“Hmm,” she murmured in a sultry way, “I dreamt you came dressed in your plaid to rescue me on a white steed. It was the night North and his men took me hostage. You yanked off your plaid, wearing only your shirt and boots, and wrapped the fabric around me. Then you carried me off to the castle.”
Prophetic that she should dream of him in that way? Or some deep-down Freudian desire to be with him that cast her into a fantasy world where he was her knight? He’d dreamed of her, too, only she was wearing the silky translucent gown that he’d seen her in when she had stood gazing out the window at him.
“Castle? I was the laird, no doubt.” And he would have been, had his family kept the drafty old keep. But sometime or another, they’d lost it to taxes and moved to Prince Edward Island first, and then eventually to North Carolina where many Scots ended up. Werewolf or otherwise. Some of his family settled in Colorado, and there they’d stayed.
“And your clansmen were glad to see you’d finally found a lady to tame your wild ways,” Carol said, her hand still stroking his thigh with a light touch.
“Sowing my wild oats, you mean.” He winked at her.
“Do that often?”
He laughed. She chuckled. “But I’m worried about being a MacDonald. What if the McKinleys had fought the MacDonalds?”
“In the old days, who knows? Now, it doesn’t matter. You know what this means?”
“What?” Her hand paused on his thigh.
“We’re moving the engagement date up.”
She stroked his leg some more, and he gritted his teeth against the rising tide of need. “If we have time before Doc and the other men arrive…” he said.
She stilled her hand on his lap. “What about Darien?”
“He’ll understand. Believe me. Know anyplace private where we can… sort things out?” He didn’t want to tell her that he had already made Jake aware Carol was his, that Silva would be the next to know, or that Darien already asked if he’d take her as a mate.
Chuckling, she squeezed his thigh. “You get right down to business, don’t you?”
“You saw me rescue you and whisk you away from the villains to the safety of yon castle, so it seems you had a premonition. Since you can’t change fate, we seem destined for this. So, is there any place private where we can go?” he asked again.
Smiling, she shook her head.
“I thought you were an adventurous sort. But more than that, I’ll barely be able to move in the direction of the hospital if you keep manhandling me.”
She laughed. “An exam table? Stirrups?”
“No hands examination?” He grinned. “Now that’s an idea.”
“The basement has a lounge area, a testing lab, a laundry room, and a snack room. Couches, clean laundry, snacks.”
“Getting better.”
“The nurses’ office and the doctor’s office have beds for when we have to stay on-call overnight.”
“Can we lock the basement facilities?”
“Yes, all of the rooms will lock. It just depends on what you’re in the mood for. When I was in training in Denver, I once found a nurse and a doctor fooling around in a linen closet. But linen closets have never appealed to me. Unless, of course, I got locked in one with a hunk of a guy and had to while away the time.”
“With just any guy?”
She patted his thigh. “Not with just anyone. Twice, I’ve also discovered patients having sex with lovers in their rooms. Once I’d even knocked, waited for a response, and figured the patient was asleep when no one answered.”
Ryan laughed. “So what did you do?”
“Turned around and muttered something about coming back later. I was embarrassed the first time I caught a middle-aged married couple at it. By the second time, I was getting the hang of it.”
“Sounds like the patients didn’t need to be in the hospital. Is an unoccupied patient’s bed another choice then?”
She shook her head. “Not unless I’m one of the patients and feeling frisky and the visitor looked a whole lot like you.”
“Sounds like you’re an adventurous sport after all.” But this meant a whole lot more to Ryan than the sex. Mating was the selfless commitment between a man and woman that promised a partnership through the rough times, and cherishing the good, a way to carry their genes forward through their offspring, a companion for life. No matter what, his being with her for the long term felt better than right.
He just hoped the problems she was having with transitioning could be resolved once they were mated.
When they arrived at the hospital, the place was quiet. Nurse Matthew met them in the waiting area, gave Ryan a hard look, and then said to Carol, “I bandaged Tom and the others that North and his men had attacked earlier. Sam dropped by to pick up Tom and take him to Darien’s house, and Silva’s gone with him to stay with Lelandi. The others had someone pick them up and take them home. We’ve got six guards around the outside of the hospital. The place is quiet with no overnight patients tonight.
“The three men who were shot are being transported here. Should be another hour before they arrive, though. They have to be carried to where a vehicle can reach them and then brought here.
“Doc’s sleeping in his room off his office, still in his wolf form. I took blood samples, and the medical technologist has performed routine and some highly specialized tests on them. He went home for the night, if you want to take a look at the results down in the lab.
“You’d know more about them than I would, since you were training in that area before you decided to become a nurse. With Dr. Mitchell and Dr. Webb both unable to look at them, I don’t know who else to send them to. I’m wiped out. Until the wounded men arrive to be patched up, I’m going to lie down in one of the staff rooms.”
“Thanks, Matthew. I’ll look at the blood samples in the basement. As soon as the wounded men arrive, I’ll be back up here to help you treat them. Just let me know when they’re here.”
Matthew nodded and headed for the nurses’ room.
Ryan followed Carol down the stairs to the basement, knowing he could never undo what he was about to do— and not regretting that in the least.
“You sure you want to do this?” he asked, just in case she wasn’t ready for a full commitment. As they reached the bottom step, he opened the door for her. He had to be certain she wanted this as much as he did.
“No last-minute change of mind?” He was afraid she’d settle for less than a mating again. Although getting hot with her like that again was appealing, he wanted more—to claim her, to make the commitment, to settle down with her.
She gave him a quick smile. “You have to ask? You’re not getting cold feet, are you? You promised to help me through what I’m going through. ‘Together,’ you said.” She raised a brow.
Just what he wanted to hear. He pulled her close and kissed her, ready to show her just how much he wanted her. Her fingers gripped him tight against her body, and her mouth softened against his kiss. Her body was stiff at first but then melted. His body felt tormented from her touch already, but he knew then that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.
Her breathing shallow, she suddenly broke free from their kiss and motioned to the door. “Might want to lock it.”
Hating to break the spell of the raw sexual energy spiraling between them, he stalked over to the door and locked it with a click.
The water heater in the next room thrummed as warm heat filtered out of the vents above. Ryan turned off half the lights, cloaking the lounge in darkness. They could still see, but it was a lot more romantic, he thought.