Primal Law (Alpha Pack #1)(45)

That brought his head up, eyes wide. Love?

No. Uh-uh. Not now or ever.

Lust? Bring it on.

And Kira was too good to be used that way. Her soft little heart would get broken in nothing flat, hanging with the likes of him. She deserved better.

The goddamned itching returned at that very moment, seizing him with a vengeance. Arms, legs, and torso, he inspected every inch, and nothing. Groaning, he scratched like a madman, only to learn that made it a million times worse, and inflamed the burning sensation. Yet his skin was totally unblemished.

"Son of a bitch!"

Smacking the nozzle to shut off the water, he flung open the glass door and stepped onto the rug. Then he grabbed the towel hanging on the nearby bar and dried off, and hurried to the bedroom to put on fresh jeans and a T-shirt that declared THE HEAT I'M PACKING IS JUSTIFIED without really paying attention to what he'd picked.

Then he studied himself in the mirror, wondering if he should change the shirt.

He grinned. Nah.

His good humor was short-lived as he limped toward Melina's office. He probably should've called first, but he was in too damned big a hurry to stop. Didn't make a difference whether she was busy or not, he had to see her and get something to stop the itching before he lost what was left of his mind.

Hobbling into the reception area, he saw Kira sitting in a chair flipping through a magazine, but paused only long enough to bark at the young female receptionist, "Is Dr. Mallory back there?"

"Yes, but-Wait! She's with a patient!"

Tough shit. He was dying. Rushing to her office, he found the door standing open, the space empty. She must be in one of the exam rooms, then. Going from room to room, he had the presence of mind to knock before pushing open the doors. In the fourth one, he found the doc standing next to the Fae prince, who was sitting on an exam table. The white paper underneath him crinkled as he peered around the doc at Jaxon.

His movement alerted Melina, who was holding a cotton ball tightly to the bend at his elbow. Glancing over her shoulder at Jaxon, she shot him a look of annoyance and then turned back to her patient.

"I'm going to put a Band-Aid over this. Leave it on a while, until the bleeding stops."

"All right." The prince gave her a smile. "That wasn't as bad as I'd feared."

"Usually isn't." Jaxon watched in amazement as she beamed at the man in return.

There was still a warm, fuzzy woman under those cactus spines after all. Who knew? He waited patiently as she patted Sariel on the arm in a comforting gesture and then collected a vial of sapphire blue liquid from the nearby counter.

"Is that his blood?" he asked, raising his brows.

"Yes," she snapped. "Not that it's any of your business. Is this a social call or are you having a problem?"

"A problem."

"Wait in exam room two while I finish." She pointed the way in curt dismissal.

She was pissed, but he was too damned miserable to care. He walked two doors down and paced the empty room, listening to their conversation as she concluded business with her patient. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but even with the carpeting, the acoustics afforded him every word.

"Okay, I'm going to run a few more tests that I haven't yet done on you, mostly for research, to study and record how the system of a Fae male works. How it compares with the humans and shifters."

"All right."

"However, some of them are going to tell me what I already know. Such as the fact that you've lost too much weight. You've got to start eating, even if you don't want to, in order to get back your energy and regain your health."

"I'll try," he said in a grave voice. "But as I said, I don't eat meat and anything else I've sampled has made me sick. Which doesn't make sense because your vegetables are not that different, from what I've seen."

"We'll work on that. Now, what about you trying to take your own life? Do I need to worry about you attempting it again?"

"No! On my honor, I will not." He sounded sincere, and ashamed. "I was feeling like I had lost everything. But I can see perhaps that was not true."

"It's not true at all. You have friends here, if you want them, and I think you'll do well. But come to me immediately if those depressed feelings return."

"I will."

"Good. As soon as I'm done with Jax, I'll speak with the kitchen and have them prepare some other dishes for you to try. If that doesn't work, we'll keep digging until we get to the bottom of this, I promise."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Melina, please," she said softly.

Oh-ho! Jaxon stopped in midstride and grinned, wondering whether the guy had any clue what a gift had just been dropped in his lap. If not, he'd soon find out if things got up close and personal between them.

"Sariel." He paused, then added, "But you can continue to call me Blue if you'd like."

"I will, then."

This was getting more and more interesting. Too bad the doc was walking him out, ending the fascinating drama. As they reached Jaxon's room, she stopped there and said she'd see him again soon. Sariel thanked her again and left.

She came inside and shut the door. "What's so important that you barged into my examination with another patient? And it had better be good, because you don't look like you're dying," she said, eyeing him.