Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 18

Later that day…

Hope heard Reececlear his throat.

Her wide-brimmed hat blocked her view from down there on the lounger, so she was forced to crane her head to see him.

He looked so good in jeans. They were the light, faded kind. They hugged his narrow hips and muscular thighs. He had that whole ‘V’ thing going on. She quickly lifted her eyes to his, thankful she could hide her stares behind dark glasses.

“I’m going to fly for an hour or so.” He gestured with his chin upwards. “There’s only so long a Feral can sit between four walls. I need to shift. I need to spread my wings, to feel the wind between my feathers.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, the sun on his handsome face.

“Sounds good.” She could see that he was excited about it. “I’m a little jealous.”

He gave her a hint of a smile, making her mouth feel dry in an instant. “You wouldn’t enjoy it much, Dr. Bristol. It’s going to be hard and fast.”

“Maybe I like hard and fast.” She was wrong on every level. Hope had to bite back a smile when she saw how uncomfortable he became. Reece took a step back and then pushed his hands into his jean pockets. Then he took them out and folded his arms.

He was so darned cute. Hope had a soft spot for him. She wished for the tenth time that he had agreed to her proposal. Sex with no strings attached. No, make that sex with Reece, with no strings attached. “You don’t…like it fast, Dr. Bristol.” He got this shy look. “It made you feel unwell last time, and that was nothing compared to the speed I plan on going today.” He chose to ignore her innuendo.

“Hope,” she corrected.

“Zaire is outside. He won’t intrude, but he’s here if you need him. He’ll keep you safe until I get back.” He ignored her request to call her by her first name. Hope decided to drop it.

“Okey dokey. Have fun.”

“I will.” He turned and left.

Hope watched him walk away. She lay back down on the lounger, enjoying the afternoon sun. After a minute, she picked up her book and started reading. At some point, she must have dozed off, because she was startled awake when someone cleared his throat.

Reece.

Back so soon.

She frowned. Then again, the sun was lower on the horizon. She squinted, looking up. It wasn’t Reece. His eyes leaned more to yellow than golden. His hair was white-blond, cut short against his scalp. He gave her a grin. “Hi…I thought I would come and introduce myself.” He held out his hand. “I’m Shard.”

Hope slowly rose to a sitting position. Her book fell to the floor. “Oh…oops.” She picked it up, placing it on the lounger next to her. Then she took his hand, noting the firm grip. “I’m Dr. Hope Bristol.” She stifled a yawn. Yep, she’d been sleeping alright. Making up for her bad night.

“It’s lovely to meet you, Dr. Bristol. May I?” He gestured to the lounger next to hers.

“Of course.” She felt around the back of her chair for her dress.

“Don’t get dressed on my account,” the guy – Shard – said. “We’re shifters, nudity is completely normal, which means you’re actually overdressed.” He laughed.

She smiled, pulling her dress over her head despite what he had just said. Perhaps she was taking Reece’s warnings to heart. She wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the way this shifter was looking at her. Not that he outwardly checked her out or anything. It wasn’t that.

“So, you’re here to help the queen lay her eggs, Hope? You don’t mind if I call you Hope, do you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t mind. I prefer it when I’m not working, otherwise it’s Dr. Bristol.”

“Fair enough.” He smiled. It was charming. Shard was a good-looking guy. He brimmed with confidence. “I’m the head guard, in case you were wondering. I thought I would drop by to…introduce myself and to check if there was anything you needed. Are all your security needs being met?”

“Nice to meet you, Shard,” she said. “I’m all good. I don’t need anything. My security needs are most definitely being met. Thank you for checking.” She was eager to get back to her book, but didn’t want to come across as rude.

“I’m glad to hear it. How are things with the queen?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. Claire is my patient. It’s confidential information.” She didn’t think he was prying intentionally, but she couldn’t discuss Claire’s medical records with anyone without consent.

His eyes widened. “Of course. My apologies. Where are you from? I’ve been to various human cities over the last year or so. I’ve worked hard to learn about your species.”

“Oh…planning on taking a human mate at some point?” It seemed like most of the guys wanted that.

“Definitely.” He nodded. “I was mated. I lost my female to clutch sickness.” His eyes clouded for a moment.

Hope felt sorry for him. She couldn’t imagine all they must have gone through. “That’s terrible. I’m so sorry.”

“Yes, it was terrible. An awful, dark time in our lives. Many years have since passed and I feel that I am ready to…move on. Not that I would ever forget my love. Nerusha was everything to me. She was my world.” He looked down.

“I can imagine,” Hope replied. She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Anyway, that was a long time ago.” He looked into the distance; his eyes were still clouded. “On a happier note, what do you think of our beautiful landscape?” He smiled.

“Magnificent.” It was Hope’s turn to take in the exceptional view. She didn’t think she’d ever tire of looking out over the vast lands.

“Will you be staying once the royal chicks are hatched?”

“Maybe for a couple of months. I’m helping set up the clinic. I’ll probably be involved in finding my replacement, but I don’t think I’ll stay…no.”

“That’s a great pity, Dr. Bristol. I think that we could use someone with your expertise. Also, you are a very beautiful woman, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Um…thanks,” Hope said to be polite. Shard seemed pleasant enough, but…she wasn’t interested at all. She hoped he wasn’t going to come onto her or anything.

“Perhaps we could have dinner together one of these nights? I would love to get to know—”

There were heavy footfalls on the wooden deck. “What are you doing here, Shard?” Reece’s eyes were practically on fire. They seemed to glow. His hands were curled into tight fists at his sides. His jaw was tight. He wore the same blue jeans, but the top button was undone, like he’d dressed in haste.

“Reece, good to see you.” Shard smiled broadly. “I came over to introduce myself to Hope.”

“That’s Dr. Bristol,” Reece growled. He took a step forward, and for a second or two, she was sure he was going to hit Shard. “Have some respect.”

“My apologies.” Shard got this smirk as he turned to her. “You said you were okay with me calling you by your first name?”

Now he was putting her on the spot. “I…um…don’t mind.”

“Well, I mind.” Reece cocked his head. “Dr. Bristol is too polite to set you straight.”

“Dr. Bristol,” Shard winked at her like it was a big joke between the two of them. Like Reece was the joke – which she didn’t like at all, “is an intelligent woman. The doctor would tell me if I stepped out of line.”

“Why are you even here?” Reece took another step toward them, eyes on Shard. They were still narrowed and still blazing.

Shard stood. “I told you why I came.”

“To introduce yourself. Funny you would wait until I was elsewhere to do so.”

“You shouldn’t leave your post,” Shard smirked. “Or let your guard down. It’s not on me that you did.”

“I didn’t let my guard down. Zaire is here in my place,” he growled. “Don’t change the subject. You waited until I was gone to pounce. That’s a pussy move if I ever saw one. I see some things don’t change.”

Shard narrowed his eyes, his face twisting with rage before he caught himself and schooled his expression.

Hope stood up. She could see the animosity building between the two men. Shard’s jaw was tight, even though he was still smirking.

“I’m fine. Everything’s fine,” she tried to defuse the situation. “There’s nothing going on. Shard was—”

“Everything is not fine, Hope. This bastard waited for me to leave so that he could make a move on you. He snuck around because he knows it’s wrong.”

“Why is it okay for you to call Dr. Bristol Hope?”

“Dr. Bristol is my charge.” Reece narrowed his eyes. “We are sharing a house.” The two men looked like they were squaring off to fight. “I don’t have to answer to you!”

“Charge?” He nodded. Shard took a step closer. “I can ask the doctor out if I want. She doesn’t report to you. Unless,” he lifted his brows, “unless the two of—”

“Unless nothing! You can stop right there.” Reece’s voice was barely audible, which was somehow all the more menacing.

“Okay, so then it’s perfectly fine if—”

Reece took another step towards Shard and growled low in his throat.

“Um…” Hope stepped in between the two men. She looked from Shard to Reece and back again. “Wait! Stop this, please. I’m not interested in dating anyone at this stage. Thanks for the offer, but I have to decline,” she told Shard.

“Don’t decline on account of him.” All traces of humor had long since left Shard’s face. “We could have a whole lot of fun together, Doc.” He didn’t take his eyes off of Reece, whose muscles roped and bulged. Reece looked like he was going to hit Shard at any second.

Hope was sure Reece was going to shift. His eyes glowed brightly. He was magnificent and terrifying all at once. Reece made a screeching noise that had goosebumps rising on her whole body. “I’m giving you ten seconds to walk away,” he told Shard.

“You can’t order me around. I don’t report to you. The way I see it, you’re probably a rung below me at this point.” He smirked. His eyes were hard and cold.

“You wish! I report to the king, not to you. Never to you!”

“Let’s wait and see what—”

“Please stop!” Hope turned to face Shard, still keeping herself between the two men. “Please, just go.”

“Getting tiny human females to fight your battles nowadays? Pathetic!”

Reece put his hands on her hips and physically moved her to the side. The two shifters bashed chests as soon as she was out of the way. Reece put his face in Shard’s face. “You’re a lying, cheating bastard!”

“I didn’t lie or cheat. It was above board. It’s about time you came to realize that, Reece. Just because things didn’t work out for you doesn’t mean—”

“Stop this! Stop! I mean it.”

Shard took a deep breath and stepped back. Hope watched as he forced himself to relax. He even gave her a tight smile. “If we fight, the human might get hurt. I will do the responsible thing and back down. I will leave now, since I said what I came to say.” He locked eyes with her. “If you change your mind about that date—”

“She won’t change her mind!” Reece snarled.

“I can speak for myself,” Hope interjected.

Shard grinned, looking pleased with himself.

Reece pulled in a deep breath. Every muscle tensed. His face was a mask of pure rage. His eyes… Holy crap.

“I think it would be better if you left,” she told Shard.

“Nice meeting you, Doc!” He winked at her. “I hope to hear from you soon.”

Reece growled, and Shard laughed as he turned to leave.

They watched until he disappeared out the front door. “That is why you shouldn’t dress like that,” he growled at her. “That asshole is exactly why I insist we call you Dr. Bristol. Maybe now you will understand why I act the way that I do.” He took in a deep breath, his eyes still blazing. “If I hadn’t arrived when I did…” He shook his head looking disappointed…in her? Surely not!

“What then? What exactly do you think would have happened?”

“I know that you are looking for sex. For a good time. I didn’t give it to you. Perhaps you would have accepted Shard’s proposition of a date. You do know that he doesn’t actually want to date you. He wants to mount you.”

“What? I can’t believe you just said all of that.” She made a noise of utter frustration. Where did he get off? “I wasn’t born yesterday. I know exactly what he wanted.”

“Why didn’t you turn him down when he asked you?”

“I didn’t get a chance to turn… No, make that – I did turn him down and more than once.” What was wrong with him?

“Only because I arrived when I did. Perhaps you would have accepted otherwise. You turned him down to defuse the situation, not because you didn’t want a date.” He snorted as he said ‘date’.

“I would not have accepted.” He was making her so damned angry. “And so what if I had? What’s it to you?” Screw him!

“That male is trouble.” Reece pointed in the direction that Shard had taken.

“He seemed fairly sweet to me,” Hope said it to anger Reece. He was really pissing her off with his accusations. It was getting tiring. Just when she thought they had moved on from that. She wasn’t sure what she even saw in Reece. Why couldn’t she be attracted to someone else?

“Don’t let me stand in your way, then,” Reece snarled. “Should I call him back?”

“You’re not in my way. That’s just it. I’m not interested in Shard! For the record, I can take care of myself, you know.”

“Can you?” He folded his arms, looking at her like he thought she was full of hot air.

“You’re the one who’s the asshole, Reece. Just because I made my feelings of attraction known to you – you – does not mean that I want to sleep with the whole damned lot of you. I’m attracted to you. I wanted sex with you. Now I wish I hadn’t said anything because you still keep doing this.” She gestured wildly with her hands. “What’s wrong with you?”

“There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m a male in my prime.”

“I wasn’t talking physically wrong. Look, please forget I ever told you how I feel…forget it. That’s all I ask. I’ve changed my mind completely. I wouldn’t touch you if you were the last man on Earth.”

“I’m not a man, I’m a Feral.”

“Same thing.” She shrugged.

“It’s not the same, Doctor, not even close. If you want sex so badly…” He closed the space between them, putting his chest against hers in much the same way as he had with Shard. His eyes were blazing just as brightly. “I will be the male to give it to you.”