Series: Lee Savino
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 332(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
I don’t dare get close to her otherwise. But today, I have no choice.
When I decide I’m steady enough, I head to the exam room. The caramel apple smell grows stronger in the hall.
My mouth waters.
My bear thrashes beneath the surface. This is more than hunger. It’s a deep longing, a mad craving.
I won’t give in.
The antique floors creak under my feet. My steps slow, and I check over my blue scrubs to make sure they’re clean–I changed after my last shift, but it’s a habit in case there’s some blood spatter that might scare the patients.
I open the door and see the female I’ve sworn not to touch sitting on the examination table. Maisy Bennett, my impossibly young mate.
“Maisy?”
The beautiful human jerks in surprise. Her pink lips part with a gasp as she teeters on the edge of the bed and starts to fall.
I always have this effect on her, my beautiful little klutz.
I’m across the room in a blur, moving with shifter speed in time to catch her in my arms. She fits perfectly. I shouldn’t hold her so close, but I can’t help it. It feels so right to hold her.
I’ve never been so close to her before. I’ve never allowed myself to touch her, even though I want her more than my next breath. Even though I dream about her every night. Spend most of my hours avoiding her and my obsessive thoughts about her.
“Doctor?” Her already pale skin leaches color, as if she’s seen a ghost, but the scent of caramel and cinnamon blooms brighter.
My bear sucks it in like a drug. He tries to send the fast-forward images again, but I refuse to let him break the barrier in my brain.
“Are you okay?” I set her back on the patient bed, loosening my hold on her reluctantly.
“Mhmm,” she mumbles, with her beautiful blue eyes fixed on the floor, and I’m reminded why I don’t get close to Maisy Bennett. She’s intimidated by me.
I step back, forcing the doctor in me to take over. My shifter senses note everything about her. Her color and temperature seem fine. Eyes are a bit dilated, but within normal range. Her pulse has sped up since I entered the room–I can hear it booming in my ear.
Her hand goes to her abdomen, and pain ripples across her face. I’m dying to pull her back into my arms and comfort her, but I force myself to act professional. I clear my throat. “What brings you in today?”
“Nothing.” She tugs down her shirt, which is a cute crop top sweater the exact color of her eyes. “I should go.” She starts to slide off the table.
“Sit down,” I order a bit too harshly for an ordinary patient. Her cheeks flush with color, but she immediately settles and puts her hands in her lap.
“Good girl.”
Whoops. Did I really say that out loud? What am I doing? I can’t talk to a patient this way.
Especially not this particular one. The mayor’s granddaughter. The girl I’ve been avoiding for so long–otherwise, I’d have her marked and bred with ten bear cubs by now.
But she reacts to the praise–sucking in a breath. Her scent–that incredible, delectable scent–grows stronger. My gums ache as my fangs descend. I turn away from her and grip the counter because the urge to pin her down and mark her is so overwhelming.
My bear roars with possessive triumph. He wants to touch her, hold her, protect her. My bear has a million dark and dirty things he wants to do to her.
I’ve got to get myself under control.
“I’m fine.” She sounds a little breathless. Her cheeks pinken, and her pupils are blown–a sure sign of arousal. If I didn’t know this from my medical training, I’d know it because I can smell all her secrets.
Does she like being called a good girl?
I want to make her my good girl. I want to carry her home, tie her to my bed, and feast between her legs. Train that intimidation right out of her and teach her she’s more than safe with me. I’ll take care of her every need. She’ll obey my every order…
Fuck. No. That can’t happen. I already know that can never happen. Maisy is far too young. She’s in her early twenties, but I’m thirty-two and an authority figure in her life. I have power over her, power that it’d be wrong to exploit. She can’t even look me in the eye without falling over. She definitely couldn’t handle me or my bear. I’m way too much for her.
So I go dom-lite, fixing her with an authoritative gaze and a raised brow. “Maisy, you’re in pain. You’re not going anywhere until I figure out what’s wrong.”
Maisy
There are six things you should know about me:
* * *
I have PCOS
I make a mean spiced pumpkin latte–with real pumpkin as the OG recipe calls for