by Maren Smith
Looks can be deceiving, I reminded myself. Truer words have never been spoken.
One could slap a label on my forehead which read—cocky, arrogant bastard; charming with asshole-ish good looks. Fuck them all. I knew what my charm and handsome features did to the women (and some men) around my sphere, but I wasn’t any of the other things. Sure, I had money, but I had earned every fucking cent by working my ass off.
I set Caitlyn down on the couch and pressed a number into my phone. My sister Louisa answered on the second ring. “Hey, I’ve got a problem.”
“I’m working a double, so I don’t have time. I promise I’ll call you this weekend.”
“Wait!” I yelled to get her attention before she could hang up on me. “This girl passed out after she threw Antonio Morelli across a street with one hand, and that’s after she crushed his gun. Now she’s at my house.”
“Do you mean his dick?”
“No, Sis, I mean his gun,” I said with a sigh. “An actual gun. Anyhow, I think this girl is sick. I don’t think she’s used her you-know-what before.”
“I can’t have this conversation while running around the ER, Kade. Especially not one that involves who you just named.” Louisa blew out a breath, and kicked into nurse mode. “How’s her breathing? Does she have a fever? You spiked a high one after your gifts showed up.”
“Yeah, I’m aware,” I interrupted before she could continue. I wasn’t in the mood to rehash my origin story, not when it involved our parents. There were a multitude of reasons why I didn’t want to think about the aftermath. Louisa had become a nurse after she pulled me through, but she hadn’t been able to save our parents. Our father had been driving, and they had been less than a mile from the house when the crash happened. A supposed drunk driver, combined with pouring rain and terrible visibility. Then the story changed. I hired a private eye company to search deeper into the cause. My parents’ car had a damaged brake line. Beyond that, I still didn’t know the entire truth of what had happened.
I pinched the bridge of my nose and forced the memories away to focus on the conversation at hand. My sister wouldn’t deny someone medical care even if she were busy. I rested my hand on Caitlyn’s stomach and then her head, checking for a fever. “She’s breathing normally, but she’s burning up.”
“Find a thermometer, little brother.” Her voice was tinged with impatience. “If her temperature goes above 105, then you need to get her to the hospital, otherwise just make sure she gets lots of fluids. Give her ice chips, Gatorade, and water to stay hydrated.”
“Yup, got it.” I knew how to keep someone hydrated of course, it wasn’t classified medical information, but I kept my mouth shut and obeyed orders.
“Let her body do whatever it’s doing, so no medication,” Louisa continued, “not even a Tylenol. I’ve got to sleep after this shift, but I’ll come over tomorrow afternoon and check her out. Okay?”
“Thanks, love you.” I ended the call, and ran a hand through my hair.
What was I doing?
I wasn’t the sort of man who played nursemaid to a strange woman. I should have left her on the street, but knowing the kind of danger she was now in, and the confusion she would be feeling after she wakes up, my conscience wouldn’t let me.
Now I had a houseguest.
I glanced down into her face and willed her to wake up. Her brows furrowed as if she were in pain, but she remained caught in delirium somewhere between dreams and nightmares.
Did I even own a thermometer?
I wandered to the upstairs bathroom, the one inside the guest room. It had belonged to my parents when they were alive. I had converted my sister’s old room along with my childhood bedroom into one large suite, but left the bathroom alone. There was probably a thermometer in here, but I didn’t know where to look. I had never gone through all of their things; it was just too painful. You’d think after all this time I would have sorted through, but some days their loss felt like a few months ago rather than ten years.
I rifled through my mother’s medicine cabinet and the linen closet. I found a thermometer, but the pretty pear-shaped bulb wasn’t one you typically used on an adult. Good thing Caitlyn was unconscious. I grabbed it, along with the glass jar of lube sitting next to it, and ran back to the living room where I had left her.
Staring at the items in my hand and back at the pretty young woman, I sighed deeply and rolled her onto her stomach, pushing her shorts down her hips to give me the access I would need. God forgive me for this intrusion. Shaking the thermometer, I dipped it into the Vaseline and did what needed to be done. I felt wholly overwhelmed and ridiculously out of my league, but that was silly. If I could take down filthy lawyers by day and hardened criminals by night, I could take care of one sick woman.
Twenty minutes later, I had Caitlyn wrapped in a sheet with cool towels on her feet and one on the back of her neck as advised by my sister via text message. Her fever was a scary 103.7, and she was fluttering in and out of consciousness. Her chest rose and fell but her beautiful golden locks stuck to her forehead. I tucked a few stray locks back behind her ears. She was a stranger, but her vulnerability was affecting me in a way I couldn’t explain. She was angelic, and helpless, and I wanted to be her knight in shining armor, or, more aptly, the superhero that rushed to her aid.
The urge to protect this virtual stranger knotted in my gut, and I pushed the thoughts away. I wasn’t exactly boyfriend material. I sighed as I situated myself on the overstuffed armchair and pulled a blanket over my shoulders. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 3
Caitlyn
I stretched my arms up and over my head and smacked them into a headboard. I didn’t own a headboard. So, where was I? I blinked slowly and took stock of my body. My head ached as if I had overindulged with alcohol, but I hardly drank during the week so I knew the fogginess was not from a hangover. Turning my head, I noticed my uniform folded neatly on an unfamiliar nightstand next to a bottle of water, a rounded jar with a thick ointment inside and a slim red plastic case.
What in the hell?
Images assaulted my brain, and I rubbed my temples to stop the onslaught.
Devil’s Park. The couple in the car who had been fighting. A man brandishing a gun. The masked man who tried to help me. That was the last thing I remembered.
Starbursts flashed behind my eyes and I closed them again.
Why can’t I remember all the details?
I blindly reached for the bottle of water and took several swallows, and forced myself to focus on the memory of the stranger with the mask and the kind voice who had been so determined to help me. Had he brought me somewhere safe? Was he here?
Blinking my eyes open again, I sat up and studied the room. I definitely wasn’t in some hole in the wall motel. Fancy curtains hung on the window; gorgeous throw rugs added color to the gleaming hardwood floor. Simple flower prints hung on the walls spread out in a tasteful pattern, and a vase full of flowers stood on the windowsill. It was like falling asleep on the devil’s doorstep and waking up in a Country Living magazine.
“Caitlyn?”
A man stood in the doorway, but I didn’t know who he was or how long he had been there.
I stared at him, blinking.
“My name is Kade. You passed out in the middle of Devil’s Park and I brought you back to my home.”
“That’s weird, Kade. Why am I naked?”
“You’ve had quite a high fever the past few days and you sweat right out of your clothes.” He approached the bed. “My sister is a nurse at Greymoor Regional Hospital and she’s been by to check on you as well.”
I touched my forehead with the back of my palm, but the action neither confirmed or denied the presence of a fever. I wasn’t going to stay here longer than I needed to, so I smiled. “The fever is gone. I’ll get dressed and be on my way.”
“You can’t tell that way. And you aren’t going anywhere until I know it’s gone for sure. Let’s check it real
ly quick. Your body’s been through a lot.” Before I could protest, he picked up the case from the nightstand and produced a glass thermometer. Kade shook down the instrument and twisted off the lid of the jar.
“Oh no! No, no, no,” I protested, recognizing the thermometer as a rectal one. This stranger was not sticking anything in my private places. “We don’t need to check anything. I’m feeling better.” I gulped down more water. “Much better,” I lied.
“If your fever spikes to 105 or higher than we need to rush you to the hospital. You were at almost 102 a few hours ago. We are going to check it again. Better safe than sorry.”
His blue eyes locked on mine with an intensity I wasn’t used to. He was serious about my condition, and I could tell that my rebuttal would fall on deaf ears. “If I don’t have a temperature, you’ll let me go?”
His lips tightened into a thin line. “When I am sure you are fully mended,” he answered, vaguely noncommittal.
My eyes narrowed and my gut twisted as I stared at him. But he said I could go when he was sure I was fully mended. I wanted to get out of here. If this was what it took…
“Okay, I agree, but do you have another thermometer? I’d rather you not use the one in your hand.”
“No, I don’t, and this one is more accurate anyhow.” He gestured for me to roll onto my stomach. “It doesn’t hurt. The faster we do this, the faster we can get some food into your stomach and get you feeling better. Please cooperate.”
“I don’t like this.”
He only nodded, cocked his head to the side and waited. When I didn’t move, he shook his head. “I’ve already done this several times while you were out you know. Don’t worry, I was a perfect gentleman.”
With a defeated sigh, I shifted into the position he’d requested. Kade lifted the edge of the sheet and spread my cheeks. He slid the small glass instrument into my most private hole and rested his other hand on the stem of the intruding instrument. I forced myself to remain still, but his fingers were on my ass and it distracted me. No one had done this for me, and while nerve-wracking, it almost felt comforting to have someone care for me so wholly.
“Do you normally go around rescuing women and then nursing them back to health, Kade?”
And how often does that involve sticking things in their ass?
“Nope.” He chuckled as he denied it. “I assure you, this is not my usual m.o., but you were unconscious in a very dangerous part of the city. I couldn’t leave you there.”
“Why not bring me to a hospital immediately?”
There was a moment of hesitation before he answered, as if he were choosing his words carefully.
“You demonstrated an unusual strength, way out of the ordinary for someone of your size and stature. You crumpled a handgun in your bare hands and knocked Antonio Morelli out cold. That’s not exactly normal.”
I looked over my shoulder and glared at him, but I was starting to remember those things happening.
“When I consulted my sister, she suggested the fever was an aftereffect of some major changes occurring in your system. She didn’t think an ER staff would know how to treat you and could have potentially harmed you.” He twirled the rod once and I gasped. “Sorry. We’re almost done.”
“I have a lot more questions.” I inspected the fibers of the pillowcase and tried not to think about the picture I presented. Sweaty, naked, and wrapped up in a sheet with a tiny rod sticking out of my butt, while the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on took my temperature in the most embarrassing way possible.
“I’ll get to your questions, Caitlyn.” Kade removed the thermometer and smoothed the sheet down over my ass. “Your fever is down to 100.5. It’s safe to say, you’re out of the woods and on the mend, I think, but you’re not going anywhere just yet.”
“I don’t know if I can look you in the eyes again after you used a baby thermometer on me,” I mumbled, still speaking into the pillow.
“It’s done and over with.” He patted my bottom, the gesture a comforting one instead of creepy. “Finish the rest of the water bottle while I grab you something to wear. I’m guessing you don’t want to wear those micro-shorts of yours right now.”
“I would rather have something comfortable, so I will appreciate whatever you bring me. Thank you.” I wasn’t used to obeying orders, especially from hot strangers, but I was thirsty. Parched, actually. I reluctantly opened the bottle again and took a swig. It tasted delicious, as if I hadn’t drank anything in weeks, and I took several more swallows.
“Easy,” Kade said, coming back into the room with a change of clothes in hand. “You’ll make yourself sick again.”
His tone had an oddly authoritative twang, and I capped the bottle. “I got dizzy.”
“You’ve been unconscious for a few days. Probably going to take a bit to get your bearings back.”
“What?” I jumped up, but teetered. Kade caught me around the waist, but I pushed out of his arms and fell back onto the bed. “Damn it! What’s wrong with me?”
“One thing at a time. Try to listen to what I’m about to say–”
I didn’t want to listen. I wanted to leave. “I don’t really have time for this.”
“Well, you can’t even stand at the moment,” Kade answered sternly. “So, for the time being, you’re staying put.”
I stood up to leave again, gathering the sheet around me and immediately fell back onto the bed. My head was still pounding. I was dizzy and lightheaded and my body tingled with a weird electricity, like I could literally feel my blood flowing through my veins. Strangest of all, I wasn’t embarrassed by my lack of clothing. It struck me as odd, since I was in some strange man’s house, and not just any house, but the house of the hottest strange man I had ever met. He moved closer to the bed, and with every step toward me, I swear he got hotter and hotter. It could be my perception after what he had just done, but his dark brown hair fell in a way which made me want to run my fingers through it. He was gorgeous.
“Who are you, Kade? How did I get here? Why do I feel so terrible? Why can’t I stand up without falling?” My eyes narrowed in suspicion. I felt oddly safe here, but I couldn’t account for how physically horrible I felt. “Did you drug me? I feel like I’ve been drugged. Oh my god, you roofied me, didn’t you? And that’s why I woke up naked!”
His eyes darkened with each question and his mouth set into a thin line of displeasure. “One question at a time. And since I’ve already covered some of this, I’ll tell you again, because you aren’t feeling well, and I’m sure your unfamiliar surroundings are adding to your confusion. I picked you up and off a sidewalk in the middle of Devil’s Park after being alerted to your condition. I brought you into my home where I’ve taken care of you for the past seventy-two hours. No, I did not roofie you, nor did I do anything more invasive than taking your temperature rectally. And trust me, that wasn’t my first choice, but I made do with what I had available. Frankly, I’m a little insulted that you even asked such questions. You might try and act a little grateful.”
“I’m grateful.” A pit of ice formed in my stomach while I mulled over his words. Shit. If I had passed out in Devil’s Park, then he saved my life for real. Despite my accusations, I didn’t feel like I had been raped or otherwise taken advantage of. If I had been left unconscious in Devil’s Park, I most certainly would have been raped. Or worse. My gut squeezed as I pondered the possibilities. I was grateful. I was, but I was still naked in a stranger’s house, and I still needed to get out of here and get home. I had bills to pay and a job to do. “Listen, I really appreciate everything you have done for me, but I don’t want to impose any further. I’m really out of my element here. No one has bothered to take care of me in a long time.”
His jaw clenched and relaxed as he processed what I’d told him, and then without a word, he turned and strode out of the room. He even looked sexy leaving. He had simple black pants on, but they outlined the shape of his muscular ass. If I had a quarter, I’d have been
able to make it bounce.
Why wasn’t I more concerned about all this? Here I am naked, with a fever in a stranger’s house after apparently being out cold for three days, and I’m musing about bouncing quarters off a man’s ass.
I needed to know where my car was, if my job had called for me, and what exactly had happened seventy-two hours ago. I pressed a hand to my forehead. My thoughts swam a bit when I tried to think. I clenched the sheets closer to my body with my other hand. What a mess I’d gotten myself into.
The man returned a few minutes later and motioned for me to sit up. In his hand, he held a bottle of Tylenol and a fresh bottle of water. “Couldn’t give you anything while you were out. This should help bring the fever the rest of the way down.” Shaking the bottle upside down, he handed me three pills and watched as I took them. Then he grabbed the pile of clothes he had brought earlier, and without a word, he assisted me into soft navy flannel pants and a light gray t-shirt since my head refused to allow me to do anything on my own.
“Thank you for scraping me off the sidewalk, Kade,” I said, trying again to express appreciation to this kind but odd stranger. For a short moment, my heart rejoiced at his kindness, but then my usual paranoia sank back into my brain. He could be nursing me back to health just to sell me on the streets. “I’m sure in that part of town I wouldn’t have lasted long.”
“I swear my intentions are pure, though you don’t know me any more than I know you.”
“I think you know me just a bit better,” I quipped, since he had not only stripped me naked, but stuck a thermometer in my ass, at least twice.
He didn’t react to my argument. “We need to get some food in your system, before we get into all the particulars of the other night,” he said off-handedly.” I came up to check on you, but I was about to make dinner. I can bring you up a plate or we can get you downstairs. Which do you prefer?”
