Page 26 of The Spark Between Us

Then, in a total brain misfire, I imagined him saying them to me. I shivered at how it would feel when I obeyed.

So inappropriate. And . . . what else is new?

“I’m afraid I can’t do that without screaming bloody murder,” I grunted, unable to turn and look at him.

He placed a hand on the back of my neck and gently massaged with his fingers. “I can’t believe how locked up you are. And you were going to go to work like this?” He sounded exasperated.

“What can I say? I like a challenge.”

He didn’t know me well enough to understand yet, but the more difficult a situation, the more determined I felt to beat it. I saw pain as something to be conquered, not my body’s natural stop sign. So far, that mentality had gotten me pretty far, so I didn’t see a reason to change.

“Here, can you roll to your side and get on your hands and knees?” My brain misfired with more errant thoughts of him commanding me onto all fours so he could take me doggie style. My neck revolted with a fierce bolt of pain as if telling my brain to shut up and behave.

He popped a head cradle up at the end of the table, and I managed to slide like a marooned seal and lie down flat with my face on the cushion.

“You good?” he asked, his voice gentle. His hand rubbed my back in soothing reassurance, and I blinked back the eruption of heat over my skin.

“I’m good now, but there’s a decent chance I won’t be able to get up. Like, ever. Fair warning.” My voice came out muffled.

His deep, genuine laugh calmed me. “I’ll help you. Now I’m going to lift up your shirt and put these stickers on your back and neck, okay?”

He was going to lift my shirt? I was glad to be face down so he couldn’t see the blush rise on my cheeks. “Whatever you say, fireman,” I joked in a mock-deep voice.

“Please stop it.”

“What?”

“Just...think quiet thoughts and let me do this,” he said.

“Fine.”

I felt his warm hands lifting my pajama top partway, but mostly he reached under it and put the small patches in various places. “These might be a little cold. Bear with me.”

They were cold, but then his warm hands brushed over my skin, and I could only focus on the electric burn of his fingertips as they moved expertly down my back. He placed two more of the cold stickers on my neck at the collar of my top, and then I heard loud crunching.

“Whatcha got going there?” I asked, wondering if he planned on eating a bag of chips while I percolated.

“Ice packs. These will be cold, obviously, but they’ll help a lot.” He laid them on my back and I shivered. I didn’t mind the ice. It helped turn down the furnace he’d ignited when he touched me.

This must be what all the ladies line up for. Hot hands, blazing feels.

“I’m good with the ice. Perfect for me. Ice queen over here.”

“Ha. I don’t get that vibe. Okay, I’m turning on the stim. You’ll feel a tingling, but you don’t want to be twitching. So tell me when you feel it and I’ll stop.”

“Okay, boss. Hit me.” It was a strange sensation. Tiny prickles turned into bigger tingles on my skin. Then I felt them deeper underneath. “I feel that. I don’t think I’m twitching.”

“You’re not.” He turned it higher. It was almost too much to bear, but then the feeling receded. I felt a twitch. “Yup, that’s your threshold. We stop there.”

He came around near the top of my head and put his hands on the muscles between my neck and shoulders. Then he laid what felt like a scorching hot towel across the back of my neck.

I might have moaned.

He took a step back. I could picture him there, admiring his work. “You okay?”

“Mmm-hmm.” I felt weird but not bad.

“Good. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. You...just hang out there.”

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