He pointed to the cabinet in the kitchen while Wanda and Marty made her raise her arms so they could peel her jacket off and lift her shirt up.
As they peeled her shirt from her skin, she hissed her pain, biting back a scream of agony. Fuck that hurt, and if she ever caught the bastard who’d knifed her in the gut, she was going to rip his heart out by digging her way inside his chest with a goddamn spoon.
Nina pushed her way into the fray, settling between Teddy’s knees, first-aid kit in hand. “Fuck all if that’s not deep, kiddo. Marty, get me some hot water, a cloth and some of that booze Yogi Bear’s hiding under the sink.”
Had Nina’s tone changed? Was that concern in her voice? Teddy was certain it was worry.
What happened to “you deal with your shit and I’ll deal with mine”?
Marty brought all the items and set them on the floor by Nina’s feet. The ex-vampire grabbed the bottle of Jack and dumped it on a cloth. “This shit’s gonna hurt like a fucking bitch. Ten bucks and a bag of my gummi bears says you scream.”
Teddy sucked in a breath, her toes curling inside her boots. “You’re on, and if you just give it a chance to heal—”
“It’s still gotta be cleaned, moron. What if something slows up the healing? You wanna wander around with your intestines gushing outta your side? I’ve been hurt a time or twenty. I think I know what I’m talking about.”
If only Nina knew how often she’d been roughed up. Never stabbed, mind you, but beat to hell and left needing stitches? Hell yeah. “Fine,” she gritted out. “Just do it.”
“Hold her arms, ladies—this is gonna sting,” Nina ordered Marty and Wanda, tucking her long hair behind her ear before she pressed the cloth to Teddy’s side.
Just a blip of a second before she nearly skyrocketed off the couch from the sting, she felt the lightest of touches, a mere wisp of Cormac’s fingertips glancing hers. Calloused and rough, he wrapped them around her digits and squeezed.
And then Teddy fought a scream of anguish—because no way was she losing ten bucks—digging her heels into the hard floor, almost biting her tongue off to keep from crying out.
Nina eyeballed her from where she was hunched on the floor in front of her and winked her approval.
And for some crazy, weird reason, as sweat formed on her upper lip and she almost burst every blood vessel in her head to stay quiet, Teddy was ridiculously pleased this grumpy, mean, no-bullshit ex-vampire approved of her stiff upper lip—and Cormac held her hand through it all.
Chapter 5
Cormac watched Teddy sip a hot toddy Marty had mixed for her, the sight of her lickable lips curling over the rim of the mug making him warm all over.
Jesus. This was such bullshit. How could he feel anything for a woman he didn’t even know? Yet, when he’d seen Teddy charge that guy, somewhere deep in his chest, a small piece of him dislodged, broke off, reattached itself and made a home under his skin, where this alarming emotion made itself comfortable.
Well, you know, that one romance novel you read said this is how life mates react to one another. You just know instinctually that person is your person. Remember? You were up until four in the morning reading all about it, Casanova.
He remembered. He’d thought it was bullshit then and he thought exactly that now.
Then why is your heart beating faster? Why do you want to ask her all sorts of stupid questions? Like if she had a date for her senior prom. What her favorite sleeping position is. If she puts ketchup or mustard on her hot dogs.
If she puts ketchup on her hot dog, it’s over. Mustard all the way. Spicy brown, thank you very much.
Stop, you silly. It’s only just begun. You won’t care if she doesn’t brush her teeth or scratches her metaphorical balls. You’re in, pal. You’re just shy of twirling your hair and batting your eyelashes.
Clearing his throat, Cormac sat up on the recliner across from the couch and forced himself to be involved in this conversation about the sniper. “So you’re sure this guy was aiming at me?” he asked, Teddy.
Brushing her hair from her face, she bobbed her head. “One hundred percent. He had a site on a sniper rifle with a red laser beam. It was aimed at your chest via the bedroom window. So why don’t you tell me what’s going on here? How many people have a hit man after them? I think at the very least I deserve an explanation.”
Because she’d put herself in the line of fire for him, was the not-so-subtle implication.
Wanda looked at him, sending him some kind of signal he didn’t understand in what he supposed was girl-speak. It probably meant shut up. So rather than run the risk of saying too much, he remained in stubborn silence.
Teddy slid to the edge of the couch, her wound obviously feeling better. “Better yet, why don’t you tell me why the guy I tackled out there while I was keeping him from killing you looked just like one of the men you had up on your screen when we first got to the cabin?”