Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

I grinned and shoved another chocolate into my mouth. "So," I said, around the gooey peppermint mess, "when do I get out of this joint?"

He glanced at his watch. "The doctor was supposed to be here an hour ago to give you a checkup. If you pass that, you can leave."

Meaning I'd better not mention the lingering lightheadedness, or I'd be stuck here another night with the antiseptic reek and the ghosts.

"Why don't you go see what's keeping him? Otherwise, I'm just going to check myself out."

"You can try." He rose and gave me a somewhat cheeky grin. "I am, however, bigger than you and I will drag you back to this bed if I have to."

"Yeah, right." I waved a hand at the doorway. "Just go find that doctor."

He headed out. Five seconds later, Kellen came in, bearing the biggest bunch of flowers I'd ever seen. Pleasure shot through me.

"Hey," I said, by way of greeting. "No one's ever brought me flowers in the hospital before."

"You almost didn't get them now," he said, with a sexy grin that had my hormones hopping in delight. "Except the flower seller practically accosted me and accused me of not caring."

"Guerrilla tactics for flower sellers? Man, things must be tough in that business."

"Well, there weren't many men getting by her without buying some flowers, let me tell you."

He placed the flowers on the bedside table, then sat down on the edge of the bed and caught my hand in his. His fingers were as warm as his smile, and yet he seemed tense. Maybe he hated hospitals just as much as I did.

"So," he said, "how are you feeling?"

"Fine." I shrugged. "Better when I get out of this place."

"So no aftereffects of being shot by silver?"

"No." I hesitated. "But it wasn't the first time I've been shot with silver, and probably won't be the last."

"No, I guess not."

I frowned at the edge in his voice. "What's wrong?"

His gaze searched mine for a minute, his green eyes curiously flat. "You don't know?"

"Know what?"

He snorted softly. "Guess I had that coming."

"What?" God, I felt like I was watching a foreign movie, with the main character speaking a language I just didn't understand.

"It doesn't matter."

"It obviously does, so explain what the hell you're talking about."

"I shouldn't have to explain, Riley."

"So consider me thick and do." And then, suddenly, realization hit me. "You think you should have been able to protect me?"

My voice was incredulous, and annoyance shot through his eyes.

"I'm an alpha. It's part of my job to protect those I care about."

"But that's ridiculous. A, because I can generally protect myself, and B, because the shooter was a vampire and regular werewolves haven't the speed to go up against one."

"You did. Have."