Healed (The Found Book 3) (4 page)

“I’m not leaving Sarah.” He brushed back her hair and kissed her forehead. She totally relaxed, taking her first settled breath in an hour. After a few minutes, he moved his hand down her body and pulled off her shoes. She wiggled her toes.

“Let’s get you under these blankets.”

“You’ll still stay with me?” God, who was this woman?

“Don’t worry, Angel, I know this isn’t you. I know you’ll be back in fighting form tomorrow. Today is an aberration.” Shit she was saying her inside thoughts out loud.

Nate barked out a laugh. “Yes you are.”

“Fine if I’m saying what I’m thinking you might as well know touching you is making me less ill.” He stopped pulling back the covers and went still as stone. Damn, what else should she have expected? What man wanted to hear that kind of heavy news?

“I don’t want to freak you out, Angel, but I’ve kind of been feeling sick.”

“What?” Sarah pushed up on her elbows to get a better look at Nate.

“Headache, sweats, nausea, chills?” She realized his normally tan skin looked pale and his short blonde hair was damp with sweat.

“How is that possible? Are you saying you’ve been feeling some of the same symptoms as me?”

“It was after I started touching you.”

Sarah plopped back down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling trying to assimilate this latest piece of information. Nate stroked her face.

“Angel?”

“This is freaky,” she whispered in a daze.

“I told you.”

“So somehow we’re connected? Do you think it happened with Kali? Why didn’t it happen with Noah or Kota?” He just looked at her and raised his eyebrow. She blushed.

“Right.” She knew why. There was already a connection between the two of them. There had been for a long time. It would have only happened with him. When she said as much, he smiled.

“Thank God, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get you to rest in my arms tonight, and now the perfect excuse lands in my lap.” Sarah peeked at him through her lashes and found him staring down at her in the dim light of the hotel room. “I’m serious. No funny business. I didn’t want to leave you alone. There was no way you were going to get me to leave this room. I was going to, at the very least, sleep on the floor, but my hope was to lie with you in my arms.”

“I thought it wasn’t safe for us to get another hotel room,” Sarah said.

“Angel, let’s talk about this some other time, okay? I want you to rest.” He pressed his lips to her forehead and she about melted into his arms. How she could melt into such steely muscles she didn’t know, but she had never felt safer or more comfortable.

“Nate?”

“Shhh, I’m tired. Can we nap for a bit?” He was such a liar. She snuggled closer, and breathed in the scent of him. A nap sounded good. She was awfully tired.

Chapter Three

Brayson fell asleep immediately when they set up camp but Nate couldn’t. His stomach churned and his head pounded. It felt like he was coming down with the flu. He lurched upwards and staggered out of the tent, falling to his knees he threw up.

Sarah.

It was Sarah, she was sick. She had just healed someone. He got up and took a couple of deep breaths and used his canteen to rinse his mouth, and sat under a tree. He needed to make a connection with his woman. He’d been able to before when she had been this ill, he prayed he would be able to do again.

He had to fight the nausea and then the headache hit him like a freight train. He honestly didn’t know how she was coping. He finally found her or at least her spirit. He pushed towards her wanting to hold her. He received a definite push back.

It’s like that, is it?

He didn’t want to hurt her, he could feel the pain of her headache, but she was being stubborn. He knew his presence, his mental touch helped. He pushed again. This time when she pushed back, he was ready for her, he wrapped her in his mental arms, and he felt her sink into him. He felt her melt in relief, what the woman didn’t understand, was it was a relief for him as well.

She needed to lie down. Actually, they both did. Finally, after following her halfway across the country she was almost back in his arms. When she was feeling better and
actually in his arms
, he was going to hug her, then he was going to kiss the hell out of her, and finally he was going to spank that delicious ass.

Despite those fulfilling thoughts, he was still frustrated he couldn’t help her in person. It reminded him too much of those times he was in Miami and unable to be with her when she was trying to help baby Nell. God, Sarah had been so wiped out, and he could only reach her like he had tonight. He hated not having her with him for real. Nate remembered back to the first time he had held her from a distance.

“Brice, you have to take my place.”

“What is it man?”

“Honestly? I think I’m having a malaria attack.” Nate was dumbfounded. He had malaria once five years ago and it was the treatable type the docs assured him would never reoccur. But here he was on a rooftop in Miami suffering all of the symptoms.

Another shudder racked his big body, how could he be this cold in the hot sun? How could he be sweating this profusely? A sunbeam came at him like a knife and shot through his eye, sending searing pain to his brain. He could barely keep himself from throwing up.

“Nate! I’m calling an ambulance.” Nate barely understood him, between the pain and Brice’s thick Scottish accent.

“No,” he forced out the word. “Can’t draw attention.” He shoved the binoculars to Brice and curled up. “Be fine. Need rest.”

“Nay, you’re burning up.”

“Watch building. More important.” He squinted at the man, ensuring Brice would do as he said.

“Ach, ye’re right.” Brice moved him gently to his side. He pulled off his shirt and folded that under Nate’s head. “Try to rest.” As soon as he saw Brice move into position to watch the warehouse, he closed his eyes. It helped the pain, but the questions burst across his mind as the shudders continued to rush along his frame.

“No sense,” he whispered.

“What mate?”

“Nothing.” He couldn’t explain it to himself, let alone to anyone else.

“Well okay then, I’ll ignore ye and your feverish ramblings.”

It made no sense. How could a malaria attack come on in thirty seconds? From out of a literal clear blue sky? Nate wiped the sweat out of his eyes. He flashed back to wiping Sarah’s tears away when she had been this helpless after healing Kota and Noah. God, he missed her.

Sarah! That’s what was going on. He wasn’t sick with malaria. He was feeling Sarah’s pain. He felt a little of it the last time she was so ill after healing, but it had gone away once they were touching. Now they weren’t touching, so both of them were going through the pits of hell, suffering the after effects of one of her healing sessions. Dammit, what was his girl doing?

Now Nate knew what was going on, he pushed up from the graveled roof.

“Stay down, man. Malaria is nothing to fool around with.”

“Doing,” Nate gulped down some fresh air, “better,” he lied. He needed to get his shit together. He threw Brice his shirt. “Put that back on, man.”

“What, can’t ye handle seeing a manly chest?”

“The red chest hair is going to alert anyone who might look up, it’s like a fucking beacon in the sunlight.” Good, he was getting his shit together, he could talk in complete sentences. Nate made his way over to the doorway, and found the little bit of shade there was on the roof and hunkered down. He was still hot and cold at the same time. If he felt this bad, he couldn’t imagine how Sarah was feeling. Goddamn it, what was going on in California?

He pulled out his cell and punched in her number. It rang a while before going to voicemail. Good it wasn’t turned off. He did it again. And again. And again.

“Go way,” she finally answered, her voice a slurred whisper.

“Angel, where are you?” He heard her taking deep breaths, and he just waited, wanting so badly to have her in his arms. “Angel? Is anyone with you?”

“Can’t know.” Dammit. He knew exactly what she was saying, if anyone knew how adversely the healing affected her, they wouldn’t want her to do it.

“Don’t tell.” She whimpered. “Please Nate.”

“I promise, Angel. Are you in your apartment?”

“Yes.”

“Concentrate on my voice. Let’s pretend I’m there with you, that I’m actually there touching you. Let’s beat this bastard.” She gave a watery laugh.

“I’m serious. You’re the physician, you’re the whoo-whoo healer. You’re able to do things that defy all logic, we should be able to help one another without physically touching.”

“What do you mean one another?” Shit, he hadn’t meant to tell her.

“Nate?” her voice was a loud whisper. He felt a spike go through his temple.

“Don’t raise your voice, it hurts both of us.”

“Oh God, are you feeling what I’m feeling? Even in Miami?” She sounded so anguished it broke his heart.

“Angel, I thank God I’m feeling it, otherwise I wouldn’t have known to call. Now let’s both of us concentrate. If I can feel the pain, we should be able to connect and relieve the pain, right?” She was silent for so long, he looked down at his phone to make sure they were still connected.

“Sarah?”

“It might work.” Her voice was so soft he had to strain to hear it.

“Where are you in your apartment?”

“I’m propped against the foot of my bed.”

“Can you get in, and under the covers?” He heard her moving. It took a long time. “Put the phone on speaker on the pillow next to you.”

“All right.”

“Close your eyes.” Nate wiped more sweat off his brow. He hoped this worked. He needed to be on top of his game here in Miami, lives were depending on him. But God, this woman had a piece of his heart, and he hated being so far from her when she was hurting so badly.

“Nate, I’ll be fine. I just need to sleep. You don’t have time for this.” Those words that so closely reflected his thoughts told him how deeply connected they were.

“Angel, are your eyes closed?” he demanded, his voice filled with command.

“They are now you big meanie.” Her voice was tremulous, but he chuckled at her humor.

“How do you need me to hold you? Where do you need my hands?” He heard her take a deep swallow, then another.

“This can’t work.”

“Answer my question,” he demanded.

“Hands, start by holding my hands.”

“My fingers are tangling with yours, palms pressed together, I’m anchoring you. Breathe in. Breathe out.” He continued to tell her to breathe for long minutes.

“Now I’m caressing up your delicate inner arms, not soft and teasing, but with firm strokes. I reach around and cup your elbows, and you sigh out a breath, your breathing is easier, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he heard the truth in her voice. He wasn’t surprised, his chills and sweats were beginning to dissipate.

“Keep your eyes closed, and arch into my touch as I glide my hands upwards towards your shoulders.” He heard her shudder out another deep breath.

“You’re pressing in.”

“Yes I am, Angel. Does it feel good?”

“Please, my neck, my neck hurts so badly.”

Nate rolled his head, stifling his groan of pain. “I know, Angel. Just feel.”

“So good. I love your big hands.” Even though her voice was still a whisper, it wasn’t as slurred. She sounded better, more in control. His fingers clenched against his cargo pants as he pictured himself massaging the tense muscles at her delicate nape. Her hair was both resilient and soft, like the woman. Sarah only wanted people to see the capable warrior side, but he was gifted with this side, and he would do anything to offer her surcease and protect her.

Lost in his thoughts, and the feel of her, he missed the tones and sounds. He was brought out his reverie by the sound of her moans.

“Talk to me. Is the pain worse?”

“So good. Please, harder. It’s helping so much. I can think again, I can actually open my eyes without pain.” He heard her sigh, and relaxed.

“Keep them closed,” another command.

“But Nate…”

“You’re going to go to sleep.”

He pushed his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp, gratified by a moan that had his cock tightening in response. Well that answered that question. He was totally recovered.

The sounds of pleasure she was making made it clear she was over the worst. It also told him that even with three thousand miles separating them they could connect. He could still take care of his girl.

“Sarah, who did you heal?”

“Can’t talk about it. You need to stay focused. Just come home soon. So tired.” She slurred her words again, but she was just drowsy, not in pain. He pushed with his mind, trying to see if he could merge thoughts with her like Kali and Noah did.

“I felt that. That wasn’t polite. Sleepy time.” God, she was right. He rested his head against the back of the wall, sparing a glance for Brice. He needed a quick nap, then he could take over his watch and Brice could get back inside the warehouse.