Savor (31 page)

I rubbed my eye to clear my sight then reached for my patch. A sigh filled with relief flew

out of my lips when my fingertips met familiar velvet. My vision cleared enough to recognize

the lead singer of Vicious sitting on the edge of my bed. She smiled warmly down at me. I

tried to smile back, but the sudden awareness of the soreness in my throat prevented me.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “He threatened to fire the doctor if your patch was ever removed.

Gutsy move since the Doc was the one who supervised when his mother gave birth to him.”

“Who?” My scratchy voice made me grimace. It felt like I swallowed sand. I licked my dry

lips and test swallowed only to moan in pain. Ack! Not good.

Phoenix pointed at something beyond my field of vision. I turned my head toward the side

of my room. There in a corner slept Luka on a reading chair. A purple afghan covered the

upper half of his body. He had his long legs stretched out, crossed at the ankles, and his head rested against the wall on a pillow.

“Luka,” I whispered. Yes, whispering strained my throat less. Meaning less pain.

“You scared us when you collapsed at the photo shoot,” Phoenix whispered with me.

I stared at Luka’s peacefully sleeping form for a second longer. He mustn’t have been

comfortable in that position, yet he slept soundly. His golden curls formed a messy halo on

his head. I would have chuckled at how adorable he looked if my throat wouldn’t stage a

protest.

From the lack of light outside, it must have been late at night. But I couldn’t be sure. For

all I knew, it was closest to dawn. I read somewhere that the darkest part of the night was just before the sunrise. Sighing, I returned my attention to the concerned knot on Phoenix’s

forehead.

“If you frown like that you’ll get wrinkles,” I teased.

She patted her cheeks then stretched the skin at the sides of her eyes. “Oh gosh! Do you

think I need botox already?”

The panic in her question begged me to shake my head. “You look good.”

“So,” she huffed, folding her hands on her lap. She had her legs crossed as well, balancing

at the edge of my mattress by half an ass. “Do you remember what happened to you?”

I shook my head. “I remember taking your picture then nothing.”

“At first you were sweating really hard then your breathing sounded really bad. You bent

over. That’s when Calixta and I came over, asking you if you were fine.”

“I think,” I swallowed. Pin pricks met the constriction of my throat muscles. Okay, not

doing that for a while. “I think I remember that part.”

“Yeah, and then you collapsed. You were running such a high fever. At one point we

thought we might have to airlift you to a hospital.” Phoenix deflated with her sigh. “Luka

insisted we bring in the Doc first. When he checked you over you were already delirious. He

hooked you up to a special cocktail we use while on tour when we get sick.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“It’s just a mix of vitamins and antibiotics.” She slapped a hand in the air at me. “The Doc

said if the cocktail didn’t bring your fever down then we’d have to bring you to a hospital. I came in here to check on you and it seems like your fever’s gone, so you’re out of the woods.

The Doc will be by again today to give a final assessment.”

The question I dreaded to ask slipped out. “How long have I been out?”

“Just a couple of days.”

A strength I didn’t know I had propelled me to sit up. “A couple of days?”

Phoenix shushed me when Luka snorted and pushed me back down on the bed none too

gently. That was when I noticed the IV connected to my right arm. Huh, so the prick hadn’t

been a hallucination after all.

“Calm down, will you?” she hiss-whispered at me. “The Doc says if you overtax yourself

you’ll get sick again. Do you want to lose more time than you already have?”

The threat of returning to the darkness calmed me down more than the actual request.

Ever notice that when someone asked you to calm down it was the last thing you wanted to

do? It happened to me. I wanted to leap out of bed, grab my camera and start taking pictures.

Of what, I had no idea. But if what Phoenix said was true, then I couldn’t afford staying in bed longer than I had to. The faster I healed, the sooner I could get back to work on my project.

How the hell could I let myself get sick? Oh yeah, I was out of my mind when I took a mostly-

naked run through the snow-covered forest.

“Luka’s been here the whole time?” I switched subjects, unable to do anything else.

Phoenix glanced at Luka. “Yeah. It seemed the more we begged him to go back to his room

and get proper rest the more stubborn he got. He’s practically living in your room, hardly

eating and totally not leaving. I don’t even remember the last time he showered.”

The blond scruff he sported on his jaw affirmed her claims. Luka had stayed with me.

Could he have been feeling guilty? He was the only one who knew the reason why I got sick.

Hell, if he hadn’t tied me to the bed in a misguided attempt at sexual seduction, I wouldn’t

have an IV sticking out of my arm. Ouch, by the way. Now that I was awake, I felt the needle

inside my vein.

“Serves him right,” I said, feeling superior. If he wanted a neck crick then he deserved it.

“Luka can be protective, but I’d never seem him like this.”

Something in Phoenix’s voice baffled me. She sounded far away, like she wasn’t talking to

me when she spoke. It didn’t help that she kept her gaze on Luka the entire time she told me

about his morphed sense of protectiveness. Maybe I knew the reason, but I wasn’t about to

share my mini mental breakdown with someone I barely knew outside of the biblical sense.

I had to change the topic again. “So if I’d been out two days then…”

Phoenix returned to herself. “Today’s Christmas Eve.”

My heart sputtered. I had six days left and I still needed Luka’s pictures. Ugh! Getting sick

sucked balls. “Where’s my stuff?”

“Luka had your camera and tripod sent here. It’s currently sitting on your desk with your

laptop.” She tilted her head toward the living room. “And don’t worry. Luka threatened bodily

harm toward anyone who dared peek at your photos. He even slapped Dray’s hand away when

he reached for your laptop.”

The mental image of Dray cradling his slapped hand to his chest with guilty puppy dog

eyes got me giggling. To hell with the sore throat. Some of my hate for Luka melted away.

Even if his actions possibly came from a place of guilt over what he’d done, it still didn’t

discount how sweet he’d been. That was if I could trust everything Phoenix was telling me.

She didn’t seem like someone who’d mess with my head. Plus, why would she lie when the

evidence slept a few yards away.

Feeling the call of nature, I pushed up gently as to not startle Phoenix into tackling me

back down. Her suddenly wide-eyed expression told me she was preparing to do just that. I

raised a hand to stop her.

“I need to take a piss.”

“Oh.” Her lips formed a cute O. “Yeah, I guess after being in bed for a couple of days, you’d

really need the bathroom.” She stood up and reached out to help me.

Just as I swung my legs over the side of the bed, a different set of hands cradled my

shoulders. I looked up to find Luka’s face hovering close to mine. A tilt of the chin was all I needed to touch my lips with his. Whoa! Scruffy Luka equaled seriously hot Luka.

“I’ll take it from here,” he said to Phoenix.

“I can help her. I’m a girl,” she insisted.

“I don’t need anyone’s help. Thank you very much,” I whispered, conserving my already

pissed throat.

“What happens if she feels dizzy and passes out?” Luka kept talking as if I hadn’t said

anything. “Can you lift her back to bed?”

“I can call you for that.” I heard the pout in Phoenix’s sentence.

“Then it doesn’t matter if I help her now. Just go back to bed, Phoenix. You’re not needed

here anymore.”

“Um,” I raised my hand to catch their attention, “Excuse me, but I really have to go.”

They both blinked at me like I’d confused them or something. Unable to take it anymore, I

used Luka’s shoulder to lever myself up. My knees wobbled. God, being in bed for two days

fucked up my system. My depth perception was shot too! I hated myself for a second as Luka

wrapped his arm around my waist and slung my arm over his shoulder. He pulled the IV

stand toward me.

“You can use this for balance,” he said right as Phoenix whirled around and stomped out of

my room. A door slam immediately followed.

For a second I forgot I needed to pee. Two days without a shower didn’t tarnish Luka’s

tantalizing scent. In fact, days without bathing merely enhanced it.

“Ready?” he asked after I took a deep breath.

The question knocked me back into the present. “Hurry.”

He plastered me to his side and practically carried me to the bathroom along with the IV

stand. Our movements reminded me of a three-legged race where the partner supported most

of the weight of the other, effectively cheating. Once in the bathroom, he positioned me over

the toilet and reached for the waistband of my sweats. How I got into them, I didn’t want to

know.

I slapped his hands away. “Excuse me! I can take it from here, mister.”

Smiling at me ruefully, Luka scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I guess you can.” He

sauntered toward the sliding doors. “I’ll be right outside if you need me. Call if you get dizzy.”

“You’ll probably just hear a very loud thump.”

He frowned at my joke. “Not funny.”

“Luka?” He stopped. “Thank you for keeping an eye on me.”

“Just…” He tsked. “Just don’t scare me like that again.”

“I’ll do that.” I made a shooing motion with my hand. “Now go away.”

Treating me to a sexy grin over his shoulder, Luka pulled the doors shut. I sat on the toilet

thinking how in the hell could I think of the perfect photo shoot for the most complicated

person ever?

I shouldn’t have left him for last.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Workaholic

Two hours of severe guilt-tripping later, I had convinced Luka to let me work in bed. He

grudgingly propped three pillows behind my back and fetched my laptop and camera. I

grinned the whole time.

“Oh, stop it,” he said at one point, an adorable pout on his lips.

“What? I love having my own personal slave,” I commented back, waiting for my computer

to boot. I talked no higher than a whisper. Now that I’d relieved myself, my aching throat and muscles didn’t seem so bad. Plus, I got to work again. Contrary to popular belief, work

actually relaxed me more than staying idle.

“Don’t get used to it.” He slumped into his reading slash sleeping chair and massaged the

back of his neck.

“You didn’t have to stay, you know.”

“I know. But that’s not stopping me.”

“Why, Luka Visraya?” A wicked grin pulled at my lips. “Are you actually willing to suffer a

stiff neck for me?”

The heat in his eyes said yes. I didn’t like it. My grin disappeared as soon as it came. I

busied myself transferring images from my camera’s memory card to my hard drive. I hoped

to God I got the pictures I wanted from Phoenix’s shoot before I passed out—especially the

last set. Those were the best as far as I could recall. My brain still felt fuzzy in several places.

The IV on my arm didn’t bother me much anymore. It itched, but not as badly. Immensely

thankful for that. I could type and fiddle with pictures without worrying about it coming off.

“Since I’m clearly feeling better, why don’t you go take a shower?” I said to my screen.

“Sick of me already?” he challenged.

I didn’t look up. “Just the way you smell.” Okay, total lie, but I had to get him out of here.

No matter how smexy scruffy Luka looked, I wanted an hour or two to myself.

The chair creaked. Five seconds and his hand touched my forehead. I jerked away, caught

unawares by the action. He frowned down at me while I glared.

“I’m just checking if you still have a fever.”

“Phoenix already did that.” I sighed. “Luka, look, I appreciate you being all mother hen

here, but I’ve survived worse on my own. Please, go take a shower and leave me alone. I

promise not to move from this bed until you come back.”

He considered my words. “At least let me order you some breakfast.”

Checking my throat by swallowing, I moaned when the pain hit. “I don’t think my throat

would appreciate food right now.”

“How about coffee and some yogurt? No chewing involved and both can slide down easily.”

My stomach jumped for joy at the suggestion. “I guess I could use some coffee.”

Given a task, Luka nodded and padded out of my bedroom. Relief washed over me. His

ginormous presence literally sucked the air in the room. Now that he was gone, it felt lighter.

Not that having him around was a bad thing. I just didn’t like how aware I got around him. I

didn’t need pesky shivers and quivers right now. Or any time soon. I had to scramble for a

photo concept starring Luka.

“Your breakfast is coming up in five minutes.” Luka peeked in from the living room. He

rubbed the stubble along his razor jaw. “I’ll take you up on that shower and be back in an

hour.”

I waved him away without removing my gaze from the screen. “Take your time. I’ll be

fine.”

After the door closed, my mind immediately went through the week’s schedule. Yana had