Page 81 of Finding Forever

She held out a bottle of cold water and a couple of painkillers. He took the water but stared at the pills dubiously.

“What are those?”

“Just aspirin,” she reassured. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to poisonyou or anything.”

“I don’t usually take anything for?—”

“Ugh, stop being such a stubbornman,” she hurled the word at him like it was an insult and he blinked at her in astonishment. “Just take the pills. Why suffer unnecessarily?”

“They probably won’t work,” he said and she rolled her eyes before shoving the pills into his hand.

“They won’t do any harm either, unless you’re allergic to aspirin too?” The thought only just occurred to her. But surely his medic alert bracelet would have listed it in addition to penicillin.

“Not allergic, no.” He sighed, brow furrowing before he shook his head and tossed back the pills, rinsing them down with a sip of water.

“Good,” she told him with a pleased smile. “Now take off your shirt and lay down on your stomach.”

“What?” The look of utter consternation on his face would have been comical if Fern wasn’t so damned nervous. She hadn’t ever done this for anybody other than Margot. And the thought of touching her husband after everything that had happened between them the night before, and then overhearing his conversation subsequent to those events, wasn’t too appealing. But—despite everything—she wanted to help him. It wasn’t in her nature to ignore his obvious pain.

“Fern—” He seemed to run out of words and just stared at her and she forced a smile.

“Cade, I’m trying to help you. Please trust me?”

Another long, searching stare, followed by an abrupt nod, before he grabbed the back neck of his shirt and tugged it over his head with one hand. The efficient, sexy motion caught Fern unawares, and she stared at his taut naked chest for a panicked moment, her mind going utterly blank at the sight of that beautifully tanned, muscular expanse.

He didn’t seem to notice her distraction and shifted to laydown on his stomach, resting his cheek on his folded arms, facing the now-closed patio doors.

She was now presented with the equally beautiful sight of his broad, muscled back, his pain evident in his bunched and tense heavy shoulders.

She grabbed the bottle of essential oil she’d placed on the coffee table—a mix of lavender, chamomile, and eucalyptus, and poured a generous amount into one cupped palm, before rubbing her hands together to warm her skin.

She then stared at his back and was now confronted by another dilemma; there wasn’t much room to do this. Ideally, she’d sit on the couch next to him, but his bulk took up too much space and the only option left for Fern was one she’d been hoping to avoid.

Cade wasn’tsure why the hell he was humoring Fern in this. Except that she seemed so earnest, so eager to help. And when she’d entreated him to trust her, he’d been helpless to do anything but that. He couldn’t expect her to trust him blindly but show her none of the same courtesy. He wasn’t sure what her intention was, but he hated feeling so vulnerable and defensive, while battling an ever-worsening headache.

Still, here he was, half naked, face down, with his wife hovering somewhere above him, just outside of his peripheral view. The mystery and anticipation had the unintended effect of arousing him a little, despite his headache and general discomfort. Something which probably had more to do with her close proximity to his naked flesh, than anything else.

A familiar scent hit his nostrils. Sweet, a little spicy. Lavender. It always reminded him of his grandmother. Mixed with something else, something mintier, sharp, almost medicinal.Peppermint? No, it was stronger than that, eucalyptus maybe. Which reminded him of his grandfather.

Fuck, he didn’t want to be thinking of his paternal grandparents while sporting a semi-stiffy, while his wife in her cute little shorts, with her toned, naked legs hovered within reach.

“I’m sorry,” Fern was mumbling and he frowned in confusion. “I have to do it this way.”

What way?

He hissed—a sharply indrawn breath—as she unexpectedly climbed onto the couch and straddled him, her soft bare thighs on either side of his waist, her pert arse fitting snugly into the small of his back.

Oh…thatway!

Her small, soft hands found his shoulders, and that’s when he realized that they were slick with oil, the scent of lavender and eucalyptus and something else, also sweet and familiar, mingling pleasantly as the oil heated between her skin and his.

He groaned, the reluctant sound torn from him when her slender fingers applied pressure to the knots in his shoulders and neck. God, this felt amazing.

She kneaded, smoothed, rubbed, pummeled his back, shoulders, and neck. Then her hands—less oily now—threaded through his hair, stroking gentle circles into his scalp and temples. She lingered there for a while, before moving back down to his shoulders.

Cade was helpless to stop the small whimpers—the sighs, the groans—escaping from his throat. He went limp with relief and pleasure, as her talented hands, stronger than their delicate shape and small size would have him believe, worked their potent magic.

He felt the tension leaving him in increments, the headache diminishing with each stroke of her hands, and drowsiness crept over him. A heaviness to his limbs and a lightness in his mind that he couldn’t recall ever experiencing before.

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