Escaping Monsters - Rita Stradling Page 0,17

smelling chemicals onto my skin.

“Comfortable… okay,” I said breathlessly as I stretched out on the reclining patient chair. My heart was beating in my throat, and it took a hell of a lot of concentration just to stay put.

“How old are you?” Lucas asked.

I rolled over just enough so I could see his handsome face without looking directly at my hand. “Is this for my chart?”

“I’m on my lunch break.” His eyes shone with his interest. “This is the closest thing I’ve had to a date in a long time.”

“Well, if you think cutting women open is a date, there’s probably a reason for that.”

Lucas burst out in a laugh that made his shoulders shake. “Fair point. Don’t make me laugh after I get my scalpel out, okay?”

“I won’t, and as for your question, I’m forever twenty-seven and technically thirty-seven. How about you?”

“Forever thirty-seven, technically much… much older,” he said.

“Thirty-seven,” I looked over his features. I would have put him at a damn sexy forty-five.

He inhaled deeply. “Life aged you faster back when I was human.” Lucas pulled a ring off his hand, setting it on the counter, and my stomach squeezed as I realized that I hadn’t checked for a wedding ring before I started flirting with the sexy veterinarian.

“Beautiful ring,” I said with a nod to the intricate band on the counter. “Is it a wedding ring?”

“Yes. It was.” Lucas’ brows lifted and he nodded back. “It was my mother’s band. I wear it on my pinky.”

I bit my lip. “Ah… I thought you took it off your ring finger.”

“Nope.” Lucas held up his hand, showing me a little ring indent on his pinky finger and nothing on his ring finger. “I was married once before, a long time ago, but this ring here was only ever my mother’s.” His gaze traveled far away again as he pulled on a pair of latex gloves. The look faded quickly, and his gaze returned to mine. “So, Teagan, I’m going to need you to direct me on how to immobilize you without anesthesia.”

“Command me and mean it. It’s as simple as that. It’s going to feel really good. Dominating me is the werewolf equivalent of cocaine, and you shouldn’t feel bad about feeling good, because I told you to do it.”

He licked his lips. “Can you tell I’m nervous? It’s been a long time since I used my dominance on another wolf.”

“We don’t have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable,” I said, even though, damn, it was going to be a serious problem if I had a glass shard in my paw.

“No. I can handle this. I just like to be honest when I can.” His gloved finger rubbed over the pad of my hand, almost absently. Lucas’ eyes met mine, and he said, “Keep your right hand completely still.”

The order pressed down on my will, and, fuck, it was strong. The soft-spoken vet was hiding a wealth of dominance. Automatically, my hackles rose to fight it, but I let the impulse pass.

“It worked,” I whispered as his emotions washed over me. I could feel the spring of confidence and pride swelling up in his chest like he could do anything. With it, his pride laced with a deeper cold shame.

“Lucas, I asked you to do this. You’re helping me. Everyone experiences that ego-boost feeling.”

His eyes narrowed. “You’re feeling my emotions right now?”

“Sorry. I should have clarified that before you started. Whenever werewolves dominate me, I can feel their emotions. I felt the emotions of your alpha and that bartender Ace last night while they dominated me, and they likely felt some fraction of what you’re feeling now.”

“I guess it’s only fair that you feel my emotions, because that means we’re both vulnerable.” It was kind of him to say, but truly, he was the one doing me a favor. “Are you ready? I’ll go as fast as I safely can.”

“I’m ready,” I said.

There was pressure, and then pain sliced through the meat of my palm. I closed my eyes as the sharp ache thrummed through my body. The pain stretched, like nails biting into my skin, and I sucked in my breath.

“Maybe if you talk?” Lucas suggested.

“So, Grayhaven is a supernatural town? I didn’t know that that was a thing,” I said quickly.

“I’m not sure it is a thing. So far as I know, it’s only Grayhaven,” Lucas said, his voice sounding distracted.

That was good. I wanted his attention on the painful, throbbing things he was doing