Page 99 of Savage Hearts

Poe stands on my chest, waiting.

Feeling like an absolute idiot, I apologize to the bird again. “Sorry, Poe. I’ve only ever had goldfish. They don’t have nearly as much personality as you.”

Poe produces a quiet, rambling series of clicks and grating rattles to show his displeasure with me, then he starts eating again.

I’ve been dismissed.

The three of us are silent until Poe finishes off the cat food.

Then he flies back to the open window, making me jump as he takes off from my chest.

With a final farewell squawk, he flies off into the night. Malcloses the window behind him and turns back to me, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do you have any other animal friends I should expect for a visit?”

“There’s a family of raccoons who comes over from time to time.”

“Any bears?”

“Not friendly ones. Time for you to go to sleep.”

“Are you this bossy with all your patients?”

“Are you this mouthy with all your doctors?”

“Only the ones I like.”

There’s a pause where he simply stands and stares at me, his eyes warm. Then a miracle occurs: he smiles.

It’s beautiful.

He murmurs, “Go to sleep, Riley Rose.”

“How can I sleep with you standing there staring at me?”

“You’ve been doing well with it so far. Now close your eyes.”

I heave a sigh, flop my arms dramatically at my sides, then obey him and shut my eyes.

I must fall asleep almost immediately, because I remember nothing after that.

When I wake up in the morning, Mal is sleeping on his side next to me in bed, his arm under my neck, a leg thrown over both of mine, his big warm hand splayed over my belly.

Right over my scar.

TWENTY-NINE

RILEY

“Just breathe,” he murmurs, his mouth close to my ear.

Okay, so he’s not asleep. And he obviously felt all the muscles in my body clench when I realized he was lying beside me.

I inhale a deep breath, but it isn’t calming. How could it be? It draws his heady masculine scent through my nose and deep down into my lungs, where it settles, making me dizzy.

My ovaries wake up from a dead sleep and start shrieking like zoo monkeys.

A million things I could say run through my mind, but what comes out of my mouth is a strangled “Oh. Hi. This is new.”