When she cried out in pain, I launched myself upright and through the door.
“Hey!” She had a towel wrapped around her and was standing on one leg. ”Knock first!”
“I heard you cry out.”
“Well, yeah. I put weight on my ankle like an idiot. But I’m okay.”
“Do you need a ride to your bed?”
“Um…yeah, actually. Can you give me a minute in here, though? I can balance while I brush my teeth.”
“Sure.” I left, shutting the door behind me, then leaned against it and squeezed my eyes shut.
She’d looked so damned beautiful, it had turned my mind to pudding. With her cheeks flushed from the heat and her hair piled loosely on her head, she’d been gorgeous. Everything in me pulled toward her, and the wolf’s soul that was part of my own howled with its longing.
I rubbed my chest. “Settle down.”
It didn’t work that way, of course. It wasn’t a separate being who would listen to commands. It was part of me, and as such, it was stubborn as hell, just like I was.
“Okay,” she called out. “I’m ready.”
“Coming in.” I returned to the room.
She still wore the towel, and I was careful to keep my gaze on her face. Not that that was much better for my equilibrium. “Ready?” I asked.
She nodded, and I lifted her into my arms. Her flat was so tiny that I reached her room seconds later and deposited her on the bed.
“Can I get you anything?” I asked. “Water? Pajamas?”
She shook her head and pointed to a water bottle at the side of her bed. “I’m good.”
There were no pajamas near her, though. So if I wasn’t getting her any, that meant she didn’t wear any. And that was definitely something I couldn’t dwell on.
“All right. Call if you need anything.” I headed toward the door. “Actually, I’ll sleep on your sofa.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I’m fine.” I left before she could argue anymore. I didn’t want her falling on her way to the bathroom.
Of course, the sofa was tiny, and when I sat on it, a cloud of dust poofed upward. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. This was going to be a long night.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Isobel
When I woke, I could hear someone puttering around in the kitchen. “Rafe?”
“I’ll be there in a moment!” he called.
I laid back on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.
You’ve got a good one.
I popped my head off the pillow and looked down at the foot of the bed. “Poa? Where have you been?”
Doing important things, but I came in late last night and found him on the couch, asleep. Then I found you in here, like the princess and the pea.
“The princess and the pea? Hardly.”
Well, there might not be a hundred feather mattresses under you, but you’re on the bed, and he wasn’t.
“Because it’s my bed!”
You could have invited him in. It’s what I would have done.
I groaned and flopped back on the pillow. “I can’t with you right now.”
Well, maybe you can get me a sausage roll and latte from Margot’s.
“When hell freezes over.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “We’ve got a ton of work to do today. There will be no time for sausage rolls. You’ll be lucky not to be commandeered into service.”
As if I would ever.
I laughed.
“Knock, knock.” Rafe said the words rather than knocking, and I looked up to see him carrying a cup of coffee. He wasn’t alone, though. Katia the healer was beside him, holding her own mug.
“Katia?” I asked. “Why did you come back?” I was certain she’d told me to come into her office today if I needed her to fix my ankle. Which, from the faint throbbing, I did.
“This one here.” She hiked a thumb at Rafe. “Called me early and promised to pay double my house-call fee if I would be here before eight.”
“Rafe.” I scowled at him. “You didn’t have to do that. It’s so early.”
“Oh, I don’t mind.” Katia grinned. “It really is quite a bit of money.” She walked toward me. “How are you feeling?”
“The ankle still feels a bit crap, honestly.” I looked at Rafe, unable to help the smile on my face. “Thank you, really.”
He just nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
Before I could say anything else, he turned and left the room, coffee in hand. Katia watched him go, then said, “I’m pretty sure he intended that coffee for you. But then you spoke and scrambled his mind.”
I laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“It’s really not. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Have you seen him much?”
“Well, no. And that’s the point. He’s always been alone. But with you, he’s distinctly not alone. He seems more whole, somehow.”
“Are you a therapist as well as a doctor?” I joked.
“No, but I’ve got an eye for this. People’s wellbeing is kind of my thing. That’s what it is to be a doctor, especially a small-town doctor.”
“Fair point.” I liked her a lot. She had a good energy about her.
Katia set her coffee on the bedside table and reached for the end of the duvet, holding her hands over it and looking up at me. “May I?”
“Of course.”
She pulled the blanket back, then winced. I leaned over to look. “Yikes.”
No kidding. It looks like a purple melon. Poa hopped off the bed. I can’t watch this. And I smell bacon.
“I can fix you up in no time,” Katia said. “But it’s a good thing Rafe called me. You wouldn’t be able to walk on this today.”
“Thank you for coming back,” I said.
“Thank you for waiting so nicely. Not all my patients understand when I need to rest to regenerate my powers. But then you’re a witch, so it works similarly.”
I nodded, understanding entirely. If a witch wore herself out, it took time to recover her magic. Werewolves and vampires were different, as were pixies and gremlins, so they didn’t always understand.
Carefully, she pressed her hand to my ankle and hummed. Her magic swelled on the air, and a gentle warmth flowed through my ankle. The pain slowly faded, and the bruising and swelling disappeared before my eyes.
“That’s amazing,” I said.
“Thank you.” She smiled and stood. “I’m quite good at my craft.”
I loved her confidence.
We said our goodbyes, and she left. Once she was gone, I leapt out of the bed and sneaked into the bathroom. I was still naked, and the last thing Rafe needed so early in the morning was to see my moon-white arse.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I found a set of work clothes and put them on, then tied my boots and headed into the kitchen. Rafe was just putting the bread on top of two bacon and egg sandwiches. At his feet, Poa demolished her own.
“Thank you,” I said. “Let me know what I owe you for her visit.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“You can’t keep taking care of me.”
He just grunted and handed me a plate with my sandwich. “Eat.”