Game On (The Morgan Brothers Book 4) (26 page)

When Josephine Alta’s former manager pushed the petite songstress to the point of physical and mental exhaustion, she’d run back to Pine Creek. She’d made a surprise appearance when her childhood best friend, Coral, married Sage. Colt had fallen hard, but she’d disappeared after they shared one night of what his brother described as
earth-moving passion
. When Josie reappeared in Coral’s abandoned apartment months later, she’d been fleeing a stalker and completely spent. Colt hadn’t given her another chance to run, hell, he’d barely let her out of his sight.

Before Colt could move away, Phoenix stopped him. “Take good care of your little subbie. The world needs more beautiful music.” Josephine Alta might be the star, but Colt had a hell of a voice as well. “Damn, your kids are going to be so fucking talented.”

For the first time in their lives, Phoenix watched as his brother’s face flushed with embarrassment, but before he could question him, Mitch leaned out the door of Aspen’s room and said the words he’d been waiting to hear. “She’s awake.”

Barry Orman leaned
against the bathroom counter, groaning as a streak of white hot pain lanced his thigh. He was going to kill the bitch who’d shot him. Barry didn’t remember much of Aspen Andrews annoying as hell rambling after he’d fallen to the ground, but he did remember her mentioning the nearest doctor being the vet who’d shot him, and how he shouldn’t count on
her
helping him. Yeah, he was absolutely going to kill her. That damned town wasn’t big enough for her to hide, after all, how many female vets could there be in fucking Pine Creek, Montana?

Thank God Deputy Barney Fife fancied himself some sort of Don Juan. The man had been so busy flirting with the nurses, he likely hadn’t noticed Barry was gone before he was already miles down the road. Damn, he wished he could have stolen some of the narcotics locked behind the nurses’ station, but that was the only place in the whole facility the deputy seemed intent on protecting.
Fucker.

Looking around him, Barry wanted to rage at the mess Phoenix Morgan had gotten him into. If Morgan had just left good enough alone, none of this would have happened. Looking down at his leg, he shuddered thinking about the moment he felt the bullet searing into his flesh. He’d been certain the shot had taken his leg off it had hurt so much. The drug store he’d broken into earlier had been a treasure trove of goodies, and he looked down at the pills in his trembling hand willing them to numb the pain so he could get a few hours of sleep. Hobbling to the bed, he settled back and waited for the drugs to take effect.

It was a good thing he’d taken an extended leave of absence from work. Explaining how he’d been shot would have been damned difficult. At least, now he had time to come up with a plausible story, not that he’d need it after Morgan had admitted he’d fucked up the report. Hell, Barry would probably end up looking like a damned hero. Smiling, as he considered how that would play out was the last thought he had before slipping into a blissful, pain-free sleep.

A
spen felt herself
hovering just outside of consciousness. Damn, she hated feeling like she was stranded in a dense fog, unsure which direction to turn in her search for daylight. Warm hands grasp her cold one, the gesture reminded her of a similar moment in the small St. Maarten’s clinic. But that time she hadn’t been able to open her eyes no matter how hard she’d tried, she’d been unable to speak…unable to beg Mitch to not leave her side.

“Come back to me,
cher
. I can see you struggling. Wake up, love, let me see those beautiful green eyes. I promise, I’ll be right here waiting.” He hadn’t been able to do wait last time. She knew he’d been called away, but it didn’t mean she hadn’t wished things had gone differently. Their attraction had been almost palpable and she’d been thrilled to find out it hadn’t diminished over time.

Fighting against the effects of the drugs took so much effort, Aspen was exhausted by the time her eyes finally flickered open. She appreciated the fact the lights were dimmed; bright lights would only slow her efforts to bring the world into focus. “
Cher
, I’m not sure I’ve ever been so grateful to see someone’s eyes open.”

His warm hand smoothed her hair back away from her face, but when she tried to turn into his touch, he stopped her. “Stay just as you are, love. Let me look at you for a minute. I don’t want you to waste effort chasing a touch I’ll always freely give you.” Even in her diminished state of awareness, Aspen knew his words had a deeper meaning. “You belong to us,
cher
.”

His words were so sweet she couldn’t hold back the tears filling her eyes. Shaking his head when the first one breached her tenuous hold and slipped slowly into her hair, Mitch brushed away the damp track. “Don’t cry,
mon cher
.” When he let go of her hand, Aspen felt the tears gathering again. “I’ll be right back. I want to tell Phoenix you’re awake. He’s talking to Colt out in the hallway.”

It was only seconds before both men stood at the sides of her bed. Phoenix took her right hand in his and smiled down at her. “Welcome back, sweet goddess.”

Embarrassed by her inability to speak, Aspen suddenly realized why she couldn’t make any sound cross her lips. Removing her hand from his, she gestured toward the glass of water sitting nearby. Smiling, he held the straw to her lips, watching as she took several gulping drinks of the cool water. He smiled when he pulled the straw out of reach. “Let’s don’t overdo it, baby. We don’t want you to be sick.”

“No we don’t. I’d be forced to kick your ass for making my patient ill.” None of them had heard the door open, so Dr. Ryan Morgan’s appearance startled her, making her wince as pain seared through her shoulder following the sudden movement. “Easy, sweetness. You’re going to want to avoid those reflexive reactions for a day or two.” She understood what he was saying, as a former soldier she’d been trained to control her reflexes, but it would be a challenge until the fog clouding her brain lifted.

Looking at the men flanking her bed, Ryan shook his head. “You’re going to wear her out if you don’t back off. Let me take a look at my patient. Go down the hall and check-in with the family. Let them know Aspen’s awake…and chill for a few minutes. I’ll let you know when I’m finished.”

Phoenix pressed a kiss against her palm. “We won’t be far if you need us, baby.” She nodded, hoping her smile reached her eyes and he wouldn’t see how unsure she was about their exit.

Mitch had been watching her carefully and she knew he’d seen the torment she was feeling. Leaning down he brushed a soft kiss over her dry lips before pulling a tube of lip balm from his pocket and smoothing it over the chafed skin. “We’ll be right outside,
cher
. I’ll watch the light above your door—if you need us, you only need press the button and we’ll come straight away.” Gently lifting her hand, he moved it closer to the call button. Aspen tried to smile at the frustrated looks on their faces and the muttered curses as both men moved out the door, but as soon as the door closed tears streamed down her face.

Ryan wasn’t surprised
when Aspen started to cry softly, hell, he’d been damned impressed she managed to smile when he knew her heart was breaking. Leaning closer, he grasped her hand in his and smiled. “It’s okay, sweetie. The emotional reaction is one of the side effects of the meds you’re getting in that lovely cocktail.” Nodding to the bag suspended above her, he wanted to reassure her as well as let her know she would likely experience the same emotional overload for a few days after they’d discontinued the I.V.

“Consider the emotional roller coaster you’ll be on for a few days a preview of early stage pregnancy. The medications are necessary, but they mimic the hormonal craziness most women experience when they first become pregnant.”

She nodded slowly before saying, “I remember experiencing some of the same thing in St. Maarten, but this seems much more overwhelming.”

“That’s probably due to the fact we brought you out of the anesthesia sooner than Dr. Barnes would have been able to. The surgery she performed was more extensive and far more invasive. The wound you have now was serious, hell, you tried like hell to bleed out on me. But repairing an artery in an open wound isn’t as traumatizing as being opened up. I’ve seen your records, sweetie, the equipment she had to use to open your chest was replaced years ago in most clinics. And I’ll bet it’s been replaced in hers now.” He laughed and then felt guilty when she gasped after allowing a small giggle to escape.

“Damn, sorry about that. I’ll try to rein in my sparkling personality until you’re feeling better.” He pulled out his penlight and checked her pupils with a light so bright she was sure he’d probably blinded her for life. Damn she hated those little lights. Grinning, he teased her, “I’ll bet you’re thinking about a few colorful ways you’d like to use that light on me, aren’t you?” When she nodded, he laughed. “Yeah, I think I can take you, but there were times in the field when soldiers found a burst of adrenaline and knocked the lights right out my hands. I can’t tell you how many of them were thrown against the nearest vertical surface.”

All the time he’d been talking, Ryan had been checking her circulation and gently tugging back the edges of her bandage to look at the line of stitches decorating her upper arm. “Looks good. I don’t even think you’ll have much of a scar.” Resealing the tape, he smiled at her, “Damn, I do good work. There won’t be a reason in the world you won’t be able to parade around the club naked as the day you were born.”

When she rolled her eyes at him, Ryan grasped her chin and rubbed his thumb along the underside of her jaw. “Just a reminder, little goddess, rolling your eyes at a Dom is always a bad idea. There are some points of protocol we like to apply in every circumstance. Most, like this one, are related to being respectful to others.” His entire face transformed when he grinned, “But others are just random B.S. so we have excuses to paddle lush asses whenever the whim strikes us.”

“I’ll bet you were a handful as a kid.” She smiled at his laughter.

“You have no idea. The older I get, the more I adore my mother for not strangling me. I swear the woman should be nominated for sainthood. It’s entirely likely the only reason I survived was because my parents made certain I spent most of my summers here in Montana with my cousins.”

She knew his negligent shrug belied the affection he felt for his aunt and uncle. “Aunt Patsy treated me just like one of her own. She was tough, but fair. You always knew where you stood with her.” He must have remembered she hadn’t met Phoenix’s parents yet, because he let his affection show when he assured her, “You’ll love them both, I promise. They’ve been overjoyed to have daughters joining the family. Uncle Dean is an older version of Sage, though he’s mellowed a lot since retiring. The same is true of my dad—thank God.”

“If I hadn’t done Phoenix’s background check and spent so much time talking to him, I’d be lost in this conversation.” Ryan suspected Aspen was a lot like his wife, Joelle. When she put her mind to something, she learned everything she could about it—every fact, detail, and nuance had to be read, processed, cataloged, and saved for future reference. Joelle had spent almost three weeks “researching” wood flooring when they’d remodeled their home. He and Brandt had been ready to tear their hair out by the time she stopped creating spreadsheets for comparisons and had made a decision.

“I’m sure you’re right, lucky for me I recognized your tenacious spirit, so it was a given you’d already know who’s who in the zoo.”

“I’m impressed; I wouldn’t have taken you for a Dr. Seuss fan.”

This time, his laugh was full and completely genuine. “Don’t forget, I’m an uncle to three very bright young ladies. We remodeled a bedroom in our home for them and quickly learned we needed a padlock on the playroom door. Little hellions wrote the book on divide and conquer, too. Keep that in mind when you get conned into babysitting.” It was easy to hear the affection in his voice. Aspen was the first to admit, she didn’t know anything about kids, and the more she heard about the Morgan girls, the more she leery she was becoming of spending any time with them.