“No. Kendra is professional. She believes in cooperation. Margaret is the furthest away possible from professional, but she has more empathy than anyone I’ve ever met. She’d know what I’m feeling. She wouldn’t ignore me.”
“Very clear reasoning. But what if neither of them wishes to explain what happened at that house at Goldfork? The simplest way to avoid it would be to not answer the phone.” He smiled. “Of course, if you’re bound and determined to think that they’re both at death’s door, there’s nothing I can do about it. But exceptional people generally do survive, Jane.”
“And is Eve going to survive, too?” she asked fiercely. “She’s exceptional. No one is more exceptional than Eve. To keep her alive is the reason Kendra and Margaret went to Goldfork.” She closed her eyes. “I was trying to fool myself that I was doing some good here, but it’s all fairy tales. And you let me do it, didn’t you, Caleb?”
“Yes. Does that make me the bad guy? Okay, I’m accustomed to the role. Sometimes, I even enjoy it.”
“No, I won’t blame you,” she said wearily. “You just went along because you wanted to keep me occupied and docile in this damn hospital.”
“Docile? You?” He chuckled. “That wasn’t about to happen.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?” Her eyes opened, and she blinked to stop the stinging. “I wanted to be useful, and I thought it was happening.”
“Maybe it was happening. We don’t know yet.”
“What we do know is that Kendra and Margaret were doing my job and ran into something they couldn’t handle.” She moistened her lips. “And I feel guilty as hell. I’ve got to get out of here, Caleb.”
He shook his head. “There’s no way that those doctors are going to let you go. They said three days, and they meant it. Look at you. You’re shaking. You don’t have a fever right now, but it will come back if you overdo it.”
“I don’t care. I have to do it.”
“And have Joe rush back because you’re on the verge of collapse before you can even get to the airport? You’d be more of a burden than a help.”
That’s what Margaret had said, Jane remembered. She’d been angry at the words, but she’d had to admit their truth. The last thing she wanted to do was to get in the way of finding Eve because she was too weak to get out of the way. And she was having to admit the truth that Caleb was speaking, she thought in desperation.
“I’ll be okay. I won’t get in anyone’s way. We’ll just have to make sure they don’t tell Joe,” she said. “Just help me get out of here, Caleb. I’m not thinking too well right now, but you know how to manipulate the system. Look how you managed to get papers for Margaret. There has to be a way.”
Caleb didn’t speak for a moment.
“Yes, there’s always a way.” He added softly, “But you don’t usually like the ways I choose.”
“I don’t care. Get me out of here in a way that’s safe for Joe.”
He reached over and one index finger touched her damp lash. “I don’t like to see you this way. It … disturbs me.”
“It disturbs me that I have to ask for help. I’m doing it anyway. Help me.” She met his eyes. “Or I’ll help myself.”
“And that would disturb me even more.” His finger moved to her upper lip. “You’ll have problems. You’ll have to trust me. That’s against your nature. You’re sure?”
“Get me out of here.”
He nodded slowly. “Get into bed.”
“What?”
“You want out of here? The only way is to have a miraculous recovery and get the doctors to agree to dismiss you. That will appease Joe, and he won’t rush back. Agreed?”
“Yes,” she said warily.
“So get into bed.” He pulled her to her feet. “And we’ll get on with it.”
“On with what?”
“Your miraculous recovery.” He gently pushed her down on the bed. “What else?”
“We’re going to fool those doctors into thinking I’m well?”
“You have very good doctors, Jane. Quinn made sure of that before he left you here. They wouldn’t be fooled. They rely on medical science and experience.”
“Then what are—” Her eyes widened as he began unbuttoning her pajama top. “Caleb?”
“I told you that you wouldn’t like this.” His dark eyes were glittering, and his smile was reckless. “But you can stop me at any time. Maybe.”
“What are you doing?”
“Your miraculous recovery. I can give it to you. It may be temporary, but you’ll be well enough to get a free pass from the medical staff here.”
“What do you mean, you can give it to me?”
“Blood.” He carefully removed the bandage covering the wound in her shoulder. “It’s magic. We’re going to see if my blood in your veins will answer me if I call on it.” He unbuttoned his shirt. “I believe I can do it on my own, but the effect may be doubled. Wouldn’t that be interesting?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” But she couldn’t take her eyes from the corded muscles of his chest, the dark thatch of hair, the sheer masculine virility. “And I’m not sure I want to know.” He was coming toward her, and she instinctively tensed. “And I know the so-called magic blood stuff you seem to be able to pull off with your enemies. It’s fatal.”
“But that’s only with enemies. You’ve only seen my bad side.” He was standing next to the bed, and he reached out and touched the wound. “This is so ugly. It will be good to see it healed.”
She inhaled sharply.
Burning.
Skin tautening.
Deep explosion of tension.
“You like that?” His fingers gently rubbed around the wound. “Yes, I can see that you do.”
“Are you saying that you can cause that wound to heal?”
“No, I’m not a healer. But you can do it yourself.” He smiled. “With my help…”
“How … can I do it?”
“Send the blood to the wound. Blood is healing. As a matter of fact, medical facilities all over the world are experimenting with laser treatments to cause the blood to rush to injured areas of the body. They work very well.” He touched the wound. “But I’m much better at it.”
She gasped.
Not pain.
Heat.
Exquisite, flowing, heat.
“You see, that’s how it starts,” he said softly. “I touch, we touch, the flow begins. But it becomes very intimate, and that’s the part I can’t control. Because even without a physical joining, the mind can become obsessive and doesn’t want to release. All I can do is try.” He tilted his head. “But you’ll get what you want, Jane. If you’re not afraid to reach out and take it. Yes, or no?”
She stared at him. She didn’t underestimate anything he had told her. How could she when he had always been a mystery to her? When she had asked him for help, she hadn’t dreamed he would go down this dark path. Perhaps she should have, he had always been a figure of darkness and fire to her. Once she had even wanted to paint him surrounded by flames … She should probably tell him that she had changed her mind and that she’d work the problem out for herself.
But she wasn’t going to do it. He had said that he could give her what she needed, what Eve needed.
If Jane wasn’t afraid to take it. He had thrown that challenge at her, and through all the frantic desperation, it had sparked fire.
“Yes or no?” he repeated.
She held out her hand to him. “Yes.”
He smiled. “I thought so.” He moved her to the side of the bed. He kicked off his shoes and lay down beside her. “Remember, I gave you the choice.”
“What are you doing?” The warmth of his body next to her came as a shock. “Is this—It’s a hospital. What if someone comes in?”
“I’ll know if they’re coming. As Margaret would say, it’s part of the stalking instinct. Besides, it’s unlikely anyone will interfere. You’ve practically set up your office in here.”
“So … what do we do? What happens?”
“Relax, it’s already happening. It will take a while. But in a few hours, you’ll feel almost normal.” He spread his shirt aside and took her in his arms. “Almost…”
Her softness pressing against his hardness.