adopt a “don’t mess with me” demeanor, Shannon was at the mercy of her careening emotions and struggling to maintain some semblance of calm.
The fact that her surprise was deeply rooted in a thrumming awareness of him on a deeply primal level scared off whatever was left of rational speech. That an organic responsiveness was growing, broadening, and evolving with every minute she spent in his company unnerved Shannon even more. She could feel him, dammit—could feel his presence as though he was a magnet pulling her closer with every passing second.
Daring to spare a glance at the object of this discomfiture , she shifted her eyes under a hooded gaze to his ramrod-straight silhouette where he stood at the window of the hospital room as they waited for the next round of poking and prodding at her hideously swelled ankle.
As a young man just past his college days , she’d thought of him as beautiful. He had been poster-boy perfection—tall, lean, ripped, and possessing a keen wit and fast smile. That impression had been frozen in time from a past long thought buried, but right here, right now, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of the man he had become.
He’d had a way of standing that reminded her of a swashbuckling ship’s captain—feet spread apart, arms crossed, face to the sky, and even now the same held true. Right below the surface of the controlled façade he was projecting, she knew, laid the essence of something daring and enthralling within him. He was very much a bold and fearless warrior at heart. Deep in thought before the wide-cased window, he was silhouetted against the dazzling rays of that day’s sun with more shadow now than light, emphasizing the sizzling presence she couldn’t ignore, the latent sensuality and a primal sense of superiority he exuded without trying.
With his arms crossed , she couldn’t help but admire the casual
Once her duties were completed, and after a brief nod in Nick’s direction and taking a moment to assure Shannon’s comfort, she too left the room. As the exam room door soundlessly swished shut, Nick and Shannon were alone again in a bubble of swirling energy marked by an umbrella of silence.
All Nick could do now was wait for the doctor to arrive, for ready or not, they would have to face the past and the present in due course.
CHAPTER FOUR
Still shocked at having been so unceremoniously scooped up out of the wheelchair and marched off down the hallway as if the whole world was coming to an end if he didn’t get her help in the next ten seconds, Shannon was overwhelmed and frankly a bit bemused. When her painful grimace had split the air, she couldn’t help but see how that had affected him.
He’d looked like someone had just shot his dog, and if she hadn’t known better, because after all he was a heartless bastard, she would’ve thought he actually cared. That each time he cuddled her close she wanted to surrender to her baser instincts and simply melt against him instead of demanding he step away and leave her alone shook her to the bitter core of eight years of pain.
Shannon’s mind told her she should be telling him off instead of seeking his comfort. She cringed realizing that her instincts were ignoring the painful past. Surely the fact that she was injured accounted for this uncharacteristic vulnerability. If not, well, she would have to think about that later.
After the flurry of talk when Jules and Ned had come upon them in those initial moments after the shocking collision of her soft, woman’s body into his hard-as-steel form, Shannon had retreated in confusion, partially due to the excruciating pain she was experiencing but certainly more due to the fact that she was in deep shock at having the object of a life’s worth of regret suddenly and unexpectedly in her face. With no time to prepare or chance to adopt a “don’t mess with me” demeanor, Shannon was at the mercy of her careening emotions and struggling to maintain some semblance of calm.
The fact that her surprise was deeply rooted in a thrumming awareness of him on a deeply primal level scared off whatever was left of rational speech. That an organic responsiveness was growing, broadening, and evolving with every minute she spent in his company unnerved Shannon even more. She could feel him, dammit—could feel his presence as though he was a magnet pulling her closer with every passing second.
Daring to spare a glance at the object of this discomfiture , she shifted her eyes under a hooded gaze to his ramrod-straight silhouette where he stood at the window of the hospital room as they waited for the next round of poking and prodding at her hideously swelled ankle.
As a young man just past his college days , she’d thought of him as beautiful. He had been poster-boy perfection—tall, lean, ripped, and possessing a keen wit and fast smile. That impression had been frozen in time from a past long thought buried, but right here, right now, nothing could have prepared her for the reality of the man he had become.
He’d had a way of standing that reminded her of a swashbuckling ship’s captain—feet spread apart, arms crossed, face to the sky, and even now the same held true. Right below the surface of the controlled façade he was projecting, she knew, laid the essence of something daring and enthralling within him. He was very much a bold and fearless warrior at heart. Deep in thought before the wide-cased window, he was silhouetted against the dazzling rays of that day’s sun with more shadow now than light, emphasizing the sizzling presence she couldn’t ignore, the latent sensuality and a primal sense of superiority he exuded without trying.
With his arms crossed , she couldn’t help but admire the casual
Similar Books
