Read Claiming Ana for Free Online

movements, she lifted his legs and centered him on the blanket.
    She gathered gauze and the supplies needed to clean his arm and began the painstaking process of making sure no debris remained. She’d examine the rest of him for any other injuries, but she was fairly sure if there were, they’d be minor. Using antiseptic and a large bulb syringe as a makeshift suction device, she found the ragged edges of the entry wound, but no exit wound. The bullet must still be embedded in his shoulder.
    Bending over him, she lay her hands on his bare chest. She winced at the pinch of pain in her own shoulder as she slid her healing magic carefully through him. There. A glint of metal. Not far into the tissue. Whatever the slug was coated with helped to hold it together and prevent tissue damage. With his extensive blood loss, she only hoped he wouldn’t need a transfusion. Fresh blood ran in small rivulets down his chest as fast as she swiped it away. There was no stopping it.
    Again she cursed her luck. She would have driven him to the hospital if not for her crushed Jeep. He moaned in agony, drawing her attention. Using a clean dishcloth to wipe the sweat from his face, she hoped his fever wouldn’t get worse. Thunder rattled the kitchen windows. She jumped. Her nerves even more on edge. If another warning were issued, they would be stuck topside again right through the middle of the storm. I can’t move him now, anyway.
    “So hot.” Howl groaned and turned into the damp cloth. “Fire.”
    She wet the dishcloth and bathed his face with cool water. Was that steam rising from his forehead? I must really be out of it.
    “You have a fever. If I could just stop the bleeding.”
    He opened his eyes and turned his dark head in her direction.
    Her next thought had nothing to do with soothing words or medical care. He really had the most unusual eyes, almost the color of an old Spanish coin: more gold than amber. Once they locked onto hers, she couldn’t break that visual connection. It was then she realized how dangerous her situation really was, both physically and emotionally. Like the strays she took in, she might just as easily fall for him, and when he ran, he’d leave her heart ripped in pieces. Unlike Circe, she couldn’t just cuddle him by the fire and decide she’d keep him.
    Mmm. Cuddling Howl by the fire. She had more than cuddling in mind.
    “No hospital. You take it out. I’ll be fine…Ana.” He took her hand in his and squeezed. As it had earlier in the day, Howl’s touch sent a lightning flash of heat through her body. He said it with such conviction she could almost believe him. “I trust you. Just get it done. Not much time.”
    Relief made her smile. He’d heard her and was lucid enough to remember her name. That was a good sign.
    “Alright. I don’t have an anesthetic that would work on you.”
    “Just do it.”
    “Fine. Remember that later.” Ana touched two fingers to his temples, whispered quietly and called forth her magic.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Saving your life. Let me in. Trust me, Howl. Sleep.”
    “Ah, hell.”
    “Now go out.” She realized he was already out cold again.
    She rushed into her exam room and gathered the additional supplies and instruments she needed to fish the bullet out. Returning to Howl’s side, she tried to focus her thoughts. She pulled back the plunger on a syringe and gave him a local anesthetic to take the edge off his pain. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had that could be safely given to a human. She prided herself on her calm manner in serious situations, but her patients were four-legged and didn’t talk back. And they didn’t look like the sexy guy occupying a good-sized chunk of her kitchen floor. Outside, thunder rumbled, rattled the windows, and rain began to pour, again. Would these storms never stop? She kept one ear tuned to the radio for announcements.
    After cleaning the entrance wound, Ana slid her magic under his skin again, probing.