Page 17 of Dragon Tempted

Sienna’s hands landed on his chest, and he hissed at her touch. It was like a firebrand, and his whole body took notice.

She jerked her hands away. “I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

He shook his head, staring at the IV in his arm. “I need to leave.”

She shook her head right back. “You need to see the doctor first.”

“No,” he growled. “I need—”

She held up her hand as if he were a recalcitrant child, and his tongue stumbled to a stop at her nerve. Seriously? Was this female not intimidated by anything?

She pulled out her phone and clicked on a number before resting it against her ear. “Hello, Ian. He’s awake.”

Ian? Who the hell was Ian?

She looked him over. “He’s alert and cranky, so I would say he’s back to normal.” She smiled at whatever Ian was saying. “Okay. We’ll see you in a few.”

“What was that about?”

“Dr. Murphy wanted to know when you woke up so he could come check on you.”

Why wasn’t he surprised that she was on a first name basis with the doctor? “I’m fine.”

Sienna frowned. “You’re not Superman. The arrow punctured your side, and the poison knocked you on your ass. So you are going to humor all of us and have the doctor check you over before you even think about getting out of bed, Sir Grumps-a-Lot.”

“You sound like Tessa.”

She shrugged. “Who do you think I got the name from?”

He glanced away for a moment to hide the smile that had reluctantly started to form. He schooled his expression before looking up at her. Her blond hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, and she had dark smudges under her eyes. But her expression told him that she would tackle him to the ground if he tried to get up. And would that really be such a bad thing?

Nope. Not going there. He was losing control of this situation. Ah hell, who was he kidding, he’d never had control of the situation to begin with.

So he nodded and her eyes widened at his acquiescence. “We’ll wait for the doctor. But then I’m out of here.”

Her golden-brown eyes darkened, and his heart rate accelerated at the challenge in her gaze.

A few minutes later, a male carrying a medical bag walked into the room followed by Adam, Eric, and an older male. Introductions were made to Dr. Murphy and Marcus, the head of clan security.

Dr. Murphy took a few minutes examining him before stepping back. “You’re doing much better. I’m going to remove the IV, but you still need to take it easy.”

Sienna crossed her arms. “Which is the opposite of leaving.”

Eric took a step closer to the bed. “Are you still planning on taking off?”

“Yes. I knew something was coming. After what just happened, you can’t blame me.”

“I can blame you,” Sienna said. “Like it or not. You pulled us into what’s happening. We all need to break this curse.”

He respected her conviction, but that didn’t mean he would agree with her. “You have all suffered enough from what I started. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She leaned closer to him and he would swear the gold in her eyes flickered like flames. “Your grandmother created the curse and used her own grandson’s blood to strengthen it. You’re as much a victim as anyone.”

A sharp pain centered in his chest like he’d been shot again. Her words were meant to console him, yet they did the opposite. He looked away from her to Marcus. “Have you increased your guards around the property?”

“Yes. We have the house on lockdown for now. Guards around the perimeter of the house and overlooking the valley and reserve lands behind us. Cameras that watch multiple entry points that we installed last year. We haven’t seen anything yet.”

John nodded and kept his attention on Marcus even though he could feel Sienna staring at him. She was too close for comfort. “You checked the cabin?”