West of Want (Hearts of the Anemoi) Read Online Free

away, lacing his hands on top of his head. Ella missed the warm connection immediately, but was equally consumed with watching him. For a moment, he muttered and paced along the length of her bed, roughly scrubbing his palms over his face. He had the slightest sprinkling of gray at his temples.
    His every movement radiated power. The green scrubs pulled across the muscles of his shoulders, back, and thighs with each step. His very presence took up the whole side of the room in which he paced. He exuded a raw masculinity her body recognized, even if she was in absolutely no position to respond to it.
    “You okay?” she scratched out.
    He whirled on her, eyes guarded, muscles tense.
    The movement was so unexpected, she gasped. Her heart raced, unleashing a series of throbs in her shoulder, neck, and head. She groaned.
    “Damn it!” he bit out. He rushed to her and pushed a button on the side of the bed. A big hand smoothed over her forehead. “I’m sorry.”
    Ella’s eyes clenched shut against the pounding torment rooting itself behind her eye and ear. But his touch helped. How amazing the power of human touch.
    Then it was gone.
    Her gaze scanned the room. Empty. A ball of panic bloomed in her gut. Where had he gone? And why had he left?
    The door to her room pushed open and a woman with brown skin and pink scrubs breezed in. “Well, welcome back, Ms. Raines. It’s good to see you awake.”
    Ella could only manage a drawn-out moan. The nurse was pretty, her smile open, and she wore her black hair in a curly natural style. The woman made pleasant small talk with her while she checked her vitals and entered her findings into a computer on a swivel stand.
    “Don’t you worry, now, we’ll get you feeling better in no time. Can you tell me your pain level on a scale of one to ten, with ten the worst pain of your life and one pain-free?”
    Licking her lips and forcing herself to focus, Ella considered the question. How did one judge pain? Her shoulder was a good solid six. The throb vibrating through her skull, a seven. But her heart, oh, her heart might never recover. A ten for sure. But Ella supposed that wasn’t the kind of pain the nurse was asking her to describe. “Maybe a seven,” she rasped.
    “Okay, honey. Let’s see what we can do about that.” The woman inserted a needle into the IV. Cool solace slid into her veins and tugged at Ella’s consciousness. She almost gave in, before she thought to ask. “The man? The male nurse?” she slurred.
    The woman smiled and shook her head. “Musta been a good dream. Only us ladies on this unit.” She went right on, explaining procedures to Ella in case she needed anything, but Ella’s attention drifted away, stolen by the pain medication and the memory of a man who didn’t exist.
    …
    Zephyros hovered outside the woman’s hospital window, a moth to a flame. He couldn’t explain it, but every effort to leave her since the ambulance crew had carried her off the boat throbbed deep in his chest until he nearly suffocated.
    He was just so damned drained. Guilt over hurting her sat like a weight on his chest. Being immersed in freezing water all that time had weakened him to the point he should’ve returned to the Realm of the Gods to be restored. And, if those weren’t enough, Eurus’s lie about Chloris, Zeph’s ex-wife and the first woman he’d ever loved, picked at his brain until he’d driven himself nearly crazy worrying holes into the ridiculous story. Just more of Eurus causing chaos. Had to be. And damn if it hadn’t worked.
    Still, he’d have to talk to Father about whatever scheme his brother had in the works.
    Zeph’s gaze scanned over the woman sleeping in her bed. The conversation with his father could wait. He just wanted…what? To see her conscious. To know she’d be okay. So he waited. Part of him believed he’d be able to leave when her family showed up. Even if he couldn’t see her awake, he could at least stay until those who would