Undeniable Craving Read Online Free

she
felt…different. If she had to describe it, she’d have to say it was a sensation
she attributed to not being sick. That shouldn’t be, though. She had terminal
cancer, and she’d just about run out of time. The day before she’d been in so
much pain and so weak she’d slept more than she’d been awake.
    Jaimie then
remembered the visit she’d had from a man she didn’t know. Gage. It was hazy,
but she thought he’d bitten her, then she’d sunk into a deep, restful sleep and
hadn’t awoken until this morning. In all probability, it could have all been
her imagination. Or a hallucination. She’d been in a state that was between
wakefulness and slumber. It wouldn’t surprise her at all if that turned out to
be the case.
    She opened her
eyes. She was able to focus, and her mind was completely alert. Jaimie quickly
took stock of herself and found there was still no pain. She turned her head
and looked at the large clock on the wall. It was really early, but she was no
longer tired. That was a bit of a shock. She scanned the room and spotted the
vase filled with pale pink and red roses that sat on the table next to her bed.
They were new.
    Jaimie turned
her gaze toward the door as someone stepped into her room. It was Lynne. Jaimie
smiled. “Hi.”
    Lynne came to a
sudden standstill. “You’re awake.” Her eyes welled with tears. “You’re awake.”
She rushed over to Jaimie, sat on the bed next to her and gathered her into a
hug. “When you wouldn’t wake up last night, I thought for sure…”
    “I feel…better.”
    Lynne released
her and sat up straight as she wiped her tears away. “Really? You do have some
color in your face now.”
    Jaimie’s stomach
growled—loudly. Her eyes widened as she looked at her sister. “And I’m hungry.”
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually wanted to eat.
    Lynne smiled
through another wave of tears. “You’re hungry. I have to get the doctor.”
    “Before you do
that, I want to sit up. Who brought the roses?”
    Her sister
worked the bed to lift Jaimie into a sitting position. She looked over at the
flowers. “Oh, those must be from Gage.”
    Jaimie’s breath
caught. “Gage?”
    “Yeah. He came
to the fur buyer yesterday to sell his family’s pelts. He’s from Canyon Creek.
He said he’d send flowers after he let me have a good cry on his shoulder. He’s
the sweetest guy.”
    “I think he was
here yesterday. A man I didn’t know came and spoke to me. He told me his name was
Gage. I thought I might have dreamed it.”
    “He must have
decided to drop the roses off himself. It wouldn’t surprise me that he’d do
something like that. His whole family are nice people.” Lynne stood. “I’m going
to talk to the nurse about getting the doctor in to see you.” She smiled. “I’m
not going to question why you’ve made a miraculous recovery, but I want to know
if you’re out of the woods.”
    As her sister
turned to leave, Jaimie said, “Ask about getting me something to eat. I’m
starving.”
    “I will.”
    After Lynne
left, Jaimie turned her gaze on the roses. There was a small white envelope
stuck in the middle of them. She pushed herself up higher and reached for it.
Her arm shook, and it seemed to take more effort than it should have, but she
managed to snag it. She took out the card and read it. Written in a bold,
masculine script were the words “To Jaimie, from Gage.”
    Gage was real,
and he’d been in her room yesterday. Did that mean the rest of what had
happened between them been real as well? Had he really tenderly held her in his
arms and then bitten her?
    I’m Gage, and
I claimed you, Jaimie. You’re marked by the mate brand. If it worked, you’ll
live. I’m going to leave now, but I’ll come back. I’m not going to let you go. She sucked in a sharp breath as Gage’s last words came to the surface of her
mind. What had he meant about a mate brand? And what had worked that would save
her life?
    Jaimie