Page 64 of Tempting Promises
“I’m sure I could, but no.”
“Well, I have some here, I’m going to make a salve.”
Oh, dear Lord. She’s definitely lost it now. “Are you taking cues fromLittle House on the Prairiesuddenly?”
Her eyes narrow. “I could be. I watch a lot of Alaska survival shows. Anyway, you can melt this down with the wax and make a sort of salve. I think it’ll help with my chapped skin or maybe this honking zit that’s growing on my cheek. It’ll fix something, I’m sure of it.”
I really don’t know what to say to her, but she seems excited and in need of a win. So far, this trip has been nothing but losses—well, other than the sex. That part’s been pretty fucking amazing.
“I’m sure it’ll be great.”
“You have that cut on your arm, maybe it’ll work there!”
She’s not putting pine sap on my arm, no way. “Isn’t pine sap sticky?”
“Yes, which is why I’m melting the honeycomb, duh! Oh, and we’ll use the oil that’s in the cabinet.”
“Oh, yes, duh. How did I not know that?”
“I bet this clears up that cut right away.” She nearly preens at this idea.
“I bet you can try it onyourself first.”
For the next three hours, Charlotte works diligently. She gathers a bunch of the sap from the wood I brought in, puts it in piles based on whatever theory she has about good resin and bad resin. As if she has a single clue.
Then she works on the honeycombs I grabbed from the murder shed that are probably as old as this cabin. She picks them apart, talking about it as she does as though I care, but she’s busy, feeling useful, and seems genuinely happy, so I sort of listen.
“Okay, I don’t have a strainer, so there might be chunks, but that’s fine, it will just be more rustic,” she explains as she’s pouring things into a new jar.
“Yes, rustic medicine is all the rage.”
“Hey, you’ll be thanking me when your cut is healed, skin isn’t chafed, and that redness is gone. I can’t wait to hear you.” She drops her voice low. “Oh, Charlotte, you’re so resourceful. I wish I was as smart and amazing as you.”
“I have other ways I’d like you to be resourceful.” I wiggle my brows and grin.
Charlotte smiles, her eyes go all molten. “Well, if you let me rub my salve all over you, and I mean all over, I’ll be very, very resourceful.”
“Sweetheart, you can rub me down with anything you want.”
She laughs and shakes her head. “Easy, boy, let me work.”
I do and then after the salve cools, Charlotte makes good on her promise. I don’t even fucking care about the shards of pine sap as she uses her hands to cover me in it, and then I enjoy every moment of rubbing my body against hers, ensuring we both get the benefits of her hard work.
“We’re able to get about halfway, do you think you can get up the mountain a bit?” Sawyer asks on the walkie-talkie.
I look to Charlotte who has been despondent since this morning. Gone is the woman who fell apart while I fucked her hard andfast last night. Now she won’t even look at me. She’s tired, hurt, and short of breath as she tries to climb up without assistance.
“I’ll get us there,” I say, wanting this cabin to be in my past so I can focus on the future.
“Sounds good. Turn your tracking device on so I can send you my coordinates.”
I do that, and the ping pops up. Not too far. Although, it’ll take double the time to get there if I have to carry Charlotte. Which would require me to touch her, and she seems hell-bent on avoiding that.
I turn to her. “Do you think you can handle it?”
Her eyes flare with determination. “I’m not a simpering female. I can handle getting up the mountain.”
“On your busted ankle?”
