arrived, she felt as if she had been tossed around like sweatsocks in a dryer.
Tate pulled up to the rear of the hospital, under an awning that kept the sunlight from touching them. With a warning to her to remain quiet, he carefully pulled the stretcher out of the back so that he wouldn't hurt her arm as they descended out of the ambulance.
Once inside the hospital doors, Amanda held her jacket closed to hide the bloodstains on her sweater.
Hunter remained completely still and silent as Tate pushed the stretcher through the bustling areas. Amanda walked along beside them, and wanted to cringe and die given how obvious the handcuffs were.
Did they have to gleam so brightly under the fluorescent lights? Couldn't Desiderius have found nice, small police-sized cuffs?
Oh no, these had to be five inches thick with some kind of weird Greek design all over them. And a chain that ran a good four inches in length. Anyone who saw them would definitely think they came from one of Tabitha's weird sex catalogues.
The horror of it! Amanda had never even been inside a
Frederick's of
Hollywood. For that matter, she'd blushed profusely the handful of times she'd been in
Victoria
's Secret.
And everyone they passed turned to gawk at them.
"I haven't seen
that
in at least six months," an orderly said as they passed the admissions desk.
"I heard that," another orderly responded. "Wonder how old the poor guy was?"
"I dunno, but by the looks of her, I'd say sign me up."
Their laughter made her entire face burn. By the interested looks the men were raking over her body, she could surmise Hunter's words about her having dates might not have been too far off the mark.
"Hey, Tate?" a young doctor asked as they drew near the elevators. "Should I ask?"
Tate shook his head. "You know all the weird shit comes through my office."
The doctor laughed while Amanda covered her face with her hand.
As soon as the elevator doors closed behind them, Amanda whispered under her breath, "Hunter, I swear, I'm going to kill you for this."
"Dearie," an elderly hospital volunteer said from beside her. "It looks to me like you already did." She patted Amanda lightly on the arm. "The same thing happened to me and my Harvey. Poor thing. I sure do miss him, too."
Tate choked on his laughter.
Amanda groaned and prayed for this ordeal to end.
Once they reached the morgue, Tate took them into a dim, metallic lab and locked the door. Hunter unzipped the bag from the inside.
"Thanks," he said to Tate as he sat up and removed the bag from his body. He folded it and placed it on a table.
Tate opened a drawer in the small cabinet next to the door. "No problem. Now, take your coat and shirt off and let me see what happened to you."
"It will heal."
Tate set his jaw stubbornly. "What of infection?"
Kyrian laughed. "Immortals don't die from infections. I am completely incapable of carrying
any
disease."
"You may not die from it, but it doesn't mean it won't hurt and it'll heal faster if treated." He gave Kyrian a look that said he would not be swayed. "I'm not going to take no for an answer. Let me treat that wound."
Kyrian opened his mouth to argue more, but if he knew anything about Tate, it was that the man was stubborn. Deciding not to waste his time, Kyrian obeyed before he remembered the coat and shirt wouldn't come completely off, thanks to the handcuffs.
He gave an exasperated sigh and left his clothes to hang against his forearm, then got back on the stretcher and leaned back on his elbows to wait for Tate.
As he watched Tate gather supplies, he heard Amanda's heart pounding and her breathing speed up. Felt her keen interest as she raked her gaze over his body. She wanted him, and her hot desire played havoc with him.
Kyrian shifted and wished his jeans were a couple of sizes bigger, since the black denim started biting fiercely into his erection.
Damn, he'd forgotten what a literal and figurative pain his body could be when an attractive woman was
Learning to Kill: Stories