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She thought briefly of her home office, of checking on the paperwork, but couldn’t do it. Not now, not yet.
“Just an hour down,” she told Roarke as they turned into the bedroom. “Then I’ll think about food and the rest. Just an hour down first.”
“I could use that myself.”
The cat leaped on the bed as they undressed, bumped his head against her side as she crawled into bed. She gave him a couple of strokes, found it comforting. More comforting yet when he curled his tubby body into the small of her back.
And perfect, finally perfect, when Roarke slid in beside her, drew her close.
She ached, everywhere, from the bruises, from fatigue, from the headache drumming behind her eyes.
But held between two loves, she slept.
And slept straight through until the first narrow break of dawn.
Disoriented, she stared over to where Roarke sat—not in business mode, but elegantly casual, working by the light of his PPC.
The cat had taken over Roarke’s spot on the bed, stretched out luxuriously.
Eve started to speak, found her throat bitterly dry. “What?” she managed. “What time?”
“Early.” Roarke set aside his PPC, rose. “Lights on ten percent. That eye’s more colorful, but we’ll work on it now. Let’s have a look at the rest.”
He whipped the covers off.
“Hey!”
“As I suspected. You’ve quite an assortment. We’ll wand you, and try the jet tub.”
“Coffee. Just coffee.”
“Not just, but that as well. Maybe some scrambled eggs and toast to start, see how that settles.”
“I’m not sick.” She sat up, winced. “Maybe sore.”
“So the wand, the jets, the food. Otherwise I’ll devil you into taking a blocker, and we’d both rather I didn’t have to.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Besides, the healing wand eased some of the soreness, and the tub—along with whatever he put in the water—helped more.
And the coffee helped everything.
She ate the eggs, which settled fine. In fact they woke up her appetite. “Now I’m starving.”
He turned to her, caught her face in his hand, kissed her. Long, soft, deep.
“Well, that’s not what I was hungry for. But now that you mention it, I think I’m up to it.”
“We’ll give those bruises a little longer to heal.” But he kept her face framed in his hands, kissed her again. “I’m just glad to see you.”
“Where did I go?”
“Darling Eve, you had grief behind your eyes. So much grief and fatigue. It’s gone now.”
“I just needed sleep. And you. And the cat.” She let out a
long breath. “And this.”
Now he pressed his lips to her forehead. “There’s one more thing you might want. Come with me.”
