Page 51 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

She shook her head, but tears were in her eyes and I immediately knew what was wrong.

“Let’s get you inside. You need to rest that shoulder.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I just—”

I cut her off with a harsh glare. The doctor told me she would be fine with some rest, but we’d done anything but that. And all this time, she hadn’t been taking pain medication. Her tolerance had to be slipping. I took her hand and led her back inside, past Rae and Jones who watched us with wide eyes as we passed.

Storming up the stairs, I took her into the bedroom and gently helped her out of her clothes. She stood before me in only her bra and panties, and immediately, my brain went somewhere else. I shut down my reaction to her. I had one job to do right now, and that was to make sure she was okay.

“Go lay down on the bed. I’ll get your pain medication.”

“I don’t want any. It makes me feel funny.”

“Too bad,” I said, marching off to the bathroom where I’d put her medicine. “You need to heal, and you have so much tension in your body right now that you’re doing more harm than good,” I said over my shoulder.

I grabbed a cup of water and brought her pills over, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. She took them grudgingly and swallowed them. I smirked at how cute she looked arguing with me.

“Now, I’m going to get some lotion and—”

“We’re not having sex right now,” she interrupted. “Just in case you were thinking that because I’m naked, you could have your way with me.”

I would have laughed at how indignant she sounded, but the way she squeezed her thighs together proved everything she just said was bullshit. But she needed this control, so I’d let her think I was completely giving into her.

“It hadn’t even crossed my mind.”

“Really? Because you look like you have the beginnings of an issue,” she nodded to my crotch.

“Kitten, that’s just me in all my glory.”

She rolled her eyes at me, but I didn’t miss the smile she was trying desperately to hide. I helped her get the sling off, and positioned her arm so she wouldn’t be in pain. Once I had her on her stomach, I grabbed the lotion and started at her feet. She squirmed under my touch, trying to pull away from me.

“You said you were trying to get the tension out of me, but you’re tickling me.”

“I’m not tickling you! I’m giving you a massage. We need to get the tension out of your body, and that includes every inch of you.”

“You were pretty successful in that endeavor earlier,” she muttered into the pillow.

I smacked her bottom, laughing at her. “You’re the one that said no sex, so get your mind out of the gutter.”

She sighed heavily, blowing her hair out of her face as she tried to get comfortable.

“Where do you learn all this stuff?”

“Number one rule in the military is to keep your feet in good shape.”

“Is it really?”

I shrugged. “There are a lot of number one rules.”

“Did you give Jones foot massages?”

“Once,” I grinned, “but don’t ever tell him I told you that.”

“Why did you do it?”

“That’s off limits—top secret.”

I ran my thumb up the arch of her foot and massaged her heel, rolling my eyes back as she groaned, sending shivers through me. I was never going to make it through this massage if she kept making noises like that.

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