No Place to Run by Maya Banks Read Free Book Online Page B

his child. His child.
    So many questions buzzed around his head he was about to go crazy. If he didn’t take care of her, she wouldn’t survive to give him any answers. She still shivered, even in her unconscious state. He needed to get her out of her wet clothes and he needed to get her warm.
    He shucked out of his clothing and wasted no time getting something dry on. Then he returned to Sophie.
    Carefully, he peeled the soaked layers from her body, paying special care to her injuries. A variety of bruises dotted her body, and his jaw tightened as he studied the dark fingerprints at her neck.
    Her nipples puckered and stood erect as chill bumps chased down her body. Her body was slim and curvy except for the mound of her belly. Sam stared unabashedly at her nude form, mesmerized by the changes her pregnancy had wrought.
    She seemed too small and too thin. She’d been a little bit of a thing to begin with, but shouldn’t pregnancy fill a woman out? Make her more curvy? He’d certainly heard his mom complain about gaining a cup size with each of her pregnancies and how her hips had expanded exponentially. Other than her nipples being darker, the only change in Sophie was the bump riding low on her belly.
    “Is it mine, Sophie?” he whispered. “Why did you leave?”
    He carefully slipped one of his flannel shirts around her and buttoned it up over the bandages Donovan had secured to her wound. He worried over the blood that had seeped through the gauze. Any blood loss couldn’t be good for a pregnant woman, no matter how slight the wound was. And then there was the fact she’d obviously been in the lake for a while. Her skin was still cold to the touch and her lips had a bluish tinge that he didn’t like at all.
    So many questions. The smart thing would be to call Sean and get Sophie to the hospital. She was hurt and she was pregnant. But every time he looked toward the phone, he remembered the fear in her eyes and the conviction of her words.
    She certainly wasn’t lying about a threat. Whether it was to her, him or both of them, he couldn’t afford to take chances with her life—and her child’s.
    He crawled onto the bed, piling more covers over her cold body. He lay on his side and pulled her carefully against him, giving her the benefit of his body heat. Then he pulled the covers tight around them, sealing in the warmth.
    Gradually she stopped shivering and seemed to settle. Her lips parted against his chest, and a breathy sigh escaped. She tried to nestle closer but whimpered when her shoulder bumped against his body.
    “Careful, honey,” he whispered and pulled her hand down to wedge between their bodies so he could render her immobile.
    “C-cold,” she murmured restlessly against his skin.
    “I know. You’ll get warm. Just lie still so you don’t hurt yourself.”
    “S-sam? Is that really you or am I still dreaming?”
    He wasn’t quite sure what to make of her confusion. Shock and cold—not to mention a bullet wound—could make a person pretty damned “off.” Suspicion crept into his mind even as he wanted to discount it all as some bizarre coincidence.
    Only an idiot ignored the obvious. Coincidence, my ass.
    “It’s me, Sophie. I’m here. You’ve been hurt. I need to get you to a hospital. You need to make sure your baby is okay.”
    It took everything he had not to interrogate her then and there. Only the knowledge of how very fragile she was restrained him.
    She shook her head against him, then moaned low in her throat.
    “Don’t move. It’ll only hurt worse,” he cautioned.
    “Can’t go to hospital,” she said hoarsely. “He’ll find me.”
    Sam’s brow crinkled and he stared down at her face pressed so firmly against his chest.
    “Who, Sophie? Who’ll find you?”
    “My father’s—his men,” she corrected.
    As what-the-fuck statements went, that was a doozy. Sam stared down as her eyelids fluttered shut once more. He wanted to beat his head in frustration, and then