Fated Healing [Kindred of Arcadia 5] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) (3 page)

back to her blood-covered chest. Claybourne looked to Felix. Felix nodded, understanding that his mate

wanted him to distract the girl.

“Bethany, I simply love your name! If I were a girl, I would want to be called Bethany,” Felix said,

spinning around dramatically. Her big blue eyes followed his movements.

“Really?” she asked.

“Oh yes, I love that name. But I’m a boy so my name is Felix,” he said, sticking out his hand. She

responded by offering up her wounded hand. He gently took it in his.

“You did a really good job with this cut. Simply amazing. I don’t think I have ever seen a cut this

gorgeous. Dr. Claybourne, you have to look at this
marvelous
cut.” Felix was rolling his
r
’s, making the girl

giggle. Claybourne leaned in and looked over Felix’s shoulder.

“Mmmm yes, I have to agree, this is the most super-duper cut I have ever seen.” Claybourne’s

vernacular sounded stiff and forced, but Felix’s heart melted a bit at his mate’s attempt to sound more

approachable.

“She managed to fall on the only piece of broken glass on the school grounds,” her father said, rubbing

a hand over his daughter’s hair.

“Ben, that seems to be the way with children,” Claybourne said to the father before turning to look at

Bethany.

“I have just the thing for that cut, too. We’re going to put butterfly bandages on it,” Claybourne said,

heading to his supply table.

“Butterflies?” the little girl asked excitedly.

“Yes, it will help hold your cut closed so it can heal.” Claybourne walked back with the supplies in hand

and the little girl allowed him to clean the cut and put the butterfly bandages on. She looked down at the

bandages critically.

“They don’t look like butterflies,” she said, frowning. Felix looked down and nodded.

“You’re right. Hold on,” he said, reaching into his man bag and pulling out a ballpoint pen. Carefully he

doodled antennas and larger wings on one of the bandages. She smiled and reached up for him. He leaned

down and she kissed him on the cheek.

“Bethany, you’re going to get me in trouble with my mate,” Felix said, whispering to the little girl. Her

innocent eyes widened and she looked up at Claybourne.

“Sorry,. I think he’s really pretty and nice,” she said, ducking her head. Claybourne chuckled.

“He’s not too bad,” he said, looking Felix up and down, making him blush.

“He’s an amazing nurse,. You really lucked out with getting him as a mate. He’s a looker too,” the man

said, winking. The little girl looked up and eyed her father.

“I’m telling Mama,” she said. The father laughed and picked her up.

“Thanks, Felix, Doc,” Ben said, then walked out of the tent.

“You wouldn’t be too bad yourself, if you weren’t obsessed with your freakishly organized world

order,” Felix said. Claybourne gave him a look before turning his back to throw away the used cotton

swabs and gauze.

Felix was about to say something to his rude mate when Rebecca popped into the tent.

“Hey, Doc, do you have any human blood?” she asked. Claybourne nodded.

“I’ve been keeping a stock of it since it’s neutral to shifters and vampires,” he said, putting the bandage

rolls into a neat row.

“Can I have a bag of it?” she asked. He nodded again and pointed to the small portable medical mini

fridge. She went over, grabbed a bag, and left. Felix watched the entire thing in gross fascination.

“You didn’t even ask why she needed it,” he said, watching as his mate started organizing the bandages

into three rows of four instead of four rows of three.

“It’s Rebecca, sometimes it’s better not to ask,” he said, sounding distracted. Felix walked over and bent

his head slightly to stare at his mate’s ass. Feeling slightly mischievous, he reached out and grabbed a solid

handful of his mate’s round, muscular cheek. Claybourne gave an undignified yelp and turned to face Felix.

He was about to say something when Rebecca raced back in.

“Hey, Doc, can a human ingest small, diluted amounts of human blood?” she asked, She gawked at

Claybourne’s flushed face before looking over to Felix.

“Yes.” Claybourne’s voice broke and he cleared his throat. “Yes, in small amounts human blood is safe

to ingest,” he said, his voice returning to its normal lower octave.

“Yes!” she said as she raced back out. Claybourne watched her leave, and a thoughtful look came over

his face.

“Okay I have to admit, I’m intrigued,” he said, facing Felix, wearing the first real smile Felix had seen

since walking into the tent. Felix could feel his inner animal morph into a tiger. He was reacting to being

close to Claybourne.

“Tell me you feel it too,” Felix said quietly. A shocked look appeared on Claybourne’s face.

“Of course I do. All I can think about is getting you on the closest flat surface, but seeing as how you

and I are the only medically trained people in town, we cannot disappear on Field Day of all days,”

Claybourne said as his breathing became shallower. His eyes shifted from his normal crystalline blue to a

light sky blue.

“I thought you were a tiger?” Felix asked, feeling his body respond to his mate’s growing need.

“I am. I’m a white Bengal tiger. My eyes are blue, not the normal orange of a regular Bengal,”

Claybourne explained.

“I’m a hybrid,” Felix said. He looked down, unsure how his mate would react.

“I think that hybrids are the very best that shifters can be,” Claybourne said. Felix felt tears prick his

eyes. Being a hybrid had opened him up to scorn before, and he was relieved that his mate accepted him as

he was.

“And of course, your genetics and physiology are fascinating,” Claybourne said, turning back to his

table. Felix was looking around for something to hit his mate with when David and Daniel came running

into the tent, Roman hot on their heels. The twins ducked behind Claybourne, trying to use him as a shield.

“You do know I won’t help you, right?” he said dispassionately.

“Yeah, but if Roman does to us what he is threatening to do, we want you close by,” Daniel quipped.

Seconds later an annoyed Gabriel glided into the tent. He stood next to Roman, who was glaring at the

twins.

“Ah, it’s the sarcastic doctor. You didn’t by chance give Daniel and David blood did you?” Gabriel

asked. “Of course not. I gave the blood to Rebecca,” Claybourne said reasonably. Gabriel pinched the

bridge of his nose.

“It’s actually not bad,” Rebecca said, licking an ice cream cone as she walked into the tent.

“Wait, is there blood in the ice cream?” Felix asked as he watched Rebecca lick the cold treat. She

nodded.

“Yup. I saw that some ice cream parlor out on the west coast has been using animal blood in ice cream.

I thought that since this is a shifter town that might not be a good idea, so we used human blood for the

vampires. It’s actually pretty good,” she said, looking at her ice cream cone, then she looked at Gabriel.

Standing on tiptoe she pushed it onto his lips. He simply stared down at her with an eyebrow raised, the

smear of ice cream on his face taking away from his normally regal appearance. Reluctantly he licked his

lips and a surprised expression came over his face.

“You two made this?” he asked. The twins nodded.

“I’ll have to call Ms. Brayburn back and apologize for the shock she had when she saw the twins

pouring blood from a medical bag into the ice cream machine. She called Ashby to complain about wanting

her chocolate ice cream, who then in turn called me since he knew I was here on the vampire panel we

created to answer questions from the townspeople. I’ll also have to buy Ashby new equipment for the

shop,” Gabriel said, glaring at the twins before reaching for Rebecca’s ice cream cone and taking a bite.

“That way we can keep the equipment you used today at the coven house to make more. This is truly

decadent.” Gabriel held the ice cream cone in one hand and with the other offered the crook of his elbow to

Rebecca, who took it daintily. Rebecca winked at the twins before they both walked out. David and Daniel

exhaled loudly.

“I saw my life flash before my eyes,” David said.

“You two aren’t off the hook yet. You have to thoroughly clean the ice cream equipment at the tent and

start breaking it down. I doubt anyone will want ice cream now. Then you have to store the equipment at

the coven house and order more for Prince Ashby. Tonight, gentlemen. And they better offer expedited

processing,” Roman said, taking out his phone planner. The twins groaned as Roman walked them out of

the tent. Felix watched them as they marched out. Claybourne shrugged.

“Never a dull moment,” he said, walking across the tent to pull more supplies out of a large duffel bag.

Felix watched him for a few minutes.

“How many injuries are you expecting?” he asked after Claybourne had emptied the duffel bag and

completely stocked the two long folding tables.

“It’s a completely shifter town on a day where we are encouraging competition and sports activities.”

Claybourne smirked at his mate.

“You have a point,” he said when Emmett Arkadion walked in, holding his hand.

“Got it caught when we were collapsing the bleachers in the gym,” he said, grimacing.

“You were competing with Duncan, weren’t you?” Claybourne turned his hand over gently.

“Maybe,” he said, then gasped in pain when Claybourne rotated his hand more.

“Broken, but nothing that won’t heal after a shift. I’ll wrap it so that it will stay aligned while you head

home. You should be okay by tomorrow evening,” he said, picking up the Ace Bandages and wrapping the

bear’s hand tightly.

“Thanks, Doc. I’ll let Ma know that I’m heading home. She was still yelling at Duncan when I left to

come here. He was making her late for a chocolate-eating contest she had.” He tried to flex his hand and

winced.

“Don’t move that hand until after your shift,” Claybourne warned firmly.

“Yes, Doc,” Emmett said, staring down at his hand as he walked out of the tent.

“We need to work on your bedside manner,” Felix drolled. Claybourne turned to him, his eyes taking in

every inch of Felix’s body.

“There is nothing wrong with my bedside manner,” he said, blatant sexual need in his voice. Felix

shivered.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Felix said, running his hands down his chest before stopping just above his

hips. Claybourne swallowed hard.

“That you most definitely will.”

* * * *

The rest of the day Felix tortured and was tortured by his mate. If Claybourne accidentally ran his hand

over his ass again he was going to scream. As they were finishing packing up the medical supplies, Rebecca

came back into the tent.

“Ready to go, Felix?” she asked as she rubbed her stomach. Claybourne frowned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, walking over. She waved a hand at him.

“I stuffed myself silly eating from all the vendors. Everyone wanted me to try what they made. But I’m

only human, literally. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings though, so I kept eating. The food was amazing

though.” She hummed her appreciation. Claybourne looked to Felix guiltily.

“You never got to go out and grab anything. I kept you in here,” he said, frowning. Felix walked over to

him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“I was exactly where I wanted to be,” he said, grinning happily.

“Oh, my, goodness! You’re mates, aren’t you?” Rebecca asked, rocking back and forth on the balls of

her feet. Felix nodded. Rebecca squealed and launched herself at Felix. “I’m so happy for you both! Felix,

when are you going to get pregnant?” Rebecca blurted out. Behind him Felix heard the sound of a box

dropping and a man cursing.

“Oh dear, didn’t he know?” Rebecca asked, both hands flying to her mouth as if she were trying to call

back the words.

“Sebastian hadn’t made an appointment yet to explain. He was going to bring me along to explain some

of the biology of it, we just haven’t gotten that far yet.” Felix shrugged.

“What!” Claybourne bellowed.

“Sebastian is preggers. Since he’s a hybrid he can get pregnant. But he keeps his penis and doesn’t get a

vagina until he gives birth, but then shifts back. Felix is a hybrid so he can get pregnant, too,” Rebecca

explained. Felix slammed his palm to his forehead as he heard his mate begin to hyperventilate.

“I’m okay, Rebecca, I’ll be helping Claybourne for a while. You can head home,” Felix said, turning to

stare at Claybourne who was trying to slow his breathing as he kept a death grip on the side of one of the

tables.

“Are you sure?” Rebecca asked.

“I’m very sure. Goodnight, Becca,” He waved at her as she walked out.

He walked over to his mate, who had a hand to his chest.

“That is not possible. It is simply not physically possible!” Claybourne argued. Felix could tell that this

information scrambled his mate’s well-ordered world.