Read Hard Core (Onyx Group) for Free Online Page B

mess.
    “I think I will take you up on the offer. I could use a few
minutes alone.”
    Her father patted her shoulder. “Go. I’ll take care of him.”
    Alana rose to her feet with a wince as muscles protested.
“He can get restless,” she cautioned. Cristian better not harm her father. She
just might have to shoot him like he’d suggested.
    Her father gave a wry smile. “I can handle him. Go on, take
your time.”
    She collected a change of clothes, towel and brush, and
slipped into the sweltering heat. Before anyone could stop and question her,
she ducked out of the village. She knew people were curious, if not fearful,
about the stranger in her hut, but she wasn’t up to explanations or
reassurances. Right now she couldn’t offer them any assurance. The man in her
bed wasn’t ordinary, and the names he spouted off were from all over the world.
    She didn’t want to think about what that meant.
    The crystal clear water of the pond worked wonders on sore
body parts and helped clear her head. She took her time, floating lazily,
letting her thoughts drift. But they always seemed to come back to the man in
her bed, not allowing her a moment’s peace.
    Frustrated, Alana climbed out of the pool and dressed. She
sat down on the grassy bank to brush the tangles out of her hair. What was it
about this man that kept her from thinking of anything else? He’d almost killed
her, for God’s sake. She should have let the men of the village have him, maybe
then she’d get some rest.
    No, she wouldn’t, she groused and tugged hard on a snarl.
Something about the tormented way he moaned Mariette’s name haunted her. Who
was she? And why did he call out to her in his sleep as if she were lost?
    No, not going there. They had a patient-doctor relationship.
Period. She wouldn’t care. None of her business. Crossing the patient-doctor
barrier was not only frowned upon. It was forbidden. Here, on this island, she
wasn’t in danger of losing her license or being brought up on charges, but that
didn’t mean she could break her moral code. What would her father think if he
found out she had climbed in bed with a patient?
    To lose his respect would destroy her. It was the reason she
would never tell him her secrets.
    Alana gave up on the tangles, pulled her hair back into a
ponytail secured with a piece of leather. So much for R and R. She was more
keyed-up now than before.
    She picked up her things and made her way back to camp.
Maybe a nap would improve her mood. That and finishing what she’d started last
night. Her body was hyper-aware, sensitive. An unsettling reminder of the line
she’d crossed last night. A line her body still wanted to leap over.
    What was she supposed to do with that?
    To avoid being seen, she followed the jungle to her hut and
slipped inside, closing the door softly behind her. Her father sat beside the
bed, one of her murder mysteries in his hand. To her dismay, her patient slept
soundly.
    “How did you do that?” She scowled down at Cristian.
    Her father looked up, eyes twinkling. “We had a talk. Man to
man. I think we understand each other.”
    Alana deposited her things on the small, wooden table. “Oh,
really? And how did my delirious patient respond?”
    “A grunt or two, but I’ll take him at his word. How can you
read these books?”
    She smiled. The supply plane brought her books every time it
came. They were the one thing on this island paradise that connected her with
the outside world.
    “Mom always liked them. I guess she got me started.”
    Her father’s expression turned soft. “She did, didn’t she?
Loved to stay up at night reading them, even when they terrified her.”
    Alana nodded with a smile. “I used to sleep with her on
nights you were at the hospital. I think I started reading them in bed with
her. It seems so long ago.”
    “Not that long.”
    Alana let the moment pass. “How is he?”
    “Fever’s still high. I changed his dressing. Nice job
stitching the wound,