Fever by Joan Swan Read Free Book Online Page B

paced the bathroom, his eyes averted.
    With her little emergency wallet holding her identification still in the pocket of her scrubs, she balled up the thin garments and stuffed them into the corner behind the toilet.
    “Good try.” Creek’s voice made her jump. “Pick them up. We’re taking them with us.”
    Like a hungry crow, he’d snapped up her bread crumb. As she bundled the clothes into the bag, he waved her over, the cuff key in his hand. She hesitated only a moment before stepping forward, hands outstretched.
    “Doesn’t look like Taz’s woman did as good a job picking clothes for you.” Creek frowned as he settled the metal on her wrists, looser than the first time. His warm fingers lingered on her skin, rubbing the red welts there. A gentle, relaxing heat flowed through her wrists just before the lines started to fade. Right in front of her eyes the red swells turned pink, then melted into her own flesh color. Alyssa squeezed her eyes shut in disbelief, but when she opened them again, the marks were still gone. “How’d you do that?”
    “Do what?”
    She darted a look at his face to gauge his expression. He was calm and serious. “That. Take away those red marks?”
    “You don’t have any marks.” He released her hands with a disgusted grunt. “Women. Always milking the situation. Give it a rest.”
    Had she imagined those rings on her wrists? Had she imagined his intense body heat? Maybe St. Jude’s had finally driven her over the edge. Or maybe this whole thing was one big nightmare she’d wake from, shuddering like a child.
    A muffled shout sounded outside the door. Teague straightened and turned. More voices drifted in. Men’s voices. Not just Taz’s. Hope sparked. Alyssa had to fight back the urge to call out for help.
    “Creek,” Taz yelled, clear and sharp. “Get your ass out here.”
    A wall of heat blasted off Creek and hit Alyssa with the force of a desert wind.
    “Creek!” Taz’s voice rose with urgency.
    “Shit.” Teague grabbed the chain between Alyssa’s cuffs and yanked her close.
    The heat was definitely back. She might not be able to explain the science behind it, but there was no mistaking the hot current traveling through that metal.
    “You stay behind me,” he said. “Understand?”
    She nodded, her thoughts already sprinting toward the anticipation of bolting into the arms of police or F.B.I. or C.I.A. or whatever the hell agency handled kidnappings.
    Creek tugged her close at his back and opened the door.

F OUR
    D uring their time in the bathroom, dusk had turned to night. The area streetlights now cast an eerie yellow hue over the gas station. Everything beyond hid in the deepening shadows.
    Alyssa peered around Creek’s arm, hope welling so fast her throat ached. She swore she could taste the sweetness of freedom on the back of her tongue. But what she saw filled her mouth with bitter fear.
    Four black men stood in an arc around Taz, blocking his path to the car. Instead of the uniforms she’d hoped for, they wore low-slung pants, unzipped oversized sweat jackets with the hoods up, two with no shirts underneath. Black bandanas covered their foreheads and hung over their eyes.
    “It’s about fucking time.” Taz’s eyes cut between Creek and the other men with a wild edge, one Alyssa read as part excitement, part fear. “These fucking porch monkeys say we’re in their territory.”
    The twenty-somethings shuffled closer, shoulders back, chins up. The tallest gave Teague a one-sided superior grin. “These ‘porch monkeys’ gonna pound your cracka faces into the pavement.”
    Creek pulled on the chain between Alyssa’s hands, forcing her fully behind him. She gladly curled into his bulk, hoping to disappear.
    The guy with dreadlocks craned his neck to see around Creek. “Ooooowee. Whatcha got there, wigger?”
    Alyssa cringed. She scooted closer to Creek and wrapped her fingers around the wrist of the hand holding her cuffs. Just like that, they