Page 22 of Falling for her Guardian

He stared at her, his brow furrowed, and ground his teeth together. She could see a muscle in his jaw twitch, and she wondered if he was going to crack his teeth the way he was grinding them.

“I’m sorry,” he said, the words edged with anger still.

Hadn’t she wanted to tell him everything, including why she walked away?

But he was being such a dang jerk.

A woman came into the room, which she thought might be a clinic.

“Oh, hi, I’m Trouble.”

“Trouble?” she asked.

“Yes, my mom said she knew I was going to be trouble when I was born, but I promise it’s just a name. I’m a healing elf. My sister Melody and I used magic to help reverse the effects of Jack’s permafrost after Santa took it off your skin. Do you remember Frost touching you?”

“No,” she said.

“Well, he did. He’s a dangerous male, and I’m glad you’re okay. How do you feel?”

She looked at Storm, who was still grinding his teeth.

“Good.”

“That’s wonderful. Let’s get you out of here so you and Storm can talk. There are clean clothes and shoes for you since yours are still being washed. We’ll bring them to the barracks when they’re done.”

“Thank you.”

The IV was removed, and Trouble put a small bandage on the mark on the top of her hand. “Let me know if you have any lasting effects like you can’t get warm or your extremities hurt. We can run another round of warm saline or send over the warming blankets. But having a shifter mate is the best way to stay warm. Or so I’ve heard.”

Trouble smiled at them and left the room.

“Okay, I need you to leave,” Seren said.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m not getting dressed in front of you right now, so you need to leave the room.”

He let out a short growl. “I’m the one that stripped you.”

She pressed her lips together and lifted a hand to point at the door.

He huffed. “I’ll turn my back, but I’m not leaving you. You could still be having effects from the permafrost so I’m not about to leave you alone. If you’d like, I can carry you to the barracks right now, naked.”

“Fine, turn around.” Under her breath, she added,Jackass.

He spun to give her his back. “I heard that.”

“Good.”

The clothes consisted of leggings and a thick sweater, but no panties or bra. There were socks stuffed inside wool-lined suede slippers, so she put the socks on first and then dressed in the clothes, finishing with the slippers.

“I’m ready,” she said.

He appeared at her side and helped her off the bed.

He held her close and she stared up at him. He was definitely sexier than she remembered, and it wasn’t just that he’d clearly saved her life, but she was also having big-time regrets for foolishly trying to get herself home on her own.

“I’m sorry I left,” she said. “I thought I could find someone to take me home.”

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