The Prince's Intimate Abduction (The Samara Royal Family Series Book 2) (3 page)

She heard him mumbling and suspected that he was using her phone again.  That was fine.  If he had someone who could come here in the middle of the night to get him out of here, all the better.  She wouldn’t interfere in any way. 

In fact, if he could just sneak out, that would probably be better for everyone. 

Then her thoughts hit her and she was ashamed.  He was her patient and he obviously wasn’t healed enough to be traveling.  He had just suffered a major wound and his side was most likely throbbing.  Not to mention, his head probably felt like it was splitting in two.  That bump on his head looked like it could take a few days to ease up. 

The soup started to boil and she hurriedly stirred the contents, then popped some bread into the toaster.  She added some fruit and vegetables to the tray, wondering why she was trying so hard to make everything look nice. 

Good grief, she thought with impatience. 

When the soup was hot, she poured it into two bowls, adding more to his than to hers.  Then she lifted the tray and carried it back into the other room.

She found him sitting down on the small cot with his back propped up against the wall behind him.  He was reading one of her old medical journals and she wondered if he understood any of it. 

“I know you’re hungry,” she said and handed him a bowl.

“This looks great.  Thank you, Raven.”

She picked up her own bowl.  “I’ll just...”

“Don’t go,” he urged when she was about to walk out and leave him alone. 

“You don’t…”

“But I do,” he countered before she could even finish whatever she was going to say.  “The company of a beautiful woman always makes the food taste better,” he told her. 

Goodness, handsome and charming!  A lethal combination. 

She’d lifted her spoon halfway up to her mouth when she stopped and looked over at him.  “I don’t even know your name,” she told him, shocked that she hadn’t gotten that information from him immediately. 

He almost laughed, thinking she was kidding but the look in her silver eyes told him that she was completely serious.  She didn’t recognize him!  Even that was a surprise.  “I’m Turk,” he said, leaving off his last name and title.  “And what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”

She shrugged and took a sip of soup.  “I love working in rural areas.”

“Why not a big city?”

She smiled slightly.  “I could have worked stateside,” she told him, “but I love general medicine.  I love surgery as well, but practicing out here, I get to diagnose ear infections one moment, then sew up a wound from a tractor accident the next.  I never know what my next patient will need of me.  This kind of medicine keeps me on my toes.”

They talked about the village and the area, the environment and the articles he’d been reading in her medical journals.  It was late when she realized that he needed to get some sleep.  He didn’t look tired at all, but he was recovering from a bullet wound.  He needed sleep.

“I’d better let you get some rest,” she said and started gathering up the dishes.  She was surprised at how easy he was to talk to.  And she really needed to find a shirt to cover all of that skin, she thought to herself. 

“You look tired as well,” he commented.  He started to try and get up to help her, but the air hissed through his teeth as soon as he bent over.

“Don’t worry about this,” she said, pressing a cool hand against his chest, helping him to lean back and relax his abdominal muscles.  “I’ve got it.  Your job is to heal and do it as quickly and quietly as possible.”

He nodded his head since he wasn’t able to do much more than that at the moment.  As the pain slowly receded and the throbbing in his head slowed, he looked up at her.  “I’ll get right on that,” he teased.

Raven couldn’t help but laugh.  “I’m sure you will,” and she walked out, leaving the small flashlight for him. 

Just one more patient, she told herself as she moved into the next examining room.  Just one more and she could go check on…her patient.  Turk was just a patient.  He was only a patient and she would talk to him about his pain, check his wound and get him some dinner.  That was all that was going to happen tonight.

But when she locked the doors after everyone had gone home, she detoured through the lobby to the small bathroom.  Pinching her cheeks to add a bit more color to her features, running her fingers through her hair and straightened her clothes slightly.  Unfortunately, the image in the mirror didn’t change much.  She was still the same woman with dark circles under her eyes because it was hard to sleep with a man that gorgeous with only a thin wall separating her from all of those incredible muscles. 

It didn’t matter anyway, she reminded herself.  Because she was the man’s doctor.  She wasn’t his girlfriend.  She wasn’t the adorable, smiling cheerleader on the sidelines even though she mentally was cheering him on to get better. 

And if she were perfectly honest with herself, the doctor part of her was amazed at how quickly he was healing.  But the feminine side of her, the side that she hadn’t ever acknowledged before Turk showed up, was slightly depressed that she wouldn’t have the excuse of keeping him here much longer. 

It suddenly occurred to her that she really should be figuring out a way to get him out of this clinic without the bad guys knowing about him.  She only had his word that he wasn’t one of the bad guys, but something inside of her knew that he was good, honest and trying to make the world a better place.  How he could do that as a soldier, she wasn’t completely clear about, but she just knew that something inside of him was good and worthy. 

And unfortunately, that made him all the more dangerous. 

She was a doctor, for goodness sake!  She shouldn’t be sad if he got better, or excited that he was a good person.  She should heal everyone no matter what was in their hearts.  She was a healer, not a minister. 

And at the end of the day, she was still trying to fight her completely inappropriate attraction to a man that she should see only as a patient. 

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders, turned away from her exhausted, drained and sad looking image in the mirror and tried to stop thinking about how yummy the man looked. 

He was still a soldier.  She was a doctor.  Two different worlds.  Two different end games.  Their two worlds couldn't mix in any positive way. 

Pushing her feet forward, she grabbed the bag one of the local villagers had brought her, holding it against her chest as she walked into the recovery room.

For a long moment, she just stood there, her eyes moving over his muscles with relish and fascination.  Once again, she was startled by how amazing he looked.  The man was built!

“Are they gone?” he asked as he slowly woke up, his eyes looking up at her. 

Even as she looked down at him, he went from sleeping to fully alert in a matter of seconds. 

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked softly, not sure how long he’d been sleeping or if he was still in pain. 

His eyes moved up and down her jeans-clad figure, a slight smile forming on those handsome lips. “I’d feel a whole lot better if you’d kiss me,” he told her. 

All of Raven’s professional demeanor crashed with those words.  Her mouth fell open and she looked at him as if he’d just told her he was going to bomb the clinic.  “Excuse me?” she asked him, sure that she’d misunderstood him.  Surely he hadn’t just said…

“I’m going to kiss you,” he told her and pushed himself up to a sitting position.  “And eventually, we will make love together.  I’ve been contemplating the eventuality all day.” 

She shook her head and backed up.  “No.  That’s not possible.”

A dark eyebrow went up with that denial.  “Not possible?  How is it not possible?”

She stepped back, realized what she was doing and pulled herself up short, trying to appear strong even though her stomach was flipping about and her body was trembling with the idea.  The very bad idea.  “No.  No kissing.  No making love, especially not in the near future with that wound and no…nothing else.”

He laughed softly when she looked down at the bag in her hands.  “I brought you clothes.”

He chuckled as he accepted the shirt and sweatpants.  “Are you sure they’ll fit?” he asked, lifting the shirt up to look at it. 

She stepped back slightly, trying desperately hard not to look at his bare chest.  Or his shoulders.  Could he please just put the stupid shirt on?  “I asked around.  Someone found a…large one.”  Oh, please, please let that shirt fit, she thought silently. 

He lifted the white tee-shirt up, holding it against himself and nodded.  “It just might fit me,” he said, amazed.  The older shirt definitely wasn’t his style, but he would wear it if it would make her feel more comfortable. 

Raven sighed with relief when all that amazing, tanned skin was now hidden from her desperate eyes.  Almost sinking to the floor with relief, she bit the inside of her cheek, not allowing herself to tell him to take it off again. 

Dinner that night was a strained affair, her eyes kept moving over his tee-shirt covered shoulders and chest, remembering how amazing he’d looked without the material covering all of those muscles.  She had barely finished her soup and toast tonight, too distracted by thoughts of that tee-shirt “disappearing” or
“accidentally” getting shredded in the dead of night.  Where was a fireplace when one needed one? 

Chiding herself for thinking such ridiculous thoughts, she left him to his sleep earlier than the previous night, too ashamed of the way her mind was trying to come up with ways to get rid of the shirt she’d worked so hard to obtain for him. 

“You’re too young to be a doctor,” he told her the following morning when she brought him coffee and some toast with what he suspected was peanut butter, but how she’d gotten peanut butter in this area of the world, he had no idea.   

Raven had to breathe through her impatience at his comment.  She heard that a lot and it had taken a long time to get the villagers here to accept her medical expertise.  “I’m actually a first year resident,” she told him, writing down some information on his chart. 

Turk considered that for a moment.  She was exceptionally knowledgeable for a first year resident.  Her youth and her experience weren’t matching up.  “Still too young,” he argued.  “You’re…what, twenty-one?  Twenty-two?  It takes a lot longer than that to get to be a doctor, Raven.”

She sighed and turned to face him fully.  “I’m twenty-five years old, Turk.  I finished high school and my undergraduate degree in six years.  Which meant I could get into medical school at George Washington University earlier than some.  I did my internship at Georgetown University Hospital, an extremely reputable institution which should prove my worthiness.  So yes, I still have a few more years as a resident, but I’m working under a very experienced doctor in the Kilar capital who oversees my work.” 

She huffed a bit, wishing that her age and experience wasn’t always a struggle.  She glared at him, irritated that, even after their conversations last night as well as the excellent job she’d done repairing the damage caused by a bullet in his side, he still doubted her abilities.  “I’m a good doctor and if you want to get better so that you can go back out into the world to torture and kill people, then you’ll rest and be a good boy for a few more days.”  He probably could leave already, but she wanted to keep him here for…a while…just to…make sure.  He wasn’t invincible, she thought to herself.  Someone needed to make sure he was fully recovered. 

Turk laughed even though he was more than a little impressed by her previously unseen feistiness.  “How did you do your undergrad work in only three years?”

She snapped his file shut and looked around the room.  She had to keep her eyes on anything other than this man who was interrogating her because…well, because those silly feelings started pinging around inside of her and she wasn’t going to allow anyone to mess up her goal of becoming an outstanding doctor. 

“I took extra classes each semester and over the summers.  When others were hanging out at the beach, I was taking summer classes.  When my classmates got drunk over the weekends or breaks, I was more interested in taking additional lab classes.” 

She dropped his chart onto the counter, taking deep breaths to try and calm her temper.  He probably hadn’t meant anything by his questions.  He’d just unknowingly hit on a sore spot.  Besides, she was exhausted from lack of sleep, not having gotten a good night’s rest since Turk had been dragged into the surgery area.  And she was irritated that this man would even question her medical skills. 

“I need to change your bandage and look at your wound,” she told him, wishing he’d still been asleep when she’d come to do this.  She’d checked on him several times already today in between patients.  She shouldn’t have.  There had been no reason except, well, except that she liked looking at the man!  There!  She’d said it, if only to herself!  She had been acting like a voyeur and sighing over all of those incredible muscles! 

No one had to know and she’d never tell anyone.

“That didn’t leave you much time for a social life.  What did you do for fun?” he asked. 

Raven was pulling on latex gloves.  “I had fun,” she argued, trying to focus on his wound. 

Turk didn’t buy it.  He’d had friends who had gone to medical school while he was at university.  They only took a regular course load and they were slaves to their studies until the summers when they had a bit of a break.  If this woman had taken extra classes and studied during the summer, he was betting that she’d been a lonely girl most of the time.  “When?  What kinds of fun?”

She clenched her teeth as she stood across the room, anxious about coming closer to check on his wound but also wanting to switch the subject and changing his bandages would get the conversation moving in that direction.  Refusing to answer his challenge, she turned around and huffed a bit.  “Could you come into the next room where there is more light?” she asked, stepping back and wishing she’d asked Ben to do this earlier. 

“You’re going to have to help me again,” he warned her, liking the idea of her touching him once again.  She was all soft curves and smooth skin.  Not to mention those beautiful eyes and incredibly long lashes!  Damn, he liked those grey eyes that were skittering about the room nervously. 

Raven cringed.  She hadn’t thought about that!  “Fine,” she sighed.  She should have known that he would need help!  Of course, he hadn’t needed help when he’d gotten to the bathroom yesterday evening but…

She should have anticipated all of this but when it came to this man, she wasn’t always thinking clearly.  She just wished he wasn’t so charming and handsome when he smiled.  That smile softened all of the harsh edges that seemed to epitomize the man, even when he was sleeping. 

Moving over to his cot, she gritted her teeth as she put her shoulder under his arm and helped him up, telling herself not to think about how warm and wonderful he felt.  And good grief, the man smelled good!  She knew he was only taking sponge baths in the tiny bathroom each night, so why did he smell so amazingly good?  It shouldn’t be possible, but she still had to fight the urge to turn her face so that her nose was closer to his warm, tanned skin. 

Turk wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer and enjoying her touch against his body.  Those fingers that were so knowledgeable about healing were driving him nuts with her barely-there touch on his back.  “Thanks, now tell me what you did for fun.”

Raven cringed as she felt all of those rippling muscles along his back.  Goodness, she wanted to slide her fingers over his back, feel those muscles in action.  He was an astonishingly well-developed male.  “None of your business,” she said as she helped him walk into to the examining room.  She only had the one room but it had a great overhead light.  “Here, just sit on the table and…can you lay back?”

Turk wasn’t ready to let her go.  “With your help,” he replied.  He almost laughed out loud when she looked at him warily.  He was holding her hands now and she was standing in front of him.  He wanted those soft hands on his body again.  He’d definitely been able to walk, but had enjoyed her help.  Laying back?  Nope, he wasn’t able to do that yet.  Not with this irritating wound on his side. 

Raven moved behind him and helped him slowly lay his extremely large body against the examining table.  When he was laid out, she felt much safer, as if he was more vulnerable now.  But as she looked at him, she knew that this man was never vulnerable.  Well, except for that one night when he’d been unconscious and losing blood. 

As she bent over his side, she gently pulled the bandage away, being careful to not hurt him.  “So, who are the goons who keep showing up, demanding to take your body away as soon as you’ve woken up?”

Turk’s head lifted up with a snap at those words, but he hissed out his pain since he was using the damaged muscles of his stomach to lift his head.  Slowly, he lowered his head back down to the table, breathing through the pain until it eased away.  “You don’t want to know who they are.” 

Raven laid her hand over the torn muscles until she felt him relax again.  “I’ll give you something for the pain,” she told him softly.  “I don’t really need to know who they are.  And don’t worry, I’ll keep telling them that you’re still unconscious.  I suggested to one of them yesterday that you might have a brain edema and needed to be flown to the capital city for testing and x-rays.” She laughed even as she carefully peeled back the bandage.  “They really didn’t like that idea but the suggestion bought me more time with you here.  They were willing to leave you alone for a couple of days, demanding that I get the swelling down.”  She shook her head.  “Some people really don’t understand how the human body works.”

She looked up and noticed that he was gritting his teeth with the pain after his head-lift.  “Right,” she reminded herself.  “Pain medicine will help you so that you won’t have to deal with that kind of pulling.  It will also help you sleep.”

Turk immediately shook his head.  “No meds,” he replied adamantly.  “I’m fine.”

She didn’t argue with him, but there was a fine sheen of sweat on his brown now, telling her that he was in a great deal of pain.  When she had the bandage off, she looked carefully at the wound.  “It looks pretty good,” she told him.  “But I’m going to clean it again, just to be safe.”  She gently touched the edges of the wound, satisfied that her stitches weren’t pulling too much and that nothing seemed to be infected.  “It’s a good thing you’re a healthy man.  Otherwise,” she shook her head, thinking of all the gory wounds she’d read about in rural areas of the world that started to fester.

“Oh, I’m a healthy male,” he agreed.  And if her fingers didn’t stop that delicate touching, he was going to show her exactly how healthy he was.  “Everything okay down there?” he asked, not lifting his head again. 

“Yes.  You’re healing extremely well.”  She stood up and got some antibiotic ointment and a bit of saline to clean around some small bits of remaining blood.  “It’s a bit spooky at how fast you are healing, actually.”

A few more minutes and she’d attached another sterile bandage and he was all finished.  Thank goodness!  She was trying very hard to think only in medical terms, but with those rippling abdominal muscles so close, she was having problems focusing.  Well, that’s not exactly accurate.  She was focusing.  But mostly on those delicious, rippling muscles.  “Okay, let’s get you back to bed and I’ll make something for dinner,” she told him, taking both of his hands once again, helping to lift him into a sitting position. 

She had to swallow her surprise when his hands wrapped around her fingers.  As he slowly sat up, careful not to use any of his stomach muscles, she was once again astounded by his impressive chest.  Would she ever get used to this man? 

Good grief, that was a ridiculously unprofessional thought, she admonished herself. “Here you go,” she said, her voice sounding a bit too wispy for her preference.  “How about a big bowl of stew tonight instead of soup?” she asked as they walked out of the surgery area. 

He laughed as he leaned against her again.  “Isn’t stew just a really thick soup?”

She smiled as she helped him back to the small cot in her recovery room.  “Only to someone who wants to cook his own meal tonight,” she told him. 

“Stew is dramatically different,” he agreed with a chuckle. 

“I thought so too!” and she laughed as he sank back down onto the thin mattress.  “Relax for a few minutes, and maybe rethink those pain meds, okay?” she told him as she stepped back from the bed, watching him carefully.  He was breathing slightly heavier and he was still sweating.  She’d have to watch him a bit more closely tonight. 

Moving into the kitchen, she left the door open as she perused the possible menu options for the evening.  She chose a stew, but grabbed two cans tonight, thinking the man was losing too much weight.  She suspected that he wasn’t eating nearly enough, but was too polite to tell her that he was famished even after eating whatever she offered.

While the stew was heating up on the stove, she cut up a whole plate of vegetables, fruit and added more bread, double the amount from the previous night.  Goodness, what she would do for a few cooking skills.  “Wouldn’t it be nice to have some brownies or something yummy for dessert tonight?” she called out to him. 

“I’m guessing you’re only saying that as a wish and not because it is a possibility?” he asked, not a great deal of hope in his expression. 

She poked her head out the door with a grimace.  “I didn’t mean to tease,” she told him apologetically.  “I just…well, I don’t know how to cook and there isn’t anyone around this area who knows how to make brownies.”  She sighed as she leaned against the doorframe, her mind on both him and the pot simmering behind her.  “I think that’s one of the things I miss the most about home.  The desserts were much more decadent than here.”  She shrugged and moved back to the tiny stove.   “It is better for my health so I guess it is good.”

“You’re not one of those women who loves chocolate, are you?”

She laughed.  “I haven’t ever met a male or female who doesn’t like chocolate.”

“Yes, but isn’t the chocolate craving sort of stereotypical for a woman?”

She poked her head out again and glared at him.  “I am not stereotypical,” she told him firmly, but with a glint in her eyes that relayed her teasing. 

He laughed, but shrugged one of those magnificent shoulders.  “My point exactly.  You’re a doctor out in a rural village making her way in the world.  You don’t follow any of the normal stereotypes.  Why bow down to the chocolate thing?”

She held the wooden spoon out at him like a weapon.  “Don’t chocolate bash!” she told him sternly.  “Especially when I haven’t had any for…” she thought back to the last time she’d had anything with chocolate and couldn’t remember, “well, a long time!” she finally ended.  Then moved right back into the kitchen to turn off the heat under the stew.

She poured the stew into two bowls, giving him more than seventy-five percent.  She wasn’t very hungry at the moment and she suspected he was ravenously hungry.  Besides, he needed the extra calories.  His body was burning up fuel at a rapid pace while trying to heal.