Creatus (Creatus Series) (22 page)

Chapter Forty-two

Michael glanced up from his hospital bed as the door inched open ever so quietly. He forced a smile when he saw Victoria, but inside, his stomach wrenched.

“Hey
… you’re awake,” she whispered.

“I was hoping I was dead,” Michael groaned.

She sat on the edge of his bed, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead, obviously checking if he had a temperature. “Why on earth would you hope that you were dead?” She lifted up the pitcher from the bedside table, poured him a cup of water, and held it out to him. “You need to drink more; your temperature is still hovering above a hundred.” She glanced up at the antibiotics in his IV drip. His father must be concerned with the bullet causing an infection.

Michael accepted the Styrofoam cup, grazing her hand with his fingers in the process. It wasn’t his stomach wrenching, he realized, it was his heart. “Because I’m pretty sure if the bullet wound doesn’t kill me, I’m going to die of embarrassment.”

The edges of Victoria’s lips turned up and she wiggled her eyebrows at him playfully. She always did like it if she thought she’d beaten him in anything. Only she didn’t know that he let her beat him in sports and running, just because it made her happy. “You mean when everyone finds out I kicked your butt?”

He choked out a laugh, but then winced at the pain. “No…” He took a sip of water to gather his thoughts and then narrowed his eyes at her. He couldn’t let her think she’d won this match, though. He had to assure her he’d never hurt her purposely. “I wasn’t fighting you, Vic, so it doesn’t count.” He attempted to reposition himself on the pillow, which had fallen too low when he took a sip of water, but he grimaced in pain again.
What the hell did the bullet do, play pinball inside of him?
he wondered. It felt as if every internal organ hurt.

“Here let me do that.” Victoria moved the pillow so it was directly beneath his head and then propped her hand up against the mattress on the other side of his body and leaned
into it, staring at him. “Why are you embarrassed then?”

He pursed his lips and huffed out a breath. “You heard me. You heard what I said when I thought I was dying.”

“So,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “It didn’t mean anything. Of course you love me. We’ve been best friends since we were toddlers, for heaven’s sake.”

With every ounce of effort he could muster, Michael reached for her hand. Thankfully, she didn’t fight him. “I didn’t want to be lying on the ground gushing blood when I told you, and I certainly don’t want to discuss any of this while I’m an invalid on a hospital gurney, but I have to beg one thing of you.”

She gave him a gentle nod, but didn’t respond.

“Please don’t leave with Jonas, Victoria.” He squeezed her hand in his and pulled it to his chest. “Give me a chance before you go away.” He paused, letting his words sink in, hoping that she understood this wasn’t a friend request. “I’ve waited too long for you—”

“Shh,” she hushed him, placing their linked hands against his lips. “I’m not going anywhere, Michael. And I’m definitely not going anywhere with Jonas. He and I would never work. He’s too much of a hothead. One hothead in a relationship is enough, don’t you think?”

Michael forced a smile. “You’re not a hothead. You’re opinionated and tough; there’s a difference.”

Vic pulled her hand back and folded her arms over her chest. “Yes I am, but see that’s the difference. You know me, and we’re comfortable together.”

He pressed his lips in a straight line, holding back his words. He didn’t want to be
comfortable
with her. He was so far past wanting to be comfortable with Victoria, his arms ached to pull her against him right here on the tiny hospital bed. Out of nowhere, the realization that he’d known her his entire life and had never once been able to feel her lips on his drove him mad. He’d never longed for anything this much in his life. But, as long as she wasn’t going anywhere, they could have this conversation later. Preferably over dinner… with candlelight, red wine, and a bubbling Jacuzzi in the background.

All these years he’d just been filling his needs elsewhere, waiting for her to notice when he should have just demanded her attention. “When can I get out of here?” he blurted out.

Vic patted his hand in a very platonic way, causing his heart to wrench again. “That’s up to Dr. Ashton. I’m not your doctor.”

He smiled, thinking that could be fun. He pulled her closer, but she hovered over top of him, moving both her hands beside his head to support her upper body. “Will you go out with me then, as soon as they let me go? Alone. Just the two of us.”

“Sure, Michael,” she agreed. “But right now, why don’t you concentrate on getting better? I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

She leaned lower and pressed her lips to his forehead.
Well, that was something anyway
, he thought, feeling his body drift off.

Chapter Forty-
three

Reece opened his eyes and glanced around at what looked like a hospital room, only it was empty, other than the bed that he was lying on and a woman sitting next to him. The same stunning woman who had kicked the hell out of the man who’d kicked the hell out of him. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that, but she was breathtakingly beautiful, he remembered.

Of course that angel with long onyx black hair had then kicked the crap out of him. One second
he’d been so taken with her beauty that he was asking
what
she was, certain she had to be a goddess or an angel, and then the last thing he’d seen was her fist coming down against his face.

She sat in a chair next to his bed staring out the window, so he watched her instead of letting her know he was awake. Her hair fell over the back of the chair and it took every ounce of strength he had not to reach out and touch it. It looked like black silk.

Her features were strong, but attractive. She was tall, close to six feet, he remembered. And her eyes… They were a dark sable, the richest and deepest eyes he’d ever seen, set inside smooth olive skin. To say that the woman was exotic looking would be an understatement; she was the most unique woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

As she’d glared down at him in the alley, ensuring him she’d kill him if the other man died, all he could do was gaze into the depths of her lustrously dark eyes. Never had any woman ever turned his head completely, and yet, he wondered if she was actually a woman or some type of cyborg.

In his thirty years, he’d never seen a woman fight like she had. And he’d seen some bad mammas in the military and when he’d work UC in Miami and South America.

He attempted to remain quiet as he cleared his dry throat, but she whipped her head toward him and glared at him, those mysterious eyes gazing into his.

“Finally!” she spouted. “I wondered if you were ever going to wake up.”

Reece couldn’t help but smile at her venomous attitude. “Is that man okay?” he asked, knowing that was why she’d been so upset with him, but he thought that the man was going to hurt her. He saw the man that had fought him for his briefcase lift his hand to her, so he assumed he had a knife or
a gun. Of course, Reece could hardly see anything in that dark alley. All he knew was that he refused to let the man take all his research. Even though he still had copies in his laptop, he couldn’t afford for the information he’d gathered to fall in the hands of another government, which is what his superiors insisted would happen if they found a secret weapon.

She huffed out a breath. “That’s none of your business. Who
m do you work for?”

“That’s none of your business,” he retorted
, smiling at her perfect grammar. Who said
whom
anymore? “
Whom
do you work for?”

She sighed, exasperated. “Well, we obviously aren’t going to get anywhere.”

He tried to sit up, but she held up her hand. Beautiful, long fingers attached to deadly hands. “Move, and I’ll kill you right here. I unlatched you from the bed only because my boss told me to. But I’ll lock you right back up.”

Reece grinned at her, watching as it only caused her scowl to crease her lovely skin even more. “I need to go to the bathroom. So unless you’re willing to help me with that or are willing to clean up a mess, I’d suggest you let me up, Ms…”

The woman rolled her eyes, stepping back and leaning against the only exit. She motioned her hand as though it was okay for him to proceed to the only other door in the room, which must be the bathroom.

Reece moved his legs to the side of the bed closest
to the exit, not the bathroom, and she crossed her arms defiantly. “You sure you want to take me on, Reece?” she sneered.

He smiled again, standing up, unable to resist admiring her boldness. “I managed okay with your friend.”

She raised one eyebrow. “When I found you, you were on the ground.”

Reece stopped within a few feet of the amazon-looking woman. He’d been right; she was just about five inches shorter than his six-four. He glanced at her
throat, making sure she didn’t have an Adam’s apple. That’d be embarrassing, considering the way she was waking up long-dormant parts of his body. He decided he’d better take a bathroom break before challenging her. He edged alongside the bed, pulling the sheer cotton robe around his body. Would they ever stop using these stupid things that left your backside hanging out for the world to view? But then again, maybe it would distract her. It wasn’t as if he had a bad build either. The man who attacked him on the street was a couple inches taller and had a larger build than he did, but Reece had spent years doing cross fit which not only gave him a muscular build, he was fast and nimble and could outrun anyone in the military academy or on the street. When he was a cop in Miami, he was the first officer other cops wanted for back up. This woman was serious, though. Just her stance told Reece she was ready for a fight, so he’d have to wait until her guard was down. He kept his distance as he turned toward the bathroom door.

“Smart move,” she said mockingly.

Reece relieved himself, taking extra time to formulate a plan. He’d already noticed that the window was solid and too high off the ground. Even if he threw a chair through it, he wouldn’t be able to climb down. He searched the bathroom for a weapon, and found nothing usable. Shampoo was his only option, but how could he get it in her eyes. He decided to reserve that feeble option for later. Right now, the chair was his best weapon.

After a few minutes, he opened the door to see her in the exact position. He stepped to the opposite side of the bed this time, leaning to get back into the bed, but instead, he picked up the chair and hurled it at the attractive woman,
surging toward her immediately.

She deflected the chair with one hand and then grabbed him by the shoulders as he lunged, throwing him on the twin-size mattress as if he weighed no more than a sack of flour.

His breath whooshed out of him as he hit the bed perfectly. Even her aim was spot-on.

“Okay, then.” She stepped toward the bed, grabbing his wrist and latching him to the railing. “I’ll be sure to let your doctor know that you can’t be trusted.”

The door opened, and an older man about fifty stepped inside, eyes darting from him to the woman. “What’s going on, Vic?”

Vic
, Reece repeated to himself. Probably
Victoria
, but she was too tough to go by that lovely name.

“I warned him,” she growled, crossing her arms over her chest, which only accentuated how well built she was—everywhere.

The man shook his head and stepped toward the bed. “I’m very sorry we have to keep you here like this, but there’s no sense fighting, Mr. Buckley. You’re in a completely sealed off ward. Even if you got out of the room, every door is secured, and as you can see, you won’t be able to overpower my staff.”

“What are you people?”

The doctor sighed. “Just a peaceful group you people won’t leave alone.” With that, the man turned and left him with Vic.

Reece looked back up at the woman and flashed his best smile, the one the women always loved, knowing it would tick her off. “So, Victoria, since we’re going to be here a while, do you play cards?”

She narrowed her eyes and shook her head slowly from side to side. “Don’t ever call me Victoria again.” She opened the door, following the doctor out, and slammed it behind her.

Chapter Forty-
four

Ugh! Men!
Vic grumbled inwardly. She couldn’t complain aloud of course, because even the creatus on the first floor could hear her. They were all so damn infuriating. And arrogant. And pompous. And…
Ugh
! She needed to go away to some deserted island where she wouldn’t have to ever see another man in her life—creatus or human.

What really enraged her was that she was attracted to that stupid weakling of a human.
What was wrong with her
? First Jonas, then Michael, and now Reece Buckley. Was her biological clock ticking? In human years, she’d only be about twenty-three. Much too young to be thinking about settling down, and yet, she craved it with a passion. Although she hadn’t really been interested in Jonas, even though he’d begged her to go away with him. He’d wanted to start a new family, he’d said. With like-minded creatus. She, of course, had just wanted to make Derrick jealous, but that had backfired, and she’d ended up spending the night with Jonas. No wonder she couldn’t fall. She’d have to make up her mind whom she wanted before she could fall.

Stupid human
, she thought again. She’d planned to head directly to Michael’s room after someone swapped watch with her and tell him she understood what he was implying and that she was open to a relationship with him.

But that stupid human had gazed at her with such wonder in his eyes. It had been what she’d wanted to see, what she thought she could force with Jonas. What she’d wanted from Derrick all these years. Reece didn’t even know her, but he had regarded her as if she were a prize to behold, as if he’d wanted her. And so she threw him across the room. Served him right.

Secretly, she had hoped he’d tried to escape. She’d been looking forward to putting him in his place, and still, he had ogled her as if there was no other woman in the world.

Maybe he was into whips and chains. The thought repulsed her. Though she’d thrown him across the room, she’d much rather hold a man than fight him.

Vic stood in the middle of the corridor, battling with her feelings, wondering how she’d ever get her life in order if her hormones kept raging as if she were in high school.

At the last second, she turned in the opposite direction of Michael’s room. As Michael had suggested, she’d wait until he was healed and back home, and then they could go out as a couple and attempt to make a relationship.

In the meanwhile, she’d stay as far away from Reece Buckley as she could. Unfortunately, since she hadn’t been wearing her ski mask, he had seen her face, so now the responsibility of silencing the human would fall into her hands.