Silver Mine by Vivian Arend Page B

double-check. “Eight at the most.”
    “And you’ve never had any trouble healing before?”
    “Never.” He pivoted until his legs touched her side. She was so intent on examining his back she barely seemed to notice his slow approach. “I’m a healthy man. Don’t do anything to excess, take care of myself.”
    That brought another furtive peek at his body. Chase grinned.
    Shelley walked away, tapping her fingers against her lips. “I’ve only seen a case like this mentioned a couple times. I need to do some research. Need to check your white-blood-cell count. I should probably contact my mentor—because this is way beyond what I expected for my first solo case.” She spun to face him. “You have to stay in town for a couple of days until I get the results.”
    Oh hell, no. “Don’t think I can do that.”
    She plopped her fists on her hips, looking damn adorable as she did so. “Look, Chase. You came here looking for medical attention. That makes me responsible for you.”
    “I have responsibilities as well.” He shrugged. “Gotta get back north before the boys think I’m gone for good.”
    “It’s only a couple more days, not a month.”
    “You could convince me to stay…” He stroked her arm again. Such soft skin. He couldn’t get enough of touching her.
    Her jaw hung open as she gaped at him. “Convince you to stay? How about I use a shot of knockout gas and let you sleep for a while? Maybe that’s what your body needs to finish healing.”
    She might be protesting, but she wasn’t moving out of his reach. “I doubt you want to drug me up. Why you getting so prickly? I like you. You like me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
    If she’d really been saying no like she had the other night at the park he’d have dropped this. Certainly wouldn’t have sat in the buff and dragged in breath after breath of her intoxicating aroma.
    But she was saying yes with everything but her words.
    Shelley sighed and shook her head. She grabbed a bandage and turned him away to patch him up. “Old habits die hard. I’m a bit of a loner. Not used to someone being nice to be nice.”
    “Oh, I’m not nice…” Chase caught her against his side and squeezed her. She smacked him on the top of his head and he let go in a hurry. “Ouch.”
    “Behave. I’m trying to explain something. Just because my body reacts to yours doesn’t mean I have to respond.”
    She tugged again, and he stood and rotated as instructed. “I’m not asking to move in with you.”
    “I know, it’s just…” Shelley growled with frustration. Slapped on a final bit of tape more forcefully than the rest. “Sex is complicated.”
    “Now I know you’re not a typical shifter. Sex is one of the simplest things in our world.”
    This time she crowded him and his pulse sped up. Oh yeah, a power play from her side of the equation would be fine. There he was, pinned against the wall, or at least as pinned as a six-foot-plus male could be by a five-foot-something female. Shelley stared up at him. “I will get them to rush the tests. I want you to stay for one more night.”
    He caught hold of her hips and tugged her against his body. “I can see my way to cooperating with that request.”
    Warm, willing hands cupped his face and brought his head toward hers. Their mouths close, her heated breath fanning over his cheek. His cock was rigid against her body, trapped between them, and the faint pressure was the merest promise of what he really needed. One more inch, a little farther. He slid his hands up her torso to meld them together in anticipation of her kiss.
    She turned her head aside at the last moment and whispered in his ear, “You stay, but I’m not having sex with you. I have professional and personal limits, and I will not cross them again.”
    Suddenly he was holding air, the warmth of her body evaporating as she grabbed his clothes from the floor and tossed them at him. Instinctively he caught them.
    Instinct was the only thing