Possessing the Witch

By the time they reached her antique cast-iron bed, the man teetered on the verge of passing out. He was more a dead weight than a help. Or that’s how he felt to Selene, bearing the brunt of his weight. He leaned toward the bed, but she held on.

“Not yet. You’re soaked to the skin.” Selene pushed him toward Deme. “Hold him up while I get his clothes off.”

“You’re going to strip a stranger?” Deme asked.

“You want the honors?” Selene quipped. “He’s not lying in my bed in those wet, smelly clothes.”

“Why is he going to lie in your bed? I’m not liking this arrangement, Selene. You don’t know this guy. He could be a serial killer.”

“I can’t leave him on the streets, Deme.” Though her back hurt, she held on to the man. “Look, if it makes you feel better. I can sense that he won’t hurt me.”

Deme’s lips pressed together and her eyes narrowed. “You said you couldn’t read his mind.”

“I can’t read his individual thoughts, but I can tell he’s harmless to me.”

Deme stared hard at her sister. “I’m not convinced, but I’ll hold on while you do the stripping. I don’t think Cal would be thrilled to know I’d stripped a strange man.” She took over by sliding beneath the arm Selene had been holding him up by. “Just hurry. He weighs a ton.”

The man groaned, his knees buckling.

Selene helped Deme straighten him, then she went back to work, reaching for the waistband of his trousers. She wasn’t a virgin, but removing a strange man’s tattered pants was...well...disturbing. She quickly flicked the buttons loose and stripped the damp trousers down thick muscular legs coated with a fine layer of tawny hairs.

Her heartbeat quickened when she realized he wore nothing beneath his trousers.

Breath caught in her throat and she hurriedly removed his pants, setting them in a pile on the floor.

“Holy smokes, the man is hung like a frickin’ horse!” Deme grunted and almost fell over. “Damn, I think he’s out again. It’s all I can do to hold him up.” She shifted his weight, leaning hard to keep him up.

With her heart already beating a rapid tattoo inside her body, Selene hoped Deme wouldn’t mention the man’s nakedness again. Her older sister couldn’t be happy about this stranger being totally nude in her sister’s bed. She’d never leave him alone with Selene at this rate.

Selene knew, by way of her “gift,” that she had to get Deme out of the apartment before she tried to clean this man’s wounds. Something about him screamed danger. But not necessarily a danger to her. Those eyes, that growling and the roar, were only the beginning, she feared.

Deme wouldn’t understand. She didn’t have the gift of spirit like Selene.

Trousers off, completely naked, the man swayed. Selene helped Deme maneuver him to the bed, where they sat him on the edge and laid him back gently, lifting his feet up onto the mattress. Once settled, Selene pulled the sheet up over his legs and hips.

Selene went to work on the padding she’d tied over the wound, pulling it carefully over his shoulders, easing the fabric caked in sticky blood loose from his injury.

He sat straight up, his hand reaching up to grasp hers in a surprisingly strong grasp.

“Easy now. We have to clean it so that it doesn’t get infected,” she said in a stern but gentle tone.

His grip loosened, his hand falling to his side. Golden eyes, glassy with pain, stared at her before they rolled back in his head again, and he slumped against her.

Selene braced herself to keep from falling over with his weight.

Deme moved forward to steady Selene. “You got him?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Selene and Deme held on, lowering him back to the mattress. Once there, they stood back and flexed their arms and shoulders.

Selene took a deep breath and let it out. “I’m sure you have to get back to Cal. I can take it from here.”

Deme crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving you alone with him.”

“Yes, you are. If I need your help, I’ll call you. I have you on speed dial.”

“Selene, be serious. You don’t know him and what he’s capable of.”

“I told you. I can sense he won’t hurt me. Trust me, Deme. I need you to leave me and go check on the woman who was attacked earlier.”

“He could be her attacker.” Deme’s brows rose and her gaze captured Selene’s. “Your sense of spirit has been wrong before, hasn’t it?”

Selene shook her head. “Never. And no, he didn’t attack the woman.” She knew beyond a doubt this man wasn’t the girl’s attacker.

“Still, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you with him.” Deme’s cell phone buzzed and she pulled it from her back pocket. “Hey, Cal. What’s happening?” She listened for a minute, her gaze going from Selene to the man on the bed and back to Selene. “Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes.” She clicked the off button.

Selene’s brows rose. “Cal wants you at the hospital to question the woman, doesn’t he?”

Her sister nodded. “He’d like you to be there, too.”

Before Deme could finish the last word, Selene was shaking her head. “I’m not leaving him. His wounds must be treated.”

“He’s unconscious. We could take him to the hospital with us and let the professionals fix him up.”

Selene stared down at the man’s pale face. “Even if I wanted to, we couldn’t get him back up the stairs.”

“The woman regained consciousness. I need to get there before they knock her out completely.”

“Go. I’ll be fine.” Selene didn’t wait for her sister to leave—she started gathering supplies to clean and bandage the man’s shoulder.

“Well, then, I’ll check back here when I’m done at the hospital.”

“No need. I tell you, I’ll be fine.”

Deme snorted. “I’ll be here.” She touched her sister’s arm. “Be careful, and whatever you do, don’t trust him. You’re my sister and I care about you. I don’t want you to be the next woman in the hospital, or dead.”

Selene took Deme’s hand and squeezed it. “Then trust me. I know what I’m doing,”

“Fair enough.” With one last pointed stare, Deme left.

As the door closed behind her sister, Selene filled a bowl with hot water and set to work cleaning the wound.

She dabbed at the dried, caked blood all around the jagged, ripped skin, careful not to cause him more pain. But the effort was hopeless. She’d have to scrub to get the dirt and grime off. She applied more pressure, anxious to get the river water off and treat him for infection with one of her mother’s poultices made of the dried herbs she kept in her pantry.

After she’d cleaned the skin surrounding the injury, she took a breath and, with a fresh, clean cloth, attacked the wound itself.

Her first dab was hesitant and as gentle as she could be and still get it clean.

The man, whose hair was drying to a tawny gold, jerked with each touch. As she worked toward the center of the jagged, torn skin, his chest rumbled, his body tensed, the muscles in his arms seemed to grow.

Selene tried to hurry but she didn’t want to be careless and hurt him further. Her next touch set him off.

He flinched away and a bellow erupted from his throat. His back arched off the bed and his arms and legs writhed against the sheets.

Selene jumped back, tripped over his pile of clothing and fell hard on her butt.

The man rolled to his side, away from her, twisting and jerking, his skin stretching taut over bulging muscles. Thick golden hair sprouted from the skin covering his back, arms and neck. His hair grew longer, thicker and coarser around his head.

The man’s back arched again and he roared, falling to the floor on the opposite side of the bed from where Selene sat on the floor in stunned silence.

As soon as he hit the ground, another roar echoed off the walls of the small bedroom and knocked sense back into Selene. She pushed to her feet and threw herself across the bed.

If he continued to thrash around, his wound would start to bleed again.

“Stop it,” she yelled. “Whatever’s happening to you, stop it now.” Selene’s heart raced as she stared down at the back of an animal that appeared to be half human, half lion. “What are you?”

He roared again, his back bowing upward.

Selene fell back on the bed, knowing that deep inside, this man was in pain, and the pain wouldn’t get better until the injury was tended to. Pushing back her fear, she forced her voice to be calm while she shook inside. “If you don’t get back in the bed and lie still, you could die. And I’ll be damned if you die on my watch.”

The beast’s body stilled, the only movement the heaving of his chest as he breathed in and out, his thick, hairy skin twitching.

Taking a deep breath, Selene slid off the bed and crouched on the floor beside the huge creature, touching his uninjured shoulder. “Please. Let me help you.”

He flinched away from her.

“You might as well let me help you. I know your secret now. We’re past the awkward part. I know why you don’t want to go to a hospital. But that doesn’t mean your wound can’t be treated here.” She touched him again.

This time he didn’t withdraw.

Taking that as acquiescence, Selene urged him to roll over onto his back.

He laid still, his eyes those of a lion, staring up into hers, unblinking. The hairs on his naked body receded back into his skin, the huge bulk of his lionish muscles reduced to those of a bodybuilding hulk of a human.

Selene reached for his hand, her own shaking. “Come. Get back in the bed where I can clean that wound.”

His eyelids fluttered.

She tugged on his uninjured arm. “I can’t do it for you and you’re not staying on the floor.”

He let her help him back into the bed, where he lay completely naked, his skin returning to normal.

Selene’s breath caught in her throat as her gaze ran from his toned calves up to thick thighs to the juncture of his legs, where a thick, hard erection, bigger than any Selene had ever witnessed in her limited sexual experiences, jutted upward. As she ran the sheet over his body, she forced her gaze up to his head. The angles in his face eased from the animal he’d become back to the handsome, clean-skinned complexion of the man she’d rescued from beneath the bridge.

Once settled, he lay as still as death, his face pale, his breathing shallow and uneven.

Selene collapsed on the chair beside him, her heart racing, her confidence in the world she’d known shaken even more. What had she gotten herself into? This man obviously wasn’t human. Selene laughed shakily. Deme would be livid if she knew what she had in her apartment.

Selene shook her head, staring at the man lying so innocently against her clean white sheets.

What the hell was he?

Chapter 3

Gryph floated in and out of consciousness, pain forcing his beast to the surface more than once. Each time he was coherent enough to realize his body’s metamorphosis, he fought the change. A gentle but firm voice led him through the darkness, each time bringing him back from that place so primal and dangerous that he feared he’d go there and never return.

In a burst of pain his body stretched, flexed and altered, his lion surfacing, ready for battle. But an angel’s voice cut through his confusion, through the instinct driving him to lash out against the source of his suffering.

Once his eyes opened and he thought he saw a brown-haired beauty hovering over him. A halo of light surrounded her head. A dark angel there to drag his sorry ass back from the grave. She dabbed something cool and moist across his brow, whispering assurances to him. Then she pressed a glob of thick, oozing paste into the angry wound on his shoulder, bringing him fully awake and off the bed. The pain stabbed through his muscles and his jaw tightened. He could feel the lion fighting to break through. He opened his mouth to yell, but the lion’s roar erupted from his throat, echoing off the walls.

The angel became the devil, glaring at him, her dark eyes flashing. “Shut up and lie down. That’s the second poultice I’ve applied that you’ve shaken off.” She laid her cool hand on his heated, good shoulder and pushed him down onto the pillow.

A wave of nausea washed over him and he let her guide him back to the mattress. As soon as his head hit the pillow, the lion backed off and his human thoughts became clearer. “Why?”

“Why what?” Her hands dug into a stainless steel bowl on the table beside the bed and came up with a glob of greenish-brown mud. “Let’s try this again, and this time don’t sit up, or roar. And most of all try not to kill me, will ya?”

Her words cut through his pain, causing him to clench his teeth and focus on maintaining his humanity. “Why did you help me?”

She laid the poultice over his wound.

He gasped, his fingers clenching the sheets at his sides to avoid lashing out at his angel.

The woman shrugged. “I didn’t see anyone else coming to your rescue.” She adjusted the sheet around his waist and tucked a blanket over him.

For the first time, Gryph realized he was naked. His brows shot up. “My clothes?”

“What’s left of them are in the dryer.” Her lashes swept down over her deep dark eyes, her cheeks reddening. She pushed a long wavy strand of rich brown hair behind her ear. “They smelled like stinky river water. I washed your trousers, but I’m not sure they’ll be fit to be worn.” She looked up, her gaze capturing his.

“Did you...?” He nodded toward the sheets covering his body.

“Undress you?” Her chin tipped upward. “You weren’t lying on my bed in the soaked clothing. And you weren’t cooperating much in a semiconscious state.”

Gryph chuckled, and regretted it immediately as the movement shook his shoulder. Pain sliced through him and he growled.

Her eyes narrowed and he stopped.

“Perhaps you can tell me your name.” She ripped a white sheet in half, then in half again. Her movements were smooth, capable and graceful. Slim flingers made quick work of reducing the sheet into bandages.

Despite his pain, Gryph found himself fascinated by the firm, capable movements of her slender fingers, wondering what they’d feel like running over his naked skin. The animal in him purred.

Her brows rose. “Is it so hard to tell me your name?”

He hesitated. Having spent his young life avoiding answering questions posed by surface dwellers, he still didn’t feel comfortable sharing anything about himself with those above the world he’d grown up in. But something about this woman inspired his confidence. “Gryph.”

She nodded. “Gryph.” On her lips, his name sounded like the music he listened to with Balthazar in the Lair. “I am Selene.”

Her fingers folded the sheet into a neat pad, which she laid gently over his wound. Using white medical adhesive tape, she taped it down firmly, holding the poultice in place.

“What is that foul-smelling stuff you put on me?”

“A poultice my mother used to make when we fell and scraped our knees. Guaranteed to help you heal quickly.”

“Was your mother an angel like you?”

The woman’s lips tipped upward. “She was the angel. I’m not. In case you don’t remember, I cleaned your wound earlier. You were somewhat out of it. But not enough that you didn’t raise a ruckus several times throughout the procedure.”

Gryph cringed, his fists tightening into knots. “Did I say or do anything?”

“You didn’t say anything. You growled and roared.”

She’d only answered half of his question. Gryph’s eyes narrowed.

The woman wouldn’t meet his gaze and she busied herself gathering the bowl and washcloths on the nightstand.

Gryph grabbed her wrist.

The bowl upended and fell to the ground. The woman’s eyes widened.

“What did I do?” His voice came out gravelly and as more of a growl than he’d intended. The flash of fear in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. He dropped her hand.

She stepped back, rubbing at the red marks where his fingers had been.

Gryph sighed. “You didn’t turn me over to the authorities.” He shook his head, staring hard into her eyes. “Why?”

“Should I have?”

“Any surface dweller would have.”

Her brows dipped together. “Surface dweller?” She bent to retrieve the bowl, scooting back out of his reach as soon as she straightened, clutching the bowl to her chest. “What do you mean by surface dweller?”

His lips clamped shut. Damn. He’d said too much. The less this woman knew the better off he was, and the safer the community of souls was who lived far below the hustle and bustle of Chicago in the dark tunnels under the oldest part of the city. The scarred, the unusual, the mutants and the physically and mentally disfigured freaks who slid beneath the surface to live out their lives unnoticed by the beautiful, so-called normal people of the light.

“I should leave.” He pushed to a sitting position and the room spun so fast, he tilted toward the edge of the bed.

The woman was there to catch him, steadying him against her breast. Her tantalizing scent cut through the gray fog consuming him, bringing him back from the edge of unconsciousness.

“You’re not going anywhere in your condition,” she said, her voice firm.

As much as he wanted to remain with his cheek leaning into the softness of her breast, he straightened. “I’ll be fine. I heal fast.” His voice sounded weak, even to his own ears.

“If you let yourself.” She held on to his arm, her gentle fingers urging him toward the pillow.

Too exhausted to fight her, Gryph lay back, the slightest movement shooting pain through his shoulder. The gray fog swirled around his peripheral vision, shadows sneaking up to claim him. He closed his eyes, giving in to the darkness. “Why didn’t you turn me in?”

As if from the bottom of a deep well he heard her answer, “Because I know what it’s like to be different.”

* * *

Selene stayed by his side through what remained of the night. When it came time to open her dress shop above her apartment, she would leave it closed for the day. The man in her bed needed her more than women needed the vintage and whimsical dresses, beautiful, colorful blouses and artistic jewelry her business was known for in the city.

Gryph’s wounds had taken more out of him than he would have admitted. He burned with fever for hours and every time he moved, the pain shot through him, triggering the beast within.

Exhausted from little sleep and the stress of caring for her strange patient, Selene was drifting off in the chair beside the bed when her cell phone rang.

Selene hurried to the kitchen to answer and keep from disturbing her patient.

As soon as she clicked the talk button, Deme’s urgent voice asked, “Selene, honey, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” She laughed softly. “Did you expect anything else?”

“With a strange man in your apartment, I didn’t know what to expect. Is he still there?”

Selene turned toward the bedroom.

Gryph lay as still as death, his face flushed with fever.

“Yes, he’s still here.”

“Do you want me to come over? He hasn’t attacked you or anything?”

“No, he’s too far out of it to be a danger.”

“What about when he comes to? I can be there in five minutes. Just say the word.”

“No.” Selene was firm. If Gryph changed in front of her, Deme might not understand. She sure as hell wouldn’t agree to let him stay in Selene’s apartment after that. “What’s the status of the woman who was attacked?”

“She regained consciousness for a few minutes, but she was so distraught, we couldn’t get her to answer questions or identify what attacked her. We’re at the hospital now, hoping she’ll come to long enough to describe her attacker.” As a member of Chicago PD’s Special Investigations Division, Selene’s sisters, Deme and Brigid, had an inside track on any case that defied the norm. Last night’s attack was right up their ally.

“Let me know what you learn.”

“We had the ME examine her wounds.”

“Isn’t that a bit premature?”

“Her physician wanted a forensic look at what he saw.”

“And?”

“They both confirmed it was some kind of animal attack.”

Selene’s hand tightened on the cell phone. “Did they say what kind of animal?”

“No, only that it was large enough to snap her neck and paralyze her. If she lives, most likely she’ll never walk again.”

Selene drew in a long breath, empathy for the girl weighing deeply in her mind. What if she was wrong? What if the man in her bed was the beast who’d attacked the woman?

She focused on the man lying against her sheets for a long moment. She could sense no latent savagery in him. No hunger to kill. Even when he’d half shifted in pain, she hadn’t sensed that he was capable of killing without cause. He wasn’t the one.

“Selene, are you there?”

Selene shook her head and returned her attention to her sister. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“Brigid is with me. I can send her over to assess the guy in your apartment, if you’d like me to.”

“No, Deme.” She gripped the phone. “You didn’t tell her about him, did you?”

“No. I respected your wishes. Although if you’re comfortable with him in your home, why be secretive? We’re sisters. Since when do you keep secrets from any of us?”

Since the man in her bed had a beast inside him. “Please, just let me get him well. I’ll tell the others once he’s able to get around on his own.”

“By that time, he might be well enough to attack you. I tell you, Selene, I’m not happy with the situation. It’s bad enough watching over a stranger who’s been attacked. I don’t want to know what it feels like to stand over one of my sister’s hospital bed.”

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“Well, I’m coming by later today. Whether you like it or not.”

“He’s unconscious now. Let him wake before you do.”

She snorted. “I’m not liking this.”

“Duly noted.” Selene sighed. “Don’t worry, Deme. I’ll be careful.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure that’s what this woman said as she stepped into that parking garage.” Deme hung up.

Selene sagged against the counter.

She could hear the man in her bed moan, the moan changing to a low rumbling growl as he thrashed, the sheets slipping low over his waist.

Tired, but determined, Selene prepared another of her mother’s poultices, wet a clean washcloth and filled a basin with fresh water. She laid them on a tray and carried them into the room.

With great care, she removed the bandages and plucked away the old poultice a little at a time. The wound was an angry red around the edges. When she applied the damp washcloth, the man jerked to a sitting position, his gaze wild as he slapped her wrist away as if slapping a paw at her. His eyes were glazed, his cheeks flushed with fever.

“It’s okay.” She pressed a hand to the uninjured shoulder. Speaking softly, she urged him to lie down.

As if he understood, he eased to his back, grimacing, his lips drawing back over long catlike fangs.

As she removed the poultice from the wound, she talked softly. “I’ve never met a man quite like you.”

He winced and growled, small hairs rising on his neck and arms. Fascinated, she stopped cleaning and reached out to touch the hairs. “What are you? Half man, half beast? I have a million questions for you when you are up to answering.” She sang her words, soothing him as she applied the new remedy and bandages.

By the time she finished, his face had paled alarmingly and his body shook so hard his teeth rattled.

She pulled the sheet up over his chest.

“Shh, you’ll be okay,” she said, worried when he shivered so hard he shook the bed. Even after she’d covered him with a blanket, he trembled and his jaw clenched.

Afraid he would go into shock, Selene did the only thing she knew to do. She stripped down to her panties and slipped beneath the blanket and sheet, pressing her warm body against his cold skin. Careful, so as not to touch his wound, she draped an arm over his belly and a leg over his thigh. Curling her body around his, she held on, praying to the goddess the fever and shock wouldn’t be the end of him.

Slowly, the tremors lessened, dropping from constant to intermittent and finally, they stopped altogether.

Warm alongside him, and tired beyond exhaustion, Selene lay her face against his chest and closed her eyes. His deep, even breathing reassured her that he would be okay while she took a short nap. Sleep claimed her instantly and with it began the dreams...

Wandering through the dark, she recognized the tunnels. They were just like the ones she and her sisters had traversed beneath Chicago to save the youngest of her sisters from an evil Chimera a couple of years ago.

So dark...

Selene carried a flashlight, the beam barely lighting the way, pushing against the inky blackness like a hand shoving back heavy drapery.

The longer she walked, the longer the tunnel seemed. She stepped over old railroad tracks, discarded pallets, pipes and debris, searching for...whatever, she wasn’t quite certain.

Something clattered behind her. Selene stopped to listen. Nothing but the eerie silence. When she started walking again, she sensed something moving with her, getting closer.

At a T-junction, she ducked to the left, clicked off her flashlight and waited, barely breathing so that she could hear the sound of footsteps treading softly in the passage.

There it was.

The soft steps, moving slowly toward her. Not those of a human but the close succession of patters on the ground like those of a four-legged creature.

The closer it moved the faster her heart beat and the more shallow her breathing. She was afraid if she made even the slightest sound, she’d give away her position.

Just as the creature eased to the junction, Selene flicked her thumb over the on switch, shining her light into the eyes of the predator, hoping to blind it while she made her escape.

The red eyes of a wolf shone back at her like twin blood orbs in a face so dark it blended into the black of the tunnel.

Selene screamed and backed away, the hand holding the flashlight shaking so badly she almost dropped it.

It was huge, as big as any man, only twice as menacing. Its lips curled back, exposing long, sharp teeth, and it emitted a growl so frightening, Selene spun and ran through the tunnel.

“Help me!” she cried, her voice echoing off the empty walls. No one was there—most sane people didn’t venture into the subterranean underworld beneath the city. She was alone, being chased by a wolf. She ran, knowing she couldn’t outrun the creature.

Her foot caught on a broken rail and she crashed to her knees.

The wolf caught up, braced its paws on either side of her and breathed its hot breath onto the back of her neck, as if waiting for her to turn over. To face her death.

Selene rolled to her back, clutching her pentagram between her fingers, unable to close her eyes to the wicked gleam in her attacker’s face, knowing she would witness her own death.

The wolf’s body tensed, his mouth opened and he bunched his muscles.

Then a tawny golden flash of sinew and fur hit him head-on, knocking the wolf onto his back.

Selene scrambled backward, grabbing for her flashlight as a mighty battle for supremacy raged in the beam of her light between the wolf and a glorious male lion.

The wolf lunged at the lion, his teeth sinking into the lion’s shoulder.

Selene gasped. “No!” She pushed to her feet and would have thrown herself at the wolf, but hands held her back.

“Let me go. I have to help,” she whimpered.

“Shh,” a low male voice crooned. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not.” She wept, struggling to free herself. “He’ll die.”

“It’s only a dream,” the voice said. A hand smoothed the hair back from her forehead. “It’s only a dream. Come little angel, wake up.”

“A dream?” Selene whispered. Rising from the darkness, she blinked her eyes open...

Selene stared at the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d tacked to the ceiling shortly after she’d moved into her small apartment. The stars reminded her of the night sky filled with twinkling stars that dispelled the darkness and gave promise of the vastness of the universe.

A solid warmth pressed against her side. She turned her face, her cheek resting against skin—a lot of skin. Selene tipped up her chin and stared into golden eyes and lips quirked at the corners.

“The angel awakens.” His words rumbled in his chest, echoing into her ear. His arm shifted beneath her head, his hand cupping her shoulder.

“I must have fallen asleep,” she said.

“I think you and I must have been having the same dream. I woke only moments before you.”

“I was being attacked by a—”

“Wolf?” His brows descended. “I saw you.”

“But then a lion saved me.” Selene’s eyes widened. “Was that you?”

His gaze grew guarded. “I should be going.” He tried to sit up, growled in pain and fell back against the pillow, wincing at the effort.

“You’re in no shape to go anywhere.”

“I can’t stay here.”

“Why not?” Selene leaned up on her elbow before she realized she was only wearing her bra and panties. She lay back down, her face burning.

His eyes flared, the pupils dilating. He opened his mouth to say something.

Selene placed a finger over his lips. “Don’t get any ideas. I only lay here to warm you when you were going into shock.” She cupped his cheek. “It seems the fever is gone.” Sitting up, she pressed a pillow to her breasts. “You won’t need me to keep you warm.”

His good hand closed gently around her wrist. “Stay.”

“But I’m not dressed.”

“I know. And neither am I.” His voice had lowered to a warm rumbling purr. “I feel a chill coming on.”