Read Online Monster (Impossible #1) by Julia Sykes - Free Book Online Page B

would react to a man who I should hate?
    His eyes met mine as he shot me a slow, lazy smile, and something strange stirred in my belly.
    Yes, apparently it had.  Damn it, why hadn’t I made time for even a casual fuck in that time?  Because I didn’t do casual, that’s why.
    No, it’s because you don’t do intimacy, a nasty, truthful voice said in the back of my mind.
    Shut up!  I snapped at it, funneling my anger at myself into a scowl at Sean.
    He seemed unaffected by my show of ire, his grin only widening as though he found me cute again.  I gritted my teeth and forced back the angry words that threatened to bubble forth.
    Be civil, I ordered myself.
    “It’s a shame I missed shower time,” he said, still captivating me with that cocky look.  Unbidden and unwanted images of Sean’s wet body against mine flitted through my mind, his hard muscles sliding against my flesh as we stood entwined, naked under the hot spray…
    What the fuck, Claudia?   How was I going to survive being with this man?  What power did he hold over me to make me react to him in this way?  I mentally shook myself.
    “We really should clean that wound,” I said clinically, trying to win some authority back in this situation.
    “Ah,” he said, almost leering now.  “So it seems shower time is back on the table, after all.”
    I folded my arms across my chest.  “Not in a million years,” I said coldly.  I turned to Bradley, who was still hovering in the doorway.  “I need a soft, wet cloth and some mild soap,” I said imperiously, taking control.
    But Sean immediately took me back down a few pegs.  “Why, Nurse Claudia, are you going to give me a sponge bath?”
    “It’s Doctor Ellers,” I snapped.  “And this is purely a clinical procedure, not some kinky fantasy you’re cooking up based on a sordid porno.  Do you want to die from an infection?   Because believe me, there is nothing sexy about that.”
    He held up his hands, placating.  “Alright, alright,” he said, but his eyes were still dancing with mirth.  “Sexy is kind of my thing, so I wouldn’t want to go ruining it.”
    I glowered at him, but it had no effect.  After a moment, I threw up my hands in exasperation, turning away from his disconcertingly perfect face and reaching for my first aid kit that was propped up against the wall.  I wiped my hands down with antiseptic and then pulled on a pair of medical gloves.  Taking a deep breath, I approached Sean.
    I pierced him with a sharp look.  “If I hear one more disgusting word out of you, I’ll stop.  Then it’ll be up to Nurse Bradley to take care of you.”
    Sean gave a dramatic shudder.  “No, thank you.”  Still, he couldn’t seem to help but smirk at me.  “I promise I’ll be good.”
    While Bradley went to fetch what I had asked for, I began to unwrap the gauze covering Sean’s chest.  I could feel his eyes on me as I worked, but I resolutely kept my focus on what I was doing.  Now that I was so close to him again, I found myself being caught up in that alluring aura that pulsated around him.  I tried to shove it from me as though I could mentally force it away, but it kissed at my skin, little tendrils twining around my arms as though trying to bind me to him.
    It became even more impossible to ignore once Bradley had silently handed me the soapy cloth.  When the wound was revealed, I gently began running it over Sean’s flesh, wiping away the dried blood that had caked on his skin.  But as I did so, my fingers brushed against him, and that electricity that seemed to crackle around us spiked up my arm even at the light touch, leaving my skin tingling.  I heard Sean hiss in a breath, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the pain of the wound or if he felt the same thing I did.
    Unable to help myself, I glanced up into his eyes.  The dark flame was back, burning deepest green.  I had to suppress a shudder at the intensity of it, and I forced myself to sever the