Read Online The Protected (Fbi Psychics) by Shiloh Walker - Free Book Online Page A

hands. The pounding in her head was getting worse, though, and she felt something wet on her face.
    “What . . .” She went to wipe at her nose.
    But before she could, she swayed. The world went dark.
    * * *
    GUS swore as he caught her.
    He’d seen the trickle of blood, but it went from a trickle to a flood in a matter of seconds.
    Under his breath, a litany of curses ripped out of him as he caught her against him.
    From the corner of his eye, he saw Alex, his mouth stuffed full of cookie and his gaze big and round. “Don’t eat them, damn it. What if that’s what made her sick?”
    Alex looked miserable.
    But he shook his head and swallowed. As he followed Gus into the house, he clutched the plate against him. “It was me.”
    “What?” Then he shook his head. “No. Not now. Get me a towel.” He laid Vaughnne’s still form on the couch and tried not to think about what a very nice form it was . . . lean muscle, lush curves. He could spend hours learning all the secrets of her body and never get tired, he suspected. But even if he could
let
himself take that pleasure, now wasn’t the time.
    That smooth brown skin had gone ashen on him, and as he shifted to kneel closer to her head, he saw that the bleeding was getting worse.
    “Alex, hurry up!”
    “Here . . .” The boy’s voice was soft and sad as he pushed a towel into Gus’s hand, but Gus didn’t linger to look at the kid.
    Not then. Anger pulsed inside him and he needed to get a grip on it before he spoke. He’d thought they had this under control. But . . .
No. No buts. We just start again. And if it happens
again
, we start over . . .
again
.
He focused on that as he pressed the towel to Vaughnne’s face, pinching her nose lightly just below where the bony area ended to help stem the bleeding.
    More than two minutes in silence. He’d give it five before he pulled the towel away, but each second was an eternity and she was so still—
    There was no warning.
    One second she was lying there, motionless.
    Then next, he had a fist flying toward him and his arms full of a woman he very much wanted to hold. He took the punch. It was off center and barely clipped his jaw, but if Alex was responsible, he figured she was more than owed that one hit.
    She all but tumbled on top of him, still off balance, and the lush body was a temptation he could barely resist.
    But Alex was only a few feet away.
    And he had no time in his life for luxuries like this.
    “What the hell . . .”
    She blinked down at him and then pushed away, moving all too easily considering she’d been flat on her back just seconds ago. That had him concerned. But even as he started to puzzle through that, she stumbled, swaying above him. Rising to his feet, he caught her arms and stared down at her. The bleeding had stopped. That was good.
    Her eyes were still cloudy.
    That wasn’t good.
    “What the hell . . .” she muttered again, shaking her head like she was trying to clear it. She pressed the heel of her hand against her temple like that might help lessen the pain he knew she was feeling—and he knew she was hurting. Knew it from experience.
    Nothing would help except time. He’d
thought
they had this under control.
    He couldn’t think about that, though. He’d think about it later. Once he had her out of here and away from Alex.
    Focusing on her face, he said quietly, “You passed out.”
That is all. Nothing else to it.
    She’d believe it. They all did.
    Her gaze rested on his face for a second, and then she looked down, studying the towel in his hand.
    He just barely managed to resist clenching his hand in a fist. “Your nose started to bleed,” he said, lifting it up. “There’s a bathroom down the hall if you’d like to wash up.”
    She lifted a hand and touched her nose, grimacing a little before looking back at him. With a sigh, she nodded, and as he turned around, he glanced at Alex.
    The boy was staring at his shoes.
    Wonderful. Like that