“Not a chance, Knight.” She smiled. “I’m not missing a chance to draw on your face with permanent markers while you sleep.”
He scowled even as his eyelids drooped. “I’d better not have anything on my face when I wake up. If I do, you just remember that I’m a master at payback.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She took his hand in hers. “You’re all talk and no action.” More true than she wanted.
Elias sighed and closed his eyes. “Not because I don’t want to,” he mumbled. “I’d give anything to have you.”
Stunned, Iona stared down at the sleeping man. Did he mean what he said, or was that the medicine talking? Frustration filled her. She wouldn’t get a truthful answer out of Elias when he woke. He’d play off the words as the medication made him say crazy things or tell her she’d misunderstood what he said. “Elias?”
No response.
She bent and kissed his forehead. What she wouldn’t give to have an actual kiss from him. To be this close to him was a dream come true. Her lips curved. A better dream would be for the man of her dreams to be awake instead of unconscious.
In his sleep, Elias turned toward Iona and nuzzled her neck. He gave a soft groan.
“You’ll be all right, Elias. The doctor will fix you up, and you’ll be back to normal.” But how long would that take?
A nurse opened the door to the bay and walked in with two orderlies. “We’re here to take Mr. Knight to the surgical suite.”
Iona straightened and turned toward the men. After a quick perusal, she relaxed. They were unarmed. “He’s ready.” She loosened her grip on his hand, but Elias refused to release her. “I have permission from his doctor to stand watch outside the surgical suite.”
The orderlies exchanged glances. “Fine with us,” Tall One said. “Let’s go.”
With careful maneuvering, they rolled Elias toward an elevator, where they rode together to the surgical floor. After leaving the elevator, they headed to the surgical suite. At the doors, Tall One said to Iona, “You can’t go any further, ma’am.”
“That’s fine. I’ll wait here.”
Seconds later, Elias was out of her sight.
Iona stood with her back to the wall, worrying about the man on the operating table on the other side of those double doors. Who wanted him dead?
CHAPTER THREE
STRUGGLING TO THEsurface of consciousness, Elias lay unmoving. Without opening his eyes, he assessed his surroundings and his own body. Something was wrong, but what?
He breathed deeply, analyzing the scents assaulting his nose. He recognized the pungent aromas of powerful cleansers, rubbing alcohol, sickness, and death. The scent of cinnamon and chocolate didn’t fit, yet they were close and brought with them a sense of comfort and safety. Where was he?
Elias also realized someone was holding his hand. None of his teammates would hold his hand. One of Artemis? The only person he wanted to hold his hand was Iona. But was she the one?
If Iona was beside him, the only logical place where all those things he’d noticed fit was in a hospital. That meant he was injured.
Someone squeezed his hand. “Elias, can you hear me?”
Iona.
“It’s Iona. You’re in the Vanderbilt recovery room. You had surgery to remove a bullet from your shoulder. Grant is here with me. You’re safe. We’ve got you.”
All the tension left his body in a rush. Now he knew opening his eyes and acknowledging he was awake was safe.
He blinked and looked into Iona’s gorgeous brown eyes. “Hey.” His voice came out more of a croak than his natural baritone.
She smiled. “Hey. Do you want water?”
He gave a slight nod, then shifted his gaze to Grant. Elias gave a slight chin lift to express his thanks for watching over him and Iona. She might not realize what Grant was doing, but Elias’ teammate understood how he felt about Iona. He’d had to fight to protect Rayne not too long ago.
“Welcome back.” Grant studied his face. “Your color is better than it was an hour ago. You’re making progress.”
“Prognosis?”
