Page 28 of Tamed By Her Touch

“Oh, for God's sake,” Clair exclaimed. “You are such a man.”

Kaelus frowned.

“I am aware that I am male.”

She shook her head in disgust.

“Never mind. Let’s just get this out of you.”

Carefully, Clair gripped the thorn with a pair of forceps. She looked up at the big Hybrid.

“Ready?”

“Yes.” His expression was stoic, as though he didn’t care what happened to him.

Feeling irritated at his macho display, she pulled. The barb slid free with a wet sound and Kaelus didn't so much as flinch. Well—maybe pain was irrelevant to him.

Clair examined the thorn briefly before dropping it into a specimen container.

“We're testing that later,” she said. “I want to make sure there isn't any venom.”

“It is unlikely,” he rumbled.

She raised her eyebrows.

“Based on what?”

He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling.

“The morphology of the barb, of course,”

“Mm-hmm,” Clair said. “And since you're apparently an expert Xenobotanist now, I suppose I can just throw my doctorate away.”

Kaelus made a low sound in his throat.

“I merely said it was unlikely.”

“And I'm merely saying I'm going to test it anyway.”

Clair cleaned the puncture carefully with an antiseptic solution, then used a dermal scanner to make sure no fragments of the barb remained inside his palm. When she was satisfied, she spread a thin layer of healing gel over the wound and wrapped his hand in a flexible bandage.

“There,” she said. “Try not to use it too much for a few hours.”

“That will not be possible.”

“It will if you don't want me yelling at you.”

Kaelus looked down at her and for once, there wasn't a scowl on his face. Instead, his golden eyes were strangely soft.

“What?” Clair asked, looking up at him.

“You take very good care of your specimens,” he murmured.

Clair frowned.

“You're not a specimen.”

“No,” Kaelus agreed quietly. “I am not.”