Free Eternal Hunger by Laura Wright Page B

last time, and when she found it busy, slammed down the receiver and told herself she’d give it fifteen minutes and try again.
    But four hours and three emergencies later, it was close to the end of her shift and the first time she’d had a chance to get back to her office.
    She grabbed an apple from the basket on the corner of her desk and dropped into her chair. Releasing a heavy breath, she picked up the phone and waited for it, the low hum of the dial tone. But nada . Nothing.
    “You have a very solid mind for a human.”
    Sara slammed back in her seat, the apple dropping to the floor with a dull thud. “Jesus Christ!”
    “No. Alexander Roman.” He stood in the doorway, taking up nearly every inch of it with his massive frame. He inclined his head, his fierce merlot eyes trained on her. “I apologize for startling you.”
    “How did you get in here?”
    “Your door was open.”
    “On the ward ,” she pressed. “How did you get onto the ward?”
    One corner of his mouth flickered up. “I find every door open to me these days.”
    “How convenient,” she said, wishing her pulse would stop the whole racing routine.
    His gaze shifted from her to the phone. “Making a call?”
    “I’ve been trying to, but there’s something wrong with ...” She froze, looked up at him. “It’s you, isn’t it? You’ve been—”
    His brows lifted. “As I said before, no police.”
    Fear flickered inside her chest. “You screwed with my phone?”
    Alexander moved into the room, the door closing behind him. Unable to process the obvious, Sara pretended she had seen his hand on the wood, pushing it closed.
    “Actually it was my brother Lucian,” he said, coming toward her, the black wool of his coat snapping against his legs. “I couldn’t leave the house until it grew dark—”
    She stood up. Had to. Even with the anxiety snapping through her, she had to show him she wasn’t about to cower. “Your brother’s been watching me?”
    “I had to make sure you were safe.”
    “If you really cared about my safety, you’d let me call the police.”
    “The police can do nothing.”
    “Spoken like a true renegade or a—”
    He lifted one dark eyebrow. “Or a what?”
    “Someone I should be treating with a good deal of meds.”
    He said nothing, just stood there, across the desk, dark as night, towering over her with a lethal grin playing about his mouth. Sara tried like hell to control her response to him, to that anything-but-sweet smile, but the traitorous, seductive heat that moved through her veins and sped up her heart was irrepressible.
    “Do you really think the police can catch your skinny human?” he asked, coming to stand at the chair in front of her desk, his large hands closing around the metal top. “You think they’re even going to look all that hard for him?”
    Sara forced out a solid, “Yes.” But honestly, she wasn’t sure of anything at the moment.
    “That little scumbag will not stop until you’re dead,” Alexander said. “And while he’s trying, your officers will be pushing papers around their desks.”
    “You need to stop trying to scare me, Alexander,” she said tightly.
    “No, I don’t think so. Sometimes fear is necessary to bring clarity to the mind.”
    “Where’d you get that? Oprah?”
    He nodded to the wall of books behind her. “Psychology in Today’s Modern World.”
    Turning around, Sara glanced at the bookshelf, then faced him again, confused. “What?”
    “Third shelf, halfway in, gold binding, page sixteen, middle paragraph.”
    She stared at him. “You’ve read that book?”
    “Just now. The line jumped out at me. Seemed appropriate.”
    It took her a moment to process what he was saying, but when she did, she shook her head and said slowly, “No way.”
    His eyes held a bitter edge. “It’s new to me as well.” He reached out to her. “Come with me.”
    Sara’s pulse kicked. “What? No!”
    “I need to show you something.”
    She shook her