Page 19 of Crave

They let us go, holding open the door as we walked into the surgery. Tanner appeared almost instantly, his face devoid of its usual professional mask, instead twisted in concern.

“Come in, come in.” He ushered us into the examination room, his hand lightly on my spine as I walked past. I tried not to tense, not because it felt wrong, but because it felt kind of right. Ignoring the weird response, I hoisted myself up onto the examination table, wincing as my ribs twisted the wrong way. Well, that's what I got for trying to subtly flirt.

Both Susannah and Tanner were looking at me with concerned eyes. “Sorry, I forgot they were broken for a second.” Susannah gave me her ‘bitch, please’ look, and I flushed.

Tanner grinned, those fangs peeking out. “I guess that’s a good sign if you forget they’re broken, even just for a bit. Though you should probably rest them a little more over the next couple of days.”

I nodded. “Susannah and I decided that while I was resting, it might be a good time to go off my Omega masking meds too.”

“Oh?” he asked, examining my throat with cool, gentle fingers.

“It stops me from shifting. I would be fully healed if I could shift, and I don’t want to be helpless ever again.”

I could almost hear his teeth grinding, and I slid my gaze to his. He straightened, looking down at me. He was well over six feet, and I wondered if they just bred them tall in Australia.

“I’m sorry that some fucking coward has forced you into a decision you weren’t ready to make. I’m kind of regretting not taking him to jail myself and possum-stomping him on every gutter between that alley and the Legion building,” he muttered, more to himself than to me. “Take your shirt off, and I’ll restrap your ribs.” I did as he asked, flushing under the intensity of his gaze. He tilted his head to the side. “I can tell you’ve gone off your meds. Your scent profile has changed slightly. You should be careful of a possible hormonal pushback. After being denied so long, you might go into the yearning if you just quit cold turkey. You should ease them off slowly, if you can.”

Susannah was sitting in the corner, uncharacteristically silent. She was watching Tanner with an expression I’d rarely seen in the last ten years, unless she was looking at me.

Desire.Interesting.

I mean, not unwarranted either. Doc Tanner was handsome as hell. The quintessential Australian surfer; hair bleached by the sun, a tan that not even death could steal, tall and broad in the shoulders, and lean in the hips. I bet if he was naked, he’d have a six-pack.

Well, there was only one way to find out. “Do you have a six-pack?”

“Quinn!” Susannah gasped, like I’d just asked to see his dick and not his stomach.

I shrugged. “Don’t pretend like you weren’t wondering.” I gave her back the same imperious look she was using on me.

“Definitelysome hormonal kickback,” Tanner said with a laugh. “Not going to lie, mate, I’m pretty cut under this white coat. That 1800s lifestyle of hard labor and no food—not to mention being turned into the undead—will do that to you.” He artfully stuck tape on me, like he was wrapping a football to put under the Christmas tree with a lot of damn tape.

“I think I might need proof. You should show us,” I purred, and Susannah buried her face in her hands, her cheeks pink. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” It was like my tongue had been possessed by the Demon of Horniness.

Tanner pulled my shirt back over my head, still laughing. “Tempting offer, but I’ve never been with a bloke.” He smirked, and it made his eyes dance with mirth. “Too many human hangups, but you know what they say—never say never. What's the point of living forever if you don’t try everything once, right?”

“Bloke?”

“Men, Quinn,” Susannah growled. “He doesn’t do men.”

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not what I heard. But oh well, what about pretty Omega women with too much loyalty and a little bit of a martyr complex?” I teased, and Susannah was immediately up, dragging me off the examination table and over to the door, like she would shove me out of it if I opened my mouth again.

“Oh my Goddess, Quinn.Shut up,” she hissed. She looked at a spot in the middle of Tanner’s chest. “He’s good to go, right?”

“Sure, Omega. Make him rest, though.”

Susannah nodded and pulled me through the doorway. We got to the outer door of the waiting room when Tanner called, “Quinn?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s definitely my type.”

Susannah made a high-pitched whining noise and slammed the door. Stuffing me in the back of Merrick’s ATV, she hissed, “You are so embarrassing. Fucking horny Omegas.”

But I knew my girl. I knew under some of that embarrassment she was wondering what it would be like to go to bed with the vampire. She’d denied herself so much to protect me over the years—a proper Pack, love, someone to depend on—and now that we were free, I intended to give her everything she wanted. Even if it was a tall vampire doctor with a funny accent.

I looked at the two Alphas in the front of the ATV, and Murphy’s gaze met mine in the mirror. “Everything went okay?” The way his eyes ran over me, like he was checking me for damage, told me it was more than professional interest. I held his gaze, letting the armor I kept around my heart, hard and cold, crack a little at his obvious concern. He could have been our Alpha. We could have been so damn happy; I knew that in my soul.

Merrick and Murphy were the best kind of Manix. Strong but kind. Giving. They’d have loved Susannah and I like we were the suns that they rotated around. I’d fucked that up for her. For me.

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