"Alexis Morgan - Dark Protector" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morgan Alexis)

Especially Devlin Bane.
She sighed. Hardly a week went by that she didnтАЩt have one of the Paladins back in her care for at
least a day or two. They fought, they died, and they came back to her to be repaired and replenished.
Some were easier to deal with than others, but none of them was exactly easy to be around.
Even so, Devlin Bane was different.
His mere presence made her spacious laboratory feel cluttered and cramped, as if he took up too
much of the air and most of the space. She turned again to study him.
His profile was strong and rather handsome, although his nose had been broken a time or two. His
brows were two dark slashes across his face, one of them marred by a scar from some long ago battle.
Her gaze lingered on his mouth. It was surprisingly sensual looking, almost out of place among his other
features. Could he kiss as well as he did everything else he set his mind to?
Before she could mentally catalog anything else, she realized that his green eyes were open and
staring right back at her with an intensity she could feel from all the way across the room.
тАЬIтАЩm sorry, I didnтАЩt realize that you were awake.тАЭ She stood up, almost knocking her stool to the
ground.
тАЬThatтАЩs all right. I guess you were too busy staring to notice.тАЭ There was no humor at all in his
words. тАЬI want up.тАЭ
She hid her embarrassment in a spate of medical talk. тАЬIтАЩll draw your blood first, then let you up.
Once weтАЩve evaluated your current statusтАФтАЭ
He cut her off. тАЬI know the drill, Doc. Just get it done.тАЭ
His words shouldnтАЩt have hurt, since sheтАЩd heard far worse over the years. After all, being dead
tended to make the calmest of men a bit testy. Most of the time she could ignore their grumbling, but it
was harder to do with Devlin.
HeтАЩd hate knowing that. In fact, if he even suspected how much time she spent poring over his
records, trying to learn one more bit of information about what made him tick, heтАЩd be beating on her
bossтАЩs door, demanding a new Handler.
And it was imperative that she continue to oversee his care. Devlin Bane was one of the oldest
known Paladins; heтАЩd already outlived the average lifespan of his kind by two decades. If she could
determine why he was showing resistance to the usual pattern of a PaladinтАЩs life, perhaps she could help
the others live longer.
She released his right arm from its restraints, then tied a tourniquet just above his elbow. Never a
fan of having his blood drawn, he winced and looked away as she inserted the needle in his vein. The
blood pumped into the tube, rich and dark and red. She changed tubes, filling two more before loosening
the tourniquet. After covering the needle with a cotton ball, she tugged it out of his arm.
 тАЬBend your arm.тАЭ Gently shaking the tubes, she walked away to set them in a rack, then returned
to his side.
тАЬLet me see the wound.тАЭ
He sighed and straightened his arm. She checked under the cotton for bruising before covering the
small puncture. It took all she had to keep from giggling when he saw that the bandage was covered with
bright yellow happy faces. He clearly didnтАЩt appreciate the small bit of cheer.
тАЬVery funny.тАЭ
тАЬThey were on sale.тАЭ Of course, so were the plain ones.
She unlocked the first of the straps that kept DevlinтАЩs legs chained to the table. Starting with his
ankles, she worked her way up his body, studiously ignoring the fact that he was naked under the thin
blanket. When a Paladin was first brought in, it was easy to remain clinical about such things. She tried to
remember that as she undid the last of the restraints and Devlin sat up, the blanket pooling around his
waist.
тАЬHow do you feel? Any dizziness or nausea?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ He rubbed his wrists, working the stiffness out of them. тАЬI feel just like I did the last dozen
times IтАЩve been through this.тАЭ He got to his feet, towering over her by nearly a foot.