Reeve caught Bas up in a tight hug as soon as he got close enough. “I should kick your ass for pulling that stunt yesterday.”
Bas ruffled his already messy hair. “It’s okay, baby bro. I had good backup. Reeve, Charlotte, this is Bridget. She’s my…” he fumbled, trying to find the right word. “Ah, my Bridget.”
“Your Bridget? Very eloquent, Basset,” Charlotte said primly, but she still smiled warmly at them. “It’s nice to meet you, Bridget. Apollo tells me that this creature we are hunting has you in its sights.”
“It does, and I think I have figured out what it is. Have you heard of a Brollachan? They are Scottish,” Bridget said.
“No! How interesting. Tell me about it,” Charlotte replied, leading Bridget towards the hospital entrance.
Bas watched them wander off together, already chatting away about what Bridget had discovered and her own experiences with it.
“She’s cute,” Reeve said slyly.
“She’s my mate, and I can’t tell her just yet, and neither can you and when I look at her, everything goes haywire in my head,” Bas blurted out in a low whisper. “Val told her we are dragons because he doesn’t know how to shut up, and I don’t know what to do because all I want to do is protect her and never let her out of my sight again.”
Reeve laughed and hugged him. “You’re a bit fucked from the sounds of things.”
“That’s what I told him,” Apollo said. “You should see them together, Reeve. It’s sickening. I thought she was going to fight us all yesterday when he got hurt.”
“It was rather sweet when she threatened to ‘rip my fucking face off’ if I went anywhere near him,” Lachlan added.
Apollo’s eyes narrowed. “She did what now?”
“She got over it,” Lachlan said with a shrug.
“We had best follow them before they leave us behind altogether,” Reeve interrupted, and they all started moving towards the big glass doors.
Bas was surprised when Apollo didn’t make some excuse to leave, but maybe the lure of messing about in a research hospital was enough to get him past his need to run in the opposite direction whenever Lachie was around. Or maybe he didn’t want anyone getting close enough to hit on him. With Apollo, it was anyone’s guess.
Bas took a deep breath, locked his mental shields down tight, and hurried to catch Bridget and Charlotte.
24
Bridget had heard of how smooth life could be when you knew the right people, but she had never experienced it for herself in real life until that moment. Charlotte gave her name to the receptionist, and all the staff around them seemed to sit up a little straighter.
“Oh! Are you Prince Kian’s delegation? How lovely. Let me get you some passes, and we will have someone come and escort you to where the patients are,” the nurse said, looking at the men standing behind them as she blustered about.
Bridget had to admit, they were all striking. Reeve seemed the most laid back in style, but even then, he had a cool boho look that Bridget had thought only Johnny Depp could pull off in real life. He made an interesting contrast to preppy Charlotte, who looked like she could have walked off the cover of a hunting magazine for fancy people, complete with knee-high riding boots and a dark blue tweed jacket.
Under any other circumstance, Bridget probably would have been self-conscious in her motorcycle boots and leather jacket, but none of them seemed to care or make her feel uneasy.
Bas slipped his hand in hers like it was the most natural thing in the world, and her heart gave a flutter. It turned out Bas made her flutter everywhere. God. What a morning.
“How are you doing?” she asked Bas.
“Shields are up. I just need to stay focused on why we are here and get through it.”
“And not hurt yourself in the process,” Bridget added, squeezing his hand.
“I will try very hard not to. There are things I need to do tonight. Things I will need energy for,” he said, keeping his voice low.
Bridget pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. “Is that so?”
“Absolutely. Thinking of a list. It’s long.”
“Behave yourself. We are in a hospital.”
“Thinking of the list is what will help me deal with being in here. Something to look forward to,” he said and squeezed her hand back.
