To Tame His Mate (5 page)

“Well, if you’re finished with your girly-fit, I’ll get back on the road.”

Wham!

“Damn it! Stop hitting me!” He leaned his massive frame so far forward that his forehead pressed against the windshield in his attempt to avoid her fists.

“Then shut up!” Sarah crossed her arms over her chest and fumed. “By the way, genius, pain doesn’t make me whine and cry. It pisses me off.”

“If this is how you get when you’re pissed, we’ll have to restrain you for the exam.” Erik looked slightly worried now.

“Oh, I’m not pissed right now. I’m just a little upset about the inner workings of your troglodyte brother’s brain.”

“What the hell did she just call me?”

“Aw, was that word too big for you?” Sarah sighed. This wouldn’t get them anywhere, so it looked as if she’d have to be the bigger person here. After all, he
was
trying to help her, and she did tend to fly off the handle with little provocation when she was hurting. Guess she would have to be the one to take the highroad before this whole situation went any further south. “Listen, I just met you, not that you were overly polite, but we got off on a bad foot.”

“Agreed,” he mumbled.

“Fine. So we’ll try to be civil from now on, deal?”

“Fine,” he huffed, sounding much like a petulant child.

Erik chuckled, looked sheepish for about a split second then burst out laughing.

Abraham scowled. “And just what the hell do you find so amusing?”

“She got to you,” he wheezed and laughed more. “She yelled at you, knocked the shit out of you then politely told you to behave in her own roundabout way.”

Sarah barely held her own giggles in check. Abraham had such a miserable, constipated look on his face she figured he must be ready to blow a gasket. It was obvious that he was replaying their conversation in his head and the disbelief on his face was priceless.

“Fuck!” He laughed, surprising both her and Erik. “You’re a slick little thing; I’ll give you that.”

“I think I’m in love,” Erik shook his head, “I’ve never seen anyone talk to him like that.”

“It’s not that hard. Just get them off balance and strike while they’re either confused or not focused.” She smiled at Abraham. “By the way, it means caveman.”

“Caveman?” He looked skeptical.

Sarah raised her right hand. “Yeah. Troglodyte means caveman. I promise. You can look it up.”

“He’s probably just surprised that’s all you called him.” Erik smiled, and Sarah found herself smiling back, feeling both his relief as well as her own. Maybe, she would come to like his crazy family after all. Hell, after Abraham, everyone else was probably a pushover.

They pulled up to the clinic, and Erik quickly but carefully helped Sarah from the back of the Rover while Abraham fetched a wheelchair for her. Inside, the waiting room was just like any other with children running around, the near constant sound of sniffling or coughing, and a plethora of outdated magazines to thumb through while waiting. It was the smell of sickness that usually made her avoiding doctors and hospitals.

“I’ll go to the desk and sign us in. They knew we were coming because I called while you were resting.” Erik spoke to the receptionist for a moment while Abraham parked the car. A moment later, he returned with a nurse and a clipboard of paperwork. Crap! They’d want her information.

Erik must have picked up on her distress because he flashed a reassuring smile before following the nurse as she escorted them into the small room.

“
The physician
’s assistant will be in shortly,” the cheery nurse announced.

“Thank you,” Sarah replied. The room was a typical exam room. Small and sterile with an exam table, chair, a few cabinets, a sink and, of course, a rolling stool. Once the door closed, she turned to Erik. “I can’t use my real name. This isn’t going to work.”

“Relax. You’re a self-pay patient, so no social security number is needed. We can change your last name and use my address.” Sitting in the seat next to her wheelchair, he reached out and took her slender hand in his. “Let me worry about this, all right? I’ll take care of it for you. Nobody will suspect you of being Sarah Gray.”

“Are you sure?” She couldn’t meet his eyes as she confessed, “I’m scared Erik. I’ve never been injured like this before. What if it cripples me? I may never be able to run as a wolf again. I could be lame.” The last was spoken in a choked whisper.

“You’ll be fine.” He placed his fingers under her chin to bring her gaze to his. “I
will
take care of you. You’re my mate, and I’ll be here for you in any way you’ll let me.”

He was letting her call all the shots. Whatever was between them, it was her decision whether or not to let it grow more serious. God, she was so scared and confused she just wanted to scream. Actually, she wanted to shift and run. Everything was so much simpler as a wolf. Right now, that wasn’t an option. The only choice she had was to trust in the kindness of a stranger—who was also her destined mate—and his nut-job brother.

“Thank you.” Sarah threaded her fingers in his. “I’m glad it was you who found me. I’d hate to be running right now. And I’m especially glad I feel able to trust you.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” He gestured to the paperwork. “Let’s answer these questions, shall we?”

“I’ll do it. It’ll give me something to distract myself.” Sarah paused after writing her first name. What should she put as her last? After a moment, she jotted something down and asked for his address.

The door opened and in came a gorgeous woman in a lab coat, followed by a content-looking Abraham. He stared at the woman as if she were a goddess. Her long auburn hair was secured with a rubber band at the nape of her neck and hung to the middle of her back. Hazel eyes sparkled as she greeted everyone. “Hello, I’m Stephanie, and I’ll be taking care of you today.”

“I’m Sarah, this is Erik, and Abraham is behind you.”

She turned to greet him, and the smile fell from her face. Sarah picked up the slight scent of fear and realized Abraham towered over the poor girl.

“H-hello,” Stephanie managed.

“Hi,” he rumbled while staring down at her. With his dark features and
big
build, not to mention the lack of facial expression, he had to be scaring the crap out of the physician’s assistant.

Erik jumped in. “You must be fairly new here. I haven’t seen you around.”

“Um, yes. I just moved here about a month ago.” Stephanie seemed to almost shake herself back to the present. “So how did you hurt your leg?”

“I slipped in some water and landed wrong on my knee.” Sarah rolled up the leg of her pants and hissed as she passed her knee. “It’s not pretty.”

“You’re not kidding. Can you guys help her up onto the table so that I can get a better look?” Stephanie relieved Sarah of her clipboard so that she could be moved then stepped back.

Erik gently lifted her up to the table, the paper crinkling as he set her down. Meanwhile, Stephanie glanced over the paperwork briefly before setting it on the counter and coming to Sarah’s side.

After a brief examination, she announced, “Well, Ms.
Wolfe, it looks like your knee might be dislocated.”

Sarah didn’t miss Abraham’s startled expression at her choice of last name or the pleased one that settled on Erik’s face.

“I want to get an x-ray, just to be certain there’re no other underlying problems, though, all right?”

“Sounds good, thank you,” she replied.

“I’ll have the nurse bring you to x-ray, and the guys can wait here.” Stephanie inched around Abraham, avoiding eye contact, then practically fled the room.

“Jeez, would it kill you to crack a smile? You scared that poor girl!” Sarah exclaimed.

“I did not,” he argued. “But she’s really pretty.”

Sarah giggled. “Easy there, caveman. You can’t club her and drag her back to your cave.”

“I don’t think I’m that bad. I
do
think I’ll ask her out to dinner, though.” Abraham looked at the door as if he could see her through it. Poor bastard had it bad.

“She’ll say no.” Sarah’s flat remark drew a glare from Abraham and a low growl from Erik in her defense. “She’s a professional, and she’s at work. You’ll need to catch her outside of work and be
nice.
”

“I am nice,” he snarled.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. “I can also see I’ll have to help you with this.”

“Really?” His face brightened to an almost boyish expression. “Do you think she might have dinner with me?”

“Maybe, we’ll start with a drink…socially. You can be intimidating, buddy. She’ll need a buffer.” She patted his forearm reassuringly.

“Okay.” He nodded almost absently while looking off in the direction Stephanie had disappeared.

“You really like her, don’t you?”

“I don’t know why,
but…yeah
.”
Poor guy
. He really did look confused. Erik, however, appeared worried. Sara decided to ask him about that later since the nurse arrived just then to take her to x-ray.

Chapter Four

“All right, it’s only a dislocation. They’re nasty and painful, but fairly easy to fix.” Stephanie gestured to the films hanging on a lighted board then drew a syringe from her lab coat. “I’ll give you a steroid cocktail to help with the swelling. Turn your backs, gentleman. This goes in the rump.”

Sarah groaned. “Seriously? Can’t you just give me a pill?”

“Trust me, this will be nothing compared to that knee.” She looked at Abraham’s turned back as she spoke.

Sarah tugged her sleeve.

“Yes?” Stephanie asked.

Sarah crooked her finger for the physician’s assistant to come closer then cupped her hand and whispered, “He’s harmless.” At Stephanie’s skeptical look, she confessed, “He likes you. He’s just nervous.” Sarah knew that Abraham and Erik heard every word, but Stephanie didn’t.

“That makes two of us.” After tearing away her gaze with a visible effort, Stephanie helped Sarah roll to her side, not bothering to clarify if it was the attraction or the nerves they had in common.

Sarah sucked in a gulp of air when the movement caused a spike in her pain. Almost immediately, she felt a second pair of hands helping to ease her over.

“I’ve got you,” Erik breathed by her ear, causing gooseflesh to spread over her body. “Just let me know what you need.”

“Hold my hand, and don’t let go.” She knew that request made her look weak, but at the moment, she couldn’t give a shit.

“You got it, sweetheart.” He came around in front of her, clasped her fingers in his and smoothed her hair back with his free hand. “Squeeze if you need to.”

All she managed was a nod. Stephanie adjusted the waistband on Sarah’s pants and quickly administered the shot.

“Shit!” Sarah bit out through clenched teeth.

“Sorry. I know it burns, but it will help, I promise.” After slipping the pants back into place, she instructed Erik to return Sarah to her back and into a relaxed position. “We need
to slowly straighten
your leg. It will be painful, I won’t lie to you, but it will feel better once it’s back in place.”

“Abraham, come over here, please,” Sarah panted as Stephanie eased the injured leg out. Sarah knew her potential for hurting someone if the pain reached much higher, and she wanted to avoid it. “Just hold my other hand.”

She was certain that this woman was about to yank the leg out straight to get Sarah’s knee back in place. She’d seen medical dramas on television.

“If this hurts too much, we’ll stop,” Stephanie offered. The look on her face said she didn’t look forward to causing any pain.

“No, keep going.”

“Try taking a few deep breaths, and relax your leg muscles as much as you can.” Stephanie held perfectly still as she waited for Sarah to do as she’d instructed.

In…out
.

In…out.

It actually helped. Sarah became more pliant beneath the three sets of hands gently holding her
.
Of course, as soon as little Miss Breathe Deeply moved Sarah’s leg again, that somewhat pleasant moment was shattered.

As one leg was being straightened, Sarah drew up the other. Abraham stayed the motion with his big hand, firmly pressing her leg back down to the table. Good call, too. Otherwise, she might have kicked the shit out of this sweet woman who was only trying to help her.

“Okay, hon, we’ve got your leg straight, but your patella’s still not back in place.”

“My what?”
she
panted.

“Your kneecap. Just bear with me a moment.” Stephanie gently used her fingertips to probe for the cap then gave it a little nudge to slide it back into the correct position. Sarah cried out from the painful sensations as the men struggled to hold her still.

“I know that hurt like hell, and I’m sorry, but in a few minutes you should feel a lot better,” Stephanie explained, patting Sarah’s uninjured leg, “Just relax for a few while I get an ACE bandage and an ice pack for you.”

“Thank you.” Erik shook Stephanie’s hand before she left. “Are you all right?” He asked, looking back to Sarah.

“Yeah, I think so.” As she lay there, the pain ebbed, and she noticed other, more curious things happening in her body.

Her skin was ultra-sensitive, and she felt fevered. When Erik brushed her hair from her cheek, tucking the strand behind her ear, she whimpered and turned into his touch.

“Sarah?” The confusion in his voice was so cute. Everything about him was cute…and sexy as hell.

Abraham moved his hand from where he’d been holding her leg, and she arched as the act caused a zing of tingles to shoot through her.

“Shit, man, can you smell that?” Abraham’s body tensed, his jaw clenching. “Heat.”

“Yeah. You need to leave.” When Erik’s order was ignored, he turned a menacing growl toward his brother. “Now, Abe!”

With a tight nod, Abraham headed to the door. “You need to get her out of here and quick.”

“I know. Send the doctor back in if you see her.”

Sarah knew what they were worried about. If she was going into heat, then Erik’s wolf would be frantic to get to her. They were in a very public setting, so this was really not the most opportune moment for this to occur. Come to think of it, why was it happening?