Read Online Midnight Promises by Lisa Marie Rice - Free Book Online

And then you made it to Lauren’s house. Do you remember that too?”
    Her mouth opened and she blew out a breath. Nodded.
    “Before we go any further, I’ll bet you’re thirsty, right?”
    She nodded, surprised. As if she hadn’t realized she was thirsty until the exact moment he mentioned it.
    He let go of her hand and reached for the Thermos. He poured almost a full cup into the top, lifted her head with one hand and with the other held the cup to her mouth. He’d made sure it wasn’t boiling hot when he put it in the Thermos. It was just hot enough to make her feel better without burning her mouth.
    “Drink,” he said quietly. “You’re going to be hungry soon and I have food for you. But first you need to drink.”
    It was his command voice in gentle mode. His nieces and nephews responded to it like magic.
    Felicity too. He lifted her up and held her rock steady while she sipped. She cupped her hand under his, as if he would spill the tea if she didn’t. He let her because her soft touch was amazingly pleasureable but it wasn’t necessary. He wasn’t going to spill the tea. He was a very good shot and he had steady hands. But beyond that, he wasn’t about to allow hot liquid to spill on her. Nothing bad was going to happen to her while she was in his care.
    “Sorry about the plastic cup. I think my mugs might be heavy for you to hold. Lauren has these fancy porcelain cups that are light as air that I’m sure you’d like better, but for now this will have to do.”
    “Lauren,” she whispered, licking her lips again. “Where—”
    Metal watched, fascinated as she licked her lips. She had the prettiest mouth he’d ever seen. Then he shook himself.
Stop being an asshole
.
    Usually it wasn’t hard for him to focus. He focused really well. And as a trained medic he’d learned to disassociate the care he was giving from the person. Medics didn’t take the Hippocratic oath but they took their skills seriously. He sure did.
    So, yeah, mooning about a patient’s pretty mouth and beautiful eyes wasn’t something he was proud of. But
damn
she was gorgeous.
    Focus!
    She shifted in the bed. He was holding her up with one hand against her narrow back. He could feel her heart beat fast and light against the palm of his hand. She was scared.
    Metal had a deep voice and he’d shouted a lot in the teams. His voice was rough. He didn’t know how to modulate it, soften it. He could only speak as quietly as he could.
    “Would you like to stay sitting up? Or are your stitches pulling?” God, he hated to think of her in pain, but she probably was. The painkillers would have worn off hours ago. He had meds with him.
    “Sit up,” she said. “Against pillows.”
    Okay. He understood that. Lying down or sitting up leaning against his hand would make her feel vulnerable.
    She was watching him out of those huge sky-blue eyes, wary. Not frightened. He knew how to make people scared but he was making an effort to be reassuring. So she wasn’t scared of him, but she was with a stranger in a strange place and she’d been attacked and wounded. She’d be stupid not to be wary and this was not a stupid woman.
    Moving slowly, Metal put pillows against his headboard and very carefully and very gently lifted her until she was sitting up against the pillows.
    It was hard to let her go. As he’d lifted her, she’d clutched at his arms with elegant hands. He felt every inch of her that was touching him and even where he wasn’t touching her, he felt her body heat. She was light, delicate. Every single inch of her was beautiful. He had to consciously open his hands and step back because he was powerfully drawn to her. Wanted to lay her down and follow her, lie on top of her, feel all of her against him. Hold her head still and kiss that luscious mouth.
    He stopped his thoughts right there, appalled at himself, deeply ashamed.
    He was a medic. He knew what stitched wounds felt like. They fucking hurt. Knew she’d be feeling