The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

escort skittered down stairs, around corners, and down a long hall. He pushed on a door with a red cross painted on the front. Inside, the room smelled like antiseptic. Sudden blinding light made Leah jerk her head down and cover her eyes.
    He laid Ivan on a stainless steel table, shrugged off his coat, and gathered swabs, gauze, a surgical knife and other supplies onto a small stainless steel tray. Leah stood in the far corner, eyes squinted. She closed her heart, preparing for the worst, but tears sprang nonetheless. She hid her face from his view.
    He slipped on latex gloves then searched through the boy’s curly hair. Plucking tweezers from the metal tray, he moved with the skill and precision of a surgeon.
    Transfixed, she watched. “Are you a doctor?”
    “No.” His curt answer registered on her thin nerves.
    “You don’t have to be rude. I don’t like this any better than you.”
    The man glanced at her and then laid a blood soaked cotton ball on the tray. “I learned from necessity.” His nimble fingers pinched-up a gauze pad from the stack. “There’s a gash above his forehead. He hit the container hard. He’ll have a bump for a while, but nothing serious.”
    He removed the belt wrapped around the boy’s arm and pulled up the saturated sleeve. “Your field dressing is well done. Very creative.”
    “Thanks. My first one.” She watched him clean and redress the injury. Ivan moaned and rolled his head to the side. Leah sprang toward the table. “Hey, don’t move. You’re hurt.”
    The boy’s eyes fluttered. “I’ve given ya all she’s got, Cap’ain.” He flopped his uninjured wrist onto his forehead. “It’s time. I see the light.”
    Leah rolled her eyes. “That’s the worst Scotty impression I’ve ever heard. And the light is the overhead lamp, Mr. Drama.”
    Ivan squinted open one eye. “It hurts my head. Turn it off.”
    Blondie set the metal tray on the counter, pulled off the gloves and tossed them into the hazardous waste bag by the door. “The bullet grazed your arm, only splitting skin and a small amount of muscle.” He flipped down two of three switches, dimming the front of the room. “Your head is worse than the arm.”             
    “Where are we?” Ivan moved to sit up, but Leah pushed him down.
    “We’re on one of the docked ships.” She tucked her coat under his head. “Just relax for a minute.” Leah motioned for the man to meet her by door. Shadows from the knit hat pulled low on his forehead hid his eyes from her. His closeness set her stomach into a tailspin. She stared down at her twiddling hands. “I’m not good with asking others for help. So thank you for saving him. He’s not in any immediate danger, right?”
    “He is not.”
    She glanced at the resting boy. “After removing the metal grate, take him up to the train station. I’m sure his mom’s in a panic with a hundred police on their way.”
    “You take him.”
    She gritted her teeth. They’d already been through this. “I can’t.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because I can’t, dammit.” Leah pressed the heel of her cold hands against her closed eyes. Why was he making this so difficult?
    “Stay here. I’ll get with the captain to delay departure and find something to cut the iron.” He walked out, closing the door behind him. Leah sighed and paced between the metal table and cabinets. She hated not being in control, having to wait or depend on somebody else before going her merry way. Her foot rolled out a stool from under the counter. She plopped on the cushy leather top, rested her elbows on her knees and let her head fall into her hands.
    “What’s up with the guy in the car? He wanted you dead.”
    Dread filled her mind. “Not really, he only gets paid if I’m alive.”
    “What does that mean?”
    She sighed. “You don’t want to know.”
    “Please tell me. I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”
    Damn, he could be persistent. She wasn’t getting into it now. “Why