“I don’t want a yes woman. I want my warrior woman. I respect your opinions. I have no idea how to have a decent relationship or how to parent. I do know we don’t need to hit our children or raise our voices to them.”
She couldn’t help turning her head to look at him. Her eyes met his. There was pain there. She’d known there would be. If his mother were still alive, Leila might consider doing her in. “I like that. I don’t know how that will work when they’re teenagers, but I’m okay with no hitting or yelling.”
“There will be consequences,” he said. He bent his head and brushed a kiss across her cheekbone. “I believe in consequences.”
She did as well, but she had the feeling she’d be tempering his disciplines when it came to consequences for their children. Diego wasn’t a man to let things slide. She let her lashes drift down as his hands moved across her back, finding every painful place.
“When you’re looking inside me—which is very cool, by the way—can you tell if I’m healing the way I’m supposed to?” She wanted to change the subject. The intensity of their conversation was draining. If she wanted to have energy to go outside and shoot at targets, she needed to relax.
“I sped up the healing process as best I could. I also gave you my blood twice. The first time, it was to save your life, so I didn’t feel I had much choice. I knew my blood would enhance your gifts, but your eyesight and hearing were already good. The second time, I felt giving you blood would help speed the healing process. You needed it, but it was marginal whether you could do without it or not. I chose to give you the blood.”
She realized that someone else might consider him ruthless and arbitrary, making decisions for her when those decisions affected her hearing and eyesight. She liked that he was decisive. When she was alone on an assignment, she had to make life-or-death decisions, and there was no room for hesitation.
“Am I close to being healed yet?” she asked hopefully.
“Babe, I removed your spleen. You have other damage. The repairs are coming along nicely and are much further along than they would be if you’d had regular surgery. That doesn’t mean you can leap up and go running around playing soldier.”
“Is that what you do? Run around playing soldier?” There was no way to keep the amusement out of her voice. The way he put things was hilarious to her.
“I don’t play soldier. I wish I did. I hunt using the skills of every predatory animal Whitney put in me. Soldiers have little chance against me.”
She opened her eyes again and studied his face as he focused on her hips and buttocks. The lines in his face were carved deeper than one would think on first glance. He was an extremely handsome man, but not in the accepted sense of the word. There was a brutal, almost cruel, handsomeness to him. If she had any talent for drawing, she would want to draw his face over and over. It would take a million years to get it right.
“Do you know what kinds of animals he put in you?”
“Raptor and reptile, as well as wolf; leopard; two different kinds of tigers, Siberian and Bengal; as well as polar bear and wolverine. Do you see a recurring theme? Whitney enjoyed his little pleasures. He knew I was already too much of an alpha, renegade personality, and he did his best to amplify every aggressive trait I possessed.”
She was silent for a moment, enjoying the feeling of his hands moving down the backs of her thighs. He wasn’t exactly impersonal, but he was careful not to be inappropriate. She wasn’t certain how he managed to feel possessive and detached at the same time. He was Diego. That was her answer.
“You ready to head outside?” he asked after he’d finished massaging both her legs and feet.
Elated, Leila tried to flip over quickly, but he laid a hand on the small of her back, fingers splayed wide, taking up most of her back, preventing movement.
She hissed her displeasure at him. “I’m more than ready, Diego. I despise being cooped up.”
“You can’t make any sudden movements. I know it doesn’t feel as if you have a thousand stitches in your belly, but you have the equivalent. The repairs appear to be holding, but that doesn’t mean if you decide to go dancing, they will.”
She blew out her exasperation with a blast of air. “Seriously? I’m just turning over.”
“Then you’ll do it slow. I’m going to help you roll over and sit up. Once you’re sitting, take a minute to make certain you don’t get dizzy.”
Leila tried not to roll her eyes at him. He was simply looking out for her, the doctor in him taking over, but seriously? She wanted tomove. There was no getting away from his strength as he aided her in rolling over and sitting up. For a moment the room spun, but she was never going to admit that to him. She breathed her way through it, waited for her head to clear and looked triumphantly at him.
“I’m fine.”
He handed her a bottle of water. “Hydrate.”
Again, she resisted making faces at him. She thought living with Diego, the man, was going to be difficult, but she found the doctor annoying. She could argue with the man, but it would be silly to try to argue with the doctor. And she’d lose every time. She drank down half the bottle and looked at him over the top.
“I can walk. My legs feel strong.”
He nodded, that slow, heart-stopping grin flashing for just one moment. “I’ve got a couple of trekking poles for you. I want you using them at first. I’ve got the gear for target practice. Are you hungry?”
Leila shook her head. “Nope. I just want to get outside. Out into the open.”
He helped her to stand. Again, she felt dizzy and had to lean into him. Diego circled her waist with his arm. It felt like an iron bar, but it also felt safe.Hefelt safe. A solid wall holding her up. He was patient, waiting until the momentary weakness had passed.
She rubbed her face against the wall of his chest, inhaling deeply, taking him into her lungs before she stepped away from him. “I’m ready.”
