Kiss of Heat by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online

as well as the security alerts,” Sherra yelled into the link to be certain she was heard over the din in the communications room.
    “On their way.” Callan’s voice was full-throttle fury. “Get your ass back here now. I need you here. We have wounded.”
    “Who?” Fear slammed in her heart at the thought of her family as she started down the mountain at a fast clip.
    “The explosion caused flying debris to hit several of the guards and Merinus is in a tirade over you being out there. Get back here and calm her down. I don’t need her having that baby before it’s due.”
    Which meant Merinus was more than upset. Which meant someone close to Merinus…
    “Where’s Kane?” she breathed out harshly.
    Silence descended.
    “Oh God…” Her knees weakened in fear. Gathering her strength, Sherra raced down the remainder of the mountain toward the opened gate awaiting her.
    She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. She refused to acknowledge the searing pain that gripped her chest and made her want to howl in misery. She ignored the despair, ignored the fear and ran with everything she had back to the house and to her mate.

Chapter Five
     
    “Dammit to hell, if you don’t stop poking at me I’m going to break your fingers,” Kane snapped at Doc Martin as he pulled a long sliver of wood from his shoulder, staunching the bleeding with thick gauze.
    The flesh of his shoulder was a mess, raw and oozing blood, as Doc worked to clean the area.
    Sherra stopped just inside the well-equipped medical room and stared at the wounds in horror. Smooth, perfect muscle bunched painfully as Doc inserted another injection of anesthetic to deaden the pain before pulling more slivers of wood from the flesh.
    Wounds had never particularly affected her. She had been helping Doc for years with Callan’s and often Taber’s injuries. But seeing Kane, his perfect flesh torn and brutalized, made her stomach heave threateningly.
    “Sherra, I need more bandages,” Doc snapped as she paused behind him. “I already had to nearly sedate Merinus when she saw this and everyone else is busy.”
    Rushing to the sink, Sherra hurriedly scrubbed her hands and arms down, rinsed and dried them before she rushed back to the gurney. Standing in front of Kane, she prepared the gauze, staring down at the utensils and the small metal bowl littered with wood fragments.
    “Damned Dr. Jekyll,” Kane muttered with a grimace as the probing began again.
    He kept his head lowered, his shoulder hunched as though in pain, though she knew the area should be properly numbed by that point.
    “It’s pretty bad. He’ll need a few stitches,” Doc murmured. “You were lucky, son. Those flying splinters could have buried in a lung.”
    Sherra fought to control the sense of horror at the thought. Her stomach roiled as she swallowed tightly and prepared the sutures the doctor would need.
    “You okay?” Kane asked her, his voice tense, his head still lowered.
    “Fine,” she said thickly.
    She couldn’t believe he was sitting there, that the attack had nearly taken him out. The fact that he was conscious and relatively unharmed amazed her.
    “The others?” Her eyes rose to the doctor.
    Doc Martin grunted in irritation as he worked another splinter free. “Minor. Limb clipped one of them. The other was thrown into a building. This one had the worse damage. If he would stay still I might manage to get the damned splinters out before next week.”
    Kane had shifted again, turning slightly farther away from Sherra. She frowned at his bent head. Was he hurt worse than he was letting on? He was acting so out of character that she moved until she was facing him, then bent down to inspect his bare chest for any wounds.
    She froze in horror as his head finally raised and a sigh of resignation slipped past his lips. The scarring was horrendous. Long jagged lines of flesh extended from one side of his dark chest to the other. One sliced through a small male nipple,