All Chapters of Solid Heart (Unseen Enemy 7): Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Hunter ‘Sully’ Sullivan set down his fork, pushed his chair back from the table. Cordelia Sullivan, née Patton – his wife, and the blood of his heart – watched him go with a worried expression. The woman read micro-expressions and body language the way that other people read menus, and Sully didn’t even bother trying to hide anything from her. Not anymore.“Say again?” Sully said into his cell phone, voice low and harsh. “Mark did what?”“Knocked out some guy who was in the middle of beating the crap out of his wife.” Dallas Foreman’s voice was as measured as ever, but then again, not much ruffled his feathers. “Tied him up good and tight, threw him in the basement and locked the door, took the wife to the hospital. You’re closest to the house, so you need to get the hell over there, keep an eye on him. I’ll call the cops, and have them meet you there. And don’t worry about waiting outside in the cold, ‘cause Hayden kicked the front door down.”“And Mark did all of this in the guy’s h

“Oh, no.” Francine gave him a tired smile. “You don’t have to do that, Mark. You’ve been so great, and I want to thank you for all your help. You saved her life, and I know that she’ll thank you herself when she can. But Alexandra is my patient, my responsibility, so you can peace out now. Go home, get some rest.” Her smile turned mischievous. “Read one of your beloved racy romance books about shape-shifting wolves.”“Huh?” Dallas said, eyeing his second-in-command. “You love reading what now?”“Nope.” Mark grinned down at her, thinking how adorable she was when making little speeches and sassing him. “Not happening. I’ll bring you some food, OK?”She paused. “You sure?”“Mmm-hmmm.” He fought down the urge to lightly brush his knuckles against the perfect curve of her cheek. “Totally. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”“Alright,” she said softly, wondering why she was so happy at the thought of Mark being with her a little while longer. “See you later.”Mark and Dallas watched her and M

A part of her wanted to stand up and run, to just get as far away from him as possible. Damsel-in-distress wasn’t her scene – hell, no – and not even a little bit. Francine was always the one who stayed cool when the shit was hitting the fan, and she was the one who pulled others through and out. Her job was all about staring trauma and tragedy in its all-too-human face, and then telling the darkness to just fuck right off. She never called for help; she never went weak.Despite all of these things being true, it was also true that she wasn’t about to move away from him, not for a million dollars. This is, after all, what she’d wanted from Mark. What she’d needed.So she curled her small body into his huge one. Her hands came up, held on to the front of his t-shirt. She rested her face on his broad chest, and felt his heart beating against her cheek. She just stayed exactly where she was, surrounded by muscle and heat.Safe. I’m safe here.Mark exhaled, hard. Fuck, she felt good – bet

Startled, she jumped in his lap, and Mark mumbled a curse under his breath as his cock leapt to attention under her gloriously rounded ass. When she untangled herself from his embrace and from the blanket and stood up, he let loose a slew of filthy words in his mind. Goddamn the man’s timing, and goddamn the universe. Was it really so much to ask for just another few minutes of Francine curled up warm and soft against him?“Mr. Hayden?” the man said now in a soft Texan drawl. “Doctor Cabot?”They nodded.The man entered the room, moving astonishingly quickly and quietly for such a big man. “Detective Ian Neilson. I’m so sorry to have just busted on in like that… it was damn rude of me.”“It’s fine,” Mark managed to say, though it definitely wasn’t fine. Not even fucking close. “We know we need to give statements.”“Doctor Cabot,” Ian said. “Can I please talk to you first?”“Of course,” she said. “Could we stay here, though? If Alexandra comes to, I want to be here for her.”“Sure. Ple

“Oooh.” She almost flung herself at him. “I wonder if it’s possible to get my first cup intravenously.”“Well, we are in a hospital,” Mark said. “I figure if these people can do brain surgery and heart transplants, how hard can it be for them to hook up some coffee on a drip?”The nurse laughed. “Let me tell you something: if there was any way to get coffee directly into human veins, we nurses would have discovered it by now.”“I’ll just bet.” Mark gave her his wide, sexy smile, and both women almost passed out. “If you ever stumble upon the way to do it, you’ll give me a call, right?”Flustered, and thinking that she’d love to give the man a call for no particular reason whatsoever, the nurse agreed. She left the room, and Mark and Francine looked at each other. As she gazed at his handsome face, she was suddenly very aware of her sticking-up hair and her morning breath. Whatever minimal makeup she’d had on last night had to have all rubbed off by now, and her face felt like someone