Page 175 of Tamed By Her Touch

He shrugged.

“I noticed.”

“Kaelus!” she exclaimed.

“Please be calm, Clair. I am not going to die,” he said calmly.

“How the hell do you know?” she demanded.

“I am a physician,” he reminded her.

His calm tone really pushed her buttons.

“You’re also a stubborn idiot!” she snapped.

“That is not a medical diagnosis,” Kaelus said blandly.

Clair frowned.

“It is now.”

She stepped toward him and immediately had to grab the edge of the restraint chair when the room tilted.

Kaelus’s expression changed and anxiety filled his golden eyes.

“Clair?”

She waved him off.

“I’m fine.”

“You are not—you nearly collapsed.”

“Give me a break—I’ve had a busy afternoon!”

She had meant the words to sound sarcastic, but her voice came out shaky instead.

“Gods, Clair.”

He reached for her, then abruptly stopped himself and stepped back.

His hesitation hurt more than she expected. Only a few minutes ago he had been inside her, holding her. And now he looked almost afraid to touch her.

Then Clair heard it—a thought that wasn’t her own.

“I don’t deserve to touch her. I hurt her.”

The words were faint, as though coming through several walls, but they were unmistakably Kaelus’s voice.

Clair stared at him, but the big Hybrid’s face gave nothing away.

“Did you just say something?” she asked.

He frowned.

“No.”

Clair frowned—what was she feeling from him? It felt like…a wall.