Words of Love - By Hazel Hunter Page 0,40

think maybe from the start.”

He truly did smile now but, rather than kiss her, he drew them closer together. She tucked her head under his chin and felt his chest against her face. His heart was racing and she smiled against the thrumming. They stayed like that for minutes until finally he drew back.

“The med kit,” he said quietly and, this time, she let him go.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

When Brett came back with the med kit, Jesse was already asleep, but this couldn’t wait. An infection in the jungle could be deadly, even if they’d be heading for civilization in the morning.

As he started to remove her shoe, she jerked awake.

“Sorry,” he quickly said.

“Oh, Brett,” she said, as she sat up with a hand to her chest, blinking at him. “No, that’s okay.”

He was crouching next to the foot of the bed, the med kit box on the ground next to him.

“I really do need to do this,” he said, laying his hand on her leg.

He waited for her to get her bearings.

“I know,” she said, lowering her hand. “I know.”

He’d started with the good foot, just to check it. The shoe came off easily and, as he expected, there was nothing wrong. Then he untied the laces of the other shoe and slowly tugged at the heel. As it came off, she sucked in a breath and gripped the blanket on both sides of her. Finally, it pulled free and they both breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked like the puncture hadn’t gone deep but Brett knew it needed to be cleaned.

“Okay,” he said. He washed his hands with a wad of gauze and a bottle of purified water, mixed with a little alcohol. Then he picked up a new piece of gauze and looked at her steadily. “Here we go.”

She nodded, still gripping the blanket.

This was going to hurt. Anything on the foot was going to hurt. That’s why Frederico had picked it. Brett felt his muscles tighten at the thought. If the Red King hadn’t killed him, he’d have done it himself, beat him, and put a blade to his feet.

There was no sense in delaying this.

He held the gauze below the wound and poured the water and alcohol into it.

Again, Jesse sucked in a breath and slowly blew it out. Brett kept pouring water until all the dried blood washed away and the wound looked clean. When he finished, he looked up at her. She’d closed her eyes but now she opened them, her lips pressed into a straight line.

“Done with the bad part,” he said, putting down the water. She exhaled and hunched over. “You okay?” he said, laying a hand on her leg. She nodded. “Good,” he said. “Some antibiotic cream.” He squeezed a little on his finger and gently smoothed it over the puncture. She winced a little and her foot jerked. “Done,” he said, putting the cream away.

He quickly wound her foot with gauze, cut it, and tied it off.

“That feels better,” she breathed, relaxing.

He picked up the tube of first aid cream.

“If you thought that felt better,” he said standing up. He showed her the tube and smiled. “Lay back,” he said, sitting next to her on the edge of the bed.

Although the cream only had a little bit of pain relief medication, it had to help.

Slowly, she lay back.

As he lifted, the bottom of her tank top, she tensed. It suddenly occurred to him what this might remind her of.

“Um,” he said, pausing. “Maybe…”

She sat back up and began to take off the tank top herself. He helped her but, as she lay back to take off her shorts, he saw her pink skin.

“Oh, Jesse,” he whispered.

She paused but then continued to pull the shorts down. The red welts had nearly disappeared and the swelling had been replaced with pink skin. But the edges of the blade were still visible.

“It’s not bad,” she said, quietly. “Not like my foot.”

He shook his head. Again, the fury of what she’d endured rose up in his chest. He clenched his jaw and quickly squeezed out some cream on his fingers and gently touched it to her stomach. There was no reaction, not like with the foot. He relaxed a little and realized how tense his shoulders had become.

Slowly, he smoothed the cream over her midsection. He watched her deeply inhale and slowly exhale as her eyes closed. She was relaxing. Using more cream, he gently worked it onto her flat tummy and between her round