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“I like the way you think.” He allowed himself a smile. “We just have to figure out what that will look like.”
“You said you were in the Rangers, so what would you do if you were them?”
Xavier stood and started to pace. It was a good question. “Depending on numbers, I would have guys posted at a choke point in the roads coming into town. There can’t be that many coming off this mountain. At the very least they could follow us if they couldn’t actually…” He didn’t finish the thought.
“It’s okay, you can say it. I promise I won’t freak out. If they can’t actually attack us there, they’d follow us wherever we go.”
Once again, he gave her a quick nod. He studied her features. The stress was obvious since he knew where to look. The fine lines around her eyes and mouth tightened, but other than that, she was remarkably calm. Did she not realize what he was really telling her or was she just this calm under pressure?
“What you’re really telling me is the chance of us getting out of this unscathed is about zero.”
Okay, she did get it. She went up a few steps in his estimation. She was tough. Tougher than the laughing fit had led him to believe. That was good. She was going to need to rely on that toughness.
“No. They’re slim but not zero. I’m hoping we can figure something out. I have some ideas.”
“Care to share?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he said and resumed his pacing. “I need to think about it a bit more.” He rolled his shoulder and tried to loosen the knots. The numbness in his hand was aggravating. He opened and closed his fingers but it was no use. He needed his shoulder and himself to relax if he was going to get the full use of his hand back.
“Come here.” She pointed to the couch next to her.
He stopped and cocked an eyebrow.
“You’re obviously having problems with your shoulder and your left hand. Maybe I can help.”
“I’m good, thanks,” he said, dismissing her.
“No, you’re not and forgive me, but I need you at your best if we’re going to get through this in one piece. My life is literally in your hands, so both of them need to function.”
He bit back an oath. She was right. He needed to be at his best but what the hell could she do. “Look, I know you’re a doctor, but my problem is not something you can fix.”
“Try me.” She lifted her chin once again indicating she was up for the challenge.
“Fine.” He sighed. “I was in…another crash. Helicopter. I have a crush injury to my left shoulder. It’s mostly healed but the nerve was damaged. My arm and hand go numb if there’s downward pressure on my shoulder or if my muscles tense up.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and studied his shoulder. “At the moment, you’re super tense. I can see how tight and high your shoulders are. We need them to come down from your ears and move back. They’re too far forward putting pressure on the nerve. Come here,” she said again.
He wanted to say no but she had a point. He needed to be on his best game to give them any chance at all.
“Fine.” He went over and sat next to her. She turned him so that his back was to her. “Take off your parka. I know the cold won’t help but I can’t work through all that fabric.”
He shucked his coat and threw it on the chair next to them. Then he sat back down and faced away from her. Her hands on his shoulder made him jump. He didn’t know why. He knew she was going to do it, but no one had touched his shoulder except medical professionals since the accident. Sheisa medical professional, he reminded himself. But this wasn’t a hospital setting and she was naked under a bunch of blankets. That thought made another part of his anatomy tense.
Allegra cursed under her breath, and he felt her shift behind him. Then she was leaning over him and coming down harder on his stiff muscles. He gritted his teeth. The knots in his shoulders hurt as she worked on them.
“Try and relax. Deep breaths,” she murmured as she dug her fingers into his flesh.
He inhaled a deep breath, let it out, then repeated the process. Closing his eyes, he tried to pretend that he was back at rehab, and Bart, the nurse was working on his shoulder. But her scent engulfed him and the whisper of the blanket rubbing against his back as she moved didn’t help. She found a particularly heavy knot and really pressed on it. His eyes smarted with the intense burn, but he gritted his teeth. A moment later he felt the knot let go. His arm went from numb to tingling. Progress, but his cock had gotten harder as well. He wasn’t sure he could take her working on him much longer without becoming hard as rock.
“I think I’m okay. It feels better.” He started to stand but she leaned on his shoulder.
“It’s not better. I got one knot out. Be patient. We need you as relaxed as possible so your arm can heal.”
The only way he was going to be ‘relaxed as possible’ was if he screwed her five ways from Sunday and he didn’t think that was likely to happen.
She worked on his shoulder for another few minutes, but it stayed the same. He started to stand. “Look, it’s better.”
“Sit,” she commanded.
