Page 18 of Callen's Captive
Chapter Five
KATE
Kate remained in the chair, with Callen’s hand on her thigh for a few hours, simply enjoying the feel of the weight and warmth of his hand on her. That simple touch made her feel safe and protected, something she hadn’t been for a long time. Losing that sense of security, as false as it was, wasn’t something she was quite ready to give up, so she rested in the chair, their fingers locked together, until nature called.
Callen remained in a deep sleep as she extricated herself and headed to the bathroom. She used the last towel to more or less sponge bathe before heading back into the print shop to see what else she could scavenge. The grey sweatshirt scrunched up on a work table wasn’t big enough for Callen, but it could serve as a blanket. She ripped it down one side to open up the sweatshirt and headed back to the office.
When she went to lay the sweatshirt over his bare chest, she noticed how much he had healed in a few short hours. All the skin on his chest had knitted together. In fact, there were no open wounds anywhere on him. His lips were smooth and perfect, the cut on his cheek had virtually disappeared except for a thin line like an old scar, and the gash on his head had closed.
Her fingers traced the letters on his chest—rather where the letters had been. Only a few lines of the letters ‘M’ and ‘L’ were still visible. Shifters healed fast, but this was absurdly fast. Could this be why Janie had often stepped in between her and their foster dad?
Kate let her fingers wander down Callen’s chest to his nicely chiseled abs. His skin felt so warm to the touch, like he’d be a good substitute for a blanket in the middle of winter. Touching the hard muscles beneath silky skin was a heady feeling, making her wonder if other parts of him would feel as good in her hand.
Before she let her mind—or hands—wander too far south, she checked Callen’s broken ribs. The mottling of angry red and purple that had decorated his side hours ago had faded, leaving only a slight yellow hue. Her fingers brushed over virtually perfect skin.
“That feels nice.”
Startled, she yanked her hand away. “I was checking your progress.” Her cheeks heated instantly. She’d been touching more than his bruised flesh and they both knew it.
“By all means, continue.”
“How do you feel, shif. . . Callen?” She didn’t know why she defaulted to calling him shifter so often. It wasn’t meant to be derogatory.
“Drained, but a lot better.” He unwrapped his arm from the splint and flexed his hand. “My arm is healed, though it’s still stiff.” As he started to sit up, he lurched back. “Damn, I shouldn’t have moved so fast. Ribs always take longer to heal.”
“If you were human, it would have taken weeks to heal from those injuries.” She couldn’t help but stare at his chest.
“Up here, Princess.” He pointed toward his face, where he was flashing a wicked grin.
She needed to get away from him and fast, before she said or did something she’d regret. Her mouth tended to run ahead of her brain a lot, especially when she was unprepared, and shereallywanted to continue caressing him. She had a feeling she was totally unprepared for Callen.
Kate unzipped the side pocket of her go-bag and tallied all the money she had left. She knew dipping into her emergency stash for pizza that one night was going to come back and bite her in the butt. Today was that day. Ten dollars wasn’t much, but she’d make it work, like always, at least until they reached the next safe house where she had a wad of cash and a Canadian passport waiting for her.
“The strip mall’s opening in a few minutes. I’m going to grab some food. Anything you want?”
“I’ll go. You stay here,” Callen said until she pushed him down with a single finger against his chest.
“Not on your life, Big Foot.”
“My feet are not big.”
“Compared to mine they are.”
“That’s because you’re tiny.” He patted her on the head.
“Tell me you didnotpat me on the head as if I were a small child.”
“I patted you on the head as if you’re a small human.” He grinned. “Which you are.”
Ok, then. There really was no comeback to that, so she merely glared. When all else failed, glare. That only made his grin wider, which in turn frustrated the hell out of her. She thought of all the ways she could wipe that grin off his face, and they all involved getting naked. Hell, she was so screwed.
“My point, Big Foot, is that you’re on the DL right now, so I’m going.”
His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.
“DL. Disabled list. Don’t you watch baseball?”
“No.”
