CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Ryan~
The new bed was still a bit small for his taste. But at least it was larger than the double bed it had replaced. He couldn’t wait to try it out. Unfortunately, Claudia was exhausted and scared to death. She looked ready to fall asleep on her feet.
What a day she had had. First dealing with the fallout from the gossip in Mystic Bay, and then having to haul his ass home and participate in what felt like an exorcism.
Despite having had a fever and pretty much passing out earlier, now that the crisis was past, he was feeling invigorated. Nothing like surviving immanent death to rev up a guy’s most primitive instincts. He wanted to fling Claudia to the new mattress and prove he was alive. Fortunately he had self-control.
“Nothing is going to happen tonight.” They both spoke at once.
“Oh,” she said.
“Go brush your teeth. I need a shower. I smell like I just did a fifty-mile hike in full gear.”
“Okay.” She looked less terrified, but still uncertain. As if their auras had not been playing footsie for hours. Women. Or maybe that was sorceresses. Or maybe he was just a frustrated tomcat.
He went back into the living room. Virginia was curled up on the fold-out bed, apparently asleep. Looked like the new couch was a success on all fronts. He located his duffel and carried it back into Claudia’s room, and removed his toiletries and a clean pair of shorts. Claudia returned from the bathroom. He gave her a quick kiss on his way to the shower.
His clothes were ruined and went in the trash. His thigh was still a trifle inflamed. But when he pressed around the wounds, no pus flowed, and it barely hurt. It was healing around the edges. With his fast shifter metabolism, in a couple of days he would have four scars.
He wanted to try out his healed limb in cougar, both to speed up the healing and to experience the pleasure of easy movement. But disturbing the house after the night they had had would be both inconsiderate and injudicious. Morning would be plenty soon enough. Besides he was sufficiently stoked. He didn’t need his beast in the ascendant when he was going to have to lie beside his luscious, exhausted bride.
He debated having a shave, decided against it on the grounds that he had shaved before their abortive dinner, but mostly because he was shift out of luck tonight. His mate looked like she had been rode hard and put away wet.
They both needed a proper night’s sleep. Sure, he was aroused. But he had a feeling that was going to be his new normal around Claudia, which boded well for the future, if not for tonight.
But it was hard to feel truly frustrated when he was riding the high of surviving death. He took care of himself in the shower. He peeked in on Jimmy before he went to Claudia’s room. Jimmy was sleeping on his back, limbs sprawled, body askew.
Ryan straightened his covers and gave him a little kiss on one flushed cheek. He was pretty sure the kid had been in charge of clearing the poison from his bloodstream. Three-fricking-years old and already he was some sort of powerful healer. There had to be a spin on this story that would get the council permanently the hell off Claudia’s back.
She had turned out the light and was a little hump on their bed. He headed for the other side and slipped under the covers. “Good night,” he whispered to her neck.
“G-good night,” she whispered back.
“Get some sleep. I’ll bet Jimbo will be running in right about dawn.”
She relaxed. “Probably.”
Since he had been snake bitten, he had had trouble both falling asleep and staying asleep. Tonight he figured that between his low-level arousal, Claudia’s presence, and the new energy pumping through his body, he would never close his eyes. He would just lie quietly and rest. The soft breathing of the three sleepers was a soothing backdrop to his racing mind.
Quinn and his bunny sidekick were the obvious people to spread the news of Ryan’s remarkable recovery. Better to keep Claudia out of the story altogether. After all, what would a talent detector have had to add to Virginia and Jimmy’s healing powers? He, however, was quite certain that his mate had zeroed in on his vibrations and reinforced whatever curative charms her mother and son were using. Talent detector, my hairy ass.
He woke with his arms full of squirming woman. Claudia was trying to climb inside him. No. She was in the throes of a nightmare and had instinctively turned to him for comfort or protection. He slipped both arms around her and held her against his heart.
“Easy,” he murmured into her tumbled curls. “I have you, sweetheart. You’re safe.”
She writhed for a bit, but gradually her body stopped trembling and although she didn’t wake up, she relaxed against him and her breathing smoothed out again. He did not let her go. Couldn’t.
He tucked her under his chin and savored the pleasure of holding her soft, curvy little body against his hardness. No, not her curvy body. Her. Claudia. Her scent and her undefended aura were part of this blissful experience.
“Why are you cuddling my Mommy?” demanded a cross and sleepy treble.
Ryan opened one eye. Jimmy was standing on Claudia’s side of the bed glaring at him. The clock said 0500 hours. He put his fingers to his lips and beckoned to the boy to go to the foot of the bed. He moved Claudia so that Jimmy could scramble between them.
Jimmy made such a production of getting under the covers that he woke Claudia. “Are you okay?” she murmured.
“I’s lonesome,” announced Jimmy.
Claudia gave him a hug and a kiss. Ryan did too. “Go to sleep, son,” he growled into the small tousled head.
To his surprise, Jimmy obeyed. Instantly dropping into a deep and untroubled sleep between his parents. Ryan wished it was as easy for him to go back to sleep. But having awakened, he was no longer sleepy. In fact he felt well rested and invigorated. But he lay beside his mate and cub, savoring their closeness until he heard Virginia stirring.
She was fighting to replace the fold-out frame in the couch. Ryan took over. “You’re up early,” she said.
“Jimmy woke me at 0500 hours. Did I thank you for curing me?” he asked.
Dr. Peterson firmed her lips and shook her head. “It’s too soon to call it a cure. But between us we managed to get your immune system functioning again, and lower your fever.”
“The punctures are closing,” he said.
“Already?” She was skeptical.
He parted his robe to let her look. She went for her bag and returned wearing glasses and gloves. “It’s granulating,” she said.
“Which means what?”
She continued to palpitate the edges of the wound with gentle fingers. “It means that the edges of the wounds are forming new tissue. You’ll have four whacking great divots, but unless there is deep infection we didn’t address last night, it looks promising. No guarantees and you will have scars.”
Who cared about scars when he was alive? “For what it’s worth, I feel cured.”
“Good. Call me if the fever returns.” She put her gear away. “I’m going home to change. I have a full schedule. It’s flu season.”
“Can I tell the world that Jimmy is a talented healer?”
“Better ask Claudia,” she said dryly.
“Of course.”
“But it should only help. Claudia, however, is another story.”
He tightened his sash. Met his mother-in-law’s worried eyes. “Why would we want to discuss my wife’s boring talent detection abilities?”
“Exactly.” Virginia let him help her on with her jacket and he heard her car drive away.
Time for coffee and making plans.