The tide rushing between them had changed. It would carry her away. It was just a matter of time now.
Josh listened to her chest once again and asked her to breathe in and out a few times. When he was done, he stepped away. He ran a hand through his hair, leaving a couple of blond tufts sticking up. “Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He sat down and proceeded to jot some notes down in her file, mumbling to himself. “Of course, studies with both humans and shifters have shown the power of physical contact is a palpable thing. We are programmed, after all, to respond to the touch of our fellow humans, or nonhumans in this case. One only needs to examine the cases of infants exposed to differing circumstances. Those who are deprived of touch end up at higher risk for developmental problems; whereas those who receive emotional engagement via touch tend to thrive. Nevertheless, these results are unprecedented.”
“Josh, dude.” Connor nodded. “You’re not defending your thesis. What’s going on?”
The doctor grinned. “Sorry about the rambling. It does appear, Elaine, that your heart is responding well to this physical expression of affection. However, my suspicion is the significance of the source, rather than the actual kiss. For instance, if I kissed you, I doubt we’d see the same results. There needs to be some sort of strong, underlying bond.” He paused.
They both waited, silent.
“In short,” Josh said, laughing, “Connor’s kiss appears to be…healing you.”
Her jaw dropped.
“I’m at a loss for any other explanation. My colleagues in the shifter medical community will be eager to hear about this. I don’t want to jump the gun, and I wouldn’t say my findings are worthy of publication. However, if a loving touch from a significant person can heal a shifter in mourning, we may be able to save others from dying. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, I think it’s safe to say we can trust your heart to Connor, so to speak. I will want to keep monitoring your progress, but there’s no reason for you to stay here tonight. You can go home.”
“And?”
Josh blushed. “You’re two consenting adults. The rest is up to you.”
She turned to Connor.
“Did you hear what the doc said?” His smile lit up in cocky splendor. “My kiss is healing you.”
Oh, brother. She would never hear the end of this one.
* * * *
Despite the friendly commotion back at Elaine’s cabin, Connor couldn’t follow the conversation. His every thought, his every breath, was caught up in Elaine. Although their friends had swung by to help, he wanted to tell them all to go home so he could try out another kiss and check her heart rate.
“Important decision time.” Fleur held up a box of crispy rice cereal and a couple of bags of marshmallows. “Crispy rice squares with plain marshmallows or pink and green marshmallows?”
Layla and Andy jumped up. “Pink and green!”
“All right. Let’s get cracking.” Fleur directed the kids toward the kitchen of her cabin. “I’m hungry. Lia, come help me. I’ve never made these things before.”
“It’s the easiest recipe ever, and it’s right on the box,” teased Lia, caressing her protruding belly.
“But I burn everything,” explained Fleur.
“It’s true,” joked Fleur’s mate, Jani. “She needs help.”
Fleur stuck her tongue out at him. “That’s not what you said last night.”
Andy leaned against Fleur’s leg. “Did you help Uncle Jani last night?”
“I sure did. In his favorite way.” Fleur turned red. “So, Lia, those rice squares? Please.”
Ryland went to help Lia out of her chair. She grimaced as she stood.
“Are you okay, babe?” asked Ryland.
“Yeah.” Lia exhaled and smiled. “The little guy’s just getting heavy, that’s all. He’s been moving around a lot lately.”
Ryland bent down and kissed her tummy. “Hey, little man, take it easy on your mom, okay? We need to look after her.” He stood and kissed her on the mouth. “We won’t be long. Save me a rice square.”
Lia hugged him and walked into the kitchen.
Connor was left in the living room with Ry, Jani, and Elaine. Although the other women had disappeared into the kitchen, Elaine seemed reticent to join them. She hung back, standing close to Connor.
