Page 158 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

Yet just as I feel the mere brush of his lips against mine, a loud noise cuts through the air. We both fall apart. My heart is racing as I look wildly around.

“You’re trespassing!” an old man shouts at us from within the woods. He stomps onto the ground, fast approaching us, carrying with him a hunting rifle.

Mine’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t lose his composure. He gives me half a smile and whispers, “Oops,” after which he gathers our clothes, using my dress as a makeshift bag to hold them all. Before I can gather my wits about me, he pulls me up and swoops me in his arms. Well, perhaps swooping me in his arms might sound a tad too romantic.

He mostly swings me around his shoulders like a sack of potatoes and runs in the opposite direction.

The old man continues to shout at us. He even fires a warning shot.

But by the time the echo of the gun meets my ears, we’re already a distance away, nestled within the thick forest.

He’s fast, Mine. Very fast.

And strong. He carries me and our clothes with such ease, no wonder he has such impressive muscles.

“You can put me down now. I don’t think he’s behind us anymore.”

He finds a fallen log and places me down to sit on it.

Thoughtful too, I muse.

He dumps the bundle of clothes on the ground before he takes a deep breath.

His eyes meet mine and as we stare at each other, laughter bubbles inside of me. I release the sound into the wild, and his own laughter joins in. We’re both laughing. At the situation. At each other. At the fact that I was seconds away from having that kiss but instead a man with a shotgun chased us around.

The situation is amusing.

Yet soon the laughter gives way to mortification as I realize I’m still in a state of deshabille, as is he.

I lean forward to shield some of my nakedness. I could get my clothes and dress and put them back on, but that would call on him to do the same and ruin the moment. Besides, I find that my curiosity is not yet satisfied. I want to see more of him, know more of him.

He’s standing proudly in front of me, hands on his hips, and I let my eyes roam over his body.

His abdominals are hard and pronounced. On his lower belly there is a light trail of dark hair that the band of his briefs swallows.

I’ve seen this part of him before when I treated him. Yet the scar from his wound is all but gone. There’s nothing but healthy, virile male flesh.

Heat travels up my neck at the thought. Yet worry for him as I notice his briefs start to tent and become more constraining accompanies that excitement. I nibble at my lip as I instinctively lean forward to investigate more.

“Done staring?” he asks, amusement in his voice.

“I’m not staring. I am observing. I am a nurse after all,” I add shakily.

“And what are you observing?”

“The lump is back.” I point to his white briefs. “Are you certain you’re not hurt?”

He blinks and stares at me quietly for a few moments.

“The…lump?”

I nod. “You had it when you got injured, too. But it seemed to go away on its own. Now it’s back.”

His gaze dips down to where I’m pointing. The material of his briefs is now tightly wrapped around his flesh. Still damp, the white cotton molds to the outline of his swollen intimate parts. But I am still confused as to how his flesh could change size so suddenly if he’s not ill. That is the only logical explanation.

“Minnie,” he groans my name as he tilts his head back and scrubs a hand over his face.

“Are you in pain?” I whip my gaze up.

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