Read Online Sweet Affliction [Sweet Awakenings 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Nicole Morgan - Free Book Online

little strength he had to save his life, twice. First with the mercenary and second when he removed the bullet and stitched him up. Despite all of her father’s heroics, though, all he could offer her were insensitive jokes about her dead father.
    He wanted to kick himself. “You’re such a shit, Slater.”
    “Should I come back when you’re done telling yourself off?”
    His gaze shot up to the doorway. She stood there carrying a tray, which held a bowl and a bottle of water. Both items promised pure enjoyment to his stomach, but for some reason that was the furthest thing from his mind.
    “No, please come in.”
    Her hair was damp and held in a high ponytail atop her head. The T-shirt she wore was faded, but he could see the slight hint of the USC Trojans mascot. He wondered if she was from the area.
    She set the tray down on the bedside table. “It’s just some chicken soup. Actually it’s more broth then anything, but Dad said I shouldn’t give you anything too heavy. You could get sick.”
    “AJ.” He placed a hand on her wrist before she turned away.
    Her wrists were slim and delicate. The memory of her pounding against his torso with fury seemed unbelievable as he felt her soft skin and wondered how such strength came from something so small.
    “I need to get back upstairs. I don’t want to leave him alone long.”
    “I understand. I just want to apologize for the things I said earlier.”
    He thought she was pulling away from him to leave, but she surprised him by sitting beside him on the bed. One of her hands touched his side where his bandage was.
    “Did I hurt you?”
    God help him. She looked so vulnerable. After all he’d said to her, after all she’d done to take care of him, and she was worried about him. He may not have died and gone to heaven, but she was the closest thing to a saint he’d ever come in contact with.
    “No. I’m fine.”
    She looked to him while shaking her head. “I shouldn’t have behaved that way. I’m not a violent person. It’s just…” She took a deep breath and looked around the room before continuing, “we only just arrived, and the past three days have been so crazy.”
    He hadn’t stopped to think what this whole ordeal had been like for her before he blew up at her. He would have never come at her like he did if he knew her father was sick. He wanted to explore why any of this mattered to him. Truthfully it wasn’t his style to feel sympathy. Any time there was a job to do, he went in, got it done with no complications, and left. The irony that he was almost killed just days ago and one of his very best friends actually was and he was holed up somewhere, someplace with a complete stranger that was hurting and all he could think of was easing some of her hurt, escaped him.
    “AJ.” He reached a hand up and nudged her chin back up to meet his gaze. “I am so sorry. My mother died just a few months ago. I know how hard it is to lose a parent.”
    He watched while she visibly tensed under the subject of her father’s death. She reached over and grabbed the bowl and a spoon from the tray.
    “You should eat this before it gets cold.”
    Adjusting his pillows behind his back, he sat up and took the bowl from her hands. The second the meat smell hit his nostrils he remembered how hungry he was. He took a spoonful and slurped it in his mouth. Damn but it was good. Better than any steak he’d ever had. He knew that was bullshit, but after not eating for days, chicken broth was like a goddamned delicacy.
    Two more spoonfuls, and he was impatient. He wanted the entire warm concoction of yellowish water to coat his starving stomach. He placed the spoon on the tray and brought the bowl to his mouth, drinking like he was a kid watching Saturday-morning cartoons while slurping down the last of his Fruit Loop-flavored milk.
    “You shouldn’t drink that so fast,” she insisted.
    By the time she tried to stop him he was already setting the bowl beside the spoon