Dangerous (4 page)

His hackles rose.
Wrong answer.
“And he left you here alone, pregnant, to fend for yourself? Does he have any idea what is out there?”

“I’m capable of taking care of myself, Xan. You know this. He had something important to take care of.”

He nodded, remembering all too well the training Xio and he had been through since they could walk. His sister didn’t need a mate to protect herself, but it would’ve been nice if he’d been there in the past so she didn’t have to. Guilt resurfaced. “Yeah, I guess you can. It’s just…. Look, I’ve seen shit you couldn’t possibly imagine, stuff that leaves me in a cold sweat, asleep or awake. I worry.”

“Well, you can stop worrying. Talk to me about what the hell is going on with you and how you plan to fix whatever it is.”

Xan narrowed his eyes on her. “A bullet between the eyes should take care of the problem.”

“I’m being serious here, Xan.”

“Who said I wasn’t serious? Why do you think I came back?”

Xio shook her head and gave him a soft smile. “You’re an asshole, you know that.” And then a fist came flying at him, returning him to unconsciousness.

Xan woke up to his arms and legs cuffed to the bed. He yanked on the restraints. “Damn it, Xio. Unlock me! I didn’t think you’d pull a fucking cheap shot! Xio!”

He surveyed the room, taking in every detail. Delicate lace curtains let warm afternoon sun filter through, heating his flesh. The smell of roast wafted through a partially cracked door. A pink quilt with bright yellow flowers covered him. Not his sister’s style, but she’d changed, and it appeared the rough-around-the-edges she-wolf had gone soft. Maybe she liked pink now? “Xio!”

“Xio’s not here.”

Xan snapped his head to the left. A woman, all curves and softness sat in a plush chair covered in the same god-awful fabric as the coverlet, wearing more pink than the entire room contained, if it could be possible. Her chocolate hair and blue eyes only accented her pale complexion. From the looks of her, he doubted she got out much. Her scent. Human-ish. Something he couldn’t put his finger on, lingered with it, but barely.

Next to him, a man he’d recognize anywhere. They’d run through the woods together as young Wolves. They’d lived with a crazy Alpha, and both left for the same reason.

“Xio swears you’re some kind of hero. Told me you can be fixed.”

“I’m no hero. And don’t bandy that term around too much; ‘fixed’ can mean a lot in our world, and I’m partial to my balls.”

Drew snorted.

“What the hell are you, then?” asked a voice from the opposite corner, behind him.

Another Wolf he remembered from when he lived here as a pup, one who wasn’t as friendly and, at times, well, ninety percent of the time, menacing. Magnum’s executioner, and what he’d said was the most Xan had ever heard him say. “Wow, he can put together a complete sentence.”

“I’d keep your mouth shut and listen to what I have to say very carefully.” Drew leaned over him and glared down. “You have no idea how much talking I had to do to convince Ryker you’re better alive than dead, when I’m not totally convinced myself. We’ve had enough mad wolves around here, so knock off the jokes. Nobody is laughing.”

“Then do it. Kill me. Shouldn’t be hard with me restrained like this. Go ahead. Tear my fucking throat out.”

A growl came from the corner.

“You have your sister to thank for your life. She believes you can be saved, that your lunacy is a product of PTSD, and with the proper treatment, you can live as a functional member of the pack. Xio reminded me of the young Wolf I ran with as a teenager. He had a heart of gold, would never quit when he believed in something, and he also had a code, one he never broke. When he gave his word, he’d die before he went back on it. You’re twins, and she swears you can be healed. You can thank her for the life you want to throw away later.”

“What the fuck does Xio know about proper treatment?”

“Your sister doesn’t. It’s why I brought you to the doc, for evaluation. She’s already interviewed your sister and agrees with Xio.”

Xan turned toward the pretty woman. “You gonna check my prostrate, too?”

“I’m not that kind of doctor, Xan,” said a feminine, slightly raspy voice, full of grit and sass.

“What if I don’t want to be evaluated?”

“Then we have a problem.” Drew moved back and gestured toward the woman in the chair. “You either let the good doctor evaluate you, and if it’s determined you can be saved, let her treat you, or….”

“I’ll kill you,” Ryker said.
Right, always easy to threaten when you got someone restrained.

“What the fuck are the cuffs for?” He yanked on them. No give. Of course, when you had a person spread out like they were about to be crucified, they couldn’t get the leverage to bust out, even if they had supernatural strength.

“You can’t break them—not restrained like that, so don’t bother fighting this. We’re going to step outside while you have a chat with the doctor. Try anything and Ryker will snap your neck.” He turned toward the woman in the chair. “You have thirty minutes, Doctor.” Drew nodded to Ryker and both strode out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

“Look, I’m not going to…. Where the fuck are you going? Let me out of these things!”

“Calm down.”

Xan turned to the woman addressing him.
Calm down?
No way in fuck could he relax while locked up with a death threat hanging over his head. He clamped his teeth together to avoid going off on a yelling tangent. Not likely to help his case.

Oranges and cinnamon wafted in the air toward him. Familiar, but not. Where had he smelled her before? No time to ponder her scent. She had him restrained and his situation needed to change pronto. “Who the hell are you?”

“Drew thought it best if you not stay with your sister while she is carrying the babies, at least not in your current mind set. Since he’s your Alpha, he has agreed to stick around until I determine you are not a threat.”

“And Lurch?”

“You mean Ryker? He came here to kill you, and when Drew said it took a lot to talk him down, he wasn’t kidding. Gee got involved and said you should get a second chance. Otherwise, Ryker would have put you down at Gee’s Bar. It’s the cuffs, or you get to be up close and personal with Ryker. We thought you’d prefer this.”

“You did, did you?” Xan stilled. How could they possibly believe he’d hurt his sister or her unborn? “What the hell do you know about my current mind set, sweetheart? You’re not even a wolf. What the hell are humans doing here with pack anyway?” He growled low.

“I’d say my doctorate would cover what I know. But it’s my experience in dealing with wounded soldiers and those suffering from PTSD which really gives me the claim to expertise. I’ve seen it, the effects of war. As for what the hell I’m doing here. My sister is mated to one of your pack, and since they could use a good doctor who understands pack mind to deal with the aftereffects of the last Alpha, here I am, or at least my office is. My home is on the border of pack lands.”

“I haven’t been in war.”

“Whatever you’ve seen or been through is just like war. So let’s not lie about that. Okay…
sweetheart
?” She smiled, and dimples appeared in her cheek. Girl-next-door dimples. All sugar and spice. If she weren’t human…. She sure didn’t smell like Wolf, and he’d have to be scent blind not to know that. Comingling with humans had never been allowed and would only put her in danger. He’d spent too long pretending he wasn’t a Wolf to protect the pack from humans. He didn’t want to do it anymore. Besides, didn’t Xio say it got their father killed and their mother almost slain?
Well, shit.

“Is chaining someone to the bed the kind of therapy you prescribe to all your patients, Doc?” Something about it put his libido into overdrive, which surprised him. He hated being restrained, couldn’t tolerate a moment of it. It drove him out of his head. But her restraining him had a whole different head going crazy and for reasons he didn’t even want to contemplate.

“No. I only chain patients who could rip my head off, or seek death by Enforcer, which I assure you if you don’t cooperate, will happen. And honestly, I don’t want to see Ryker kill you.” She gave him a warm smile back, oozing with more sugar. Damn, he’d get a toothache if she kept up with the nicey-nice routine. “As soon as I feel I can trust you, I’ll set you free. Ryker is sticking close until I give the word.”

His heart raced. “You can’t keep me chained. I can’t handle this. Please. Let me go.”

“Give me your word you will not harm yourself or any other.”

“I can’t make promises I can’t keep.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Give me your word.”

“I fucking said I cannot do that. What part of what I said isn’t sinking into your pretty little head?”

She rose to her feet, letting him get a gander at her killer body. No stick figure, this woman. She belonged on her back, in his bed, and under him.

“When you give me your word, I’ll set you free.” She spun on her very spiky, way-too-sexy heels and strode out, leaving only the lingering scent of orange blossoms behind and the memory of a wooden shingle squawking in the wind.
Click, click, click,
she continued down the hall, the image of her ass burned into his mind like a brand. “Gentlemen, I can fix him. He’s got a lot of fight left in him, and he’s going to need it to beat this.”

“Are you certain?”

“I believe I can help him…actually, I know I can.”

You have no idea how you can help me, sweetheart
. His dick jumped to attention.
Ready for duty sir!

Shut the fuck up.

***

Xan tugged on the cuff securing his left wrist and then turned and tugged on the right. His bladder seemed damn near ready to burst. He couldn’t hold it much longer. “Woman!”

“The name is Liv.” Back in her seat, watching him as he slept? This time in flannel pajamas and fuzzy duck slippers. And she still looked like dynamite with a short fuse.
Awoooo, get you some of that.

She sat up and yawned, stretching her arms over her head and exposing a sliver of pale skin on her belly, lickable bare flesh, and all alone. His mouth watered.
Nothing better to do at oh dark ugly, Doc?

He watched her, soaking in her every detail, from the curve of her cheek to the sky blue of her eyes. Xan yanked hard on both cuffs at once. “I need to take a piss.”

She nodded, rose, and ducked out of the room, disappearing down the hall. As her footsteps faded, he yanked harder. “Did you hear me?”

Moments later, while he contemplated whether he should pee the bed or not, she reappeared, holding an orange jug.

He eyed it. “Oh, hell no. I’m perfectly capable of taking a leak on my own.”

“Give me your word you won’t hurt yourself or anyone else and you can.”

“Lady, I’m not letting you hold my dick while I take a leak in a jug.” Xan growled low in his throat and stared her down, daring her to take a step toward him and try it.

“I can get Ryker to help you.”

“Oh, fuck no.” He yanked even harder on the restraints. “He’s not touching my dick. He’s likely to rip it off.”

“Stop behaving like an animal.”

“I am an animal.”

“No, you’re a shifter, and I find it interesting you haven’t changed to get out of those cuffs. Maybe, like Gee said, you can’t.”

“What? Who the fuck told the bear I can’t shift.” He arched, gaining nothing but growing a shade angrier. “Set me free. This isn’t right, and you know it.”

“Give me your word.”

He opened his mouth and snapped it shut. If he didn’t have to piss so bad, he wouldn’t even think about it. But he did, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let her take Mr. Happy out so he could finish the mission. His damned cock was already way too excited at the prospect. “Fine. Let me go.”

“What did you say? Are you agreeing to my terms? Will you hurt yourself or anyone else?”

“I just told you.”

“No, you only asked me to let you go. You didn’t make any promises. Say it. I, Xan Davis, will not hurt myself or anyone else.” She jiggled the piss jug before him. “Say it, or I’m reaching down the front of your pants.”

“I may not hurt myself or anyone else, but this promise doesn’t mean I don’t have other ways to make you pay for holding me hostage.” On her back. Against the wall. From behind. Doc would pay.

“On your Alpha’s orders. I don’t make a habit of keeping prisoners in my home.”

He growled. And she better not hold any other wolves in her home.
Her
Alpha’s orders or not. “He’s not my Alpha,” Xan snarled.

“Are the Black Hills not your home and the Taos your pack?”

“Yes.”

“Then he’s your Alpha. Give me your word.”

“I, Xan Davis, will not hurt myself or anyone else. Now unlock these damn cuffs and point me to the bathroom.”

“Under one condition.”

“More? You’re shitting me?” He groaned.

“No, I’m not. Promise to stay with me until you’re better…in this house.”

He slowly scanned the room and frowned. “With all this pink?”

“What’s wrong with the pink?”

“It’s disturbing.”

“What’s disturbing is how you’re fighting the help we’re offering. A smart man would take it.”

“Whatever. I’ll do it. Even if your home-decorating choices could be considered acts against the Geneva Convention.”

“You’re not a prisoner of war.”

“Sure as hell feels like it. I even have my own warden and guard.”

“I’ll ask Ryker to leave tonight. You’ve given me your word, and that’s good enough for me.” She stepped forward and unlocked a cuff, pressing the key in his palm before backing away. “Bathroom is down the hall on the right.”

It took him two seconds to get out of the cuffs and past her before she finished giving directions. Later, he’d teach her what happened to sassy women who thought they could restrain and coerce promises out of him. And no, he didn’t have any intention of hurting her, not unless she begged him to. Maybe a light spanking? Xan’s dick twitched. Fuck, now he’d have to wait for his stiffy to go down before he could complete the mission. He slammed the door and locked it, glaring through it to the woman in the other room, taunting him to let his beast out, when he damn well knew he couldn’t.