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I swallowed thickly. “I don’t know how I can help…”
“You can patch my brother up. Christian is going to look for supplies and I’ll keep an eye on you,” he said. “If we’re going to survive the night together, all we need is a little mutual respect.”
I chewed my lip. There was no way I would get out of Valley Hope alive if I didn’t cooperate. I had to suck it up, play my part, and get away when I could.
Men like this never played by the rules. I wasn’t about to fall for two sets of dark eyes, one charming smile, and a handful of hope that they wouldn’t eat me alive.
CHAPTER TWO
“Fix him,” Christian said, shoving me to the ground.
My knees hit the floor, pain radiating up my legs. I glanced over my shoulder at him. His glare matched mine. Jerk. I turned back toward the man lying on one of my benches. Blood stained the wood, coursing to the floor below.
“I’m going to need some things.”
“Oh just fix him!” Christian snapped.
“I’m not a doctor!” I yelled back at him. “What do you want me to do? I have some basic first aid training and that’s it. You want him to live? Shut up and listen!”
Christian’s eyes widened. He took a step back and I was able to breathe. I turned to face my patient. His long, blondish-brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail. The beard he sported was thick, framing his face as he peered at me with the most astonishing blue eyes I’d ever seen in my life. He panted, his eyes roaming over me.
“It’s not that serious,” Grimm muttered. “A little wound. More bleeding than anything.” He grunted, adjusting himself on the bench. “Got anything for the pain? Is it too much to hope you have some whiskey?”
Hyde snorted. “I doubt the preacher has whiskey, Grimm.”
I turned to him. “Bottom drawer of my desk, there’s a bottle. We’re going to need towels, both first aid kits, and there’s a sewing kit in my office as well.” I reached out, touching his arm as he hissed. “The bullet isn’t lodged in his arm.”
“There’s so much blood,” Hyde mumbled.
I nodded. “Yes, but it’s all superficial. He’s in a lot of pain, but nothing major is damaged.”
“You’re one lucky asshole,” Christian said.
“God was looking out for him,” I said in return, applying pressure to the wound with whatever dirty piece of cloth they had already supplied. “Go. I need clean supplies, water, things to keep an infection away from him. Or he’ll die from that.” I ran a hand down his arm, trying to see the best I could. “There’s fresh water in the kitchen. Bottled. Bring as much as you can.”
“On it,” Hyde said.
I turned to the one who had stayed behind. “You can get whatever he doesn’t. And I need you to boil some water.”
“Nice try,” he snapped. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“It’s fine,” Grimm groaned. “Get the stuff.”
“Pres…”
“Do it,” he snapped before his face pulled into a grimace. “Shit, that hurts!”
Christian stared at me, his eyes telling me exactly what he thought. Eventually, he turned and left the two of us alone. I took Grimm’s arm in my hand, looking it over as I tried to figure out exactly what had happened.
“Yeah, it’s not so bad,” I muttered, staring at the place where his flesh was split and blood rolled down his skin. “I think I can handle this.”
“Never met a preacher that knew how to handle a bullet wound,” he mused.
I frowned at him before I focused on what I was doing again. “Yeah? Well, we all have our pasts,” I muttered, not wanting to get into it as I examined his wound more thoroughly.
“We do,” he acknowledged. His eyes moved over me as I tried to focus and not pay attention to his gaze. “What do you think?”
His gravelly voice was sweeter than I would have expected. I glanced up at him, entranced by his blue eyes. When he smiled at me, blood still staining his cheek and beard, something in me twisted.
