Lover Mine (Blood Brothers 1) Read Free Page A

while to heal, but no permanent damage
that I can find so far. She has also been sexually assaulted both
anally and vaginally, and I've had a rape kit sent per your
instructions in hopes of gathering any DNA." The person seemed to
hesitate before continuing.
    "Stop looking at me with murder in your
eyes! I wasn't the one who did this to that poor young woman, so
get your ass out there and find out who it was because they are
sadist assholes. They intended to inflict as much pain as possible
while having their fun. And they almost killed her. If you had been
any later, I can assure you that she wouldn't have survived another
day." The talking stopped, then Chayle heard them quietly closing
the door as they left.
    She reached up to rub her temple, finding
something attached to her wrist. She could only stare at it for
long seconds before she could finally focus. Once the fog cleared
and she could see enough, she realized there was an IV leading to
the side of the bed, then up to the bag hanging from the pole.
Instinct had her trying to jackknife away from whatever danger was
nearby, but strong hands gently held her in place.
    "Easy, sugar. Nothin' to worry about." A
deep drawl so low it whispered over her senses soothed her jingling
nerves, yet didn't penetrate the fog or terrible memories crowding
her mind.
    How had they moved her to this place? What
did they want now?
    She struck out with everything she had,
slapping and struggling to move away as her body screamed that it
couldn't move this fast yet, but instinct had her fighting to get
away or die.
    "Damn it . . . . Stop it or you're going to
hurt yourself again! They just finally got you cleaned up!" A male
voice cursed long and low again as strong hands held her still.
    Something made her hold still . . .
something primal.
    She stopped fighting those strong fingers,
frantically searching for the source of the velvety voice, needing
an anchor before the panic took over. When she found sparkling navy
blue eyes watching her closely, Chayle stopped breathing.
    "Now don't you go and pass out on me again.
If you do, Rafe will be pissed with me and I just don't want to
deal with one of his temper fits right now." A quirky grin tilted
at the corners of lips that should have been on an angel's instead
of the giant gently holding her arms pinned to the bed. The darkest
blue eyes fringed by the sexiest long, black lashes she had ever
seen drew her in and made her chest ache.
    Her first coherent thought was a man
shouldn't have eyes so beautiful. Chayle caught her breath and felt
it hitch with pain. A military haircut didn't hide the fact that
the color was as blue-black as the lashes, and Chayle had to stop
herself from wanting to touch it to see if it really was as black
as a raven's.
    "Where . . . where am I? Who are you?" Was
that really her voice? Scratchy and dry, it sounded like an old
lady's whisper rather the normally bold Chayle most of her friends
knew.
    She licked chapped lips, realizing it must
have been since the sound came from her throat. Chayle forced
herself to look away from those assessing blue eyes and tried to
concentrate on her surroundings. The quiet room was small, light
filtering in from the one window that now didn't seem quite so
bright as it had a few minutes ago. Or was it only seconds? It was
obviously a hospital room of some kind, but where?
    The pale green wall softly absorbed the
light to keep the glare down and the blinds were barely open to
blunt the brightness from outside. Chayle could tell it was
daylight but what time was beyond her.
    She felt her chest squeeze, her stomach roll
as panic filled her. The men, the pain - oh God, where was she?
    Frantic now, she slapped at huge hands
trying to hold her still her, hearing an animal's cry somewhere
nearby, not realizing it was coming from her.
    "Easy . . . you're in a private hospital!"
The stranger eased toward her, whispering as if to a wounded
animal, "My name is Kayne MacIntyre. Can you