Sitting back again, she sighed with pleasure. “You’re better than any drug. As long as your hands are on me, I don’t feel any pain at all.”
“Is that so?” His fingers slid over the back of her knee, sending goosebumps of delight across her skin. “You have the sexiest legs,” he murmured. “They’re so long. Strong. You prowl when you walk, tigress. When you wrap these around me, there is nowhere else I want to be.”
Reaching for the tube, Ronan unscrewed the cap and peeled off the foil seal. He squirted a little of the clear gel onto his fingers. “Tell me if I hurt you.”
“You won’t.” She angled her hips so that the bruise on her thigh faced upward. She heard his breath whistle softly between his teeth.
He waited a moment for the liniment to warm, then he very carefully swiped it over the darkened skin. “How did this happen?”
“Asshole in the car kicked me a couple of times when I screamed for help.”
His hand paused its moment, his jaw clenching. Then he proceeded to lightly rub the gel into her skin in widening circles. He used no pressure at all. Gradually, the warmth of his hand heated her skin, soothing the lingering tenderness. As the gel began to dry, he repeated the process.
Allowing her head to fall back, Ireland closed her eyes and hummed with delight, focused on the feel of his touch. The air was lush with the scents of lilies and roses. Erotic awareness thrummed inside her, spurred by her electric attraction to the man who tended to her.
His touch moved on to another bruise. “How did you get these marks on your feet?”
Slitting her eyes open, Ireland met his gaze. “They’re from the straps of my heels. I don’t know how I got them. Maybe when I launched out of the backseat and tackled one of them? I had to kick off pretty hard.”
His gaze darkened. “Ireland…”
“I woke up without my shoes.” Flexing her feet, she looked at the scabs. “I didn’t realize my feet were cut up until the guy let me out of the crate and I could see them. I was crying, or maybe I just wasn’t seeing straight, but I thought they looked like tiger stripes.”
Ronan ran a fingertip across the unmarred skin between two of the welts. “Do they hurt?”
She shook her head. “You know… I saw my feet, and I heard your voice. You called me your tigress. And something broke open inside me, Ronan. I was so weak and tired, so scared and in so much pain, but when I heard your voice... I fought back.”
His hand had stopped moving, his gaze locked unblinkingly on her face. “Ma chérie…”
Her mouth curved. “I don’t know that I would’ve gotten out of there if I hadn’t met you when I did.”
His fingers flexed restively against her skin. “You’re a warrior, Ireland. It’s simply who you are. I have nothing to do with that.”
“Maybe I had it in me, but I didn’t know until you told me it was there.”
Catching her hand, Ronan lifted it to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “No one deserves credit for your spirit,cher. Least of all me.”
Ireland gave an offhand shrug. “You don’t have to believe me, Ronan. I know what I know.”
He looked away, his throat working on a hard swallow. When he spoke, his voice was hoarser than before. “Let me see to your other bruises.”
Reluctantly, she pulled her legs from his lap and sat up, tilting her face so that he could reach the bruises on her temple and cheek.
He leaned forward, brushing his lips over her brow. Then he squeezed a little droplet of gel onto one finger and cautiously rubbed it into her skin.
They were close enough that she could smell him now, and he was her favorite scent in all the world. Spicy and seductive, an intoxicating blend that was utterly masculine and wholly Ronan. Languidness slipped into her blood, and Ireland sighed with pleasure.
“Are there any I’ve missed?” he asked, his words carried on a whisper.
Nodding, Ireland bent her head to pull her sling strap off.
“You’re taking that off too often,” he scolded gently.
“The doctor told me not to wear it too often or my elbow would get stiff. I’ve got a brace on.”
Shaking his head, he helped her put it aside on the coffee table.
“Can you help me take my top off?” she asked. “I stepped into it earlier. I can’t pull it over my head with one arm.”
