Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (6 page)

“Whatever
you say,
Doc
,” he chuckled, hoping to lighten her mood and deciding he
liked the nickname.

He
looked down to find her still facing forward with her brow once again furrowed.
If they didn’t reach some kind of compromise in their power struggle, her poor
brows would be permanently ruffled. Her body language and the emotions coming
from her were more confusion than anything else, something he could most
definitely understand. Especially since he was confused even though he had half
a clue what was going on.

They
walked through the automatic doors, and the nurse at the desk wore a knowing
smile while saying hello to Sam. They continued down the hall. He grinned as
she squirmed from under his arm at the same time that two young women in scrubs
came out of a room on their left and turned towards them, smiling. The one with
short blonde hair stopped right in front of Sam. “What are you doing back here,
Missy? Didn’t I send you home hours ago?”

She
chuckled, “Yeah, but I had ‘technical difficulties’ then got a call that a
post-op patient spiked a fever. Of course, Dr.
Monoghan
and his crew are nowhere to be found, and the floor nurse thinks she needs to
be seen, so here I am.”

The
young woman leveled her gaze at Lance and then slid it back to Sam. “And you
just happened to find
him
in the waiting room?” She tipped her head in
his direction.

Sam
blushed again, and he didn’t even
try
to stop the smile that slid across
his face. “No, Lance saved me when Bonnie Blue decided to breakdown and then
gave me a ride back.” He could tell she was uncomfortable but had no intentions
of letting her off easy. He stood still with his signature shit-eating grin
planted firmly on his face, waiting to see if she introduced him. To his
surprise, Sam didn’t miss a beat. “Charlie, this is Lance. Lance, this is Dr.
Charlene Gallagher…Charlie.” As they were shaking hands, she shifted and
started her getaway while beginning to braid her incredible hair.

“If
you insist on staying, Lance, you can hang out in the waiting room or the
cafeteria,” she called over her shoulder.

“I’ll
be in the cafeteria, Doc,” he called to her retreating backside.

“Alright,
I’ll make it as quick as I can.”

And
with that she picked up the pace. So entranced by the sway of her gorgeous ass
as she moved down the hall, he completely missed Charlie leaving too. Shaking
his head, he headed towards the elevator to find the cafeteria, his mind a blur
of thoughts about his Samantha. How in the hell was he ever supposed to stay
away from her long enough to catch those that threatened not only her, but also
the others he held most dear? Royce always told him the day would come when his
mouth would write a check his ass couldn’t cash. Well, if kissing Sam had been
that check then he would be a pauper selling pencils in the street for just one
more taste.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Four long hours to get
Sydney’s temperature back to 98.6 and she was finally resting comfortably in
her room. Sam still had no clue why the child’s fever would break and then
spike again, only to repeat the cycle about every forty-five minutes. All the
tests they had run came back negative for
everything
. There was no
logical reason for what had happened, but at least once they got it all the way
back to down normal, it had stayed that way for over an hour with no
indications of returning.

The
most reassuring sign was that the child’s rosy coloring had returned to normal,
and she had stopped the constant tossing and turning. All that was left was to
chart the final dose of meds and then she could find Lance and finally get home
to her bed. She hated to admit that she was glad he had stayed, but knowing
that Charlie had already headed home from the text she had gotten almost two hours
earlier, and the only remaining option being sleeping in the doctor’s
lounge…again, she was ecstatic he had waited for her.

As
she shut down the computer and signed out at the nurse’s station, she thought
about the man that had literally kissed her silly in the parking lot. She
definitely
hadn’t seen that coming, but had enjoyed every damn second of it.
That
was what a kiss was supposed to be; passionate, all-consuming and….
wow!
As she relived every spectacular second of the best kiss of her life, she moved
on autopilot towards the end of the hall. Waiting on the elevator, a cold
creepy feeling slid down her spine. She felt like she was being watched. Not in
the protected, safe way that Lance watched her; this was creepy, almost scary,
and made her feel edgy.

Nonchalantly,
she
glanced
over one shoulder and then the other,
seeing nothing but lab coats, scrubs, and hospitals gowns; nothing or no one
that looked out of place in a hospital at that hour. The longer she waited the
more intense and focused the dark, ominous feelings became. Finally, the
elevator indicator flashed red, and she counted to fifteen, knowing the doors
would open in the next second. She gave one last, quick look over her shoulder,
took a step towards the elevator and ran straight into a wall of hard muscle.
Strong, familiar arms instantly wrapped around her, pulling her farther into
the elevator. It was not until she heard the doors close that the arms gently
holding her loosened. She looked up only to be snared by the amazing blue eyes
she was coming to depend on to be there in her hour of need. The look they held
this time reminded her of the look she had seen in them the night of their
first meeting, complete with brows drawn tight. She realized immediately that
he was not smiling but frowning, almost scowling, and the tension he carried
was vibrating through her as he continued to hold her. Even his voice was
gruffer than usual when he spoke, but he visibly worked to soften both his look
and his tone. “I was just coming to find you. What happened?” He was examining
her, “You seem spooked.”

He
was still not happy and trying to play it. She decided to play along and
answered, “Oh, nothing…just tired, I guess. Why are you here? I thought we
decided to meet in the cafeteria?”

For
the second time, he shifted his gaze from her eyes to her eyebrow. He had done
the same thing earlier, and just like then, she was sure he was hiding
something again. Right before he began speaking, he looked back into her eyes,
“Just coming to check on you. It’s been a little over four hours, Doc. Just
wanted to make sure everything was all right.” He gave her a little half grin,
but the ever present twinkle had not returned to his eyes. Still visibly
working at relaxing both his body and expression, he asked, “Your little
patient doing better?”

“Yeah,
her temperature is finally back to normal, and she’s resting comfortably,” she
answered, still wanting to know what had him on edge, but deciding to wait and
see if he would tell her on his own.

“Great!
Then we can get out of here, and you can finally get some rest,” he commented,
obviously avoiding any further conversation, but still on high alert.

The
elevator doors began to open and quicker than she could
follow,
he had her hand in his and was a step in front of her as they exited. She
watched him scan the entire area while quickly moving towards the exit, almost
as if he was looking for some hidden danger. Gone was the fun-loving guy that
had handled her broken down car without a second thought and had gotten her
back to the hospital to take care of Sydney like her knight in shining armor.
The man holding her hand now reminded her of some type of soldier or police
officer or…bodyguard. Yes! That was what he was doing, he was guarding her; but
from what? She pulled on his hand in an effort to get him to stop, but he only
seemed to speed up.

“Come
on, Doc, we need to meet Royce out in the parking lot. He brought my truck. I
figured you’d be too tired to ride back on the Harley.” He smiled that little
half smile again, but it still didn’t reach his eyes. Something was happening
that he was not sharing with her. Any other time she would have demanded to be
told everything, but she was just too exhausted to care. Not one to give up
control easily, she again thought about calling him out, but decided that
between fatigue and all the crazy feelings this man stirred within her, she
simply didn’t have the strength for a
discussion
. The creepy feeling she
had felt a few moments ago disappeared as soon as she had slammed into him,
once again proving that her mind and body recognized him as her safe haven.
Something she was definitely going to need to examine after she had gotten some
sleep. Lance was a complication she simply did not need at this stage in her
life, no matter what her crazy hormones were screaming. Her intuition was
always right and what she had felt before she bumped into him had been
terrifying, but she figured the man presently pulling her through the parking
lot, along with his huge brothers, could pretty much handle anything anyone
could dish out. She’d be sure to ask him about it tomorrow when he returned her
car. She would be rested, and then she would not be charmed out of getting the
answers she wanted.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He knew the minute the
wizards had entered the hospital. The stench of their black magic made him
nauseous at first scent. His instant rage had almost gotten the better of him.
The only plausible reason they had to be at the hospital was Sam, and there was
no way in
hell
he was letting anything happen to her. Keeping her safe
had been all he’d thought since he had first caught the scent of jasmine and
honeysuckle in the smoldering warehouse.  He’d denied his feelings and the
pull of the mating call to protect her and keep her from harm, and now those
fucking bastards had come after her out in the open, in her place of
employment.
WHAT.
THE.
HELL?

Thank
the Heavens he had been there. Having no idea how many wizards were in the
hospital and not wanting to endanger any innocents, he’d immediately called for
backup,
mind speaking
with Royce. The big guy decided that they should
use the guise of exchanging vehicles as an excuse for their sudden appearance.
Lance had to admit he was thankful for the older Guardsman’s quick
thinking. 

“Are
you guys here yet?”
he called to his brethren in mind speak
as he and Sam exited the hospital.

“Already
here and waiting, Dude,”
Devon answered.

“Just
you two?”
Lance asked as he
maneuvered through parked cars with Sam in tow.

“Nope,
Aaron and Aidan are inside looking for the dirty fuckers. We figured if their
dickhead brother was with the wizards, they had the best chance of catching
him. We’re going in as soon as you get your girl clear of here,”
Royce
answered, and Lance could hear the chuckle in his voice when he said ‘your
girl’.
Dammit
, Lance knew the old man had
figured out what was going on.

Sam
pulled on his hand, and he heard the intake of breath indicating she was about
to speak. He knew the only reason he was getting away with rushing her out of
the hospital and weaving through parked cars without a
discussion
was
the fact that she was dead on her feet. Any other time, he was sure she would
have put her foot down and demanded he tell her everything. Just ahead, he saw
Royce and Devon standing next to his truck in the parking spot next to hers.
Deciding to head off her questioning, he pulled her up the half step she was
behind him and pointed to his truck. “Your chariot awaits, milady,” he teased
and even threw in a wink, hoping to at least get a grin out of her.

It
was all he could do to not laugh out loud when she rolled her eyes and
answered, “Thank God.”

“Any
word from inside?”
he asked his brethren while keeping Sam
distracted.

“They
haven’t seen them yet, but the taint of black magic says the wizards are still
in there,”
Royce answered.

“Yeah,
these sons of bitches are using all kinds of false trails and misdirects, just
like Andrew did in the woods.”
Lance could hear the
anger and frustration in Aidan’s voice, thankful he had come along for the
hunt.

“Sorry
you had to leave your mate, but I’m damn glad you’re here, Bro,”
Lance answered quickly.

“No
worries, man. She loves hanging with
Kyndel
and the
baby, and I couldn’t miss an opportunity to kick these bastards’ asses.”
He could hear how desperately Aidan wanted all of this behind them. The Heavens
knew it was something they all prayed for.

“And
if that asshole little brother of ours is here, then this shit is really
gonna
be a party,”
Aaron threw his two
cents in. They all laughed to relieve some of the ever building tension through
their unique link.

“Besides,
we heard there was a certain beautiful doctor that we all needed to meet,”
Aidan laughed as the badgering he had been dreading began.

“Yeah,
what gives? Trying to keep her all to
yourself
there,
Bro? Not cool,”
Aaron mocked hurt feelings, but they
were all chuckling. This was the bullshit he had wanted to avoid.