Heart of the Jaguar by Lindsay McKenna

Author:Lindsay McKenna [McKenna, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Fiction, Romance, General
ISBN: 9780373470570
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1999-01-01T16:00:00+00:00

The next time Ann awoke, sunlight was pouring through the curtains of her bedroom, making everything around her glow. As she lay there, she thought at first she was back in that gold-and-white light again. Then a broken snore snagged her drowsy attention. Barely turning her head to the right, she saw Mike Houston sitting, legs splayed, in a chair next to her bed. His head was tipped back, exposing his well-corded throat and Adam’s apple, and his arms hung over the chair, which was too small for his large form.

She wasn’t dreaming this time, she realized, though it took long, exquisite moments of simply absorbing his form into her wide-open heart before she could think straight. Thinking, Ann realized belatedly, took too much energy. Right now, on an intuitive level, she knew she had to be a miser with that energy in order to get well.

As he slept, Ann saw a depth of vulnerability in Houston as she’d never seen before. His dark hair was tousled and the exhaustion on his face wrung her heart. Dark, deep shadows lay beneath his eyes. His flesh, usually golden colored, was now pasty, as if drained of life. That frightened her. Was he wounded?

She had to examine him closer. As she struggled to try and sit up, the bed creaked in protest.

Instantly, Houston snapped awake, his eyes wide, his entire body tensing defensively. What? Who? He jerked a look toward Ann. She was awake. And she was looking directly at him, her eyes clear, her pupils huge and black and surrounded by the most incredible blue-gray he’d ever seen. The seconds strung palpably between them. When he realized there was no danger to guard against, he sat up straight. Then, raking her from head to toe with a searching gaze, he stumbled to his feet.

“Ann?” His voice was thick with sleep and undisguised concern.

She fell back, unable to remain up on her elbows for very long. As she closed her eyes, she felt his hands moving across her face, checking her temperature. And then he sat down next to her, his hip against hers as he picked up her wrist and felt for a pulse. It felt so good to be touched by Mike! How she wanted to tell him. She tried to form the words, but they stuck in the back of her dry throat.

“Good,” Mike murmured, reaching for the blood pressure cuff on the nearby bed stand, “your pulse is finally strong and stable.” Placing the stethoscope to his ears and wrapping the cuff around her arm, he pumped it up. As he released the air slowly from the device, he critically watched the needle. His heart soared.

“One hundred over eighty. Not bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.” He removed the stethoscope from his ears and the cuff from around her upper arm and watched as Ann slowly opened her eyes again. Smiling down at her, he rasped, “Welcome back to the real world, stranger.” Getting up, he moved

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