Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 15

The next day…

“A little more to the right,”Hope instructed Zaire. “That’s it.” He put the cabinet down. “I still can’t believe you can move that thing around by yourself.” These shifters were even stronger than they looked, and they packed some serious muscle.

“It doesn’t weigh anything.” He picked up the sonogram machine like it weighed nothing.

“Um…maybe you shouldn’t—” Hope made a squealing noise in the back of her throat when he held it up with one hand above his head.

“That cost a ton of money!” she yelled. “Don’t do that.” She shook her head. “Quit messing around and put it down,” she added when he started twirling it around with his fingers.

Holy shit!

Zaire laughed, putting the machine back down. “Sorry to scare you, Dr. Bristol. I wouldn’t have dropped it and it’s not like you can use it, anyway.”

“That’s true.” It was the one thing that was annoying with nonhuman pregnancies. She couldn’t use an ultrasound to see how the pregnancy was coming along. It didn’t work. The machine was gathering dust. It was purchased when they still hoped it might be possible. Now there was a new machine just sitting here, unused. She might recommend that it be donated to one of the many care facilities in need.

“What else do you need me to do?” Zaire lifted his brows. He hadn’t so much as broken a sweat while they put her new furniture into her office.

“I will take it from here,” a gruff voice sounded from the doorway. She didn’t have to look up to know that it was Reece.

A feeling of awareness crept over her as she lifted her gaze. “Hi, Reece.” She tried to play it cool, even though she felt anything but.

“Dr. Bristol.” He inclined his head for a second, looking angry. She was going to ignore it. It was easy to get mixed signals from him. Reece was just being himself. That was all.

“Sure, Reece.” Zaire smiled. “Would you like me to patrol the area?” He used his thumb to point outside.

“No, you can go to the royal tower. Keep a close eye on the queen. It won’t be long before the change of shift. I will be there to hand over. Magnar and our king are with Claire, but that does not mean that you may let down your guard. You know what we discussed earlier.” Hope briefly wondered what it could have been. She was sure it had to do with spies and Ekon and risk. She felt a shiver travel down her spine.

“I do, Reece. You can count on me.”

“Hurry, then,” he said.

“Goodbye, Doctor. I might see you tomorrow.” He winked at her.

Reece growled.

“Sorry…I…um—” Zaire started to say.

“Go!” Reece roared. “Now!”

Zaire ran from the building. When Reece turned to her, his eyes were blazing. “I am sorry. I will have another talk with my team.” He shook his head, looking disappointed. Anger simmered just beneath the surface. His muscles looked tense. Especially the ones on his neck and shoulders.

“Why would you need to talk to them, and why do you look so angry?” She held up her hands. “Since we agreed last night to communicate better with one another, I thought I would ask you. I don’t understand this behavior. We were getting the clinic ready. Zaire was helping. You shouldn’t be angry over that.”

His whole stance softened. His shoulders relaxed. His eyes, too. “Zaire was showing off for you. He was giving you mounting signals. It made me angry.”

“Mounting signals?” she repeated, frowning. “You thought he was flirting just then?” She held back a smile. Because Reece had it wrong.

“Definitely.” Reece nodded. “It’s how we…let a female know that we are interested in her. We show off our strength and skill as a warrior. Our ability to keep her safe. It is a turn-on for a Feral woman.”

“So, him holding up the ultrasound machine,” she pointed at the piece of equipment in question, “with one hand, was his way of flirting with me?”

“Yes.”

“I think it was just a case of him fooling around.”

“He was not fooling around. He was serious. He was trying to prove himself to you. It’s not right. Not after everything you’ve been through. You’re trying to find yourself, and yet you’re surrounded by males who would like nothing better than to…than to…take advantage of you. That’s not right.” Reece was frowning. He was completely serious. So darned cute.

Hope wanted to tell him to relax. None of them were being rude to her. They were all really nice. They all gave her compliments all the time. In a way, it was flattering. Even pleasant. If anyone tried to take it further, she’d be quick to put them in their place. She didn’t say any of this to Reece, because she didn’t think that he would take it well. “If you feel like it’s necessary,” she finally said, “then you should talk to them. For the record, I’m not a Feral woman so it’s lost on me.” She shrugged.

“I do think it’s necessary. I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay, then.”

He looked around. “It’s starting to come together nicely. This actually looks more like an office. Definitely not so sterile as before.”

“I know. The whole clinic has a long way to go, but it’s starting to take shape. I have my first appointment booked for Monday. One of the human women living here now with her new mate.”

“That’s great!” Reece’s eyes lit up. He almost looked like he was going to crack a smile, but stopped himself at the last second. “Is she with clutch?”

“I don’t know. It’ll be her first time coming to see me. I wouldn’t be able to tell you even if I knew. It’s called doctor-patient confidentiality. I took an oath when I became a doctor.”

“I hope it is a female with clutch,” Reece said. “We need young for our species to stay strong and to thrive. Humans have given us hope. For the first time in years, we have hope.”

“Hope.” She smiled. “It’s funny how my name is Hope and I’m here to take care of the future generations of your species, starting with the next royal offspring.”

“It’s great.” His mouth twitched and his eyes glinted. “You have a lovely name. I’m glad you came.”

“Me, too.” It was weird. It still felt like they were tap dancing around each other. She wasn’t sure why. It felt like they had broken ground yesterday. That maybe they could be friends. Yet, here they were, and it felt awkward between them. Possibly even more so than before.

“Are you ready to go, or do you need me to move anything else?” He looked around the room.

“Nope.” She shook her head. “I think that’s enough work for a Saturday. I’m taking what’s left of the day off.”

“Sounds like a good idea.”

They walked outside. Reece took his pants off, and her cheeks instantly heated. Make that, her whole body ignited. She had to force herself to look away. To look anywhere but at him. If she looked, she wouldn’t be able to stop staring.

And there it was. The reason it was still so awkward. The reason they couldn’t be friends. It didn’t matter that she was still married. It didn’t matter that she was here to find herself. To leave her past behind. It did not matter that she didn’t want a rebound relationship. Or even sex, for that matter. She was attracted to Reece. Hugely attracted to him. Up until recently he had come across as a colossal jerk. Her new problem was that it wasn’t the case anymore. Beneath all his layers – the broody, anal-retentive layers – there was a really nice guy. A nice guy who was incredibly sexy. The fact that he didn’t know it made him even more attractive to her.

It was one hell of a problem to have. One hell of a problem indeed. The only consolation was that he wasn’t interested in her. He wasn’t attracted to humans. It was a good thing. A fantastic thing. It meant that she wouldn’t be tempted to act on her desires. She’d make a fool of herself if she did.